Assumed to be Dead
Pastor Shaun Hixon Preached on 10/11/2026
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56:34
Summary
Using the story of Paul being stoned and left for dead in Lystra, Pastor Shaun Hixon encourages believers to rise up from their trials, emphasizing that movement through pain prevents spiritual stagnation and that our resilience serves as a powerful testimony to others.
Key points
- •The enemy often assumes you are 'dead' or defeated by your trials, but God can bring you back to life and purpose.
- •Resilience in the faith is a decision you make before it becomes a feeling you experience.
- •Your presence in the community of believers has power; your worship impacts the spiritual atmosphere and encourages others who are struggling.
- •Spiritual 'clots' (bitterness, discouragement, or stagnation) form when we stop moving and praying through our pain.
- •Our greatest trials often become the platforms for our greatest testimonies and ministries to others.
Scripture
Perseverance
Trials
Healing
Faith
Forgiveness
Life application
This week, choose to 'move' spiritually even if you are in pain by attending prayer, worshiping through your discouragement, and offering forgiveness to someone who hurt you.
Reflection questions
- What area of your life has the enemy assumed is 'dead' that God is calling you to rise up in?
- Who is watching how you respond to your current trials, and what is your response teaching them about God?
- Are there any spiritual 'clots' like bitterness or stagnation that you need to ask the Holy Spirit to clear today?
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Full transcript
0:00to me. When I felt
0:01like it was over, you've
0:06been so good to me,
0:11Jesus. I love you, Jesus.
0:16I worship your name, Lord
0:21God. You're worthy, Jesus. You're worthy, Lord. Thank you, Jesus. Thank
0:27you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. I'm happy that what we
0:33do here goes from generation to generation. Not just to feel good today,
0:39but to impact the next generation. Many of you are standing here today
0:45because the prior generation was praying for someone like you to come here
0:50on a Sunday. I shouldn't be here today, but
0:56I know I had some praying family members that said, please raise up someone to
1:01love you. Raise up someone to pray. Raise up someone to fast. Raise up somebody
1:06to respond and keep it going because the best is yet to come. Those aren't
1:12just play on words. The best is yet to come. I got to remind myself
1:17of that sometimes. But when we follow him, there's no stopping us. Amen. Thank you,
1:22praise team. I love what I felt here this morning. I want to give honor
1:27to... Our pastor, who's not here today, is on a family vacation, which is well-deserved,
1:33and we love and appreciate him. Thankful for his leadership. I don't know how he
1:38does it every Sunday, back-to-back, in the third service in Miami, but he's amazing, and
1:43I look up to them, and they're my heroes. So I pray they're having a
1:49great time, and I've got a few compliments today about my jacket. So I wanted
1:54to introduce you to, come here, Brother Ray. This is where I got my inspiration
1:59from. I'm
2:05just trying to be like Brother Ray here. You're looking good, man. Don't tell them,
2:11but be thankful that you got hair, man. I prayed for that year after year.
2:16I lost it. Thank you, Brother Ray. But if this is your first time here,
2:21we're honored that you're here today. Come back and meet our pastor. If he was
2:27here today, he'd probably sing a great hymn and song for you to get you
2:32in his presence. But I want to keep you here. In heaven, though, you won't
2:38know me by somebody playing the cowbell. You're going to know me from
2:44someone that knows how to sing. Because it's here. It's here. It's not out there,
2:48but it's here. I promise you that. But I'm excited. It's going to be a
2:52great week this week. The picnic, please sign up. I grew up having amazing times
2:57at picnics, and I know it's going to be a great time. Pray against this
3:01rain that we're constantly getting day in and day out. But I'm thankful for the
3:06rain, just not on Saturdays. But yeah, so it's going to be great week this
3:10week. It's a month of celebration. Make sure to log your blessings in the app
3:15because it's important that people know what God did in your life. It's important that
3:19you testify the goodness of God. The church is a hospital. We're here because
3:25I know we all have needs. But it's important for each and every one of
3:30us to know what God has done through us. Because what it does is it
3:36inspires us. It pushes us to go deeper and deeper. And it reminds us that
3:41God can do it for you and he can do it for me. So I'm
3:47thankful for that. I'm going to go straight to the word. Acts chapter 14, starting
3:53at verses 8. And since we're getting to your scripture, I'll give honor to my
3:58wife. She's not here this morning. I really woke up. Not getting some, I don't
4:04know what happened, but she woke up not feeling, I'm not going to go into
4:09details, but she woke up not feeling great this morning. So she's home today. I
4:15pray she feels better. Acts chapter 14, verses 8, it says, And in Lystra, a
4:20certain man without strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother's womb
4:26who had never walked. This man heard Paul speaking, Paul observing him intently and seeing
4:31that he had faith to be healed. said with a loud voice, "Stand up
4:37straight on your feet." And he leaped and walked. Now when the people saw what
4:43Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lysonian language, "The gods have
4:48come down to us in the likeness of men." And Barnabas they called Zeus, and
4:54Paul they called Hermas, because he was the chief speaker. then the priest of
5:00zeus whose temple was in front of their city brought oxen and garlands to the
5:05gates intending to sacrifice with the multitudes but when the apostles barnabas and paul heard
5:10this they tore their clothes and ran in among the multitude crying out and saying
5:15men why are you doing these things we are also men in the same nature
5:21as you and preach to you that you should turn away from these useless things
5:26to the living god who made the heaven and the earth and the sea
5:32and all things are in them, who by God's generation allowed all nations to walk
5:37in their own ways. Nevertheless, did not he leave himself without witness in that he
5:43did good and gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our heart with
5:49food and gladness. And with these sayings, they could scarcely restrain the multitudes from sacrificing
5:54to them. Paul just saw this crippled man be healed, the crowd starting to worship
6:00him, other than worshiping the Lord. And verse 19 says, And the Jews from Antioch,
6:05Iconium, came there. And having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul, and they dragged him
6:11out of the city, supposing him to be dead. However, when the disciples gathered around
6:16him, he rose up and went into the city. And the next day he departed
6:22with Barnabas to Derbe." And when they had preached the gospel to that
6:28city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls
6:33of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, we must, through
6:39many tribulations, enter the kingdom of God. We must, through many tribulations, enter the kingdom
6:45of God. I'm going to speak this morning for a few moments on this simple
6:51subject, assumed to be dead. assumed to be dead. Lord, I thank you for your
6:56word. I thank you that it's a living word. I thank you that we can
7:01come together in moments like this, that we have the liberty, the freedom to worship
7:06you, Lord. I thank you, Lord, that we can hear your voice through your word
7:10and we can know that you are with us, God. I pray that in this
7:15service today that there would be a transformation that takes place, not from my words,
7:20but because of who you are, Lord, by your words, Lord, by your stripes that
7:24we are healed, God. I pray that in this room, Lord, take away any distraction.
7:29Let the anointing be released, God. We do that in the name of Jesus, we
7:33pray, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen. You may be seated. In 1936... A 19
7:39year old kid in Torrance, California ran the Berlin Olympics. His name was Louis
7:45Zamperini. He was a former troublemaker. The police knew him by name and running
7:51had saved him. His last lap was so fast that Adolf Hitler asked to
7:57shake his hand. A few years later the war came and Louis went from
8:03the track to a bomber. In May of 1943, his B-12 went down
8:09over the Pacific Ocean. Eight men died, three survived on two little rubber
8:15rafts. They drifted out there in the ocean for 47 days. No food,
8:20almost no water, sharks circling the raft. Even a Japanese bomber flew over
8:26them and machine gunned them, and not one bullet touched them. One of
8:31the men died, and somewhere out in the ocean, Louis Zamperini prayed, God,
8:37If you save me, I will serve you forever. How many of you have
8:43been there before? God, if you get me through the situation, I will serve
8:49you forever. After drifting 2,000 miles, they washed up in the enemy's territory and
8:54were captured. And for over two years, he was beaten and tortured in prison
9:00camps. Meanwhile, back home in California, a government car pulled up to his parents'
9:05home. The United States War Department had officially declared Louis Zamperini dead. They sent
9:11a letter and gave the report. The case was closed. But his mama wouldn't
9:17receive it. Everybody else thought he was gone, but she said, "My son is
9:23alive." And in 1945, when the war ended, that man that the government declared
9:28dead walked off a plane and came home. Two and a half years, he
9:34was gone from his home. Drifted out in the sea for almost 50 days.
9:39But here's what most people don't know. He came home alive, but he wasn't
9:45free. He had nightmares every night. He was drinking himself to sleep. It
9:51was a miracle he was alive, but his marriage was falling apart. He survived the
9:56ocean, but he was drowning on dry land. He looked like a hero, but he
10:02didn't feel like a hero. Then in 1949, his wife dragged him to a tent
10:07meeting in Los Angeles. A young preacher named Billy Graham was preaching. And sitting in
10:13that tent, Lewis remembered the prayer he prayed on that raft. Lord, if you save
10:18me, I will serve you. He got up out of his seat and walked down
10:24the aisle. And he was it was told that that night he he poured out
10:29all of his liquor and the nightmares seemed to go away. Amazing story. But what's
10:34something so powerful about it that he did something that nobody expected? He got in
10:39the plane and went back to Japan. He walked into the prison where he was
10:44tortured day after day. And he found those guards. Some didn't want to talk to
10:49him, but he found them and said, I forgive you. I forgive you.
10:56You thought I was going to die. You were out here to probably kill me,
11:01but I want you to know that I forgive you. I can't say that I
11:06would have done that. In fact, I wouldn't have done that. I'm not going to
11:11act like I maybe would have done that. I wouldn't have done that. But when
11:16you're hurting, the easiest thing to do is to hold on to it. It's easy
11:21to let it be your crutch. When the Bible says the caster cares more. Upon
11:26him for he cares for us. It doesn't mean that our hurt will go away
11:31It just means that we're not meant to carry the stuff that we've been carrying
11:35We're not meant to carry the pain that many of us have been carrying and
11:40sometimes casting your cares upon him Looks like just walking to an altar and saying
11:44Lord forgive me I'm not going back and repenting from who you used to be
11:49but sometimes it takes going back to Japan and Telling the person that hurts you
11:53that I forgive you. I Sometimes it takes going back and telling the abuser that
11:59I forgive you because it has you in bondage. It has you in a dark
12:05place where you're thinking about it over and over again, where you just can't handle
12:10it anymore. We're not meant to carry the things that we carry. We're not meant
12:15to carry the weights that we carry week after week. That's why the church is
12:20so powerful because we come to an altar like this and we cast it on
12:26him. We let him carry it for us. Because he he is a lifter He
12:32is the author and the finisher and there's no point of walking out of here
12:36with our heads down When God called us to put our heads up and know
12:41that he is God and know that he is with us It'll never leave us
12:45nor forsake us. You see Paul they assumed that Paul was dead But God wasn't
12:50finished with him yet And that's exactly what happened in this or the Bible says
12:55that they stoned Paul they drew him out of the city Assuming that he was
12:59dead But he rose up, and just like Louis Zamperini did, he went back to
13:04the place that hurt him. He went right back to the place that hurt him.
13:09We live in South Florida, and we know that we are surrounded by bodies of
13:13water. There are many lakes here, and you know that it's not safe to swim
13:18in lakes because there's alligators everywhere. There's signs everywhere saying, beware the alligators. Don't feed
13:22the alligators. And you've got to be careful when you go in the ocean. I
13:27don't go in the ocean. I don't swim in the ocean. I don't swim in
13:31the lakes. I don't do any of that stuff. I told the first service, if
13:36the water is not clear, I'm not near. There's no way I'm going in something
13:41that I can't see. I don't want them going in my house, and I don't
13:45want to go in their house. That's why we have pools. But you got to
13:50be careful about where you walk in to. You got to be careful if you
13:54can't see what's around you. Alligators, of what I'm told, they're typically afraid of you.
13:59But if you're around some baby alligators and a mama's around, she's going to bounce
14:03back because her calling is to protect her little ones. All of us here as
14:09parents will do whatever it takes to protect our children. We'll do whatever it takes.
14:14We'll walk in danger to protect our children. It doesn't matter who it is. We're
14:19going to make sure that they're in a safe place. I love my family, and
14:24I'll do everything I can to protect them. But my family is not my greatest
14:29calling. I'm called to them, but my greatest calling, the Bible says, is to love
14:34the Lord God. With all your heart, your soul, your mind in strength, meaning whatever
14:40comes my way, I can look at it through the filter of your word and
14:45say, God, no matter what comes my way, you're still Lord. You're still good. My
14:50kids aren't just my priority. You are my priority, Lord. And when you start doing
14:55an overflow starts to happen and it impacts your children, it impacts the people around
15:00you. When God, when you're filled with the spirit, not only impacts you, but impacts
15:05those around you. There's a reason why people at your workplace notice something different about
15:10you. There's a reason why you can walk into a room and there can be
15:14a shift in the room, not because of who you are, but because who is
15:19living inside of you that makes a difference. And when we live like that, We
15:23know how to respond. We're not perfect, but we can get hurt and say, bless
15:28the Lord. Oh, my Lord. Bless the Lord. Or if I'm really lonely, I can
15:33say, I need thee. Oh, I need thee. Every hour I need thee. And I
15:38can just sing to myself, and I can feel his presence. I thank God for
15:43miracles. I thank God for healings. I thank God for restoration. I thank him for
15:48the blessings. But the older I get, I realize that you can have blessings and
15:53still feel broken. You can have the nicest car in the parking
15:59lot and still feel empty. You can have all the fame and still feel lonely.
16:05There's a reason why suicide is at an all-time high, especially among people that have
16:10a lot of fame. You would think that they have everything, but in reality, they
16:16have nothing. Because nothing in this world will satisfy you. Nothing in this world will
16:22satisfy you. That's why Paul was so persistent on getting back up. They may hurt
16:27me, but there's nothing that's going to stop me. They may have bruised me,
16:33but I'm still walking. I'm not going to wait on my neighbor to move me
16:38because, Lord, when I look up, I know that you are living inside of me.
16:42So there's nobody around me that can impact my worship because I have a made
16:47up mind. I have a made up mind. There's a reason. There's a reason
16:52why he had time of healing. And sometimes you see the same people coming
16:58back up again and again for healing. Why? Because they have a made up
17:04mind. If God doesn't do it today, he's still God. If he doesn't heal
17:09me today, he's still good. And I'm going to let the enemy know I
17:15may not be healed today, but devil, I'm walking up again. I'm walking up
17:21again. I may not see my sister healed today, but I'm walking up again.
17:27you see people dancing in the front you don't want to know why they they
17:30may be here by themselves And they may not even feel the Lord that day,
17:35but you know what they're doing? They're making a declaration. You know what? I'm by
17:39myself today, but I'm just going to jump and I'm going to praise even if
17:42nobody else is doing it because I have a made up mind and the Lord,
17:46you are still good. If you do nothing else for me, you are still good.
17:50That's why I can come and worship in the front. That's why I can pray
17:54for healing time and time again because the devil assumed that I was dead, but
17:58here I am. lifting my hands, worshiping the Lord because he is still good. He
18:04is still good. He is still good. No matter what phone call I get today,
18:10he is still good. No matter what the doctor says tomorrow, he is still good.
18:16No matter if I don't get what I wanted, he is still good. Hallelujah. Thank
18:22you, Jesus. The world is going to promote certain things that you have to have
18:28And they're going to promote it that you can't live without. And it may satisfy
18:33you for a season, but you're going to realize that it's going to let you
18:39down. People are going to let you down. Within three verses, we read people were
18:44praising Paul and then ready to kill him. There are moments in our walk with
18:49God where we feel like we're doing everything right, but we can't feel him. We
18:54feel like we check the box. We're praying. We're coming to church. We're faithful. We're
18:59here for pre-service prayer. But you're questioning God. Are you even listening to me?
19:06God, I can't feel you like I used to feel you. People will say things
19:11like, the church is not anointing as it used to be. Or back in the
19:16day, we used to do this and this and this. I want to tell you,
19:21that's just having a made up mind. If nobody's doing it, then you do it.
19:26If nobody's praying, then you pray. If nobody's standing up and backing up the preacher,
19:31then you stand up and back up the preacher. If you got to do it
19:36by yourself, it doesn't matter. God is still good. The same God... that I
19:42was filled with the Holy Ghost at nine years old, is the same God today.
19:47I couldn't imagine what Paul was going through, what he was thinking. In my head,
19:53I would assume he would be saying, "Lord, why are you doing this to me?
19:58I changed my entire life. I repented of my sins. I'm making an impact for
20:03you, and now they're trying to kill me. Now they're trying to kill me. Why,
20:09God? Why, God?" Ethan preached last night about Uriah. What about Uriah? He was a
20:14righteous man. He was doing the right thing, and he was killed because of
20:20somebody else's selfishness. Why, God? Why, God? But the Lord didn't forget Uriah, and the
20:25Lord didn't forget you. He sees where you're at. He sees your needs. It's hard
20:31to move when pain hits you, when you're doing everything right, and you still just
20:37can't seem to get over the hump. When you're praying, but you're watching other people
20:42get blessed, it hurts inside. It hurts, Lord. I'm thankful for their blessing, but why
20:48aren't you blessing me now? The very first book in the Bible, the oldest book
20:53in the Bible, Job, it's about a man who had a lot of things and
20:58lost it all just like that. Why would the Bible open up with something so
21:03tragic? Because he wants you to know that don't depend on things of this world
21:08to satisfy you. Life is going to, I really wish, Lord, that if you were
21:14filled with the Holy Ghost today, that everything would just be roses and pears. I
21:19really wish of that, but that's not the truth. Sometimes I feel like my prayer
21:24is just bouncing off the wall and I'm going through the motions and I think,
21:28I'm not supposed to be here. I don't deserve to be here. Or you get
21:34lost in his presence and you're so thankful for what you feel. And then and
21:39then you're reminded of who you used to be and you start saying those same
21:44words. I'm not supposed to be here. And condemnation hits and the enemy starts knocking
21:49at your door. If God were really with you, you'd feel him right now. If
21:53God was in this place, you would feel him. But then you start serving the
21:58Lord and you realize that. Man, I can't worship because of my feelings. I can't
22:04worship based on how I feel that way. I got to have my mind made
22:09up. I got to sing songs like, I'll fly away, oh glory, I'll fly away.
22:14When I die, hallelujah, by and by, I'll fly away. I start singing hymns because
22:19I want them to know I may not feel good, but you didn't kill me.
22:25I may not feel good today, but I'm still breathing. I may have not got
22:30the phone call that I wanted to get, but I can still answer the phone.
22:39I want to show you a man who didn't feel good. Paul didn't look good.
22:44By every human measure, he should have quit. The Bible says he rose up. He
22:49was willing to lose it all. He didn't want the fame. And in fact, if
22:54he would have died that day, he would have still been called the hero. If
22:59Paul would have died there in Lystra, I would still be preaching about him today
23:04of how he was a man of faith. And he died doing the will of
23:09God. And we'd consider him faithful. a mighty man of God that was shown amazing
23:15grace. But we just read Paul seeing this mighty miracle of this cripple from birth
23:20from a crowd calling him a God, assuming that he was dead. And he rose
23:26up because they didn't kill him. They didn't kill him. Some of you are here
23:32today because they didn't kill you. Some of you had a horrible week this week,
23:37and you decided to come to the house of the Lord because you know that
23:43I'm not dead yet. I'm not, I'm not dead. You worship
23:48like you do because you aren't dead yet. They thought you should have
23:54been dead. That's why we sing songs like you can't stop me. You
24:00can't stop. Why? Because I'm not dead. And I got back up and
24:06you realize that your story isn't over. Your story isn't over. Life's not
24:12just about getting blessed or avoiding trials, but it's about how you respond
24:18after them. How do you respond when you get the blessing? How
24:24do you respond when trials come your way? I'll never forget when during during COVID
24:28when one night late, I remember Marco, I don't know if he's here today. Remember,
24:33he called me and he was on the highway. His car was shot with bullets
24:38and he was crying and we were on the phone. We were praying and I
24:42just said, Marco, the best is still yet to come. They may have thought they
24:47killed you, but you're still breathing. You're still breathing. And God has something in store
24:51for you. Sister Susan here was opening up the service and
24:57greeting everybody. Sister Susan, Nikki probably shouldn't be here today. She shouldn't. I
25:03don't think she should be here today. It is a miracle. There was
25:09a church, there was a mama that prayed and said, people may assume
25:15something, but God is not finished yet. I told Crystal this morning, I
25:21was so proud of her this morning when she came here and she
25:27was opening the service and she was praying. And I said, Crystal, you
25:33make an impact on me. Your mom's been going through chemo treatments, and
25:38here you are at church with a smile on your face. You may have not
25:43gotten the report you wanted at some times, but you're still here. Many people across
25:49this room are going through treatments right now, and people think they're crazy from going
25:54to church on a Sunday morning. But what you're saying is, God, people may assume
25:59some things, but I'm not dead. I'm not dead. And the best is yet to
26:04come. And we're going to keep coming. And we're going to keep praying. And we're
26:09going to keep believing in the miracles. Because we know the best is yet to
26:13come. There's a reason why Cohen here was praying again. There's a reason why people
26:17were here over and over praying again. Because people may assume one thing, but our
26:22God is a healer. Our God is a healer. Our God can restore families. Our
26:27God can restore marriages. Our God can restore our businesses. No matter what the people
26:33say outside, we know that He is still moving and we can put our head
26:38up knowing that the best is yet to come. The Bible is filled with stories
26:44and chapters of so many moving parts you can go from a miracle to a
26:50mob in one chapter. And it's consistently reminding us to pray that prayer, "Whatever comes
26:55my way, Whatever comes my way, let me be a reflection of your word. Whatever
27:01tries to hit me, let this word be in front of me and respond in
27:06a manner as you would respond. Because the Bible says everything that we go through
27:11is to help somebody else. Every trial that you have gone through, it's not just
27:16for you. It's to reach somebody. Why do you think we are
27:22asking you to put your blessings in the app? Why? Because we want people to
27:27know that there are miracles happening all around the world. I know there's technology. I
27:31know we have some of the best doctors here, but not all of that is
27:36from doctors. There is a God. There are people that are praying, and things are
27:40happening in the spirit realm because of the prayers that went forth. Paul says in
27:452 Corinthians 4, verse 8, he says, We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not
27:50crushed. We are perplexed but not in despair. We are persecuted but not forsaken.
27:55We are struck down but not destroyed. You can be left for dead and still
28:01not be done. You can be left for dead and still not be done. I
28:06can't relate to Paul. Yes, I've been knocked out one time. One time in my
28:12junior year, I thought I was a strong guy. I just started working out. And
28:17I thought that if I took up boxing... it'd make me a little stronger and
28:22for some reason I thought the red glove would be a padding if it hit
28:26me and it wouldn't hurt as hard. So I decided to box this one senior
28:31in the corner of 172nd and Sheridan at that park there and he was a
28:35lot bigger than me but I felt good because I felt like the worst that
28:39can happen is I get hit with the puffy thing on their the wrist. Within
28:4310 seconds he knocked me out and I woke up with a migraine and they
28:48told me that I blacked out. That was my last boxing career moment and I
28:52decided Boxing is not for me. But I say that because I can't
28:58relate to Paul. I can't imagine being stoned, being thrown rocks at, trying to
29:03be killed, assuming that they were dead. Everyone assumed that Paul was gone. And
29:09we can relate to this story today because the enemy assumed a lot about
29:15you. The enemy has been assuming that your marriage is about to end. The
29:21enemy has been assuming that your health is about to decline. The
29:26enemy has been assuming some things about you that are not final. And it was
29:32a reminder to me that assuming is never the final word. We may have a
29:38lot of excuses not to be here, but we're here because people assume some things
29:44about me. But God is moving. He decided, many of you here decided that I
29:50want to go to church and be around people of God. I want to
29:56be around the believers. Get around people who will stand around you. Put up verse
30:0120 for me. It says, when Paul, after he was stoned, it says, how about
30:07as the disciples stood around about him? He was just beaten and left for dead.
30:12The disciples didn't go and pray for him. They didn't preach to him. It just
30:18says that they stood around him. Their presence just was around him. Many of you
30:23here think that coming to church is not really a priority, that if you miss,
30:27it's not a big deal. No one's going to notice me. But there's power in
30:31your presence. One of the first things they teach you in chaplaincy is it's not
30:36about how good you preach to somebody, but it's the power of presence. There's a
30:40power when the people of God come and worship together. There's been moments in my
30:44life where I didn't feel like worshiping, where I was so down, I just wanted
30:48the service to end so I can leave and go home. And then Sister So-and-So
30:52or Brother So-and-So started walking the aisle and started lifting up their hands. And I
30:56remember what they went through, and I saw how they're worshiping. And I look at
31:00myself and say, how can I do that? How can I stand in this place
31:04and see people go through trials but have the power and have the oomph to
31:08get up and say, God, you're still good. I'm thankful for you. I'm thankful for
31:13the church. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the church. There's power in
31:19your presence. There's power when you lift up your hands, the people around you are
31:25impacted by it. The Bible says when Paul and Silas were in prison and saying
31:30praises at midnight, it says everyone's bounds were loose. What did that show us? That
31:36your one prayer can affect the whole atmosphere. Your one prayer when you respond.
31:42can break some chains off my neighbor. So that's why when I come to church,
31:47I can't just sit down because even though I may not be impacted today, when
31:52I start praying, so and so may be healed because I decided to create an
31:57atmosphere. It's not me, but knowing that God is here, knowing that he's moving, that
32:01everyone's chains will be loose. And suddenly, just like that, people were out of prison
32:06because two people decided I'm going to sing when nobody's singing. I'm going to sing
32:12praises at midnight when I shouldn't be sleeping. I'm going to be singing
32:17praises at midnight when I shouldn't be in the places that I'm here
32:23at. But I'm seeing the impact. That's why when we walk into rooms,
32:29people should feel something different about you. There have been moments in my
32:34life here where my life was changed just because somebody laid their hands
32:40on me. And I realized that I can't isolate when I'm bleeding.
32:46The enemy wants us outside of the city by yourself. I'm thankful that we went
32:51through what we went through in 2020 because the meaning of coming together has a
32:57whole new meaning to me. I'll never forget when we, as a youth, came here
33:02and prayed the tabernacle prayer. We tried to be five feet apart to be quote-unquote
33:08safe, and we were just so excited to see each other, and we were all
33:14happy about it. And then we started praying, and we were just praying, and all
33:19of a sudden... Somebody just stopped looking at the neighbor next to him and just
33:24got in his presence. It impacted somebody else and there was just an overflow that
33:29was in this room. And for almost two hours, we were just weeping and praying
33:34and I felt like there were angels in the room. And then there was something
33:39so powerful about us all coming together and we didn't care about COVID at the
33:44time. We got lost in his presence and we were just saying, God, I miss
33:49this. I need the people of God in my life. I can't do it on
33:54my own. I can't do it on my own. I can't serve. I'm not strong
33:58enough to serve God on my own. This past Friday was all church prayer. And
34:03I was praying up here. And I was just, as I was praying, you know
34:07how hard it is sometimes to get in his presence. You take some time. You
34:12just start thanking him for certain things. And as I was praying, I was reminded
34:16of that moment. this this this big moment in my life when i was 18
34:21and when i felt like i had nobody and i just felt like why do
34:26i even come to church i was i was having all these questions and i
34:30came in at all church prayer by myself and i sat in the back i
34:34just started weeping not because i wanted to get in this presence because i was
34:39angry i was angry and i was questioning god and i'll never forget thrums and
34:43a few people prayed for me and i felt like it was as the lord
34:48was touching me so I wanted to remind the devil this past Friday night,
34:53went back to that spot and I said, "God, I'm here 20 years later. You
34:59thought I shouldn't be here today, but I'm right here and I'm praying out loud
35:05so you can hear me. If I'm doing it by myself, I'm still going to
35:11do it because I should have gave up 20 years ago. I should have stopped
35:17this life 20 years ago, but God brought me back to that moment. I thought
35:23of this and he said, "You shouldn't be here, but you're standing here today by
35:29the grace In mercy of the Lord, I'm still standing here tonight because I'm
35:35not anybody special, but because he is so good. He is so good. I
35:41love this shot. Paul was being stoned in Lystra, and the Bible says that
35:46Timothy was from Lystra. Some believe that Timothy was in the audience when Paul
35:52was getting stoned. And we have two books of the Bible written to Timothy.
35:58Saw somebody get up when life didn't go their way. Why do I bring
36:04it up to you? Because someone's always watching you. Somebody is always watching
36:09you. I'm not just referring to your children. Your children are watching you, but somebody
36:14is always watching you. Even in this building, your worship is impacting the atmosphere. I
36:19believe one of the reasons why Paul had stamina in him was because I can
36:24imagine him being there when Stephen was being stoned and he said, lay not this
36:29sin on their charge. I can imagine him being stoned saying, if Stephen did it,
36:34I can do it. If Stephen did it, I can do it. Why? Because the
36:39trials that people go through always help somebody else. But the Bible says that he
36:44rose up, not waiting to feel better, and went right back into the city. Why?
36:49Because rising is a decision before it's a feeling. I took Levi to his first
36:54baseball game a few weeks ago, and he was so excited about it, he fell
36:59asleep on the way there to get a power nap in. He was so
37:05excited about it though, because he's in T-Ball now. And we were there, and we
37:09actually ran into a bunch of guys from the UPCI youth team, DJ Hill and
37:13Jeremy Stafford. And a bunch of guys were there. And we ran into him, ironically.
37:17So we're talking, and Levi's like, we're not here to talk. We're here for the
37:21game. Let's go. He's pushing me to leave, and I'm like, sorry, guys. I got
37:25to go. And he noticed on the Jumbotron that these kids were getting on the
37:30Jumbotron, getting all this fame. And he's like, I want to be on the Jumbotron.
37:35He's like, how do you get on the jumbotron? And I was like, you got
37:39to do something crazy. You got to dance probably to get on jumbotron. But I
37:43didn't really want to tell him because I know that he would do it. And
37:47people were doing this thing. So Levi starts doing this toothpick thing. We're in the
37:52front, the floss, whatever it's called. Yeah. He was doing it today in service too,
37:56by the way. The floss. Yeah. I wish I can convict him and tell him
38:00that if you're doing that there, you got to do it at church. But he
38:04does it at church. So I can't. But he was going crazy. And he was
38:08like, I love the Marlins. Woo. Even tomorrow I said buddy they're out of the
38:13playoffs or just it's just like a fun game because that's why we got tickets
38:16for $20 a spot the front row we were at the very front row on
38:20the side of Third base and it was it was an awesome was $20 and
38:24it was it was a great deal But it's because we're not going anywhere, but
38:27but he he was dancing he was he was he was he was uh Shaking
38:31things he shouldn't shake and then I keep having to hit him saying stop stop
38:35stop and then they put on a Forrest Frank song in the Marlins game and
38:39So he was saying, he was singing, "God is good." And he was saying, "I
38:43love the Mars, but I love Jesus more." And he started doing that. Then he
38:47had the audacity to start going to people and saying, "Do you believe in Jesus?"
38:52This is Forrest Frank. Forrest Frank loves Jesus. And he starts talking to people about
38:56believing in Jesus. Three of them didn't speak English, and they were looking at him
39:00like, and I was grabbing him saying, "Let's, let's, let's go, let's go." He's like,
39:04"I don't know if they believe in Jesus." And I was like, "It's okay, just
39:09pray for him. Let's all get ice cream." And so, you know, we left and
39:13I was so embarrassed. You know, I'm in a stage of life where I'm living,
39:17I get embarrassed easily and then when I'm around Levi, it's just a constant, I
39:20don't know what's gonna happen. So it was the bottom of the sixth, I'm like,
39:24"You know, we're already up, let's just go home." He's like, "I'm not going home."
39:28He wanted to go right back to that spot where all these people were here
39:32that I'm like, "Okay, let's just go do it." But I said, "Let's just relax."
39:36Let's eat your ice cream. I made the mistake of buying him the dots, Dippin'
39:40Dots, and it had the red food dye in it. And so it was just
39:45bouncing off a wall even more. It made it worse. But he was doing whatever
39:49he could to get on that Jumbotron. He didn't get on there, but he was
39:53doing whatever he could. He was yelling. He was saying, get me on that Jumbotron.
39:58And my first instinct was, oh, let's just leave now. Let's just leave. I was
40:02feeling sick. I had knots in my stomach. You know? And I was going through
40:07all these emotions because my first instinct is to retreat. Let's go. Yes, he's my
40:12son, but let's go. You know? It makes it worse when the people don't want
40:17to hear a kid talk to them. They're like trying to watch the game. It
40:21makes it even ten times worse. Like, they're not here to talk to you, buddy.
40:26They're here for the game. But I just wanted to leave, but he didn't care.
40:31He stayed the whole game. He wanted to stay afterwards for fireworks. So we just
40:36embraced it. And we had a great time. But I tell you that because he
40:41was willing to do whatever it took to be on that screen. He didn't care
40:46about being embarrassed. I really believe Paul was in that spot. He didn't care how
40:51he looked. He went right back in that city, all beat up and bruised and
40:56hurting. He didn't care how he looked because he knew he had a calling. He
41:00knew the Lord told him to do so. He got back up. When people thought
41:04he was crazy, he got back up and kept moving. The Bible's filled with stories.
41:09Elijah, when he was under the juniper tree, had no feeling left. And the angel
41:13came. He didn't preach to him. He just said, arise and eat. And he got
41:18up. The anointing came when Elijah made the decision. Why? Because we walk by faith
41:24and not by sight. I don't walk because of my feelings. I don't walk based
41:30on how I feel today. But I have to get up and stand because he's
41:35been good to me. He's been good to me.
41:44and the bible says in verse 20 when he departed in verse 21 it says
41:49he departed to barnabas to derby and when they had preached that gospel to the
41:55city and taught many he didn't need a sabbatical he didn't need to take some
42:00time off he was bruised and he wasn't broken if paul would have stayed in
42:06lystra derby could have missed out on revival if we stay in our seats who
42:11knows who's missing out on the revival that's meant to happen Galatians 4.13 says,
42:17ye know that through infirmity of the flesh, I preach the gospel unto you at
42:23first. He preached sick. He preached hurting. And God still saved the souls.
42:29In Philippians 3:13 it says, "Forgetting those things which are behind, I press toward the
42:34mark," meaning that there's going to be some resistance, there's going to be some pushback,
42:39but he went right back to the place that hurt him, not for revenge, but
42:44to strengthen them. He made an impact because he himself went through it. He himself
42:49went through it and he had a calling, and I'm getting ready to close here
42:54in a moment. But I'll never forget when I was about to have surgery for
43:00my knee when I dislocated my knee playing soccer, the worst decision I ever made
43:04was playing soccer with cleats on on that field. And all I wanted to do
43:09was just have surgery. And I was in so much pain, the doctor said that
43:13they needed to put some things together to open me up. And I was just
43:17excited to have surgery because I just wanted to feel better. I was in so
43:22much pain. I thought surgery would solve all my problems. I thought it would be,
43:27okay, six months, I'm back at it again. I'm back to the old me. I
43:32can't jump like I used to jump. I can still jump, though, but I can't
43:36jump like I used to jump because of what I went through. And there was
43:40so much pain in my leg and my calf, and I just stood there for
43:45three weeks, literally in the bed. You can ask Noelle that story, and she had
43:49another experience, but she was going miserable, too. But I was in so much pain,
43:53I was immobile for this long, but I did what felt natural, not moving. Don't
43:59move and I'll be fine. Just going to surgery. And I told the nurse that
44:03the doctor came and anesthesiologist came. They marked me up with the permanent marker where
44:07I'm like, just go ahead and do it. Make sure I'm completely out first. And
44:12then do whatever you have to do. I'm ready. And as I was literally, I'm
44:16not exaggerating this. As I was getting wheeled into surgery, I just told this one
44:20lady, man, my calf is killing me. And she's like, stop it. Stop the surgery.
44:24I remember grabbing her shirt. I'm like, no, you're not. And I looked at her
44:29and I said, you're not stopping the surgery. And she said, I'm sorry, I'm stopping
44:33the surgery. I want to check on something. And she stopped everything. She says, I'll
44:38put you on surgery for next week. And I started yelling. Like, we are not
44:42waiting another week with this leg here. No, we're helping it now. He said, let's
44:46go to the hospital. They took me to the hospital. They found multiple blood clots
44:51in my leg. And what I didn't know is that while I was laying down
44:55week after week, something dangerous was happening inside of me. Because blood that doesn't move
45:00starts to pool and blood that pool starts to clot and my injury now was
45:06not my biggest danger not moving was the biggest danger wasn't that my knee dislocated
45:11the biggest danger was that I Wasn't willing to move through the pain and the
45:17doctor told me he saw me something that I always remember That haunts me to
45:22this day. He said even when you're hurt you have to keep the blood flowing
45:27you have to get up and move even when it's uncomfortable and
45:34and that's exactly where paul was at in acts 14 they stoned him they dragged
45:39him out of the city left him for dead natural instincts would have been to
45:44lay there to lay there and just wait for healing wait for the ice pack
45:49wait for the surgery wait for something man-made to happen because the enemy can't all
45:54can't can't kill you first of all he can wound you but what he could
45:59do very well is get you not to move get you just to
46:05sit there and say, "Yup, I'm here. Let me go. Let me go on my
46:10way. I'm ready for lunch now." He can get you to stop praying. He can
46:15get you to stop showing up on all church prayer nights. He can get you
46:20to stop worshiping on Sunday morning. And what happens, something starts to clot in your
46:25spiritual life. Bitterness, hurt, pain, abuse, discouragement, the list goes on. Why? Because the blood
46:30is not flowing. The blood is not flowing. and i simply came here to tell
46:35somebody today that if you're hurt one of the most powerful things that you can
46:39do is get up and move and say lord i need thee i need you
46:44lord there's pain in my back there's pain in my body but i'm going to
46:48walk up because i know that you can heal me i'm going to walk up
46:53People assume that I shouldn't be here today, but I'm here this morning. The city
46:58of Lystra thought Paul was dead, but what he was doing is using that as
47:03a platform to build one of the greatest sermons, to build one of the greatest
47:08testimonies of all kind. Your hurt can be your biggest platform. Your pain can change
47:13a city. Your pain can change something in the atmosphere at your job. You may
47:19be in Lystra right now where you feel like everything is coming against you. The
47:24blood has to move and the only thing that will do it is His Spirit.
47:30God has given us more to just survive. He wants us to be filled. He
47:35wants us to be filled with His Spirit. Getting the Holy Ghost is not just
47:40a one-time thing. We ought to be refilled with His Spirit daily, daily, daily. If
47:45you're filled with His Spirit, I'm thankful for that. But it's not the will of
47:51God to live off last week's prayer. It's not the will of God to live
47:56off my mama's prayer or my daddy's prayer or my friend's prayer. It's the will
48:01of God for you to pray. To say, I'm no longer attached to people on
48:05their prayer. I'm thankful for them. They built me up, but my calling is to
48:09serve you and I'm going to come here and stand across this room. The Bible
48:14says in Acts 2 that when Peter was preaching, they were pricked in their heart.
48:18He was preaching so good and they knew something. They had to do something. and
48:23Peter told them to repent and be baptized every one of you in the name
48:27of Jesus Christ. Why? Because we don't want to just hear a good sermon and
48:31go home. I don't want you just to feel pricked in your heart, but I
48:36want something to change in you because every church service ought to be a moment
48:40of transformation, a moment for you to leave here different than you came, not because
48:44of my words, but because of who he is. So across all this place, I
48:48know many of you may not want to come to the front, but I'm asking
48:52you, if you've been hurt today, If you're going through it, maybe you're standing in
48:57God for somebody else. Maybe you just need a refilling today. I want to invite
49:01you to the front. Don't wait on your neighbor. Don't wait on somebody else to
49:05do it. But there's power when you start moving because the enemy assumed that you
49:08shouldn't be doing that, that you're just okay where you're all. But I don't want
49:12spiritual clots to form today. And I want the Lord to know that the blood
49:16is still moving. And I want to be refilled in your presence right now all
49:19across this room, Lord. As you come to the front, I want you to lift
49:23your hands and And let the enemy know, Lord God, that they assume that they
49:28assume one thing, but I'm still here and I'm responding because I know that you're
49:33going to move. That's it all across this room. Yes, God. Yes, Lord, you are
49:38worthy, Jesus. You've been so good to me, Jesus. when i felt like
49:43i shouldn't be here you were there jesus we love you
49:49jesus yes jesus i'm going to keep coming back i'm going
49:55to keep coming back i may not see my healing today
50:00but i'm making a declaration that you're still moving god yes
50:06jesus In the
50:10name of Jesus,
50:15yes yes right
50:20now, Lord. The
50:25Lord is moving
50:30here, God. I'm
50:35making a new
50:40time today, Jesus.
50:44In the name
50:49of Jesus, you're
50:54worthy, Jesus. In
50:59the name of
51:04Jesus, you're worthy,
51:09Jesus.
51:18♪♪
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