Kingdom Culture: Redefining Who We Are
Bishop Henry Fernandez Preached on 10/5/2025Philippians 1:21-30
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Summary
Bishop Henry Fernandez launches a series on Kingdom Culture, challenging believers to redefine their identity by living in a manner worthy of the Gospel and maintaining a visible distinction from the world.
Key points
- •Kingdom citizenship requires a visible distinction between the believer and the world through consistent conduct and a renewed mind.
- •True transformation only happens when we prioritize a personal relationship with Jesus and a commitment to obeying God's Word.
- •Repentance is a daily practice within kingdom culture, and a sensitive conscience is a sign of spiritual health.
- •The church must function as a spiritual hospital, offering love and acceptance to the hurting rather than judgment or isolation.
Scripture
Kingdom
Discipleship
Character
Holiness
Community
Life application
This week, identify one area where your conduct has mirrored the world's culture rather than Christ's, and intentionally choose to respond with kingdom values such as honesty, love, or restraint.
Reflection questions
- In what ways has my lifestyle recently blended in with the world's culture?
- When I make a mistake, do I run toward God in repentance or hide in shame?
- How can I better demonstrate 'kingdom culture' to my coworkers or family members through my actions?
- Am I treating the church as a place of modeling and performance or as a hospital for the hurting?
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Full transcript
0:00If you have your Bible,
0:02whether electronic or hard copy, let's
0:04quickly go to
0:07uh Philippians chapter 1.
0:12Begin at verse 21 to 30. I won't read
0:15all of it. I will summarize it in the
0:19CEB translation.
0:22This is going to be the foundation
0:25of the kickoff of this series, kingdom
0:30culture.
0:31Kingdom culture.
0:34And I want to have an emphasis this
0:36morning on redefining who we are.
0:41Please don't miss this.
0:43Redefining who we are.
0:47Because how can you say you're a part of
0:49the kingdom of God when you don't know
0:52who you are?
0:54Here is what Paul says. He says,
0:56"Because for me, living serves Christ.
1:01Because of me, living serves Christ.
1:07And dying is even better."
1:10He says, "For me, living my whole entire
1:15life
1:17is to serve Christ.
1:19It's to serve him. And by the way, if I
1:22die, it's even better. Why? Because I
1:26have died in the Lord."
1:29And then he says, "Live together." He's
1:32talking to the church now. Live together
1:35in a manner worthy of Christ's gospel.
1:40So he's he's really talking about three
1:42things in this verse. One, he's saying,
1:46"Okay, whatever we do, you know, we
1:48ought to live for Christ." And then he's
1:51saying, "So that when we die, we can
1:55finally hear him say to us, 'Well done,
1:58good and faithful servant.'" But most
2:00importantly, if you're still alive, he's
2:03then saying, "Please live in a manner
2:07worthy
2:09of Christ's gospel."
2:11And we have to be truthful now. Please
2:14pay attention. Please listen listen
2:16listen.
2:17Watch this.
2:19Is the church really living up
2:23to the expectation of God's word?
2:27What is the culture of the church?
2:30Is the culture of the church pretty much
2:34the same as the world?
2:37You have to really ask yourself that
2:39question. So today I'm launching this
2:41brand new series titled Kingdom Culture.
2:45The series is meant to help us redefine
2:48who we are as citizens of God's kingdom
2:52and to clarify what the culture of our
2:55proclamation should look like.
3:00The word of God teaches that we are a
3:03set-apart people. Don't miss that. We
3:06are different.
3:09And it's okay. WE ARE DIFFERENT. WE'RE
3:12NOT LIKE the ungodly. We're not supposed
3:15to be a reflection of what the world
3:17looks like.
3:19And I'll prove it to you here. Let's
3:21look at 1 Peter 2:9.
3:24Again, the word of God says, "But you
3:26are" He's talking to us now. Come on. If
3:29you're born again and you're in the
3:30kingdom of God, he's talking to us now.
3:32He says he says that but you are a
3:35chosen chosen generation, a royal
3:39priesthood, a holy nation." Right?
3:43You're a holy nation according to the
3:46word of God. His own his own his own
3:51special people.
3:53That you may proclaim the praises of him
3:57who called you out of darkness into this
3:59marvelous light.
4:02So as a kingdom citizen, you've been
4:04called from darkness into this marvelous
4:07light. Don't miss this. Into this
4:10marvelous light according to the word of
4:11God. So when we come to Christ, we
4:14experience a renewed mind.
4:19If your mind is not renewed as a kingdom
4:21citizen, then you're not going to be
4:23able to live out the characteristics of
4:26the kingdom.
4:28You got to have a changed mind. Please
4:31hear me. You cannot expect yourself to
4:34think like the kingdom of darkness.
4:39You can't. And I know the world wants us
4:42to make us feel like, you know, um we're
4:45doing something bad or we're we're we we
4:48just indifferent and you know, we think
4:51that we're special. No no no nobody's
4:53saying that we're better off than
4:54anybody. We're just going to base it on
4:56the word of God. The word of God says we
4:57are peculiar. We are a special group of
5:00people and our light has to be different
5:03from what the world is demonstrating.
5:07So it's okay. Please, I want to I want
5:10to help those of you who are Christians.
5:11It's okay if we're different from the
5:14kingdom of darkness.
5:16There's nothing wrong with it.
5:19If you love God and you get up every
5:21day, you're reading YOUR BIBLE, IT'S
5:23OKAY if you believe that every now and
5:26then in your life you got to be on a
5:28fast. You got to pray. You got to turn
5:30your plate down. You got to shut down
5:31social media. You got to do all of these
5:34things and
5:35block out all these distractions. It's
5:38okay if if if if if God the Holy Spirit
5:42is in you and he's speaking through you
5:44and he's really kind of controlling your
5:47emotions and causing you watch this not
5:50to do things that your flesh wants to
5:52do. It's okay. Why? Cuz you are a
5:55kingdom citizen and you're expected to
5:59show the lights.
6:04And I know it's hard for many of us as
6:06believers
6:07because there's this blending in
6:11of the world's system.
6:14And here's the sad part about it.
6:17We don't even want to hear it
6:21that we're acting like the world.
6:24We don't want to hear that.
6:26Just leave me alone. Let me do my own
6:28thing. It feels good. Not everything
6:31that feels good is right.
6:37Romans 12:2, it says, "Do not do not do
6:40not be conformed to the pattern of this
6:43world, but be transformed by the
6:46renewing of your mind. Then you will be
6:49able to test and prove what God God's
6:53will is, his good and pleasing and
6:56perfect will." The only way you're going
6:58to know the difference between light and
6:59darkness hey, is when your mind is
7:02renewed.
7:05Cuz if your mind is not renewed, you're
7:07not going to know the difference.
7:09You're going to blend in with everything
7:10that you see in the world. So scripture
7:12calls us peculiar, meaning that there
7:15should be a visible distinction between
7:17the believer and the unbeliever,
7:20between light and darkness, between
7:23kingdom culture and the culture of the
7:26world. Let's talk a little bit about
7:28kingdom culture that it requires
7:31consistent conduct. Listen to me.
7:34Consistent conduct.
7:37We we we cannot live as kingdom citizens
7:41living a very unstable inconsistent
7:45lifestyle.
7:48It's not what the Bible calls us to do
7:51because our job according to Philippians
7:531:27, it says, "Only let your" Watch
7:56this now. "Only let your conduct be
7:59worthy of the gospel of Christ." What is
8:01he saying? He's saying, "Whatever you
8:03do, make sure your conduct is reflecting
8:08the characteristics of Christ."
8:10And don't we struggle with that? Come on
8:13now. Cuz I know what you're saying. But
8:15Henry, you know, hey
8:17you know, my my my flesh does this and
8:20you know, I I just feel like doing that
8:21like I think it was Angela was up there.
8:23You could tell she's struggling with
8:24cussing because she just kept talking
8:26about cussing every time in our
8:28conversation. Cuz you know, cuz all of
8:30us have issues.
8:35Let's think about that.
8:37Cuz let's be honest. Let's be honest.
8:40We're still struggling with certain
8:41things. Come on now. Right? But when
8:44when he's saying you that that that that
8:46that you you are to let your conduct,
8:48it's Listen, it's not easy
8:51to want to tell somebody how you
8:56feel.
9:01But as you're about to open your mouth,
9:04it's like the Holy Spirit always comes
9:07in at the right time to calm you down.
9:10Am I talking to anybody?
9:14That's why I tell Christians, listen,
9:16the culture of the kingdom is whenever
9:19your conscience is dealing with you,
9:21it's a good thing.
9:24Whenever you do something wrong and you
9:26walk out of the will of God and that
9:28conscience is saying, "You know, you're
9:29not supposed to do that. You know,
9:31you're not supposed to say that. You
9:33know, you're not supposed to go there.
9:34You know, you're not supposed to do
9:37It's good.
9:38Don't don't don't make that make you
9:41feel like
9:43I'm not going to go to church no more. I
9:44don't love God no more cuz I just feel
9:46dirty." And some of some of you are
9:48unsaved. You know, you think about that
9:50and you say, "Well, I don't want to go
9:51to church no more because I just feel
9:53like I'm a hypocrite because I keep
9:55messing up. I keep messing up." And so
9:56forth. no, no. It's good that your
9:58conscience is still there.
10:04You see, the culture of the kingdom is
10:07when you do something wrong, when the
10:10Holy Spirit is saying,
10:13"Mhm." You just run back to God, and you
10:14say, "God, I am so sorry, man."
10:16So, cuz you see, that's between you and
10:18God. That's between you and God. IT'S
10:20OKAY. THAT'S WHY HE'S THERE. HE IS there
10:24ready to receive you. He said, "Cast all
10:26your cares and your burden on him."
10:28That's it. Religion will teach you YOU
10:31MESS UP ONE TIME, YOU'RE DONE.
10:36WITH GOD, HE SAYS, "COME TO HIM EVERY
10:40SINGLE day and repent."
10:44THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH REPENTANCE.
10:48IT'S A PART of the kingdom culture to
10:50repent daily to God. God, forgive me of
10:53my sins, and so forth. The problem is is
10:56when you keep doing wrong,
10:59and you have no conscience.
11:02That's the problem.
11:05Is when you can walk out of the will of
11:07God and feel nothing.
11:10And there's no conviction.
11:13That's a dangerous place to be.
11:15You You want to be the will of God that
11:17when there's something really stupid you
11:19do you've done,
11:21you know, that the Holy Spirit will
11:23convict you, and you can like, "Ah."
11:26Okay Lord.
11:28And then you run back to God and ask God
11:30to forgive you.
11:31Right? You don't have to go to no
11:32priest. You don't have to go to the
11:33pastor confess your sins, and so forth.
11:35You don't have to do none of that.
11:37Right? You go to God. And if there's
11:39anybody watching here today, anybody in
11:41this room, and if you can raise your
11:44hand and say for since January of this
11:47year, there was nothing I did that was
11:49wrong that I needed to go to God for
11:52repentance, please raise your hand cuz
11:54we're about to beat the devil out of you
11:57today.
12:02Cuz you know what? All of us
12:06have to go to the Father every day. Come
12:08on. Now, work with me here.
12:10That's the culture of the kingdom.
12:14You see, the Bible teaches us that
12:15there's a difference
12:17between those who live under the rule of
12:19the kingdom of God, that's the kingdom
12:22of light, and those who live under the
12:24dominion of darkness. And yet, this is
12:27where the struggle comes in today.
12:31Here's the struggle.
12:33There's a dangerous blending in
12:37of the kingdom
12:40culture
12:42with the world's culture.
12:46It's hard now
12:49to differentiate the difference between
12:50the church and the world.
12:55It's very hard.
12:56And here's the sad thing about it, the
12:58church has become comfortable.
13:06We want sermons to excite us.
13:10We want preachers to impress us.
13:13We have our favorites.
13:16We've turned church into a modeling
13:19runway.
13:25We've become silent.
13:27We have shifted away from the
13:30the culture of the kingdom, the purpose
13:32of why we gather, the purpose of why
13:34we're in the church. We're now blending
13:37in with the world.
13:40You know what I worry about?
13:43I worry about if we come into an
13:45auditorium like this,
13:48and we have all of the bells and
13:50whistles, and everything is beautiful,
13:52and the presence of God is not here.
14:02It is like And we see it in the Bible,
14:04there people who who were anointed of
14:07God, and the anointing of God was
14:10lifted, and they went out to perform as
14:13usual, only to find out they can't
14:15operate
14:17under the power of the kingdom of God
14:18anymore. Why? Because God's anointing
14:21has lifted
14:23itself from them.
14:25And I hope Faith Center will never allow
14:29ourself to get to that place where the
14:32presence of God is out of this room.
14:35I told the 9:00 service this morning, I
14:37don't care. I love the fancy stuff that
14:39we do. That big LED screen, I love it. I
14:42love it. I love the smoke, all the smoke
14:44that they put up in here. I love smoke
14:46this place up. Praise God. I don't care.
14:48I love all of that. I love the fanciness
14:50and the you know, the way we're doing
14:52our praise. I love all I get all of
14:55that, but do we still have the culture?
15:00[Applause]
15:03Is the presence of God still here?
15:08Think about that for a moment. Is the
15:10presence of God still here? And for the
15:13church, we're losing that.
15:16There's a blending in. There's a mixture
15:19that has left many confused about what
15:22true Christianity is.
15:25Cuz we're not living up to the standard
15:30of the culture of the kingdom.
15:32We're not.
15:33Let's face it.
15:35And you know what's sad?
15:38Is when preachers start preaching like
15:39this,
15:41it's not being embraced too much.
15:45Because we no longer have an appetite
15:47for the word of God,
15:49we more have an appetite to be excited.
15:59So, church has become self-centeredness.
16:03Bless me. Bless me. Give me. Give me.
16:06Let me shout. Let me dance. Let me do
16:08all of this, and so forth. But the world
16:10is watching.
16:13They They They They They're watching.
16:14They They They're looking, "Wait a
16:15minute now. Okay. Um do do you have the
16:20attributes of Christ?"
16:24Right? Cuz you very well know as
16:26Christians, oh, we know how to do
16:28church, but do we know how to live the
16:30word?
16:34See, I I I can tell who's coming back
16:36here next week.
16:38Uh half of you like looking like, "Ah,
16:40don't think I like the serious here."
16:42But let me be clear with you. I'm almost
16:44there. There's a vast difference between
16:46the culture of the kingdom and the
16:49culture of the world.
16:50And it's not hard. Watch this. It's not
16:53hard
16:54to tell them apart if you are walking in
16:57the Spirit.
17:00You can tell the difference from the
17:01world
17:04or the difference from the church.
17:05According to Galatians 5:16 and 17, "So
17:09I say, walk in the Spirit, and you will
17:11not gratify the desires of the flesh.
17:14Walk in the Spirit." If you walk in the
17:16Spirit, the Holy Spirit will guide you
17:18every single day of how to conduct
17:21yourself on the job, at home, wherever
17:24you go. He'll teach you.
17:27Cuz we're all being tested every single
17:29day.
17:30When you leave church, what's your
17:32conduct?
17:33When you're in traffic, what's your con-
17:35Cuz it can happen to anybody.
17:38I'm telling you.
17:39Do you know how many times
17:42I'm driving, somebody cut me off.
17:45I don't mean
17:47disrespectful.
17:51Cut me off.
17:53And I have to keep catching myself.
17:55Don't say nothing.
17:59Not only that, just you save your life.
18:01People crazy today.
18:04They're crazy today.
18:06Right? Just Just Just watch your
18:08conduct. You know, I was telling the
18:10staff the other day,
18:12um
18:13I think it was the staff I was telling
18:15and I went and drove up to a gas
18:17station. Drove to a gas station. And
18:20when I drove up,
18:21man, I looked, money was on the ground.
18:26And I took the money up,
18:29and I walked right back into the Well, I
18:31didn't go in there first, you know. I
18:33walked right into the um
18:35the the store, the gas station there,
18:38and I said, "Hey, somebody just dropped
18:40and left this um money here, so forth."
18:45And they took it from me, and one person
18:47said, "Well, why you do cuz you know
18:49they're going to take it for the in
18:52I don't care.
18:56I don't care.
18:58That's not my character.
19:01I don't care if it's $10,000,
19:04$100,
19:06I'm not going to take it. It's not mine.
19:10The culture of the kingdom as a king
19:12Now, you it may sound weird, but pastor,
19:15somebody just dropped it there. What if
19:16you go to the grocery store, and the
19:18cashier just gave you $5 more, $20 more?
19:23As the
19:24kingdom citizen, you're not supposed to
19:27take that.
19:30This is a practical I know you're like,
19:32"Oh,
19:33No, you can't. No, cuz your conscience
19:36should say no. You It should You
19:38shouldn't even be thinking,
19:40[Music]
19:44That's where you WANT TO GET TO. YOU
19:45WANT TO GET TO WHERE THE HOLY SPIRIT
19:47INSTANTLY WILL TEACH YOU do the right
19:50thing.
19:55Come on now.
19:56This is not hard.
19:58It's not hard. Just do the right thing.
20:04And when you do it, God will honor you.
20:08Because that's what we do in the in in
20:09the kingdom of God. We we operate under
20:13different cultures. So, how to
20:14understand kingdom culture? If you want
20:16to understand kingdom culture, you must
20:17do two things. Write this down if you're
20:19taking notes. Number one, you have to
20:21have a personal relationship with Jesus
20:23Christ. Number two, you've got to
20:26uh be committed to reading, studying,
20:29and obeying God's word. Let me deal with
20:31number one.
20:32In John chapter 15 verse 5, the Bible
20:35says,
20:36Jesus speaking, he says, "I am the vine,
20:38you are the branches.
20:40If you remain in me and I in you, you
20:43will bear much fruit. Apart from me, you
20:46can do nothing." So, what Jesus is
20:48saying, if you stick with me
20:52and I stick with you, you're going to be
20:54all right.
20:56The fruit that you will bear will be
20:58good fruit. But you cannot bear good
21:00fruit
21:02if you dibble-dabble
21:05in the kingdom.
21:07If you cut a branch off a tree,
21:11literally cut it off,
21:13and try to attach it
21:15a week after,
21:17it's hard.
21:20You're not The branch gets its source
21:22from the vine,
21:25the roots.
21:26For you to survive and be a true
21:29Christian in this world today,
21:32you cannot be a part-time Christian.
21:38Boy, it's so quiet in here this morning.
21:41I just love this Presbyterian church,
21:43you know. I just love it.
21:46No, you can't.
21:48You you can't you you you you you have
21:50to recognize, according to the word of
21:52God, is that you have to follow Jesus
21:55Christ by having a personal relationship
21:57with him every single day. And guess
22:00what? He's not always going to tell you,
22:02"I want to bless you.
22:04I want to give you good health." Cuz
22:05that's the kind of gospel we want, a
22:07gospel of blessings. The same God who
22:10tells you, "I want to bless you," is the
22:12same God's going to say, "Hey,
22:14straighten yourself up, man.
22:17You know what you've been saying ain't
22:18right.
22:20You know the places you've been going.
22:22You ain't got no business going there.
22:24You know it. You you know it. You know
22:26it. I don't know if I'm talking to
22:27anybody here. You know it. You know it.
22:30You know them bushes you've been
22:32burning?
22:32[Music]
22:37[Music]
22:40Come on now.
22:42You you you you know cuz he's been
22:43talking to you, right? Because
22:46your light
22:48it's your light.
22:50It's your light. If your light is not
22:51shining,
22:53then other people are going to look at
22:54you, "Oh, he says he's a Christian.
22:58Why should Why should I believe in his
23:00God
23:01when he got the same temper I got?"
23:05Why should I believe in his God
23:08when you are the most toxic person at
23:10the workplace?
23:12Why should I come to your church?
23:17Why should I believe in God when your
23:18whole reputation tells me you can't be
23:20trusted?
23:24Cuz people they're not reading their
23:26Bible, the unchurched.
23:28If you confess that you know Jesus
23:31Christ as Lord and Savior, they are
23:32watching you.
23:37Woo! Glory to God.
23:39You got to be committed to reading the
23:41Bible, studying, and obeying God's word.
23:43Psalm 119:105, it says,
23:46be committed It says, "Your word is a
23:49lamp to my feet and a light unto my
23:51path." Just sit You see,
23:54it's very easy. If if if you if you
23:58want to embrace the world's culture,
23:59it's very easy. Here's what you do. Just
24:01ignore God.
24:04And I guarantee you operate in the
24:06kingdom culture in the in the culture of
24:07the world.
24:09Just ignore God, embrace self-made
24:11ideologies, and follow whatever is
24:14trending. That's another thing. Just do
24:16whatever is trending in society today,
24:18right? You know, the spirit of the age,
24:22the age that we live in in versus the
24:23spirit of God, is two different things.
24:26You know, we're living in the season
24:27where rampant deception
24:32is literally lurking around our society.
24:38The church is in a state where we're
24:41deceived.
24:43We're deceived.
24:45So, Bishop, how could you say that?
24:47We're deceived because we're no longer
24:49after the heart of God.
24:52We're after personal gain.
24:56We've been deceived.
24:58It is hard to tell
25:01true and anointed preachers today
25:04from the ones who are false.
25:07Let us just be Let us just be honest.
25:10You go on social media, everybody's
25:11prophesying.
25:13Everybody's got a word.
25:17Trust me when I tell you, it's hard
25:19today.
25:21You know why? Because because ministry
25:24has become
25:26a thing that we see through eyes,
25:30not through discernment.
25:34So, we've been deceived. Deceived to the
25:36point Watch this. Where we come each
25:38week and we gather. Like I said, it's
25:40the smoke, it's the light, it's the
25:42worship, it's that. But we're missing
25:45something that we keep forgetting.
25:49And that is every one of us will have to
25:52give an account one day
25:54how we live our lives.
26:01You do know if the rapture takes place,
26:04you stand before God. But we're we're
26:06not certain if we're going to live to
26:07see the rapture, but which we don't
26:09preach anymore in church. Um you do know
26:12every living thing dies.
26:16How is the church of the Lord Jesus
26:18Christ got so comfortable
26:21where we're not warning people
26:24that you will die.
26:26And when you die, you're going to stand
26:28before God that you have to give an
26:30account.
26:33You have to give an account.
26:36We don't like to hear that no more.
26:39People do anything, say anything they
26:41want to say. But we're forgetting we're
26:43forgetting that you're going to die and
26:46you're going to stand before God and
26:48that that God will ask you, "What have
26:51you done
26:53with the life I've given you?"
26:55CERTAINLY, YOU CANNOT tell him that
26:58Henry Fernandez did not preach the
27:00truth. I am hired by God as the heavens'
27:03mailman and I'm telling you every week I
27:05will come here, I'll preach it in season
27:08and out of season.
27:10It's your business to respond to it. I'm
27:13not going to force you to believe in me
27:16and force you to believe what I'm saying
27:18is right. I hope you have enough sense
27:20to be reading your Bible to check this
27:23preacher to make sure he's preaching the
27:25word of God and not what he feels.
27:30And if you are reading the word of God,
27:33you're not going to stand before God and
27:35say that man that you PUT AS THE PASTOR
27:37OVER THAT CHURCH COMPROMISED AND DID NOT
27:40PREACH THE TRUTH. YOU'RE NOT GOING TO
27:42LIE ON ME.
27:45[Music]
27:47We don't want to hear this anymore.
27:50Cuz we have lost our identity as A
27:52CHURCH.
27:56CHURCH IS NOT ABOUT PEOPLE. It is not
27:58about our outfits. IT'S ABOUT IT'S IT'S
28:00SELF-SERVING.
28:02WE ARE DIFFERENT. THAT'S NOT WHO WE ARE.
28:06WE ARE ABOUT OUR FATHER'S BUSINESS.
28:12OUR CULTURE IS DIFFERENT. WE'RE A
28:14FAMILY.
28:16That's another thing about THE CULTURE
28:18OF THE CHURCH, THE KINGDOM OF GOD. WE
28:20ARE a family. No matter the color you
28:22are, NO MATTER YOUR CULTURE, NO MATTER
28:24WHO YOU ARE, MALE or female, we are one
28:27in God AND GOD EXPECTS US TO TREAT
28:31EVERYBODY equal and to love EVERYBODY
28:35EVEN when we are different.
28:41So, when you have a church that is
28:43divided in culture and all these things,
28:45that's not God.
28:49That is not God.
28:51We can't be like the world
28:53messed up with all of their ideologies
28:56about, you know, all this nonsense. You
28:59can't bring that into the church.
29:04Because you have to follow the example
29:05of Jesus Christ. He had 12 imperfect
29:07boys that he selected and he loved them
29:10unconditionally. We've got to learn that
29:13in the church.
29:14So, when people offend you in the
29:16church, how dare you talk about these
29:18people offend me, so I'm going to leave
29:19the church?
29:21What if Jesus had thrown out all them 12
29:23boys when they started acting up?
29:26We need to grow up.
29:28Just like your family.
29:30I know you wish you could divorce some
29:32of your family members.
29:34But they are blood.
29:36And no matter what you do, they're still
29:38connected to you.
29:39What am I saying? I'm saying to you,
29:41when it comes to the church, the culture
29:44of the church is I know you're crazy. I
29:46know you have crazy. I know listen I
29:48know you just just I don't want to use
29:51the word, you know, it's the S word.
29:53I know it, but I got to love you.
29:57I got to pray with you.
29:59I got to believe in you.
30:01I just keep my distance from you, but we
30:04are one and you not going to get me to
30:06hate you no matter what because the
30:08culture of the kingdom is for me to love
30:11my brothers and my sisters.
30:14Ooh, they they they are not they're not
30:16giving no praise to God because of that.
30:18Let me wrap this up by saying this.
30:21If you truly have a hunger for the
30:23kingdom culture, watch this. The Holy
30:26Spirit will convict you and draw you
30:29to a different lifestyle.
30:31Ooh, and this is really what I hope this
30:33church will do and those of you
30:35streaming that I want to give you an
30:37invitation to join us in this kingdom
30:39culture.
30:41With a Holy Spirit will draw this church
30:44to first of recognizing
30:46that we all been saved by grace.
30:50Our job is not to judge people.
30:53Our job is not to come in here just
30:55because of what we want to get.
30:58But the culture of the kingdom is I see
31:00you my brother.
31:02You're important to God. I see you my
31:03sister. You're important to God.
31:06You know what? You start acting funny. I
31:08get that I leave you with God, but I'm
31:10going to love you.
31:12I'm going to love you no matter what.
31:15[Applause]
31:17See, it's different. We don't preach
31:18that. You
31:19you know, if you listen to some
31:20preacher's sermon today, I'm telling
31:22you.
31:23When you listen to some preacher's
31:25sermon, that cannot be God.
31:28It's a message of divide.
31:31Some preachers use their sermons to tell
31:33people off.
31:38Just like you
31:41will use your mouth to throw people
31:44under the bus and tell people off.
31:46But as kingdom citizen
31:49I demonstrated the other day a few weeks
31:51ago. The Bible says love covers
31:55a multitude of sin. When is the church
31:57going to get back to the place when
31:59somebody does something dumb, stupid,
32:01crazy, whatever, instead of calling them
32:03out, embarrassing them
32:05why don't we just do like Jesus, show
32:07them love.
32:10That's what's going to win people.
32:13That's what's going to win people. When
32:14you see these young people, I know I
32:16know these young people, they're
32:17different. Um trust me. Um trust me.
32:19Trust me. I'm 61. I don't I don't live
32:22down their lane. You all are something
32:24else.
32:27You all are something else. Trust me.
32:29How old are you?
32:3024. You're something else.
32:34I don't understand them.
32:36But you know why I have to give them
32:38grace?
32:39I was 24, too.
32:43See, that's the problem with some of us
32:45who are up in age. We forgot. We used to
32:47do the same dumb, stupid stuff these
32:51young people are doing and some of us
32:53were more crazy than these young people.
32:59Come on now.
33:00The culture of the kingdom is to embrace
33:02them and to be the light and to show
33:04them hey, because watch this. What where
33:07where else can they go?
33:12When somebody mess up, where else can
33:16they Are you going to send THEM OUT TO
33:18THE WOLVES? ARE YOU GOING TO SEND THEM
33:20OUT INTO THE KINGDOM OF DARKNESS? WHERE
33:22ELSE?
33:24THAT IS WHY THE CHURCH MUST BE A
33:26HOSPITAL.
33:27[Music]
33:30OUR JOB is to provide an environment
33:33where the hurting, the depressed, and
33:35those who are CONFUSED CAN FIND LOVE AND
33:37ACCEPTANCE THE SAME WAY JESUS GAVE IT TO
33:39US.
33:44It's a spiritual hospital.
33:47Our job is to make sure we do what is
33:49right.
33:51And live in the kingdom so when people
33:54look at us, they can say, you know what?
33:55That church up the street there. Let me
33:58tell you something, man. Those are some
34:00of the most loving caring people.
34:05Even when people
34:08are sinful
34:09and not walking right
34:12they are loving
34:14and they're caring.
34:15That's the culture of the kingdom. The
34:17culture of the world is to
34:19divide and conquer.
34:22That's why I'm telling you you you got
34:23to be different. Take this message not
34:26just for in here
34:28but when you go out there this week as
34:30you're living, what kind of a behavior
34:33do you have on the job?
34:36You have to be different.
34:38You can't
34:40You may have to go now and you may not
34:43want to have a lunch with that co-worker
34:45anymore.
34:47And I know they're going to talk who you
34:48think you are. You think you're better?
34:50No, I just don't want to get my culture
34:52messed up.
34:56You may just have to say I can't have
34:57lunch with you. I can't have these
34:59conversations with you anymore.
35:01Family members, you you're going to have
35:03to step up to the plate and say I have
35:06because your family is watching you and
35:08one of the reason why some of them are
35:09not going to church and don't like
35:12church
35:14is because of your actions.
35:18How can you say you go to church
35:21and you're the terrorist in the family.
35:27You're not acting accordingly.
35:30I'm going to encourage you. It may not
35:32be a message to excite you this morning.
35:34I can preach that.
35:37But this church
35:39you must now be the light.
35:43[Applause]
35:45That's all I'm asking you to do.
35:49Be different.
35:51Let's become a people when people see
35:53us.
35:55The first thing they know of this
35:57church. I remember when we started years
35:58ago, some of you been here long enough
36:01to know.
36:02You know one of the things that this
36:03church was known for and we kind of
36:06shifted a little bit and we've lost
36:08that.
36:09And I hope we will bring it back.
36:11If you've been here long enough
36:13one of the things people would say about
36:15the Faith Center is
36:17man, them people are the most loving
36:20people on the planet.
36:22[Music]
36:24That's the greatest testimony.
36:26See, you're judging an effective church
36:28by numbers.
36:31You're judging an effective church by
36:33the preacher.
36:37That's not God.
36:41Cuz I could preach good.
36:43We can pack this place out but be the
36:45most nastiest
36:48evil group of people.
36:51We were known for love.
36:54So the culture of this house is
36:57you don't have to know the person.
36:59They may look different from you.
37:01They may have an accent, whatever it is.
37:04Our job is when we walk in here, you
37:06don't have to know me to just say hi.
37:11[Applause]
37:13The culture of the ministry ought to be
37:16the Holy Spirit leading you to pray for
37:18people. Shut this gossiping down.
37:22Whatever it is.
37:25Shut it down.
37:26All this nonsense that we wasting time
37:29talking and dealing with. Get back to
37:31the culture of the kingdom.
37:33Love people, embrace people, and go out
37:36there and disciple people. I've always
37:39said this. I've never in 34 years tried
37:42to encourage people to leave their
37:43church to go somewhere else.
37:45It's not transplant. We don't need to
37:47transplant people from other church to
37:49come to our church.
37:52There's over 2 million people in Broward
37:54County. Most of them ain't saved.
37:59Those are the people we need to go
38:00after.
38:01Beyond church.
38:04That's who we need to go after. How do
38:06we do it? It's not going out there with
38:08these tracks, these little thing. Do you
38:10know the Lord Jesus Christ is your
38:11personal savior? If you don't know him,
38:12you know you going to hell. You know
38:14that.
38:16That's not how you witness.
38:18How you witness
38:21is when they watch your conduct.
38:24And one day something going to happen to
38:26them, they going to come to you.
38:28Um can you pray for me?
38:33Perfect opportunity.
38:35Oh, sure. I'll pray for you.
38:37And you pray for them and then you can
38:38say
38:39you know
38:41I'd love to invite you to my church.
38:46See, that's evangelism.
38:49That's why we're here.
38:53So I want to ask the Faith Center
38:57to lay aside every dead weight
39:00and the sins
39:03that is holding us back.
39:06And let's reach forward to doing what
39:08God has called us to do. Would you
39:10please bow your heads.
39:12I close with this.
39:16I know you're here today. I know you're
39:18streaming.
39:20Man, it I know I get it. It's not a
39:23message.
39:24It wasn't a message, you know, pastor
39:26didn't
39:27you know, fired up. I get that.
39:32But this is not the intent for the
39:33series.
39:35The intent for the series is not to
39:37excite you. It's to challenge you.
39:40It's to bring conviction.
39:45And
39:47I think God is calling the Faith Center
39:49Church
39:50to be the light.
39:53To be the light.
39:56And there's some of you in this room,
39:58some of you are watching.
40:00The Holy Spirit has already convicted
40:02you this morning.
40:04And you know he's talking to you.
40:07Cuz he's challenging you saying, "Hey,
40:10I sent this message
40:12as a way of convicting you.
40:15Don't resist it.
40:17Don't feel bad about it.
40:19You should rejoice
40:21because it's an expression of his love
40:23towards you
40:25to get you
40:26to do the right thing.
40:29If that's you this morning, as I close
40:31the service out,
40:33if you felt convicted by the Holy Spirit
40:35that
40:36you need to now begin to
40:39be the light.
40:42And you need pastor to pray with you.
40:44I'd love to do that this morning.
40:47I want to pray with you.
40:48If that's you from the comfort of your
40:50seat, please come.
40:53That's how I want to end the service.
40:54Please come. Don't wait on anybody.
40:57You just come
40:59and say, "Holy Spirit, I got convicted.
41:03I got convicted.
41:06I got convicted.
41:09I got convicted.
41:11Come on now.
41:13Come on. I got convicted. Come on. We
41:15should be celebrating these people.
41:18I got convicted.
41:22I got convicted. I got convicted. I got
41:25convicted.
41:27Okay, I'll wait for the rest to come.
41:29I'll wait for the rest to come. Come on
41:30quickly.
41:31Come on.
41:33Come on.
41:38You see,
41:40you are the people God wants to use.
41:44Listen to me. You are the people God
41:46wants to use.
41:49And here's the reason why I say that.
41:51But there's a culture in the church
41:53that's not kingdom culture. There's a
41:54culture in the church
41:57where we shame people
42:00for being honest.
42:02For being honest.
42:04Because there's a tendency some of us
42:06pretend as if we've always gotten it
42:09right.
42:10And so many times the Holy Spirit is
42:13is convicting us and we don't respond.
42:16But you this morning,
42:19you responded
42:20in front of all these people, in front
42:22of the world, you responded. See, God
42:25honors that.
42:27He honors that.
42:30Right?
42:32And this is what I will say to you and
42:34then I pray with you. I'm telling you,
42:36take it from me.
42:38I've been in church pretty much all of
42:40my life.
42:41All my life.
42:43And the thing that I can absolutely tell
42:46you about God,
42:48he's faithful.
42:52He's faithful.
42:54He'll never leave you
42:57nor forsake you.
43:00That if if you if you embrace his
43:02forgiveness
43:04and you turn your life around, I promise
43:06you,
43:08you'll never regret it. I see so many
43:09young people here today.
43:12So many of you.
43:14So many of you.
43:17And I am dead serious in saying this, I
43:20would trade my age for your age any day.
43:25You know why? You are at such a
43:29ripe age
43:31that listen to me.
43:33I got saved from I was around 10.
43:3761.
43:39Such kind of like
43:4151
43:42years
43:44of serving God. Now watch this now.
43:47When I tell you
43:49and I'm saying this
43:50this is going to hit some of you.
43:52Listen to me. Listen to pastor
43:54carefully.
43:57I am so glad
44:00that I gave my life to Jesus Christ at
44:02that age.
44:04Cuz that was what kept me.
44:08You want to be kept?
44:11Don't you follow
44:12that world.
44:14That world will eat you alive and spit
44:19you out.
44:21I'm telling you.
44:23It feels good.
44:25Trust me.
44:27The club in.
44:31All the stuff, the women, the men,
44:34the sex, the drugs.
44:37Ain't nobody Listen, it feels good.
44:43Good.
44:46I'm going to tell you something.
44:49That world will use you,
44:51abuse you,
44:54and by the time you hit 40,
44:57you're a shipwreck.
45:00Don't let it happen to you.
45:02You serve God.
45:05And if you have to do it by yourself,
45:07it's okay. You serve God.
45:13You serve him.
45:15Would you stand with me, everybody? You
45:17serve him. You serve him.
45:19The commitment you're making today,
45:21here's what you need to do.
45:23You need to be serious.
45:26Don't just come down here today and
45:27that's the end of it.
45:30You cut off all them bad friends.
45:33Have the guts to do it. Cut them off.
45:36They're going to talk about you anyway.
45:38It's survival mode now.
45:41I'm telling you, it's survival mode now.
45:45You get in your Bible.
45:47You start reading it.
45:50You come to church.
45:52The devil is going to do everything to
45:53stop you from coming to church.
45:56He's going to come up with all kind of
45:57stuff. You keep coming to church. This
45:59is a safe place.
46:01You keep coming.
46:03Right? You're going to be tempted after
46:04today. All kinds of stuff is going to
46:06happen. But you get around the right
46:08people.
46:10You hear me, sir?
46:12Don't take any more chances with your
46:14life.
46:16I'm talking to you.
46:20Don't do it.
46:28There is an anointing on your life.
46:33Bring him to me.
46:35Come here, sir.
46:36[Applause]
46:39[Music]
46:41[Applause]
46:44[Music]
46:44[Applause]
46:48I'm just going to ask you this question
46:50by the power of the Holy Spirit. Why are
46:52you running?
46:54Why?
46:57Why do you keep running from God?
47:03Stop it.
47:05Stop running.
47:08Today is your day of deliverance.
47:12[Applause]
47:14I'm telling you.
47:18I see a young man
47:21that from birth
47:25your mama
47:27knew that you were special.
47:30You're a special young man.
47:33And all the stuff you've been dealing
47:35with
47:36is a distraction
47:39to get you out of your purpose.
47:43But I'm telling you, sir,
47:45there are generations waiting to hear
47:47you.
47:49That's how special you are.
47:55And the moment, listen to me, the moment
48:00you develop
48:02the courage
48:05to walk away,
48:09I'm telling you.
48:11If you can develop the courage
48:13today
48:14to walk away,
48:17watch what God's going to do in your
48:18life.
48:22Is this making any sense to you?
48:25Am I speaking accurately to your life?
48:29Are you willing to walk away?
48:31Are you willing? You're sure now?
48:36Get me a mic, please. Give me a mic.
48:40Give me a mic.
48:42Hold this. Okay. What did you say?
48:46Hold the mic up to your mouth, please.
48:50Let me make sure it's on. It's off. Cuz
48:52I want the people to hear this.
48:55Yes.
48:59It's hard.
49:03Mhm.
49:09I'm just trying to be
49:10[Applause]
49:12true to the path. I know it's hard. I'm
49:14trying to feel it out and just go. Cuz I
49:16got no back. No no back.
49:19No back.
49:19>> done this before. So yeah, it's hard.
49:21Like I feel like I know the right thing
49:24to do, but it don't feel
49:27I just keep getting distracted and I
49:28don't know. Like
49:31I know it's for me. I know God got
49:33something for me.
49:35But I know the enemy is just trying so
49:38hard to Let you guys listen to me
49:41from the route I need to go. I mean, I I
49:43empower myself. I
49:45I pray to God, but it's like if you
49:47don't come from that surrounding, it's
49:49hard. You know, so that's why what you
49:51said I got to find the right people. I'm
49:53doing it all on my own. I I feel like
49:55it's the right thing to do, but if you
49:57don't come from that background, that
50:00that surrounding, and you know none of
50:01your friends, your family, like I'm on
50:03the path by myself, so it's hard hard to
50:05stand in it cuz everybody making me feel
50:07like I'm not doing it right. Like I'm
50:09just feel like I'm the weird one. So,
50:11this whole word is for me. Like I don't
50:13I know like
50:15it's something different, so I don't
50:17really care like if people think I'm
50:18being funny or whatever. Like I know I'm
50:20going the right way, but sometimes I
50:22want that embrace me and that
50:23encouragement and assure me that I'm
50:25doing the right thing cuz distractions
50:27come. Okay. Well, hear me out clearly
50:30now. In that promise, we got to get out
50:32of here.
50:33But, God brought you here today for this
50:36word.
50:42Just just by hearing your testimony
50:46you know, cuz as a preacher, you know,
50:48like me, I'm a human, you want to be
50:50accepted.
50:51And I knew this series
50:54God was using it to really
50:57pull the church up
51:00to get us right.
51:01And I knew I'm going to say some stuff
51:03that's not normal.
51:06You know, um, cuz the word of God has
51:08been diluted for so long, so many times.
51:10I'm talking around the world.
51:13And to hear you today
51:16share that
51:17makes me feel that if there's only one
51:19person I preached to today
51:22it's worth it all.
51:25Seriously, it's worth it.
51:28You have no idea the amount of men
51:31you're giving hope to today.
51:34Because it's not easy to get men to cry.
51:37It's not easy cuz we you know, we try to
51:40muscle up.
51:41And for you to pour your heart out
51:44in a safe place like this
51:46I honor you for that. Now, you talk
51:48about
51:50that you're doing this on your own.
51:53Not anymore.
51:55[Music]
51:59See, this is the culture of our church
52:01now.
52:02Not anymore.
52:03So, here's what I'm going to do. I'm
52:06going to do this now. We can do our
52:08part. You have to do your part.
52:11Likewise, all of you, you have to do
52:14your part. I'm not just going to do this
52:15for you
52:16but the rest of you. Now, here's what I
52:18want.
52:20Minister Damian, would you come here?
52:23He was just recently ordained as a
52:26minister.
52:28Great spirit.
52:30Um, and I feel the Lord is saying
52:33he's not going to be your mentor.
52:38All right? Now,
52:40remember
52:41[Applause]
52:43I can assign him to you
52:46but you may not return his call. You may
52:48not follow up with him. It's on you.
52:52One thing you cannot say again is that
52:54you're alone.
52:56And that would be a lie.
53:00You're not doing this by yourself
53:02anymore.
53:03God's going to use him
53:06to get you to where you need to go.
53:08Now, quickly, stay right there. The rest
53:11of you, turn around. Just you you guys
53:13turn around to the audience, please. Do
53:14me a favor.
53:16Thank you for your patience, but I got
53:18to do this.
53:20Do not move if you're not inspired to do
53:25this.
53:26This is serious now.
53:28Don't do it.
53:32Don't try to come up here to show off
53:34anything.
53:36Every one of these people standing here
53:40I want to assign a men
53:43tor to them.
53:45Now, now, now, before you clap, before
53:46you clap.
53:48For the next
53:51a couple of weeks and the entire month
53:53of October, your job is you're going to
53:55get their phone number.
53:57I want male to male, female to female.
54:02And you are going to call them.
54:07Every week, multiple times a week
54:10and you're going to pray with them, do
54:12Bible study on the phone with them.
54:15And you're going to encourage them.
54:18Your job is to be an intercessor for
54:21them.
54:24And help them get through October.
54:27That's all I want you to do.
54:30So,
54:31I want if you're led, you got the time,
54:35you're not crazy
54:38I don't want you to be talking no crazy
54:40nonsense to these young people.
54:43And you're flowing in the spirit, I want
54:45you to move and come and find one person
54:47to stand next to them. Come, move
54:48quickly.
54:50Females, come on, move.
54:52Females, come on. Females.
54:55Then brothers, we only have a few guys.
54:57You find them. Come on, you find a
54:59brother.
55:01Just go to a female. Come on.
55:04All right?
55:05Those of you don't have somebody coming
55:07to you yet, please raise your hand.
55:09Raise your hand.
55:10And the moment somebody comes and hug
55:12you, then you put your hand down. We
55:14still need more. This is the church.
55:16This is what I'm talking about. Okay?
55:18Raise your hand. I still got some people
55:20here. Ladies,
55:23Okay. Okay. All right?
55:26I still got some people here.
55:29Still got some people here. And then
55:30we're going to pray. This is so good,
55:32man. This is so good. Now, we're going
55:34to pray. We're going to pray. We're
55:36going to pray.
55:37All right? Those of you in the audience,
55:39while they're coming, stretch your hands
55:40now. Let me pray so I can let you go. I
55:42know you want to get out of here.
55:44Father, I thank you for the service.
55:46Thank you for the direction in which
55:48this went today.
55:50I pray for every person who will now
55:53have a mentor.
55:55Give them wisdom as they talk to these
55:57people
55:58for the month of October.
56:00In their darkest hour
56:02that you will be with them.
56:04That you give them words of wisdom.
56:06And for these mentees, I ask by the
56:09power of the Holy Spirit that you'll
56:10touch them.
56:11Male and female.
56:14So, by the end of October they'll be at
56:17a different and a better place. Thank
56:19you for their honesty. Thank you for
56:21this church. Thank you
56:23for the direction that you're guiding us
56:25in. Thank you for how you're teaching us
56:28to be the salt and light of the world.
56:31And Father, we'll forever be careful to
56:33give you the praise, the honor, and the
56:34glory.
56:35And we will always declare
56:38as we come to service tomorrow
56:41for a day of fast to close it off. We
56:45believe faith in God will always move
56:49mountains out of our lives in Jesus'
56:51name. Amen.