Revival Begins With Us
Bishop Henry Fernandez Preached on 9/6/2026
Loading…
0:00
60:31
Summary
Bishop Henry Fernandez challenges believers to ignite their God-given potential through intentional living and obedience. Using the church at Ephesus as a backdrop, he calls the congregation to move past cultural distractions and materialism to become active witnesses and vessels of revival.
Key points
- •Revival begins with individual transformation and fanning the flame of the gifts God has already placed within you.
- •Obedience is the prerequisite for miracles; one cannot force a supernatural move of God while living in disobedience.
- •Believers are called to be 'children of light' who live intentionally, sensibly, and courageously, rather than being shaped by the cultural values or pagan influences of the world.
- •Personal trials are often the training ground for future ministry; your current struggle may be the key to someone else's breakthrough.
- •True spiritual growth requires taking full responsibility for one's destiny rather than blaming past trauma, people, or circumstances.
Scripture
Spiritual Growth
Obedience
Purpose
Faith
Evangelism
Life application
This week, identify one area of your life where you have been waiting for a miracle and replace that waiting with an act of obedience. Additionally, refuse to let the opinions of others occupy 'mental real estate' and focus instead on fanning your God-given gifts into a flame.
Reflection questions
- What gifts or 'smoke' has God placed in your life that you have stopped fanning into a flame?
- In what ways are you allowing your external environment or current culture to dictate your identity rather than the Word of God?
- Are there people in your life whose opinions you have given unauthorized authority over your peace?
- Who in your circle is waiting for the 'fire' of your testimony to help them through their own darkness?
Have a question about this sermon?
Ask our AI and get an answer with citations.
Full transcript
0:00sustained, right? Remember, if he can get the blessing through you, he'll get it
0:01to you. So he has to first bless you so you can bless his
0:06house. So never get that twisted. He wants you blessed first
0:12so that you can be a blessing. Alright? So I'm going to challenge
0:18every one of you to honor God with your first fruit. Honor Him.
0:23We've been on this campaign for a couple of weeks now and we're
0:29asking everyone of you who can to give a one-time gift as
0:35we're coming out of the summer. We want to finish 2026 strong where
0:41we're able to maintain our monthly obligations. If you can, over and above,
0:47give a gift of $350 or $1,000. Give at your level, right? Give
0:53at your level. Don't just hear it, participate. You know, think about it.
0:59Say, God, you know, like many people, they prayed about it. They didn't have it.
1:04They prayed about it. And they said, God, if you can get it to me,
1:09then I'll give it to the church. And there are many people who have shared
1:14with me personally that they prayed that prayer and God opened the door and gave
1:19it to them. Right? And they brought it to the house of God. So if
1:25you have the heart, because all God is asking is for the heart, the heart
1:30of generosity. If the heart is there, he'll make it possible. Because after all, if
1:34he wants you to bless his house, then he's going to give seed to the
1:39sower. He will never want you to become a farmer and don't give you the
1:44seed. Alright, so I'm going to encourage you, please make sure that you're sowing
1:50into the kingdom of God each and every week. So I'm challenging every one of
1:56you to give. Now today I'm going to ask you, please, business owners, we just
2:01prayed for you. In fact, the two individuals who met me in the lobby this
2:07morning, Both said that they brought their special seed out of their business to sow
2:12into the kingdom of God this morning. And perhaps you might want to just say,
2:17Lord, is this the right day for me to step out in faith and say,
2:22Lord, you know, I'm going to sow this special seed on the behalf of my
2:27business. And I'm going to believe God for a miracle. We're not asking you to
2:31pay for a miracle today. This is not to bribe you to give to get.
2:37However, it is impossible to be generous and God not bless
2:43you. Scripture says give and it's automatic. Right? It's automatic.
2:48It's like a faucet at your house when you go into your house, in
2:54your bathroom, in your kitchen. When you turn that faucet on, you do not
3:00have to say to the faucet, I speak water to come forth now in
3:06the name of Jesus if you pay your water bill.
3:15See if you know you paid the water bill you
3:21just walked her turn it on BAM water supposed to
3:27come you have to devil and Cast out demons out
3:32of your sink and your pipe you cannot watch this
3:38you cannot force a miracle That is not backed by
3:43obedience Can't force it can't force a miracle. I
3:49Because at the end of the day, God doesn't
3:54get excited, watch this, over miracles. See, we church
4:00people, we want miracles, miracles, miracles, miracles, miracles. But
4:05God just saying, just simply obey. You know, you
4:11don't need a miracle. Some miracles, heal me, heal
4:16me, heal me, heal me. Let's just start eating
4:21right. Start resting. Stop stressing. Now they're not going
4:27to give. because they're mad at the pastor. But do
4:33you understand what I'm saying? Right? A miracle is always backed
4:39by obedience. All right, we're going to say our confession, but
4:44before we do that, yes, play this video to prove my
4:50point. Play that video, please. Today I have the pleasure of
4:55sitting down with LaToya. to share how God has used her to be a
5:01blessing. LaToya, how are you? I'm doing well, thank you for asking. How are you?
5:06I'm doing good, thank you. So LaToya, a couple Sundays ago, you actually got a
5:11message to Bishop Fernandez that I want to bless someone with $500. That was so
5:17awesome for you to do that. Can you tell us a little bit about why
5:22you felt that on this Sunday I needed to bless someone with $500? Well, the
5:27reason why I did that, it was upon me to bless someone. It was the
5:32Spirit led me to do that. So I was like, I'm going to do that.
5:37I didn't think it was going to lead to all of this. I just wanted
5:42to be a blessing to someone because I'm coming out of a season where it's
5:46been quite difficult for me. People have blessed me and I needed some bless. Someone
5:51it was just upon my heart to do so and I'm just really happy that
5:56I was able to do that Yes, and you were so specific with who you
6:00wanted to bless it had to be this person or this person Can you tell
6:05us about that and why was it important that those details were maintained? It was
6:10important because that's my testimony. I'm a single mom and I'm a mom that's coming
6:15out of Pending homelessness. I've been going I Through that for some time now, and
6:19I'm finally out of that So I needed to be a blessing to someone else
6:24um so I was very specific that it had to be that it had to
6:28be those two Criteria is nothing else so it had to be a single mom
6:33yep with children with children somebody who was homeless Mm-hmm and somebody was pending homelessness
6:38or coming out of homelessness anything in that in the that criteria Wow and as
6:42God would have it I On that Sunday when you said you had to do
6:48what God told you to do, there was a young lady in the audience who
6:53was homeless, a single mom, and with a daughter. And you also mentioned that she
6:59was pregnant. You just told me a while ago. Yes, she stated that, which was
7:05wild to me or crazy. Because I was pregnant and I was homeless at one
7:10point of time so me sitting in my seat hearing that knowing it was just
7:14I knew no one else knew that that was me who started that it felt
7:19so good it was such a good feeling because I've been in that shoes I've
7:24been in her shoes I know what that feels like so it just it feels
7:28really good. Feels good to obey God and to see. And you know, that's what
7:34our confession is that we say every Sunday. We are blessed to be a blessing
7:38to others. And God used you in a mighty way because that young lady not
7:43only received the $500, but we saw what happened church, right? God allowed the spirit
7:48of generosity to come here and really just bless her in such a way that
7:52she's no longer homeless. And that was on the act of your obedience. Yes. So
7:57we praise God for that. Of course. Yes. And so much has happened because you
8:02also shared about a way that God blessed you with a car. Can you share
8:07a little bit about that? So I've been without a car for almost two years.
8:12And... prayed and asked for a car and I had two persons that said to
8:17me maybe you should ask for a car with no payment and I'm like a
8:22car with no payment who's gonna do that and I just tried it and here
8:27I am with the car no car payment nothing no I didn't pay for no
8:32transfer fee title no insurance for six months like it's it's bizarre I don't know
8:36it's just God like I I He put me in a season where I had
8:42to trust nothing but Him. Nobody else could do it but Him. A free
8:48car. Insurance paid for six months. Look at God. Won't he do it? Won't
8:54he do it? And church, we wish we had more time to go into just
8:59how you are a giver. But from that $500, we can see. And God will
9:05always, always give more to those who give and supply. So thank you for sharing
9:10your testimony. Continue to listen and obey God. Of course. Wow. Is that
9:16lady here today? The lady in the video. Are you here today? Wave your
9:22hand. Stand. Wave your hand. You here? Where is she? Where? Come on down
9:27here quick. The lady who we bless. I think I saw. Come on over
9:33here. Come on over here. Come on. So long story short, if you remember
9:39when we blessed a woman who needed, she was homeless, all the kind of
9:44stuff. It wasn't a Bishop Fernandez
9:50idea. This woman, what was so crazy
9:55about the story, pregnant, homeless, no car,
10:01decided God blessed her, so she needs
10:07to bless someone else. It's amazing. And
10:13because of her obedience, hi, sweetheart, because
10:19of her obedience, this woman, wow, wow,
10:25because of her obedience, pregnant, homeless,
10:30No car. God merged them together. Living testimonies today
10:36that if you faith it forward, don't miss this,
10:41you faith it forward and don't be afraid to
10:47go through your current situation because could it be
10:52God took you through that for this? Wow. I'm
10:57going to give you, I wish I could give
11:03you a whole week to testify, but could you
11:08just take one minute to tell these people
11:14how you feel. One minute. Go ahead, quickly. That's
11:20alright. It's okay. It's alright. It's alright. Stand beside
11:26her, please. Yes. Good morning. I'll hold it for
11:31you. Thank you. I have been in a very
11:37difficult season in my life. These last four and
11:43a half, five years has been the hardest for
11:49me that I've been through things, but these last
11:55five years has been extremely difficult. It got so bad that I
12:00was calling up here every week for prayer because I didn't know what else to
12:06do. I couldn't do nothing else. Pastor Joy, I tell you, I called so much
12:11that she knows my voice by my name because I had to utilize the church.
12:17I had to call on people. I had people who stepped into my life. Pastor
12:22Beckford, who initially, her and my therapist are the ones that told me that. Just
12:27pray for a car, a free car. And I'm like, that's not going to work.
12:32God put me in a place where I had to depend on him and him
12:37alone. There was nobody else. And that's why I'm crying because no one else could
12:42help me. It was nobody else that could help me. So for anyone who, as
12:47a single mom, like no support system, nothing, nothing. I literally have to depend
12:53on God to help raise me and my child. So
12:59if anybody is in here who feels like they can't
13:04do it or it's too rough, I am a testimony
13:10because he has been there for me when no one
13:16else could have done it. I am so thankful for
13:21this church. I am so thankful for you, Bishop. It's
13:27okay. It's okay. Wow, beautiful. I know what it is to be pregnant
13:33and homeless. It is the hardest, the hardest, the hardest. But I'm here now
13:39with a car. I'm here now not facing eviction no more. It is only
13:44God. And I'm just so thankful. i know him i'm so thankful for those people
13:50you don't have to be no big christian you don't have to be this you
13:55just need to know god just talk to him just talk i started with me
13:59with just talking and acknowledging him and letting him know like i need you so
14:04you need to show up and he put people in your life he put people
14:09in my life my therapist in my life he put if you need the help
14:14Please go seek it. My therapist is one of my angels here on this earth,
14:20and I thank God for her. And everybody that God has put in my life
14:25are godly people who believe in God. Wow. Wow. I need a therapist after this.
14:31This is too much. Go ahead. you have about a minute go ahead say something
14:37just say something go say something um good morning church um i just want to
14:41say thank god for her give her a round of applause for being obedient for
14:46just just standing in the paint because even myself i've been through a lot i
14:51can write a book pastor joy said the little time that we had i could
14:56write a book about my life But I'm just waiting on God to allow me
15:00to write that book. But with her obedience, and like I said, I came on
15:05that Sunday just to come to be a planter seat for my daughter for back
15:10to school prayer. And the time, nobody knew what I was going through, but I
15:14just trusted in God through the whole season. And through the whole process of me
15:19receiving letters, hey, you have a three-day notice, you have this, and I'm just continuing
15:23on with life. I'm being a servant. I'm continuing on work. I wasn't working at
15:28that time, but I started a new job, and I knew with my first check...
15:33I'm going to plant that seed and put that $350 that I wanted to give.
15:38So if you're in a season right now, you're battling, you're going through it, you're
15:43homeless or even in looking for homelessness, don't look at, oh, I'm trying to put
15:48$10 here to pay that rent. Pay the $350. Pay the $1,000 if you can
15:53and watch and see what God do for you. Wow. Thank you. Thank you. Come
15:59on, give it up for these two ladies. Amen. Do we have any... What
16:04happened? What happened? Oh, okay. Okay, it was a
16:10God moment. Ah, look, what happened? What do I
16:15miss? If we have any licensed therapists in the
16:21room, please stand. Licensed therapists. Okay, we got one.
16:26Remain standing. Come on, stand, stand. All right, come
16:31on now. Licensed, all right. So if you need therapy,
16:37go, please, I need, you know, I need to see me after church
16:43because I need counseling right now. But this is so powerful. Father, we
16:49thank you for the testimony of your people. We give from our heart
16:55this morning because by giving, we get to prove you. I pray people
17:00are streaming right now. We'll now walk in obedience. and
17:06watch you move in all areas of their lives. Bless this ministry as we continue
17:12to do your work. In Jesus name we pray, Amen. Now quickly if you're given
17:18the conventional way there are envelopes in the pockets of the chairs in front of
17:24you please reach out grab a hold of it complete it with your information the
17:29digital given information is on the screen for those of you are streaming on campus
17:34you can give through push pay you can give through Zelle please make sure with
17:39the Zelle You type the information in as accurately as possible. Those of
17:45you who are streaming overseas, PayPal and the church's website, which is the
17:51Faith Center, int.org, are your best options. You can also call the number
17:57on your screen. Ministry operators standing by ready to receive your call for you
18:03to give. If you are trying to give electronically and you get an error message,
18:08please try again because sometimes with that many people on the Wi-Fi, it will knock
18:14you out or it will reject your giving. So please keep trying and the Lord
18:20richly blesses. bless you but can everyone just do your part this morning those
18:26of you are streaming online please pass those containers around and the lord
18:32bless you as you give the lord bless you thank you so much
18:37thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you thank
18:43you and while you're given the bookstore As Pastor Kevin mentioned to you,
18:49that this month's theme is Ignite. We have a few of these t-shirts.
18:54You may want to get it immediately after service in the bookstore. It'll
19:00be a blessing to you. And hopefully you will join us for Wednesday
19:06night Bible study. this Wednesday. Amen. Alright, let's give quickly and
19:11then we're going to omit the sermonic song this morning. I want
19:17to get straight into the word. I don't want you to miss
19:23this. Amen. In the meantime, please turn in your Bible to Ephesians
19:29chapter 5. Those of you who are streaming Ephesians chapter 5,
19:35And we look at verse 15 to
19:4117. Amen. Thank you so much. Ephesians
19:47chapter 5, 15 through 17. These are
19:53the writings of the Apostle Paul. He
19:59said, Live in life with honor, purpose and courage,
20:04shone in those who tolerate and enable evil, not as
20:10the unwise, but as wise, sensible, intelligent, discerning people. Make
20:16the very most of your time on the earth, recognizing
20:22and taking advantage of each opportunity and using it with
20:28wisdom and diligence. because the days are filled
20:34with evil. Therefore do not be foolish or
20:39thoughtless, but understand and firmly grasp what the
20:45will of the Lord is. Therefore do not
20:51be foolish and thoughtless, but understand and firmly
20:57grasp what the will of the Lord is.
21:05I want to begin first of all by saying that there's
21:10something inside of every one of you. There's more. There is
21:16more inside of everybody in this room and everybody who's streaming.
21:22There's more on the inside of you. And today can be,
21:28I firmly believe, a life-changing moment for many of you, whether
21:33you are worshiping on campus or you are online. And
21:39I say that because you have an opportunity today to
21:45ignite or reignite what God has already placed on the
21:50inside of you. Some of you are praying for God
21:56to bring things in your life when He's actually saying
22:02you already have it. You already possess it. You see,
22:07you already possess your God-given potential. to become the person
22:13God created you to be in spite of your past, your present circumstances
22:19and whatever challenges may come in the future. You are not an afterthought.
22:24God didn't just create you and placed you on the planet and now
22:30he's got to figure out how to take care of you.
22:36He's got to figure out how to help you to navigate through life.
22:42Everything you need now and in the future, you already possess them. That's
22:48why Paul said in Timothy, 2 Timothy 1, 6, he said, now please
22:54don't miss this. Please pay attention to this. When I read this,
23:00and I've read this passage of scripture over and over, but something
23:05jumped out of the pages of the Bible and got into me.
23:11Paul was talking to this young Timothy entrepreneur. This young leader who,
23:16by the way, had no prior experience of leadership.
23:22Some of you are in this room, you're streaming and you're wondering if you are
23:28capable. Why? Because God has put something in you that there is no point of
23:34reference. There's nobody in your family has ever done what you are attempting to do.
23:40And it's scary this young guy Timothy has never led
23:45anybody in his life. He's even young He has no
23:51experience and Paul said to him fan into flame the
23:56gift of God Which is in you Paul was saying
24:02you got it in you It may not look like
24:07fire right now, but as long as you have smoke
24:14Fan the smoke that will ultimately become fire. Now some of you don't
24:20understand this. You don't understand this. I used to have a grandmother. She
24:25back in Jamaica in the country. She would put some rocks together and
24:31some sticks between it. just rub some sticks together and all
24:37of a sudden she'll put some paper in between it and you
24:42see little smoke and you would think ain't no fire gonna come
24:48from that but my grandmother would just keep doing like this and
24:54before you know it fire some of you just need to keep
24:59fanning the ideas the creativity that God has put in you and
25:05if you keep fanning it Fire will come. So
25:11notice Paul didn't tell Timothy to go looking for something
25:17he didn't have. He said essentially stir up what is
25:23already there. I understand you're not your best self yet.
25:29I understand you don't have a testimony yet. But fan
25:35the flame and the passion of who you are.
25:41Who you are. Listen to me men. I don't care what you've been through. I
25:47don't care the setbacks you have had in your life. Fan the flame of becoming
25:53the best man that God has created you to be. Women, fan the flame. I
25:59don't care if it's been a divorce. I don't care if it's been that you
26:05are now a single parent and you're left to raise your kids by yourself because
26:11the man is absent. It doesn't matter what life has thrown at you. You get
26:17up every day and you keep fanning the flame of success in every area of
26:23your life and somebody ought to give God praise for that. Paul was saying that
26:29there are gifts already there. He was saying there are potential.
26:34You have, excuse me, there is potential already there. There is
26:40purpose already there. There's another level of spiritual maturity already waiting
26:46to be developed in you. So the fire may be low,
26:51but the gift is still there. Some of you, honestly, you're
26:57exhausted. You're tired. Come on now. You've been tired for a
27:03long time. Tired of dating. Tired of being
27:08in that marriage. Tired of raising these crazy kids. Tired of
27:14going to this job that you hate. Come on now. Tired
27:20of going to the gym. Now, some of you like the
27:26gym, but there are many people struggling every time to go
27:31to the gym. But what Paul is saying here, the fire
27:37may be low. In other words, the passion and the desire
27:43may be low. but the gift is still
27:49there. The money may not be coming in at this
27:55time but if the gift is there, God will always
28:00make room for your gifts. So now is not the
28:06time to allow discouragement and failure, disappointment, insecurity or people's
28:12opinions to extinguish your determination to become everything that God
28:18designed you to be. Look at what Paul said in
28:24Philippians 1 and 6. And this is important. For those of you
28:30who just constantly have this doubt in spirit and this quit in
28:35spirit. Quit in every Friday. I ain't going back to that place.
28:41But show back up to that job Monday morning. He said, he
28:47who has begun a good work. A good work. The
28:52work that's in you is good. Don't let the enemy lie to you
28:58and tell you that you're not a good person. Because when God wired
29:04you, he wired you with goodness. Satan tempts you to do the opposite.
29:09But he who has began a good work in you will carry it
29:15on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ. So you have the
29:20ability to succeed until you die. You just need to fan the flames.
29:27God is not finished with you. And so don't allow one
29:32bad chapter to convince you that your story is over. Because
29:38transformation requires, watch this, intentional living. Intentional living. You make up
29:43in your mind that you're gonna get up every day and
29:49that you're gonna live for the glory of God. Look at
29:54what Paul said in Ephesians 5, those verses we read earlier.
30:00Paul is writing, to give you a backdrop of why he
30:06made those statements, Paul is writing to the believers in Ephesus.
30:12In Ephesus, it was a city deeply influenced, deeply influenced by
30:18pagan worship. Some of you have no idea that scripture, what
30:24you're reading, that took place thousands of years ago, scripture is
30:30still relevant today, man. If you just take the book
30:36up and read it, you'll understand that God is still speaking to
30:42us today. Paul is writing to a church at Ephesus who is
30:48deeply influenced by pagan worship, just like us today. Many of us
30:53are far from worshiping the true and living God. We're now forced
30:59to be entertained. We have now framed and shaped our own gods.
31:06Now church has become a place where we have created idols like the children of
31:11Israel. Your pastor become your idol. Your best friend in the ministry has become your
31:17idol. Watch this. Your style of worship has become idol. I hear people say I
31:22go to this church because I like this. I like this. I like this. Very
31:28few people here are saying I go to the church because God purposed me to
31:33go there. Because if you
31:39go to a church for things you
31:44like, you will never stay at a
31:50church. Influence church by pagan worship. Nothing
31:55was Christ-centered. It was all about worshiping
32:00images and rituals. It wasn't really about
32:06God. They were also spiritually walking in
32:11darkness. Materialism consumed them and they were competing
32:16with cultural values. That's the church at Ephesus.
32:22Cultural values. We see it today that instead
32:27of looking at people as people, we see
32:33the cultural differences. We're now labeled as black,
32:38white, Caribbean, Asian, African. If anybody in this
32:44room or those of you streaming can open the
32:50scripture and show me anywhere in the Bible where
32:56God or the life of Jesus described people by
33:02culture. Show me where anybody has been described by
33:08God or the son of God by culture.
33:15But you see, what you need to understand, going way back
33:21to scripture, what man has done, man knows the only way
33:27he can divide and conquer is to bring the cultural values.
33:32I'm better than you. We're better than you. I'm white. So
33:38because of the pigmentation of my skin, I'm superior over you.
33:44And so slavery came in. Slavery. The Bible, I'm not
33:50ashamed to tell you and you may not like what I'm
33:55telling you right now. The Bible was used to perpetuate slavery.
34:01Yes, it was. Because they use language in the Bible to
34:06get slaves to submit to one group of people. Because the
34:12Bible says, submit to your master. When God
34:18created Adam and Eve, two first, two people on the planet,
34:24there's nowhere in scripture where God gave man or woman to
34:29have dominion over each other. Have dominion over things, but never
34:35people. No one has the right to control anybody. Preach, boy.
34:41You may not like it. I'm preaching. I'm preaching to myself.
34:50So we live in a society just like the church at Ephesus,
34:56where we're competing with culture. The younger generation, the millennials, see things
35:02differently from us. So we're a divided church. One of the most
35:07divided places in this world is a church on a Sunday morning.
35:13Very divided. Divided with our culture. You are this, you are that.
35:20and we hold on to our different cultures yet paul challenges the believer
35:25not to allow watch this your environment to determine your identity we as
35:31kingdom citizens he's saying to the church at ephesus we know racism is
35:37here we know spiritual darkness is around we know pagan worship is around
35:42we know there's competing cultures around we know it we We know
35:48in America the evangelicals have told you who God look like.
35:54Paul is saying we know all these things but Paul is
35:59saying do not let the external environment change the inside of
36:05you. Know your God for yourself. He tells them watch this
36:11live carefully. It's right there in the verse. He says,
36:17live carefully. Watch how you live. Don't live like the world.
36:23Don't pattern yourself after the world. Live honorably. Be a man
36:29of honor, a woman of honor. Live purposefully. And then he
36:35says, live courageously. Don't tolerate evil. Don't tolerate it. Don't become
36:40a part of it. Because the church
36:46at Ephesus, watch this, it wasn't the unsaved
36:51people, it was the church practicing evil. And
36:57oh, you may not like what Henry's going
37:03to tell you right now. Some of the
37:09most evil people in the world, the church...
37:14Look down your row, they may be in
37:20your row anyway. Let's go here. He says,
37:26don't tolerate evil. Don't. Don't participate in it.
37:31Don't live foolishly. Watch this. Become sensible.
37:37You know what Paul was saying? Just have
37:42common sense. Some of us have lost our
37:48common sense. We're tricked. Some of you do
37:53not need an intercessor to pray. You don't
37:59even need to fast. Just use your common
38:04sense. You're too deep. You're too deep.
38:10Well, I got to pray about it. I need
38:15someone. No, use your brain. He says, become intelligent.
38:21Become discerning. Understand God's will for your life. In
38:26other words, don't just exist, but live intentionally. So
38:31Paul understood something that we must understand today. You
38:37can live in a confused world without becoming a
38:42confused person. Yes, you can. So what Paul was
38:48actually saying is that you must be transformed. Romans 12:2 says, "Do
38:54not conform to the pattern of this world, but be," what? "In
39:00your, the renewing of your mind." That transformation means I don't allow
39:05everything happening around me to determine what happens within me. Come on
39:11now. Because you can't always control your environment. You cannot control
39:16people's opinions you cannot control what people say about you you
39:22cannot control every economic condition you cannot control every disappointment but
39:28through the power of God you can determine what you become
39:34while you're going through the issues of life are you becoming
39:39a bitter person a more grounded person a confused person a
39:45lost person so don't waste the moment that you're in please
39:51hear me don't waste the moment that you're in there's a
39:56fire waiting to just burn through you there are gifts and
40:02callings that are hidden in you that God is saying it's
40:08time and please hear me young people I'm talking to you
40:13stop wasting the moment you're in Stop wasting the
40:19moment you're in. Paul in verse 16 now says, watch this, make
40:25the very most of your time. What he's saying is recognize the
40:31opportunity inside the moment. Every day what God gives
40:36to you carries possibilities. Every morning is another opportunity to
40:42grow, another opportunity to learn, to forgive, to change, to
40:48build, to serve, to become. Every day, this moment on
40:54the sixth day of September 2026 is a moment to
41:00become. This is the moment. Young man, this is
41:05the moment that can change your life forever. If you will ignite
41:11the passion to become. Young lady, this is the moment. And I
41:17don't care if you are 90 years old. This is the day
41:22to ignite the passion to become. It is. So, take responsibility for
41:28your transformation. This is what I want to leave you with. Take
41:34responsibility. responsibility for your transformation. Nobody is going to
41:40change you but you. You can live the rest
41:45of your life blaming everybody. Your parents, some of
41:51who have passed on. You can blame your exes.
41:56You can blame the current partner you're with. You
42:02can blame your children. You can blame family members.
42:07You can blame co-workers. You can blame America.
42:15But you're not going to go further in life if
42:20you do not take ownership of your destiny. It is
42:26time to ignite transformation and become a reflection of who
42:32God says you are. Transformation begins when you stop spending
42:37all of your energy identifying, watch this, what is wrong
42:43with everybody else and allow God to work on you.
42:50It's not my spouse, because I know you like to point fingers. My children,
42:56my spouse, the this, the that. Point the finger back at you and say,
43:02Lord, fix me, because you can function. Watch this. Watch this. And this is
43:08where a lot of you have missed it. You can function, watch this, without
43:14fire or passion. Let me prove it to you. Here's the danger. You can
43:20wake up every morning, and still go to work still
43:26run your business still take care of your spouse raise
43:31your children pay your bills serve your community attend church
43:37serve in ministry smile at everyone and still have no
43:43fire to do what you're doing some of you are
43:49on jobs you are just doing it to get paid
43:55And I know, I know, I know, I could just hear it. Some
44:01of you said, "What do you expect? I go to my job to
44:07get paid." That is why you will always be miserable. Because when you're
44:12just working to get paid and not enjoying your job, you live in
44:18misery. But oh, when you love what you do, and it so happens
44:24that you get paid to do it, it's a whole nother feeling. Are
44:30you hearing me this morning? So stop giving people control over
44:36your energy now. Let me just try to get this out.
44:41Giving people control over your energy. I want to tell you
44:47what I read recently. I saw this and it blessed me.
44:52Oh, it blessed me. It says time is going to pass
44:58whether you use it intentionally or allow it to slip away.
45:04So when you keep walking around the planet And letting
45:10time quickly pass you by. Talking about what this uncle did to
45:16you. Talking about what this person did to you. It's quickly slipping
45:21away. People will always have opinions about your choices. But you determine
45:27how much mental and emotional space those opinions occupy in your mind.
45:37The sad part about it is some of you, like David, David found
45:42himself this great man of God, this great called out person. Yes, he
45:48had issues, but he was called. But David found himself in a cave
45:53handling depression based on what people have said. And some
45:59of you are literally in bondage based on what people have said. Because
46:05people's thoughts have occupied your mind. You think you value so much of
46:10what they say. But it continues to say, you must learn to distinguish
46:16between people, watch this, who genuinely care about you and voices that are
46:22simply distracting you from your assignment.
46:28Some of you have no idea the struggle you're currently going through is just
46:34a distraction. Some of you are flunking the test because there are some people
46:40who the enemy has sent in your life and you're wasting years trying to
46:45figure them out and reason why they're doing what they're doing when God is
46:51saying it's a distraction. ignore them and pay attention to where
46:57he's taking you. Oh somebody ought to give God a praise
47:02right there. And then it says, watch this, if someone's word
47:08or words can consistently destroy your peace, you have given them
47:14the authority they were never supposed to possess. So I want
47:20you to know that time matters. Don't let anybody, many of
47:25you like myself, who have been hurt quite
47:31sure we've hurt people ourselves but don't you
47:37ever live from today forward ever live your
47:42life allowing people's opinions and thoughts of you
47:47to live rent-free in your head you may
47:53not like what I'm about to say you
47:58know I always say this trust me my
48:03wife tells me all the time not to
48:09say it you can I'm gonna say it
48:14I'm gonna say it you can give me
48:19problems but you gotta pay me. I don't
48:25mind a person giving me problems if you're paying
48:31me. See look at some of you like, here's
48:36a thought behind that. If you don't pay my
48:42bills, you're not sustaining me. The devil is a
48:47liar. You think that I won't let you control
48:52me? Oh, I'm all by myself. I'm all by
48:58myself. I'm trying to help somebody in the room.
49:03You're giving people too much credit and too much
49:09control. If So, I'm trying to skip
49:14a whole lot of stuff here. So seriously,
49:20this is what I leave you with. All
49:26of us, we're in this moment to ignite
49:32something that will not only transform us, but
49:38will transform the people around us. So many
49:44of you, your generation, your children are depending
49:50on your transformation. They're dependent on
49:55the fire to be ignited in you. Your friends, your
50:01church member, somebody in the community is dependent on you
50:06to burn for God so that the fire can burn
50:12in them. You saw the two ladies, one lady, her
50:17own drama, own situation, but God put the passion in
50:23her. And with the passion of generosity, she was able to be generous
50:29to give it one person who was literally depressed and down by the help of
50:35a fire burning. See, this is what, this is the church Paul is talking about.
50:40By the help of one fire, it touches the heart of another woman. Dead strangers,
50:46they didn't know each other. And now this woman have a reason to trust God
50:52and to believe God. wonder who out there is waiting for your
50:58fire to burn. Please don't sit in the church at Ephesus.
51:04Please don't sit in the church at Ephesus and be caught
51:09up with material things. Be caught up with cultural differences. Don't
51:15stay in the church at Ephesus paying attention to the wrong
51:20things and missing what God has called us to be. He
51:26has called us to be the light. to ignite
51:32for him listen i i and i hope you get it man oh
51:37please god help me with this i want to say it right i
51:43want to say it right i want to say it right because i
51:49am so tired of church as usual i'm tired of it something got
51:54to burn he said pastor what are you talking about church as usual
52:00just to get your fix that's it that's it that's it don't come
52:06here just to be entertained Put your best
52:11clothes on, but please don't make that the object when you
52:17walk in the door. Get your fire to be transformed. Get
52:23your fire to be who God has called you to be.
52:29Because you know what? You're running out of time. And if
52:35you don't start living the light, if you don't start living
52:41the light, then you're going to live on this planet for
52:47a duration of time not fulfilling your purpose. Here's what I want everybody to
52:53do. I'm going to close with this. We're starting this Ignite 300. There are
52:58300 people I want to join me in a class. Join me in a
53:04class, absolutely free. I'm not asking 300 people to join me with $1,000 now,
53:10so don't get nervous. I'm not raising an offering. This is very unusual.
53:16I want 300 people want to be like that woman and that
53:22woman who can say Somebody light the fire of God in me.
53:27So I want to pass it on 300 people are saying this
53:33is a season. I'm not asking God for car not asking him
53:39for a house Not asking him to hear my body. I simply
53:44want him to help me transform a life to lead someone to
53:50Christ and I'm going to teach you practical steps on how to evangelize. How to
53:55start a conversation. I know it's boring for some of you. Because maybe if I
54:00had a class, how to make a million dollars in 30 days. I'd run out
54:05of space. because our passion is rich, rich. Ephesus, the church in
54:11Ephesus, materialism, materialism. Oh, God knows you have need of that because when
54:17you seek first the kingdom of God, oh, the million dollars will come.
54:23It will come. But our primary goal as a church is evangelism. And
54:29I want 300 people to join me online as we start our class.
54:35that you're willing to train, that you are going to disciple one person.
54:41See that woman? She discipled one. She is going to disciple one. Who
54:47are you discipling? Think about that. Oh, I know, I know. It wasn't
54:53the sermon in the series. It probably is not going to be something,
54:59you know, to promise you something. I get that. But can we just
55:04get beyond? Just give me some fish, God. Give me some bread.
55:11He said in Matthew, don't you know I have need, that I know you have
55:17need of that? Can we start saying God, instead of giving me, use me. Oh,
55:23come on, give God a praise for that today. So here's what I'm going to
55:29do. I want you to bow your heads. Mickey, you can go ahead and play
55:35bow your heads, everybody. I'm going to let you go, but please just hang with
55:41me for about five minutes. I need people who, in this room, who would say,
55:47Pastor, You know, you're talking about Ignite. And
55:52I want God to ignite the fire in me. The fire for evangelism. You're
55:58online? You can join also. I want to make a difference in my community.
56:04I want to reach my family. If that's you today, I'm going to ask
56:10that you please sign up for the class. Please sign up for the class.
56:16I'm not sure if they have a QR code yet. I can't remember. Okay,
56:21they have it there. They have it. I tell you what, open your eyes
56:27for a moment before I pray. They have the QR code. This is how you
56:33can register for the class. I want you to go ahead and take your phones
56:39out, those of you who are streaming. That's all we need, 300 people, Gideon's army.
56:45But you've got to be willing to commit to the classes. The classes will be
56:50once a week, 45 minutes, that's it. I'll personally teach the class practical steps.
56:56Very simple. Give us your name information. We'll send you an email how you
57:02can participate in it. I hope today will be a day where out of
57:08this large crowd, we can find 300 people who say, God, if you can
57:14use anyone, use me. Use me to restore this world for you. Things are
57:20not looking good in this country. Things are not looking good around the world.
57:26So God, help me to change what I see in the world. quickly
57:32now let's pray father I thank you today for touching the hearts
57:38of your people thank you for speaking to us challenging us to
57:44live as children of light to not let the circumstances of life
57:49affect us to be the light to ignite transformation in us to
57:55be a transformed people to be different to live in such a
58:01way that it will draw others to you today I pray
58:07for this church, whether they're here or they're streaming, that together
58:12we will stand and we will fulfill the great commission of
58:18reaching this region for you. That we'll go out of our
58:24way to invite someone to come to the house of God,
58:30but most importantly to have a dialogue with them about scripture,
58:35about faith, about God. That Lord will be more engaged
58:41in trying to change the direction of this world. That we will
58:47be different. We will come from among them and be separate. Would
58:53you bless all who have signed up for the Ignite 300. Gideon's
58:58army was ready to go to battle. To rage war on the
59:04enemy for the souls of men and women. Thank you. Thank you
59:10for speaking to us today. Now, Father, as we leave this place, I pray that
59:16tomorrow all of us will have a wonderful and safe and enjoyable Labor Day. I
59:22pray that you will strengthen each and every one of us. And so that when
59:28we return on Wednesday to enter into your word once again, we'll be edified. Next
59:34Sunday, we'll all see it. As our own responsibility to share our faith,
59:40invite someone to church so that they too can sit under the teaching. We
59:46give you praise for it. We declare today a success. We declare this week
59:52a success. And we give you praise for it now. In Jesus' name, amen.
59:57Come on, let's give God praise as you stand on your feet. Let's
60:03stand, everybody. Thank you so much for your obedience today. Don't forget to get your
60:09t-shirts at the bookstore. We hope to see you tomorrow. There's, excuse me, Wednesday. There's
60:14no prayer service on tomorrow. Let's lift our hands as we pronounce our benediction. Let's
60:20say it out loud, everybody. Faith in God will move mountains out of our lives.
60:26God bless you. Have a great Sunday. Thank you all for coming. God bless.