We Are The Hope Carriers
Bishop Henry Fernandez Preached on 6/28/2026
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Summary
Bishop Henry Fernandez concludes his series on unity by challenging the church to stop retreating in fear and instead become active 'hope carriers' who influence the world through light, love, and personal transformation.
Key points
- •The world is not spinning out of control; rather, people's hearts are disconnected from God's principles through pride and selfishness.
- •Believers are called to be the 'salt and light,' which means bringing truth to confusion, hope to hopelessness, and healing to brokenness through concrete actions.
- •Unity is the primary engine for church growth; when believers partner together like the four friends who carried the paralyzed man, society is transformed.
- •Personal transformation is the root of true revival, requiring believers to seize the moment, reject procrastination, and break generational curses.
- •Evangelism is not just for the pastor; 70-90% of church growth comes from personal invitations from family and friends, not technology or marketing.
Scripture
Hope
Community
Spiritual Growth
Purpose
Life application
This week, identify one person in your sphere of influence-a struggling neighbor, a difficult supervisor, or an elderly friend-and perform a concrete act of 'light,' such as paying for groceries or offering a genuine word of encouragement to break the cycle of negativity.
Reflection questions
- In what ways have you mistakenly blamed 'the world' for problems that are actually caused by the human heart?
- Who are the 'four friends' in your life who help carry you to Jesus when you are paralyzed by trials?
- Is your social media presence reflecting the light of Christ or contributing to the 'mud-slinging' culture of the world?
- What 'generational curse' or personal trauma is God calling you to overcome so you can become a better version of yourself?
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Full transcript
0:00[music]
0:00>> Let's stand for the reading of the word
0:01of God. Let's stand everybody if you can
0:05while they try to fix my mic. Can you
0:08hear me?
0:10>> Okay. Amen. We're going to go to
0:15Matthew's Gospel, chapter
0:185. Matthew chapter 5
0:23and we're going to close our series out
0:28with this.
0:30Matthew's Gospel chapter 5 verse 14- 16.
0:35And here's what I'm going to ask you all
0:37to do. We're going to read it together.
0:39And so, uh, let's just make sure we
0:43follow at the same pace. All right. Are
0:45you ready?
0:46>> All right. Let's read.
0:50world
0:55[snorts]
0:59instead.
1:14>> Father, we thank you for this moment.
1:16Thank you for this word. Thank you that
1:20you're teaching this church
1:23how to be the light,
1:26how to adopt kingdom culture
1:30so that we can influence the world to
1:34follow you. Be glorified in this moment
1:38now and we give you praise in Jesus
1:41name. And everybody shout amen. Come on,
1:44let's give God a praise while you take
1:46your seats.
1:48The Lord bless you.
1:53So, we've been on this journey of
1:58talking about unity and the importance
2:01of the church coming together, not just
2:04the faith center, but the body of Christ
2:08coming together to do the will of God,
2:13to influence the world of who he is.
2:18And I get it. Some of you have given up
2:22hope on this world becoming a better
2:26place. I get that.
2:30When you look at all of what's happening
2:32in our society, when you look at what's
2:34happening in America, when you look at
2:36what's happening in the world, it is so
2:38easy
2:40for all of us to feel hopeless,
2:45to feel it makes no sense praying. makes
2:49no sense believing that things can
2:51change.
2:53And so this morning,
2:56I want to challenge the church
2:59to adopt something that's important
3:01because we've got to give hope to the
3:06world.
3:08>> If they are hopeless and we are
3:10hopeless, then we are all hopeless.
3:13And we serve a God who has reassured us
3:16that we're on the right side, that we're
3:19his people. And the last time I read my
3:22Bible, it says, "No weapon formed
3:24against his people
3:26>> will prosper."
3:28>> So my topic today is we are the hope
3:32carriers.
3:34We are carriers of hope. And I get it.
3:38Some of us are a poor representation of
3:41the faith.
3:43>> We don't carry hope. We carry toxicity.
3:46We carry all kinds of works of darkness.
3:50But we are the hope carriers.
3:55Your job is to carry hope to your
3:57family.
3:58Your job is to carry hope in the
4:00marketplace, in the community. Your job
4:04is to give hope in the midst of this
4:07chaos. Recently,
4:10someone said to me, "Bishop, our world
4:13is spinning out of control and I don't
4:16think there is any hope for positive
4:20change." I immediately responded
4:24and I said, "The world is not spinning
4:26out of control.
4:28>> People are.
4:31>> There's a difference.
4:33The world is not spinning out of
4:36control.
4:37You see, the world is spinning. Do you
4:40not know why we're here? That the world
4:42is spinning. The sun doesn't move. The
4:44moon doesn't move. The earth is spinning
4:49though we can't feel it.
4:52But even with the rotation of the world,
4:55it's not spinning out of control. It
4:58can't. God is in control. Amen.
5:02>> Far too many people have become
5:04convinced that something is wrong. Watch
5:07this with the world that God has
5:10created.
5:12We think be be careful of your
5:15statements.
5:16>> Be careful. Well, this world is bad.
5:20This country is bad. This America is
5:23evil. It's the people
5:28>> in America. Who is evil? evil people in
5:32the Caribbean, they're this, they're
5:33that. You know what? They say all kinds
5:35of stuff. Jamaica,
5:37lots of gun fire.
5:44Duck watch.
5:47[laughter]
5:52I didn't expect to say that. I'm sorry.
5:56Jamaicans, please forgive me. [laughter]
6:02BUT THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH JAMAICA.
6:05IT'S ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL ISLAND in
6:09the entire world.
6:13It is just a few people who love their
6:18guns,
6:22their weed, their ganja,
6:27>> you know.
6:28There's nothing wrong with the world,
6:30the world that God has created. Yet,
6:32when we look around us, watch this. I'm
6:37going to prove to you. When we look
6:38around us, we see undeniable evidence
6:42that God's creation is still
6:46magnificent.
6:48>> Some of you, the reason why you think
6:50the world is bad, you ain't never left
6:53Fort Lauderdale.
6:56You just stuck
6:59in Fort Lauderdale.
7:02>> You don't travel. You don't go
7:04experience other culture. That's why
7:06you're so narrowminded.
7:10>> But the world that God has created, we
7:12see beautiful countries,
7:16breathtaking
7:18mountains.
7:20Have you traveled lately
7:22to see the beautiful creation of God?
7:26The crystal clearar oceans,
7:30the stunning beaches.
7:33Oh, there's nothing wrong with the
7:35world. It's beautiful.
7:38Have you visited the shorelines
7:41of North Carolina? Whether it's the
7:44Bahamas, Jamaica, Turks and Caos Island,
7:48Barbados, and what about the skies
7:52painted with colors no artist can
7:56duplicate?
7:57Oh, there's nothing wrong with the
7:59world, my friends. Come on, somebody
8:02ought to give God praise for his
8:03creation.
8:06There's nothing wrong with the world.
8:11And so the problem is that humanity has
8:15drifted away from the principles of the
8:19creator.
8:21You see, the issue is that people often
8:23reject God's design.
8:27What is spinning out of control are
8:30hearts, watch this, disconnected from
8:34God, minds influenced by pride,
8:38selfishness greed arrogance and
8:43spiritual deception.
8:46>> That's the problem.
8:48Well, according to Isaiah
8:505 20, there's a warning given to us. Woe
8:54unto them that call evil good and good
8:59evil.
9:01>> It's the hearts of men.
9:03>> And we see that every day in our society
9:05today.
9:07People are calling evil good.
9:11Can I just be honest to you? I thought
9:14this country had made tremendous
9:16progress over the years. And all of a
9:19sudden,
9:20all of a sudden, we have gotten to a
9:24place now where we are blatantly
9:28practicing evil
9:30>> and even painting it with Christianity.
9:39>> I mean, think about it. People who call
9:42themselves Christians are using
9:44profanity and dogging out other people.
9:50>> We have lost the passion of care and
9:54sympathy.
9:56We've lost it as a people.
9:59>> We don't care anymore. We're selfish.
10:01We're self-centered
10:03because we are witnessing a generation
10:05where many have abandoned God's truth
10:08and embraced their own opinions.
10:10Yet, despite all of this, there's still
10:14hope.
10:16>> Yes, sir.
10:16>> In spite of all what we're seeing.
10:20>> If I have to be honest with you, and
10:22those of you who are born in this
10:24country, you may not like me now. I am
10:26disappointed with America.
10:31>> The way we're handling ourselves,
10:34>> disappointed
10:36with how we're treating people,
10:39>> DISAPPOINTED HOW WE'RE PRESENTING
10:41OURSELVES AS IF WE are the only set of
10:45people God loves.
10:53But there's hope. I was telling someone
10:56the other day, uh, in fact, it was my
10:58son. Sorry, it was my son in the car we
11:00were driving and you know, he was
11:02talking about, you know, with all of
11:04what's going on in our world, it's
11:06crazy.
11:08And I let him finish and I said to him,
11:10"Son,
11:12I've lived long enough.
11:15I've lived many years to know that every
11:19problem has an expiration date.
11:26This too shall pass.
11:29God is in control. And I don't know
11:32about you. I know some of you are
11:34prophesying that things are going to get
11:36worse. And yes, it will. But in the end,
11:39it's the word of God that's going to
11:42prevail.
11:46And this is where the church comes to
11:48play. The church is God's answer to the
11:52hurting world. And as followers of Jesus
11:56Christ, we cannot sit back and watch
11:59society unravel while we do nothing
12:03about it.
12:07>> This is why as a church, we got to get
12:09beyond just having church.
12:12>> We got to be the salt and the light.
12:15based on the scripture we read before.
12:17We're the salt and the light and we're
12:19the light of the world. WE CANNOT HIDE
12:21OUR LIGHT.
12:23Now is not the time for us to retreat
12:25and say, "Well, you know, we're not
12:27going to handle." No, we have to shine
12:29our light. We have to show positivity to
12:32this negative world that we live in.
12:35Cuz we are God's representatives here on
12:38the earth. We're not called merely to
12:41attend church. We are called to be the
12:44church.
12:45>> That's what we're called to be. Jesus
12:48did not say, watch this, you might might
12:52be the light.
12:54>> He didn't say that. He declared, you are
12:58the light of the world.
13:01>> Are you understand what I'm saying?
13:03>> You are the light of the world. There
13:05ought to be something different about
13:08you.
13:09>> Be different. Of course, you know,
13:12societyy's not going to like you based
13:14on what you believe in. And you ought to
13:16be careful that the the God that you're
13:18projecting to society is truly the God
13:22that that we read about in the Bible.
13:24Because sometimes as a church, uh we do
13:26a very horrible um you know, example of
13:30showing who Jesus is.
13:32>> Amen.
13:33>> Right? because we talk about Jesus and
13:35and so forth, but we don't show the love
13:38of Jesus,
13:40>> right? You know, uh it's not new, so
13:42don't don't don't get, you know, carried
13:44away with it. This has been around even
13:47in Jesus's day. You've got people in the
13:50church full of hypocrisy. People in the
13:51church full of all kinds of things.
13:54There are people in the church who's
13:55been used by Satan.
13:59Literally remember earlier when I was
14:01receiving the offering, Satan, Satan is
14:03a problem. He goes around and he's
14:05looking for anybody who he can find to
14:08disrupt the work of God.
14:10>> That's right.
14:11>> He gets into your head first.
14:13>> Well, he tried it in the garden with
14:15Eve.
14:16>> He waited till the woman was by herself.
14:19The power of unity. I believe things
14:22would have worked out different if if
14:24Eve was with Adam.
14:27Cuz
14:29two is better than one.
14:31>> When you're by yourself and the devil
14:33start putting thoughts in your head, you
14:36have nobody to bring balance to your
14:39thoughts.
14:41>> That is why young people, I'M TELLING
14:42YOU, THAT'S why you need people outside
14:46of your peers. Don't just hang around
14:48your group and take EVERYTHING THEY TELL
14:50YOU BECAUSE THERE'S NO REASONABLE
14:53thought in that company.
14:55>> Right. Amen.
14:58So Satan says, "Okay, I'm going to wait
15:00till Eve is by herself and then I'm
15:04going to have a conversation with her."
15:07>> So I'm going to go and speak to our our
15:09mind. And he did that. And you see, when
15:13one mind is infected,
15:16then you go and talk to the next person
15:18and then you infect them with that
15:20negativity. And then it just just
15:23continues like that. That's what
15:25happened.
15:26The woman
15:28got deceived
15:30and then when she met up with her
15:32husband,
15:33she convinced him. That's the power of a
15:36woman.
15:42>> She'll make a man do just about
15:51>> you know I'm telling the truth. Don't
15:53don't don't don't act brothers like I'm
15:55not telling the truth.
15:57>> That's the power of a woman.
16:00>> She convince a man so much that she can
16:03get him to do just about anything. And
16:06sin came in. And so as a church, we have
16:10to understand, notice that Jesus did not
16:13say the government is the light.
16:18So don't be shocked when you see
16:20government acting the way they are.
16:24>> Government from the scripture was never
16:27the light.
16:30>> Isaiah prophesied the government will be
16:32upon his shoulder.
16:34>> The government will always always fight
16:38against what is right cuz in most cases,
16:41and I'll say it, they are corrupt.
16:46I know you ain't going to say amen, but
16:47it's the truth.
16:51>> That's it. So, he never said that the
16:55government must be the light. He never
16:57said that celebrities must be the light.
17:00He never says culture must be the light.
17:02He said that his people, you and I,
17:06>> we must be the light.
17:09We must carry the light of Christ so
17:12that others can see the good works in us
17:15and glorify God. So this means that
17:18whatever darkness exists or wherever
17:21darkness exists,
17:23God's people are expected to bring the
17:25light.
17:26>> So at your workplace, you're expected to
17:29bring the light.
17:31>> Among your peers, your friends,
17:34among the unchurched, you're expected to
17:37be the light. It doesn't say you're
17:39perfect.
17:40>> Because this light that we're bringing
17:42to the world is not our light.
17:44>> Amen.
17:45>> Yes, sir.
17:46>> Come on now. It's the light of Jesus
17:48that's shining through us. And where
17:50there is confusion, watch this, church,
17:52please listen to this. Where there is
17:54confusion in the world, we bring truth.
17:57Watch this. We don't make the confusion
18:00worse.
18:02>> How many of you Christians, please raise
18:04your hand? You're proud to be a born
18:06again Christian. Watch this now. Okay,
18:08put your hands down.
18:10I hope you're not going around poisoning
18:14environments with untruth.
18:20>> I hope you're not putting in your family
18:23toxicity.
18:25>> I hope you're not the ring leader that's
18:27tearing up your home.
18:30I hope you're not the person on the job
18:33that everybody said is destroying and
18:36confusing the workplace.
18:40>> I hope in the the community that you
18:43live in, the apartment building that you
18:45live in, I hope when PEOPLE SEE YOU
18:47DRESSED UP ON SUNDAY LEAVING THE CHURCH,
18:51the negative thought they have about you
18:54is actually true.
18:57Jesus.
18:59>> Cuz if that's the case, you're not being
19:01the light.
19:02>> Where there's confusion in our world,
19:04you must bring truth. Where there is
19:07hopelessness, you bring hope.
19:10>> Amen.
19:11>> So when when you see hopelessness,
19:13[snorts]
19:14what are you doing? Are you bringing
19:16hope? Are you telling somebody, "Hey,
19:17you going to get through that. God's
19:19able. God's, you know, hey, we're here
19:21to help you." You know, you see simple
19:24things you want to. Somebody may say, "I
19:26want to be the light." I'm not telling
19:28you to go and get a dress or a suit and
19:31put all these light bulbs around it.
19:33Walk around and say, "Well, here here it
19:35is. I'm the light."
19:39>> He's saying it's your actions.
19:43>> Be the light.
19:45>> Be the light. You know, for example, you
19:48know that there's that young girl on
19:51your block.
19:52>> Come on now.
19:52>> You see her with the stroller every day
19:56struggling with her two children
20:00and the Holy Spirit's been telling you,
20:01"Be the light.
20:03>> Why don't you pay for her groceries one
20:05weekend?" Amen.
20:10>> Man, you should see the look on some of
20:12y'all faces like, "I ain't paying for
20:14nobody groceries cuz I need somebody to
20:17pay for mine."
20:21Those are simple things.
20:24>> You see an elderly person walking, I
20:27know you're busy. Why don't you just
20:28stop
20:30assist them cuz you going to get old one
20:33day.
20:36Think about that. Just be the light at
20:40the workplace. That supervisor, you know
20:43that supervisor is an agent of Satan.
20:51You know it.
20:53So rather than fasting and praying and
20:55getting with the other co-workers that
20:57God gives her seven days to die
21:02cuz you know they're Christians praying
21:04some really bad prayers.
21:07>> God kill them.
21:10Don't do that. Be the light. Watch this.
21:14I know some of you not going to like
21:15this now. Just be the light. Why don't
21:18you just go to that job and get all the
21:21employees together and say, "Look, her
21:24birthday's coming up." See, I see I got
21:27somebody like, "I ain't going to do
21:28that."
21:30>> And say, "Let's bless her."
21:33>> And you put in that card.
21:35>> We're praying for you.
21:48Here's a another tough one.
21:51>> You loan somebody some money
21:55>> and they haven't paid you in two years.
21:59>> And it's causing tension. But the Holy
22:02Spirit says you're never going to get
22:04that back.
22:06>> Watch this now.
22:08>> Let it go.
22:11[applause]
22:12>> Free yourself.
22:15and write them a letter and said, "You
22:18don't have to pay me back."
22:22>> I feel it down there. Somebody said,
22:24"The devil is a lie." That ain't never
22:25going to happen. That ain't Somebody
22:28over here. I don't know who it was.
22:31[laughter]
22:33See, our job is to bring healing. Where
22:37there's brokenness,
22:40>> where there's division,
22:42>> bring unity.
22:45What division have you created recently
22:49that God is not pleased with? Because
22:51that's not being the light. So, let me
22:53end it with this. There are a few points
22:55I want to bring to you. Number one,
22:57point number one, hope spreads when
23:00God's people work together.
23:04>> You want to change Broward County?
23:08It starts with us.
23:10>> Amen.
23:11It starts with us.
23:14One of the greatest examples of unity in
23:17scripture is found in in Mark uh uh
23:20chapter 2. Two men or four men, sorry,
23:24carried their paralyzed friend to Jesus.
23:29They heard that Jesus was in town. They
23:32came brought this guy to Jesus and all
23:34of a sudden they realized too many
23:37people
23:39>> surrounded Jesus. So they couldn't get
23:41to Jesus. So what? See, four friends.
23:46>> You want to know the kind of friends you
23:48need?
23:50>> Is the kind of friends who won't stop at
23:53the first obstacle you're faced.
23:58>> Four friends said, "Okay, we can't get
24:01you in the room where Jesus is. We going
24:04to figure it out. We going to figure a
24:07way to get you healed. We going to
24:11figure We not going home. We not taking
24:13you back home paralyzed. That's the kind
24:16OF FRIENDS YOU WANT. AND THAT'S THE KIND
24:18OF FRIENDS GOD WANTS TO DEVELOP IN ALL
24:21OF US.
24:23>> And the Bible said they went on the
24:24rooftop
24:26>> and they cut out a hole in the roof
24:31>> and it was See, listen. When your faith
24:34is strong
24:35>> and you've got the tenacity that you're
24:37not going to give up. How about the hole
24:40where they cut the roof all off and cut
24:44it out. Where they dropped the man, they
24:47dropped him right in front of Jesus.
24:54And in the end, Jesus seeing their face,
24:58he saw their face
25:01was marveled.
25:04>> He was amazed.
25:06He saw the faith not just of the man who
25:08was paralyzed, but of the four friends.
25:12>> You and I can change the world when we
25:15partner together. Can you imagine if
25:17this entire church will become like
25:20these four friends? We're not going to
25:22allow anybody to be in depression.
25:26>> We're not going to allow anybody to lose
25:28their faith.
25:30>> Because make no mistake about it, I can
25:32almost guarantee you there's somebody
25:34sitting in your row right now. They
25:37dressed well,
25:39they look well, but they're broken
25:42inside.
25:46>> You have no idea what they're going
25:47through. Yes.
25:49>> Some of us know how to just smile
25:53>> the hurt away.
25:55>> Some of us, listen to me, there's a man
25:58in this room. There's a woman in this
26:00room. You're a husband. You're a father.
26:03You're a wife. You You're taking care of
26:05grandmother. You're taking care of
26:07children.
26:09And you know what it is to lead while
26:13you're bleeding.
26:16>> Amen. [applause]
26:18Come on now.
26:20And it's going to take
26:23the community, the church.
26:27Sometimes you pass someone. Good
26:29morning. How are you? I'm praying for
26:31you.
26:33Hey, good morning. Is everything okay
26:36with you? No, it's not. What's going on?
26:40Cuz you never know the story that they
26:42tell you. It could be a story that
26:44you've been through.
26:45>> That's right. That's right. And you can
26:47encourage them and say, "Hey, I've been
26:48through that. You don't need to give up.
26:51There's hope. There's hope for you.
26:54Look, just because you failed one time
26:57doesn't mean you ought not to try again.
26:59Keep trying. As long as you have breath,
27:02keep trying. Keep going at it. God will
27:05make a way and so forth." Number two,
27:07let's go quickly here. Number two,
27:11um, number point number two, let me get
27:14to it quickly. The early church changed
27:17society through unity. Acts two gives us
27:20the blueprint of a healthy church. The
27:23believers prayed together. Watch this.
27:25They prayed together. They worshiped
27:27together, served together, shared
27:29together. And because they were united,
27:31the Bible says, look at Acts 2:47. And
27:35the Lord added to their fellowship daily
27:38those who were being saved. Notice that
27:42growth was added to the church when
27:44unity was evident.
27:47>> Amen.
27:49>> People are not going to come to your
27:51church just because the preacher
27:53preaches good.
27:57>> They they can see that on social media.
28:00>> True. A lot of us think, okay, people
28:03and and unfortunately, I got to be
28:05honest with you, a lot of us preachers
28:08make ourselves spiritual celebrities.
28:13>> So, we conduct ourselves for you to like
28:18us. So, we perform for you.
28:22>> So, when you COME INTO THE HOUSE of God,
28:25it's not about God. It's really about
28:27us.
28:29You want to see how we dress, our style,
28:33everything is centered around us
28:37>> when that's not God's will for the
28:39church.
28:41>> They grew. The Bible says they grew
28:45because of their unity. The early church
28:47did not have social media. They did not
28:50have television. They did not have
28:52radio. They did NOT HAVE INTERNET. YET,
28:55THEY GREW. AMEN.
28:58>> PEOPLE WERE ADDED TO THE CHURCH. WHY?
29:01BECAUSE IT WASN'T about the apostles. It
29:04was about the unity of the church.
29:07>> Yes, sir.
29:08>> We coming together and taking ownership
29:11of reaching the lost.
29:14Reaching the lost. So, let me go to
29:17point number three.
29:20Every believer has a role to play.
29:24Every believer has a role to play.
29:29Say it with me.
29:30>> Every believer has a role to play.
29:33>> Come on, say it again.
29:36>> Many believe evangelism is only for the
29:40pastor.
29:42Only for the pastor. Like I just told
29:45you, some of us, we think it's it's the
29:48pastor because the pastor is everything.
29:51And I'm telling you today, you cannot
29:54use the pastor alone
29:57to evangelize. That's not biblical.
30:01Every believer has the responsibility,
30:04every believer to share their faith. The
30:07Bible says, "Some plants, some water,
30:10but God will give the increase."
30:12Remember the woman at the well? I opened
30:13up the series, I believe, with her.
30:16She only had one encounter with Jesus.
30:19Yet immediately she ran. She ran back to
30:22her city and told everyone.
30:26She met a man who told her everything
30:31about herself.
30:33>> She used her own personal testimony to
30:36share in the community. According to
30:38John 4 uh 39, many Samaritans, here
30:42comes another group of people,
30:44Samaritans from the village believed in
30:47Jesus because the woman had said he told
30:51me everything I ever did.
30:58She She said, "This man read me."
31:03Think about that. She didn't have to go
31:05to the palm reader. Come on now. Come
31:08on.
31:08>> Come on now.
31:10>> BECAUSE IF OUR JOB IS TO SHARE, LISTEN,
31:13the God that I serve when I met him,
31:15man, he helped me to identify myself to
31:19become the best version OF MYSELF. SO
31:23MANY PEOPLE IN YOUR FAMILY, in at your
31:26workplace, and sadly even in the church
31:30are going to these spiritual palm
31:33readers.
31:36to find out about their future.
31:39>> Find out who's messing with them, who
31:41plan against them, and what their future
31:43hold. Are you out of your mind? This
31:45woman said, "Come see a man. [laughter]
31:48Come see Jesus."
31:51He knows the beginning from the end.
31:56And so, she did not have a theological
32:01training. She did not go to seminary to
32:04get a degree.
32:05She simply shared her story. So never
32:08underestimate
32:09the power of your story. I want to show
32:12you something here. A a a statistic that
32:15I came across that really blew my mind
32:18cuz most of you think most of you think
32:21cuz I thought so a few years ago. You
32:24know, you think you can use all these
32:27modern technologies, social media, and
32:29we encourage you to do it. Everybody's
32:30on social media. Use your social media
32:33platforms to to share your faith, right?
32:36Be very If you're a Christian, make sure
32:38listen to me carefully. If you're a
32:40person of faith, do not use your social
32:43media page to destroy people,
32:47>> to gossip,
32:49>> to get involved with all of these
32:51mudslinging conversation. You don't need
32:54to. I'm And sometimes I'm just taken
32:56back. Why do people go on social media
32:58and talk their business?
33:01that's your platform. Do whatever you
33:03want. But it's just crazy to me, you
33:06know, but as a believer, don't do that.
33:08But so many people think it's social
33:10media that's going to grow your your
33:11church and bring people to Christ. But I
33:14came across this and this is what it
33:16shows. It shows the typical sources of
33:20firsttime visitors to a church and faith
33:22center. Let this open your eye.
33:25It says people invited by family and
33:29friends, co-workers and neighbors and
33:31church members. Most people who come to
33:34church are invited by family members,
33:38friends co-workers neighbors church
33:41members. 70 to 90%.
33:50That lets me know it is the human
33:53contact
33:56>> because it says here online search.
33:59PEOPLE GO ONLINE. ONLY FIVE TO 15%
34:03of people go online looking for a
34:05church. And then it gets worse. Street
34:07signs, driveby visibility and location.
34:13for years when we bought this building.
34:15For years, we never had a church sign
34:16out there because we didn't get uh we
34:18couldn't get the city to approve a sign
34:21both Knobill and Commercial Boulevard
34:23for us. So, for I'm talking about a good
34:2610 plus years, we had no church sign.
34:29And if you're familiar with this
34:30community for a long time, if you
34:32remember, there one time you couldn't
34:34even see the building from off the
34:35street because of the tall pine trees.
34:39And people didn't yet people came. How
34:42many watched the movie if you build it
34:44they will come?
34:45>> Yes sir.
34:46>> And you know in the midst of a corn
34:48field they build an arena where people
34:50can listen it says here only 5 to 15%
34:55street sign 3 to 10% watch this
34:58advertisement mail mailers radio and
35:01other marketing only 1 to 5%.
35:05Here's my point. If we
35:09people
35:11would go out and first let what you're
35:15saying match your conduct.
35:19If we just go
35:21>> and share our faith and invite people to
35:25come worship with you, they'll come
35:29because they're coming because 70 to 90%
35:34of people invite people to the church.
35:39Number four, and I close with that.
35:42Number four, revival begins with
35:46personal transformation.
35:48>> This is important to me. If I was to ask
35:51you the question, what's the meaning of
35:53revival?
35:55What would you say? So many people, cuz
35:58I grew up kind of in a Pentecostal
36:00movement, holiness church, and so forth.
36:03And when we talk about revival,
36:06you know what revival to us? Revival is
36:08having a series of church services,
36:11having a guest speaker to come and we
36:14shout all night and we clap and we dance
36:17and we sing and people speak in tongues
36:20and we say 50 people got filled with the
36:22Holy Ghost and how they got filled is a
36:25church mother in one ear, another church
36:27mother in there. Say it. Say it louder.
36:32You got to say
36:34some of you have no clue what that is.
36:36Trust me, we grew up in some craziness
36:40[laughter]
36:41and that's how you got filled with the
36:43Holy Spirit and so forth. But revival to
36:46the word of God is a transformed
36:50group of people.
36:52People who are re-energized,
36:56motivated
36:58to walk in the perfect will of God.
37:02There are only two things we can do with
37:05everything that God has taught us this
37:07month in this series. Option number one,
37:10it's up to you now.
37:12You can reject
37:15God's invitation to grow.
37:19You grow your faith walk.
37:22You can reject it. You can continue
37:25making excuses. You can continue to
37:27blame other people. You can resist
37:30correction.
37:33You can continue. Watch this. Live
37:35beneath your potential.
37:40And and and I have to stop here for a
37:42moment. I just felt really led to do
37:44this.
37:46And I want you to believe Henry
37:48Fernandez when I tell you this.
37:51You know what bothers me about some of
37:53you? Please listen to me. And I mean
37:56this from my heart.
37:58What really bothers me
38:02is when I look at you
38:04and I know you can do better.
38:09I know it.
38:11I know you should be much further in
38:14life,
38:16but you still procrastinate.
38:19You still just accept average.
38:23It bothers me to know you have an
38:25opportunity, an incredible opportunity
38:28to be the best version of yourself.
38:30Don't tell me about your issues. Don't
38:33tell me about your brokenness. I'm not
38:35trying to be insensitive here. Don't
38:37tell me about your traumas.
38:40EVERYBODY
38:42HAS GOT TRAUMA. AMEN.
38:45>> What I want to know
38:49is will you seize this moment
38:55to make something good out of your life?
38:59Will you seize this moment as A YOUNG
39:01PERSON, REGARDLESS OF HOW YOUR FAMILY IS
39:05in in a dysfunctional uh condition, will
39:08you seize this moment and you BE THE ONE
39:11TO BREAK THAT GENERATIONAL CURSE? What I
39:16want to know,
39:18Satan has hit you several times with
39:23some really hard blows.
39:26Are you going to sit there and accept it
39:30and die
39:32like that?
39:34Or are you going to pick your life up
39:38with your brokenness?
39:41>> Yes, you got divorced.
39:43Yes, they took everything from you.
39:46>> Yes, YOU LOST YOUR HOUSE. You lost your
39:48car. YOU LOST YOUR JOB. THE QUESTION IS
39:52NOT WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU. WHAT ARE YOU
39:56GOING TO DO
39:58that life hit you the wrong way?
40:02What are you going to do? Are you going
40:04to come to church every week, go through
40:06the the motion
40:09and not change who you are?
40:12Are you going to grow from 20 to 30 and
40:16have no experience in the 10 years that
40:20you live your life?
40:22still complaining, still holding people
40:24accountable for what you're supposed to
40:27do. Those are the things that bothers
40:28me.
40:30You know why? Cuz I know for myself,
40:35you cannot keep a good man or a good
40:38woman down when God is backing them.
40:42You can't. You have it within you to
40:46fight and survive.
40:49You have it within you.
40:52Or you can take option two.
40:56You can humble yourself.
41:00You can search your heart.
41:03And you can repent where necessary
41:08and allow God
41:10to transform you.
41:13Listen,
41:15you can
41:17repent,
41:19humble yourself,
41:23because
41:25I don't want, please hear me.
41:29I don't want to see
41:33June 2827
41:38find you at the same place.
41:43You're better than that.
41:46You are better than that.
41:51You got a whole year to improve.
41:56AND NOBODY'S RESPONSIBLE FOR MAKING that
41:59improvement but you.
42:02>> Because I'm telling you, when God is on
42:06your side,
42:11When you say, "God, I want you
42:15to give me hope.
42:18>> Hope to believe in me."
42:21He'll prepare you so you become, watch
42:24this, and I'm closing. You know,
42:25preachers get three closes. Uh uh.
42:30When you are hopeful,
42:32you then carry hope.
42:34>> That's right.
42:37You carry hope.
42:39>> So, somebody's sitting and feeling
42:42hopeless. Come on. Come on.
42:47You can make it. And because I empower
42:50her, she grabs somebody else. Cuz you're
42:53the carrier of hope. Grab somebody else.
42:55Oh, we we're carrying this whole thing.
42:59She's full of hope. She's carrying
43:00somebody else. Come on. You're carrying
43:02somebody else. And you see, we're
43:05carriers of hope. No matter where we go,
43:08some if if I could start the ministry of
43:13carrying a hope and it becomes
43:15contagious, then somebody else is going
43:18to get it. And before you know it,
43:20everybody in your community, everybody
43:22in your neighborhood, everybody on your
43:25job will now see that hope is alive.
43:29That God's not dead. Come on now. God's
43:32not dead. The same God who did it for
43:35Henry, grab a hold of somebody. The same
43:37God WHO DID IT FOR HENRY, grab a hold of
43:39somebody. Give somebody hope. Anybody?
43:41Come on. As I listen, I want you to
43:44Everybody, we got to demonstrate this.
43:45Right. Come on now. RIGHT. SO, WE'RE
43:48WALKING AROUND AND ALL OF US NOW all of
43:50a sudden we're carry CARRY SOMEBODY.
43:53CARRY find somebody. Help me out with my
43:56sermon here. Find somebody else. Come
43:58on. Somebody else. Carrie of hope. Come
44:01on. Help me here, please. Jesus, help
44:03me. Help me here. So, the the point I am
44:08making, we're all carriers of hope.
44:12So, as we go around this world, I hope
44:14they're finding somebody. Okay, this is
44:17not this is not just to look good here.
44:20All right. We're all carriers of hope.
44:23SO, ONE, IF ONE PERSON MAKES THE
44:25decision
44:27that we're going to change the world,
44:29we're going to give people hope. All of
44:31a sudden,
44:33[applause]
44:33what started out small
44:37end up being I I love it. I love it.
44:40They're all carrying everybody. Your
44:42whole family. Your whole family. Your
44:45whole family.
44:46>> Even the haters in your life. Give them
44:50hope. Give them hope. And before you
44:53know it, we now have a community of
44:58people who are given hope. Somebody
45:00ought to give God praise.
45:04>> We're all carriers
45:06of hope.
45:08>> Hallelujah.
45:09>> COME ON, SOMEBODY SHOUT IT OUT. We're
45:11carriers of hope.
45:15>> Stand on your feet, everybody. Stand on
45:17your feet.
45:19>> Don't you ever lose hope.
45:22Stay right there. Everybody stay right
45:24there. Don't you ever lose hope.
45:28All of us in this room, all of you who
45:30are online, if you love God,
45:35you are a carrier of hope.
45:39>> Don't keep it to yourself.
45:42The world
45:44The world is not spinning out of
45:47control.
45:49I love Fort Lauderdale.
45:52I love Fort Lauderdale.
45:55This week I'm jumping on a plane to go
45:57to Jamaica. I love Jamaica.
46:05There are just some bad people around.
46:10But here's the good thing.
46:13Do you not know there are more good
46:15people
46:17>> than bad people?
46:19The problem is we talk so much and
46:23promote so much the bad people
46:27>> that we drowned
46:29>> the good people out. I was talking to a
46:31minister yesterday officiating a wedding
46:34and we're talking about the same
46:36conversation and I told her I'm going to
46:38preach this today at my church and I
46:40said you know the mistake we preachers
46:43make.
46:44I said when we are given the opportunity
46:47to stand here to preach hope to people
46:50we tailor our sermons
46:53to talk to the people we're annoyed at.
46:58So, we preach to the people who we think
47:01are bad in the church
47:03because a lot of preachers, their
47:05sermons are not from God.
47:07>> They're just venting.
47:13>> So, they're willing to take up a whole
47:16sermon
47:17just to get back at a few people in the
47:20audience. Watch this. While most of the
47:23people in the audience
47:26just look looking for hope,
47:31>> choose what you will say out of your
47:33mouth from this day forward.
47:36>> Lift your hands. Father,
47:39all of these people who stand before us
47:41today that
47:44join the chain of
47:48people who are carrying hope.
47:52I believe that you've selected them this
47:54morning.
47:56I believe that before they were formed
47:59in their mother's womb, you knew on June
48:0328th [music]
48:042026,
48:06they were going to stand before the
48:08church on the whole world on social
48:10media.
48:12You handpicked them
48:16because they serve a purpose in this
48:18season. Amen.
48:21>> With everything that's happening in the
48:23world, you are looking for men and women
48:28who will be carriers of hope.
48:32And so as they've joined me and we made
48:35a circle around section 400 of this
48:38auditorium,
48:40may the entire congregation, whether
48:43they're here or streaming, may they
48:45embrace this idea
48:48that we can bring hope to the people of
48:52the world who are lost,
48:56confused,
48:58and at times