Bishop Noel Jones COME HOME AUGUST 20, 2023
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LearningTranscript
00:00 (upbeat music)
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00:32 (audience applauding)
00:38 - I would that you would turn with me to St. Luke's Gospel.
00:43 And I have something else to do,
00:49 but if you hang around a little bit,
00:51 we'll do it after the message
00:56 so that you won't fall asleep.
01:03 In St. Luke's Gospel chapter 15,
01:08 I would like to begin reading in and about verse,
01:13 and it's gonna be for a little while,
01:16 this reading in and about verse 11.
01:18 And I'll read it quickly.
01:23 And he said, "A certain man had two sons,
01:25 "and the younger of them said to his father,
01:27 "Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me."
01:33 And I want you to notice,
01:35 give me the portion of goods that falleth to me,
01:40 and he divided unto them his living.
01:43 And not many days after,
01:46 the youngest son gathered all together
01:47 and took his journey into a far country,
01:49 and there wasted his substance with riotous living.
01:54 It was not a bad business deal.
01:58 It was riotous living.
02:01 And of course, after you find yourself
02:03 in a serious position, things around you get worse.
02:08 And when he had spent all,
02:10 there arose a mighty famine in that land,
02:12 and he began to be in want.
02:14 And he went and joined himself to a citizen of that country,
02:19 and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.
02:24 And he would fain have filled his belly with the husks
02:30 that the swine did eat, and no man gave unto him.
02:34 And when he came to himself, he said,
02:35 "How many hired servants of my father's
02:39 "have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger.
02:44 "And I will arise and go to my father,
02:46 "and will say unto him,
02:48 "Father, I have sinned against heaven and against thee,
02:52 "and before thee, rather,
02:54 "and I'm not worthy to be called thy son."
02:59 And I want you to notice this, make me.
03:02 Now earlier, I saw give me.
03:09 Now I see make me as one of thy hired servants.
03:15 And he arose and came to his father,
03:17 but when he was yet a great way off,
03:19 his father saw him and had compassion,
03:21 and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.
03:24 And the son said unto him,
03:28 "Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight,
03:31 "and I'm no more worthy to be called thy son."
03:34 But the father said to his servants,
03:35 "Bring forth the best robe, put it on him,
03:38 "put a ring on his hand, shoes on his feet,
03:42 "and bring hither the fatted calf,
03:43 "and kill it and let us eat, and be merry."
03:47 For this my son was dead, and he is alive again.
03:51 He was lost and is found, and they began to be merry.
03:55 Now his eldest son was in the field.
04:00 And as he came and drew nigh to the house,
04:02 he heard music and dancing,
04:04 and he called one of the servants
04:06 and asked what these things meant.
04:09 And he said unto him, "Thy brother is come,
04:11 "and thy father has killed your fatted calf,
04:15 "because he hath received him safe and sound."
04:19 And he was angry and would not go in.
04:21 You ever seen people like that?
04:25 Ah, get mad, they ain't coming in.
04:27 I'm leaving, I'm sick of this.
04:32 Therefore came his father out and entreated him,
04:35 and he answering said to his father,
04:37 "Lo, these many years do I serve thee,
04:40 "neither transgressed I at any time thy commandment,
04:43 "and yet thou never gavest me a kid
04:46 "that I might make merry with my friends."
04:50 But as soon as this thy son was come,
04:53 which hath devoured thy living with harlots,
04:57 thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.
05:00 And he said unto him, "Son, thou art ever with me,
05:03 "and all that I have is thine.
05:05 "It was me that we should make merry and be glad,
05:09 "for this thy brother was dead,
05:12 "and is alive again, and was lost, and is found."
05:17 I want you to look at somebody like you're angry with him,
05:21 and tell him you can come home.
05:24 (audience murmurs)
05:25 Anything, you can always come home.
05:30 (audience murmurs)
05:33 You see, I'm still working with this.
05:36 I'm trying to be young, you know, with this stuff here,
05:40 and all of a sudden it went away.
05:42 Just, oh, here it's back again.
05:46 Glory be to God.
05:47 If you look in St. Luke chapter 15,
05:51 what you will find in Luke 15,
05:55 you will find lost things.
06:00 And Luke, of course, is the gospel
06:05 that is centered around great compassion.
06:09 It is in the book of Luke that you will find
06:13 the writer's very concerned about the unfortunate.
06:20 (audience murmurs)
06:22 Concerned about those people who are castigated.
06:26 Yes, ostracized, criticized, departmentalized.
06:34 The book of Luke deals with the compassion of Jesus Christ.
06:42 (audience murmurs)
06:46 Is that a voice from heaven?
06:48 (audience laughs)
06:51 And if you look at it carefully,
06:56 you will find that he opens up
06:58 and he talks about the lost sheep,
07:01 and leaving 90 and nine,
07:06 and going to find that particular sheep that is lost.
07:11 I want you just to give some thought
07:16 of the church going to
07:18 an outing to another church,
07:23 and we are taking a series of buses
07:28 to go to get to that place
07:32 that we all decided we were going to.
07:36 And everybody was on the bus except one person,
07:42 and all of you and us had to get up
07:45 at five in the morning and get our kids ready,
07:48 and we're scheduled to leave at nine o'clock,
07:52 but we had to take kids to the babysitter,
07:54 we had to put things together.
07:56 And we all were sitting on the bus ready to go,
08:02 and one person just didn't show up.
08:08 We all had to get up at,
08:13 I wouldn't call it an ungodly time,
08:16 but very early,
08:18 and we all had to do what we had to do,
08:21 and now we're sitting on this bus,
08:26 and the time has passed,
08:27 and there's one person who's holding us up.
08:34 I wonder what the attitude would be
08:40 for all of us who took our time to get ready,
08:45 on time,
08:46 and we're sitting here waiting for this derelict
08:51 who seems to feel as if all of us should be here,
08:58 and we should move only when they get here.
09:03 The question is, would that be a normal attitude,
09:08 would that be a normal disposition
09:12 for all of us to feel as if we could have done it,
09:18 then they should have done it,
09:20 and given us the respect of being there on time.
09:23 So I wonder who the star would be
09:29 who would say, "Let us wait, and let us be patient.
09:37 "Let us not leave them behind
09:39 "because they didn't meet the time standard."
09:44 And then maybe we don't know what the circumstances are.
09:50 Is there anybody who would go on social media
09:55 and not blast them?
09:56 When the sheep was found, he said, "Rejoice with me,
10:03 "for I have found my sheep that was lost."
10:07 And Jesus now says, "I say unto you
10:12 "that likewise joy shall be in heaven
10:17 "over one sinner that repents,
10:20 "more than over 99 persons,
10:25 "rather just persons which need no repentance."
10:32 It seems as if he's addressing an attitude
10:35 about people who feel like they have made it
10:40 towards people who are struggling to become.
10:47 It seems as if he's saying,
10:51 "When earthly people won't rejoice
10:55 "because they don't need to repent,
11:00 "heaven is rejoicing over one sinner
11:03 "that has decided to come
11:07 "or has been found by the power of God."
11:12 Now, I can hoop any time, so, you know.
11:16 If you're waiting for that, it may or may not come.
11:21 And then, of course, the next story related,
11:26 Jesus is the lost coin.
11:30 Again, she has lost her coin.
11:35 And I don't know if you've ever lost something
11:40 and how it just upsets the whole day.
11:46 It's not simply some things that you can replace,
11:54 'cause if you can't find 10 or $15
11:57 and you have a few more, you can replace them.
12:00 And replace it easily,
12:03 pick up a phone and borrow somebody's money.
12:05 But when you can't find your license
12:10 and you can't find your passport,
12:15 and you were doing fine until all of a sudden,
12:21 something is lost.
12:24 And now you're tearing everything up,
12:26 looking for the stuff,
12:27 and you're going through everything,
12:30 and now you're retracing your steps.
12:32 And you're getting mad with people around you
12:37 for not allowing,
12:38 for you not knowing where my stuff is.
12:42 And it just turns everything upside down,
12:48 and your whole day is shot
12:50 because something is out of place.
12:54 But it's only significant because it's yours.
12:59 Oh, I wish I could preach this thing.
13:02 It's only important because it belongs to you.
13:08 And while you're in a tizzy,
13:11 while you're in a mental turmoil,
13:15 the person beside you is still watching TV.
13:22 Because they don't have that kind of concern.
13:24 I wanna go from the end first.
13:30 And I wanna talk about the brother that's at home.
13:35 And my best friend and I, we differ on this position.
13:42 And we argue it all the time.
13:45 We've been arguing it for 40 years,
13:47 but we're still arguing it.
13:50 And that is I propose to you,
13:53 and I hope he's listening,
13:56 that this fella at home is normal.
14:04 I don't know anybody in here who would have a brother
14:14 who would have left, or a sister who would have left,
14:19 and not lose their money in a business deal,
14:22 but lost their money with fast women and slow horses.
14:29 Can't hit the numbers no matter how they try.
14:41 My father used to preach when my dad was alive in Syracuse
14:48 and my dad would get up on Sunday
14:50 and he'd say St. John 316
14:55 and five or six people would run out the door.
14:59 And finally we would ask, where are they going?
15:03 He just called for the scripture.
15:06 Whatever number he'd call.
15:15 I propose to you that the brother at home is normal.
15:20 Because if any one of us,
15:26 and I get it right here in this house,
15:28 where people feel like the time they spent
15:34 should be regarded.
15:37 And I have been faithful.
15:43 And I've never been out of place.
15:45 And yet still, you have never given me any kind of accolade.
15:52 And it seems as if everybody totally ignores what I'm doing.
16:01 Yet have time for folk who aren't on my level
16:08 with my record.
16:10 (audience cheering)
16:13 And you have taken me for granted.
16:17 And you've treated me like I'm insignificant
16:21 when people who don't have the faithfulness
16:26 or the commitment I have
16:29 have been regarded with more concern than me.
16:36 I propose to you that that is very normal.
16:41 Because most of us feel as if we've been there
16:52 when nobody else was there.
16:56 We should be the preferred individual.
17:02 (audience laughing)
17:05 I'm arguing that that is an attitude that's normal.
17:14 But some people argue it's backslidden at home.
17:21 That the people in the house oftentimes
17:30 have an attitude of what's due them and what's owed them
17:35 because they've been around all the time.
17:41 And it's argued that they shouldn't have that attitude.
17:46 That they should be more gracious and more wonderful.
17:58 And I don't adhere to that at all.
18:01 If you left Los Angeles, went back down to Mississippi
18:06 to take care of your mother because she was very sick
18:11 and you took care of her and you paid all of the taxes,
18:16 you washed her and you bathed her
18:22 and you kept the house clean.
18:25 And finally she went on to be with the Lord
18:29 wherever she went.
18:32 Everybody don't go to be with the Lord.
18:39 I'm sorry.
18:54 And as you're sitting in the repass,
18:57 your brother who was in Seattle,
19:00 your sister who was in Miami,
19:02 none of them ever called or came.
19:07 And yet you're sitting in the repass
19:12 and everybody's dividing what mother left.
19:17 But I want to call.
19:24 And I know she'd want me to have her hat.
19:29 And that scarf, I bought it for her, I want it back.
19:35 Now you who have been there with her all the time,
19:43 wouldn't it be normal for you to want to have an attitude
19:51 and say to them, y'all ain't no good.
19:56 But if mama was there,
20:02 mama would say it's all right baby, let them have the hat.
20:09 See what the story is indicating to us that
20:15 the prodigal is not the star.
20:20 The father is the star.
20:22 The brother is not the star.
20:28 But the father is the star.
20:34 And the love of the father is so magnanimously splendid
20:41 for us that it makes normal look evil.
20:47 I wonder, did you miss it?
20:49 The superlative love of the father
20:53 is so extraordinary in its expression
20:59 that what is normal looks ugly
21:05 compared to how beautiful his love is.
21:11 After all son, you are right.
21:17 He didn't spend your stuff, he spent my stuff.
21:22 And every calf that I killed for him
21:27 before it belonged to you, it belonged to me.
21:33 So if I choose to be good to somebody
21:40 who hasn't been good to me,
21:43 it is not for you to dictate how I treat them.
21:46 But I'll treat them the way I choose to treat them
21:52 and I don't expect you to have my love
21:55 because you didn't bring them in the world.
21:59 I feel like preaching here.
22:03 And if some of the saints would be concerned
22:08 about bringing people out of darkness into light,
22:12 they won't get mad when they're blessed.
22:14 But when you stand on the sideline without participation,
22:23 you get ugly when people who are struggling
22:29 are reached for by folk who love them enough
22:33 to say, "Come on in.
22:35 "I know you're weak and I know you got trouble.
22:38 "I know you got problems,
22:40 "but there is a God who loves you enough to bring you in."
22:45 And when I think of where he brought me from,
22:48 I can't get caught up in who I think I am.
22:54 Turn my back on you.
22:58 I insist that the love of the Father is so splendiferous
23:03 that it makes normal look evil.
23:10 (audience laughing)
23:12 Captivating story here, the prodigal son,
23:15 and prodigal simply means a wasteful spender.
23:18 So the theological question arises
23:22 and it's an interesting question.
23:25 Is this a relationship between creation and redemption?
23:31 Is this relationship between the church
23:36 and the recovered backslide?
23:39 The world as a family with the son representing all mankind
23:47 estranged from God in his original state
23:52 and the redeemed state.
23:56 Or is it simply just a particular family,
24:01 the church with a backslidden son?
24:05 'Cause oftentimes the church
24:10 has failed to be a place of healing.
24:13 I wish I could preach that.
24:16 And if there's any place I should be able to walk into
24:21 and say I have a problem,
24:24 it should be in the house of God.
24:27 I should be able to walk in here at any time
24:34 and say I'm struggling with something
24:36 and I need somebody to lift me up in prayer.
24:42 And I need somebody not to be judgmental
24:46 but somebody to say it's all right.
24:49 You can come in because this is a house of healing.
24:53 It is there where I view the church as a hospital
24:59 and everybody in here is sick.
25:05 Except for the great physician who is walking around
25:08 with the chart on everybody.
25:10 But it's an interesting concept
25:13 that I'm over here in a sick bed
25:15 judging you in your sick bed
25:19 who's judging the other person in their sick bed
25:24 and all of us sitting up here sick judging one another.
25:27 And the reason I'm judging you
25:30 is because I ain't got your sickness.
25:32 I ain't got your pain.
25:33 But the truth is you ain't got mine.
25:36 And instead of praying for one another
25:40 for the deliverance of God,
25:43 we sit around thinking we are somebody's important.
25:47 But I've got news for you.
25:48 If you got any kind of holiness today, it's not you.
25:53 It's God who has given you the power of righteousness
25:58 for this moment.
26:00 And I think you ought to walk real careful
26:02 with your righteousness just in case you run into something
26:08 that you're gonna need somebody to pray you out of.
26:13 And I just believe we ought to back up from being so hearty
26:18 because a hearty spirit and a lot of pride,
26:21 that's what goes before a fall.
26:23 And we gotta learn not to preach or to declare
26:27 that I am not as other men are
26:30 because nobody deserves the blessings of the Lord.
26:34 Whatever God does is grace.
26:37 And I wanna say thank you for your grace
26:40 for bringing me out of darkness into marvelous light.
26:43 And Lord, help me to help somebody.
26:46 (congregation cheering)
26:49 Y'all sit down.
26:52 I gotta, please.
26:57 The particular church and the situation here is
27:02 the son is protected and loved and cherished by his father.
27:07 Reminds me of the covering that God gave to Eve
27:14 and the marvelous way that he protected, shielded.
27:19 And can you imagine the actual cruelty
27:24 that exists in the world?
27:27 He's protected by his father's provision,
27:31 his father's sensitivity and his father's security.
27:36 He's protected simply and totally
27:41 by the relationship that he has with God.
27:44 And many times we love the gift more than we love the giver.
27:52 And we fail to realize that our significance
27:55 is not in what we drive.
27:56 It's not in what we wear.
27:59 It's not in where we live.
28:02 But the only importance that any one of us has
28:05 is the fact that we have a relationship with God.
28:09 The relationship with God then supersedes what you have.
28:14 Because I'd rather be in a Pinto with God
28:18 than in a Rolls Royce without it.
28:22 I'd rather be in a studio apartment with God
28:27 than in a 40 room mansion without him.
28:29 Because the significance of father and son
28:34 is not in how much you have,
28:37 but it's the relationship that is indicative
28:41 of the love that is expressed
28:44 and the love that is requited.
28:47 I love you if you have nothing.
28:50 I love you if you have everything.
28:52 What you have does not determine my love for you.
28:57 I love you, oh my God, if you don't give me anything.
29:03 And I love you if you give me everything.
29:06 But the thing does not determine the relationship.
29:11 I'd rather be with you in a one room house.
29:14 I'd rather be with you with nothing
29:16 because it's my relationship with you.
29:19 You see, once we're conformed to the world
29:23 and not transformed, we see things over relationship.
29:28 What he didn't realize was he had his father's protection.
29:34 He had his father's love.
29:36 He had his father's sensitivity.
29:39 And he was covered because of his relationship.
29:44 Now understand, relationship also includes fellowship.
29:49 I wish you'd see it.
29:51 But you can be out of fellowship
29:54 and still be in relationship,
29:57 particularly if there is a power in the relationship
30:01 that will not let you go.
30:04 You're covered because God has anointed you.
30:08 You're covered not because of what you have,
30:12 because riches are deceitful,
30:14 but the Holy Ghost is truth.
30:17 My riches come and go,
30:19 but my anointing is inviolable.
30:23 You can't take my anointing.
30:25 You can take my car, you can get my house,
30:28 you can trick me out of my money,
30:30 but you can't trick me out of my anointing.
30:33 When I'm broke, I'm anointed.
30:35 When I have money, I'm anointed.
30:38 If I'm sick, I'm anointed.
30:40 If I'm on the bowling alley, I'm anointed.
30:42 If I'm behind the pulpit, I'm anointed.
30:45 You can't mess with my anointing.
30:48 That's why David in his lowest hour said to God,
30:52 "Whatever you want, you can have it,
30:55 "but one thing don't take from me.
30:58 "Don't take that Holy Spirit away from me
31:02 "because that's our relationship."
31:06 Woo!
31:07 I'm out of fellowship, but keep me in.
31:11 I wish somebody'd get it.
31:12 Have I told you to touch a neighbor yet?
31:14 It's almost there.
31:16 He now says to his father,
31:19 because in the Jewish environment,
31:21 2/3 of the portion goes to the oldest son
31:26 and 1/3 goes to the youngest son.
31:31 Now, the proud adventurer who's eager now,
31:34 he's got his energy and he's got his zeal,
31:37 and he's eager now to move out on his own.
31:41 So the first thing he is saying to God is, "Give me.
31:45 "I want you to give me," he's saying to his father,
31:48 "I want you to give me what's mine."
31:51 One of the things that has gone wrong
31:54 in the 21st century church
31:56 is that we have only seen God as a material giver.
32:01 We fail to understand that the greatest gift
32:05 that we can have from God
32:07 is the gift of relationship with him,
32:11 to have his coverage, to have his sensitivity,
32:14 to have the security that you can only have with him.
32:19 Because money can't buy the devil off your back.
32:24 I wish I could preach to you.
32:26 Money can't move you away from anything
32:30 that Satan wants to throw your way.
32:33 In fact, oftentimes, he uses things
32:37 to control your sensual possession
32:41 that now messes with your faith.
32:44 Because sensual perception does not connect you to God.
32:49 It only connects you to your world.
32:52 So many times, the children of God
32:55 value who you are by what you have,
33:00 because they can see your car,
33:03 and they see your car as a blessing.
33:07 But your car can be a curse if God is not with you.
33:12 Your house can be a curse if God is not with you.
33:16 Your money can get you in more trouble
33:19 if God is not with you.
33:22 Your power is not in what you have.
33:25 Your power is in who you are.
33:28 And who you are is predicated
33:30 on what God has brought you to in relationship.
33:35 Don't get beside yourself, son,
33:37 and think this is a give me relationship,
33:40 because that's all you want is what I have to give.
33:44 But don't fail to understand
33:47 that I am more important than what you have.
33:51 Can I preach like I feel it?
33:53 There are some people who will take what you give
33:57 and don't want you.
33:58 Mm, I'm almost there, Pat.
34:06 There are some people
34:08 who will take everything you have to give
34:11 and don't want nothing to do with you.
34:14 They'll walk away from you as soon as they can.
34:17 They'll hang around until they get what they want,
34:20 and then they're gone.
34:22 There are some people with you right now
34:24 that already have an exit strategy,
34:27 and the exit strategy is based on
34:30 waiting to get what they want from you.
34:33 Give me, give me.
34:36 Give me is a sign of immaturity in a relationship,
34:41 because if you want something
34:43 that's significant in a relationship,
34:46 it's who you have the relationship with.
34:49 If they have nothing to give,
34:51 that's the power of a relationship.
34:55 It's not based on what you give me.
34:57 It's based on who you are.
34:59 It's based on where we are together.
35:02 I'll go to hell with you.
35:04 I'll go into a storm with you.
35:06 This is why the Psalmist can declare,
35:09 yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
35:13 I will fear no evil, because thou are.
35:17 I wish somebody'd understand it.
35:19 Give somebody a high five and say,
35:21 you better have him with you.
35:24 You better have him with you.
35:26 It is not my substance that makes us great.
35:30 It is my presence that makes us great,
35:33 because it's not by power.
35:36 It's not by might, but it's by my spirit, sayeth the Lord.
35:41 The way the adventurer felt was,
35:44 if I can just have what my fathers have,
35:48 then I'll flap my wings,
35:51 and I'll go to where I need to go and do what I want to do.
35:56 But understand this, son,
35:59 your strength is because of your father's insight.
36:03 Your strength is because of your father's creativity.
36:07 Your strength is because of your father's blessing.
36:12 Your power is because of your father's omnipotence.
36:16 Your greatness is because of your father's ability.
36:20 Your power is based on his presence and his aura.
36:24 Without your father, the substance you have will not profit,
36:31 because it takes the father to make it manageable.
36:35 I wish somebody'd understand me.
36:38 I wish somebody'd said,
36:39 that's why God has held your blessing,
36:42 your financial blessing,
36:44 because you're not yet able to manage it,
36:48 because the gift of God is so great
36:51 that he's got to build you up
36:54 to be able to handle what he's about to deliver.
36:57 That's why he declared,
37:00 I would above all,
37:02 that you would prosper and be in good health,
37:06 even as your soul prospers.
37:10 You want prosperity in money,
37:12 without soul prosperity, you won't have it long.
37:17 You want to have somebody with you that's beautiful,
37:21 but you won't have them long if your soul ain't ready for it.
37:25 I need my soul ready for my next move,
37:28 my soul ready for my upside,
37:31 my soul ready for the next level in God.
37:34 I need my soul ready for what God has promised me,
37:39 and I need to tell the Lord,
37:42 hold it 'til I'm ready for it,
37:44 because I don't want to lose it
37:46 with my folly and my foolishness.
37:50 I feel like preaching now,
37:51 give somebody a high five for the second time,
37:54 and say, are you ready for his blessing yet?
37:57 Are you ready to hold on to it yet?
38:01 The substance then was nothing without his father,
38:06 and you can't treat God as an object.
38:09 You can't treat him as just something to give you something.
38:14 I'm confused because Christianity
38:17 did not start with Rolls Royces.
38:20 Christianity started on a cross.
38:23 The power of a king's kid
38:25 is not in how much you have in the bank,
38:28 but how much you have in your heart.
38:31 The power of a king's kid is not predicated
38:35 on what's happening in the size of your house,
38:39 but Christianity begun with somebody
38:41 hanging on a cross for somebody else.
38:44 The power of a king's kid is the ability to sacrifice
38:49 for the benefit of somebody else.
38:52 It's not a give me thing.
38:54 It's a what can I do for you kind of a thing.
38:58 How can I help you kind of a thing?
39:02 How can I be a better service?
39:04 I'm almost there, Pat.
39:06 How can I be a better service to the people of God?
39:10 How can I help one another?
39:12 How can we help each other in the house of God?
39:16 I feel like preaching now,
39:18 so many times we've been confused to think
39:22 that the power that I have is in who I am
39:25 and in what I have.
39:28 And we flaunt it and we flirt it.
39:30 And we look at other people who don't have what we have
39:34 as if they're inferior to us.
39:37 I've got news for you.
39:38 What you have don't make you better than me.
39:41 And your position don't make you better than anybody
39:45 because your position is not a place of reward.
39:48 It's a place of service.
39:51 The higher you go up in title
39:54 is the lower you should go in service.
39:57 That's why the great God that I serve,
40:00 he thought it not robbery to be equal with God,
40:04 but made himself of no reputation.
40:08 There are some people you better call them by their title
40:11 or they'll be upset.
40:13 Don't you know who you talking to?
40:15 No, we would know who we were talking to
40:18 if we saw you serving.
40:20 Uh-huh, because you're sitting in a big chair
40:23 don't mean anything.
40:24 We know you when you get down in the gutter with us.
40:28 We know you when you roll your sleeves up.
40:31 We know you when you get dirty
40:34 trying to make somebody clean.
40:36 We don't know you because you got a title.
40:39 God said, I'll make your name great.
40:42 He didn't say nothing about giving you a title.
40:44 I'll make your name great.
40:46 You're trying to do with a title
40:48 with what you can't do with your name.
40:51 I feel like preaching in here.
40:53 Hmm, find me Pat.
40:56 I feel a breakthrough coming.
40:58 His father then became simply a memory.
41:02 I have what he means to me substantially
41:07 and I have taken it and I've gone to a far country.
41:11 He left and he went far away
41:13 because he understood the standards in his home.
41:18 And many times when we understand standards
41:22 of a relationship, we try to get away from those
41:27 that have overlooked and protected and kept us in check.
41:32 Many times we want to move away from the influence
41:36 of what has brought us to where we are.
41:39 And we wanna step out on our own
41:42 and act as if greatness is all of us.
41:46 I've got news for you.
41:47 The greater your thoughts are,
41:50 the greater your partnership has to be.
41:53 Nobody has ever been great by themselves.
41:58 In order for you to be great,
41:59 you have to have relationships.
42:02 You have to have people around you
42:04 who help you to network.
42:06 You have to have people who can get done what you can't do.
42:10 You have to have people who you can delegate to.
42:14 Nobody is great in and of themselves.
42:18 And if there's any greatness in you,
42:19 it has to be spawned by God.
42:23 And God has to be the instigator
42:25 of what it is that's in you.
42:28 Can I preach like I feel it?
42:30 That's why you got a lot of people with vision
42:33 who are begging other people to support their vision.
42:37 And they're begging you and get mad
42:39 if you don't put your money up for their vision.
42:42 But I've got news for you.
42:44 When God gives you a vision, he provides.
42:48 Vision comes with provision.
42:50 You ain't got to beg anybody.
42:53 When God gives you a vision, he'll send folk to you.
42:58 He'll send folk with it.
42:59 He'll provide with it.
43:01 You ain't got to sneak into somebody's church
43:04 to get a few members out of it.
43:07 You can stand on your own and watch God open the doors.
43:12 You ain't got to ask anybody to preach
43:15 or anybody to open a door for you.
43:18 Because if you have the gift of God,
43:21 the door will automatically open.
43:24 Because God does not put lights under a bushel.
43:27 He puts light on top of the candlestick.
43:31 And a city that's set upon a hill cannot be hid.
43:35 We might as well have church, Pat,
43:38 sit around blaming folk for what you haven't become.
43:41 The devil is a liar.
43:43 Can't nobody stop you when God has his hand on you.
43:47 Can't nobody keep you from getting there.
43:49 You ain't got to bow down to man in order to get anywhere.
43:54 You ain't got to get angry with anybody
43:57 in order to move to the next level.
43:59 It's because you think you can do it by yourself.
44:03 So we took off into a far country.
44:06 And I feel like having some church right now.
44:11 And he tried to establish a relationship
44:15 based on what he had materially.
44:19 They will never love you like your father.
44:22 Can I preach like a fillet?
44:24 You will never find anybody
44:27 who will love you like God loves you.
44:30 You can never find anybody
44:32 who will give to you like God gives to you.
44:36 You will never find anybody.
44:38 Can I preach like a fillet?
44:39 You can't leave God for a woman.
44:42 She can't love you like God.
44:45 You can't leave God for a man.
44:48 I feel like preaching in here.
44:50 You can't go back to what you used to,
44:53 that God brought you out of
44:55 because you're running into a little financial trouble.
44:59 Go back home.
45:00 Go back home.
45:04 Don't sit out here and suffer
45:07 because somebody's got you
45:09 and somebody's holding you based on your desires.
45:13 God kept you when you didn't do any good to him.
45:18 God kept you when you wouldn't even praise him.
45:22 God was there for you
45:25 when you wouldn't even lift him up,
45:28 when you wouldn't acknowledge the fact
45:30 that it hadn't been for Jesus
45:33 and all he's done for me.
45:35 I would not be here today.
45:38 And what he's saying to you is,
45:40 come on back home
45:43 because home is where you're ought to be.
45:46 Don't give up on God.
45:49 Can I preach like a fillet?
45:50 Give somebody a high five.
45:52 So don't give God up for a man
45:56 because a man can't give you God.
45:58 Don't give God up for a business deal
46:01 because a business deal can't give you God.
46:04 Don't give God up for a woman
46:07 because a woman can't give you God.
46:09 But can I reverse it?
46:11 God can give you a woman.
46:13 God can give you a man.
46:16 God can give you a business deal.
46:18 God can open the door.
46:20 So if you're gonna stay with anybody,
46:23 I'll preach the rest of it another time.
46:31 Give somebody a high five
46:34 and say, go back home.
46:36 Go back home.
46:38 You've got heartbreak.
46:40 You're lost in the darkness.
46:42 You've got the chaos of undetermined pain.
46:46 You've got the constant effects
46:48 of debilitating experience.
46:51 You've got the insomnia of reoccurring heartbreak.
46:55 You're lost in the damage of the situation.
46:59 It's caused undetermined damage,
47:02 unaccessible damage.
47:04 But God is saying, come to your senses.
47:09 Begin to think again.
47:11 You had joy when you were broke,
47:15 but you were with me.
47:17 You had joy when you were by yourself.
47:20 Now you got double trouble
47:23 because you're with somebody
47:25 that does not reflect me.
47:28 You're with somebody that will not praise me.
47:32 You're with somebody that will not lift me up.
47:36 You're trying to have a life without me.
47:41 Come on back home.
47:43 Come on back home.
47:45 I used to see you lifting up the name of Jesus.
47:49 Now I see you with your head hung down,
47:54 but I hear the Lord saying,
47:56 everything you left, I got it here for you.
48:01 I want to party one more time.
48:05 I want to see you dance through the church.
48:09 I want to see you lift me up and give me the praise.
48:13 I want to see tears of joy coming out of your eyes.
48:18 I want to see you helping the folk around you.
48:22 Where is your joy?
48:24 Where is your power?
48:26 Where is your anointing?
48:28 Come on home.
48:29 Come on home.
48:32 Come on home.
48:34 Come on home.
48:35 Come back.
48:37 I feel like preaching.
48:39 Give somebody a high five for the fifth time.
48:43 Answer neighbor.
48:45 His kisses are sweet.
48:48 His kisses are bountiful.
48:51 He saw him a far way off and he ran to him.
48:57 I feel God's getting ready to run to somebody
49:02 and say, come on home.
49:05 Come on home.
49:07 Let me kiss you.
49:09 Let me kiss you with a fresh anointing.
49:12 Kiss you with a spiritual uplift.
49:16 Kiss you with more power than you ever had.
49:21 Kiss you till the devils got to run out of your house.
49:26 Kiss you till the break is made.
49:30 Give somebody a high five for the second to the last time.
49:35 Answer neighbor.
49:36 I'm open for his kisses.
49:40 I'm hungry.
49:55 I'm hungry for him to hold me one more time.
50:00 I'm hungry for him to lift me up one more time.
50:06 I'm hungry for him to hold me and say,
50:11 Lord, I am with you.
50:13 I am with you.
50:14 Come home.
50:27 Come home.
50:30 Come home.
50:32 The table is spread.
50:35 (congregation cheering)
50:38 The table is spread.
50:45 Come home.
50:49 Come home.
50:55 (congregation cheering)
50:59 Come home.
51:00 (congregation cheering)
51:03, Come home.
51:04 (congregation cheering)
51:08 (drum roll)
51:10 (congregation cheering)
51:19 Come home.
51:32 Come home.
51:34 (upbeat music)
51:37 (congregation cheering)
51:40 (upbeat music)
51:44 (congregation cheering)
51:47 Come home.
51:57 (upbeat music)
52:00 (congregation cheering)
52:03 (upbeat music)
52:07 (upbeat music)
52:09 (upbeat music)
52:12 (upbeat music)
52:14 (upbeat music)
52:17 (upbeat music)
52:20 (upbeat music)
52:22 (upbeat music)
52:25 (upbeat music)
52:27 (upbeat music)
52:38 (upbeat music)
52:53 (upbeat music)
52:55 Come home.
52:59 You can be in the church and still need to come home
53:05 to that place of relationship
53:11 that superseded things.
53:19 So when he came to himself, he's not saying give me anymore,
53:24 but I need you to make me.
53:27 Giving me separated me from you,
53:32 but making me keeps me with you.
53:38 Make me.
53:40 I need to be a made man,
53:43 not by the mafia, but by God himself.
53:47 Make me.
53:49 Make me to know your wisdom.
53:51 Make me to know the knowledge of you.
53:56 Make me to have the humility I need to have.
53:59 Make me to be a servant of others.
54:03 Make me to enjoy your presence
54:08 when there is nothing else around.
54:10 Make me to be good to folk who aren't good to me.
54:16 Make me to pray for them that despitefully use me.
54:20 Make me until all of the vengeance and malice
54:23 and bitterness and envy is eliminated from me.
54:28 Come home.
54:31 He that are weary, come home.
54:37 Softly.
54:43 (upbeat music)
54:46 (upbeat music)
54:49 (upbeat music)
54:51 (upbeat music)
54:54 (upbeat music)
54:57 (upbeat music)
54:59 (upbeat music)
55:02 (upbeat music)
55:04 (upbeat music)
55:07 (upbeat music)
55:10 (upbeat music)
55:12 (upbeat music)
55:15 (whooshing)