Back to church 2019

The Power of a Shadow

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, (ASV)

God can do anything, you know— far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, His Spirit deeply and gently within us. (The Message Bible)

INTRODUCTION

Well Good morning Southpointe!! We are here this morning on back to church Sunday!

Listen, no matter where you are today, no matter where you find yourself, I want you to know that there is a God can do anything!! There is nothing to hard for God!

Listen, no

read to you a scripture that I know is

gonna be so powerful. It's out of The Message paraphrase, . I love this

Your wildest dreams can be done when God is involved in our situation!

scripture so much. It says that God can do anything, you know, far more than you could

But what we must see is His Spirit is constantly working in our lives to fulfill the plans and dreams that God has planned in your heart.

But The Holy Spirit is not pushing us around but is just merely working within us to get us to place that the Father designed for us to be.

I like this Josie Bisset said Dreams come a size too big so that we can grow into them.

Here a good definition of a dream: A dream is an inspiring picture of the future that energizes your mind, will, and emotions, empowering you to do everything you can to achieve it.

When the dream is right for the person and the person is right for the dream, the two cannot be separated from each other.

Often times we are so concerned about other people are thinking about is that we are so busy listen to them and we are not listening to God.

There’s a Rule called the 18/40/60 rule: When you are 18, you worry about what everybody is thinking about you. When you are 40, you don’t care what anybody thinks of you. When you are 60, you realize that nobody has been thinking about you at all!

If we could all realize the most important person in our life that we should concern about is God.

I should strive to please Him and to please God is follow in His shadow.

You see, there is one thing that I think we all have in common, I hope, is that we all cast a shadow.

ever imagine or guess or request in your wi

ldest dreams. He does it not by pushing us

around, but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. Listen, no

matter where you are today, no matter where you find yourself, no matter where you're

going online right now, I want you to know

that there is a God that is unbothered by our tantrums, he's unbothered by our searching and our confusion, and his Spirit is ever gently working in our hearts.

tantrums, he's unbothered by our searching and our confusion, and his Spirit is ever

Now there is one thing that I think we all have in common, I hope, is that we all cast a shadow.

gently working in our hearts. Now there is one thing that I think we all have in common,

I hope, is that we all cast a shado

Now, the reason why I'm sharing this is because we all live another someone shadow.

the sun since October like 20 times. So they could dispute it when I'm there. But I went

out in your city, your city is beautiful here in Oklahoma, and man, I saw my shadow. I

went like, there's the su

n, Oklahoma has the sun. There it is! It is absolutely beautiful. ThePowerofaShadow_Transcript

Growing up, many had this mental list, they would say we will never be like them.

2

Now, the reason why I'm sharing this is because if you don't cast a shadow, you've got a

whole different set of problems that we don't wanna know about. But growing up, we

I'll never sit in that chair like my dad flipping through the channels, rolling my eyes. Oh, I'll never flip the pancakes like my momma.

all have this mental list, looking at our picture, at our parents, what we will never be.

al list, looking at our picture, at our parents, what we will never be.

We'll never tell them that. You go, I'll never sit in that chair like my dad flipping through

You make that list, and then when you watch your parents age, and you start the process of understanding your age yourself, it is amazing when you begin to realize how large of a shadow they have cast over your life, and now the shadow you live in is the shadow that begins to live in you.

the channels, rolling my eyes. Oh, I'll never flip the pancakes like my momma. You make

th

e list, and then when you watch your parents age, and you start the process of

understanding your age yourself, it is amazing when you begin to realize how large of a

And all of the sudden, your kids go like, you roll your eyes just like Grandpa. Momma, you flip those pancakes just like your momma.

shadow they have cast over your life, and now the shadow you live in is the shadow that

b

And that's a thing you said, I'll never do. I want you to know that the shadow of our parents, you cannot escape. And I know for some, that's a happy thought.

to live in you. And all of the sudden, your kids go like, dang, you roll your eyes

hing you said, I'll never do. I want you to know that the shadow of our parents,

just like Grandpa. Momma, you flip those pancakes just like your momma. And that's a

thing you said, I'll never do. I want you to know that the shadow of our parents,

For me, it's a happy thought, because the shadow of my parents is life giving, affirming, encouraging.

we

I have no intention to take any of you to a place of pain.

cannot escape. And I know for some, that's a happy thought. For me, it's a happy

thought, because the shadow of my parents is life

But for some of you, it's not a great shadow. It's a shadow maybe of tension and frustration and addiction and explosion, in your home and for others. It's a shadow of absence.

-

giving, affirming, encouraging, and I

have no intention to take any of you to a place of pain. But for some of you, it's n

ot a

As one writer says, we all labor under the shadow of our parents, because it has kind of made us who we are, and it's influencing who we will become.

Now what I want you to understand when we get our priority in line then we can start living the dream that our Father has for us.

great shadow. It's a shadow maybe of tension and frustration and addiction and

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.

I want you to look at UNDER THE SHADOW OF THE ALMIGHTY.

This is an expression which implies great nearness. You see we must walk very close to a companion, if we are to have their shadow fall on us.

Seek ye the LORD while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near:

Can you imagine any expression more perfect in describing the constant presence of God then shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.

What intimate and unrestrained communion does this describe. The Christian can pour their heart out to God, as Christian we can tell God our needs and our wishes, our thoughts, and our feelings.

We can tell God our doubts, anxieties, our sorrows and our joys just like you would to a loving friend.

Many believe that this was actually written by Moses, right after that Passover night when The Destroying Angel passed through Egypt, while the Faithful and Obedient Israelites were sheltered by God.

Then Moses called all the elders of Israel together and said to them, "Go, pick out a lamb or young goat for each of your families, and slaughter the Passover animal.

Drain the blood into a basin. Then take a bundle of hyssop branches and dip it into the blood. Brush the hyssop across the top and sides of the doorframes of your houses. And no one may go out through the door until morning.

For the LORD will pass through the land to strike down the Egyptians. But when He sees the blood on the top and sides of the doorframe, the LORD will pass over your home. He will not permit His death angel to enter your house and strike you down.

"Remember, these instructions are a permanent law that you and your descendants must observe forever.

They were to stay put, abide there under the protection of God. The last verse remind us that these instructions are a permanent law.

This is a remind to us that we are to abide under the protection of God.

There is power in the shadow!!

But the key is to abide! The Israelites could have went outside of the commands that God have told them. And if they would have it would have been death.

Abide— stay in the protection of God, set down and rest yourself.

You see, many people have lived their entire life and the shadow of something their parents put them under or something they have done.

God wants you to come out of that shadow of the past and come under the protection of His shadow.

Promises of protection are throughout the Bible, but there is one place where you can find all of them gathered together in a single, power-packed passage—and that’s in .

But what about the spiritual side of your home? Does being a Christian mean your home will automatically be blessed and protected? Unfortunately, the answer is no. So, what can you do to ensure your home is a safe place for your family? You go to God’s promises in His Word.

Promises of protection abound throughout the Bible, but there is one place where you can find all of them gathered together in a single, power-packed passage—and that’s in . is God’s covenant for divine protection.  It covers every danger—sickness, disease, assault, crime, tornadoes, fire and any other threat to your safety and well-being.

The good news is you can live in a fortress of protection and create an environment in your home that makes the devil flee. But like any of the promises of God, you have a responsibility to receive the promises of by faith.

Below are seven faith strategies for Building a house.

1. Fill Your Atmosphere

“Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.” –

We live in two atmospheres—one is physical and the other spiritual. An atmosphere is defined as “a pervading or surrounding influence or spirit, general mood or environment.” In , the earth’s atmosphere was dark and empty—until God spoke. It didn’t automatically take on the spiritual atmosphere of God—He had to fill the atmosphere with what He wanted to occupy that space.

The same is true for us. We have a spiritual atmosphere in our homes that we can energize with the power of the Holy Spirit, or leave blank for anything or anyone to permeate. The latter is much too dangerous. If we fail to play offense, we’ll end up playing defense and wearing ourselves down with unnecessary trials.

How can you fill your atmosphere? Try these simple, but powerful, ideas at home:

Load an MP3 player with the entire Bible. Connect it to small desktop speakers and place it in the main living space of your home. Set it to ‘repeat’ and let it run on low volume 24 hours a day, seven days a week. No matter where you are or what you’re doing, the Word of God is being spoken into the atmosphere of your home!Turn on VICTORY™ network (formerly BVOVN) and let it play in your home. Click here for ways to access VICTORY.Play worship music softly throughout the day.Speak the Word of God out loud as you go about your daily tasks.

2. Protect Your Atmosphere

“He is my refuge and my fortress….” –, NKJV

tells us not to be conformed to this world and its ways. Media choices like television shows, movies and music that promote fear, worry, infidelity, divorce, anger and sexual immorality oppose the Word of God and weaken the protection around you, your home and your family.

When you take refuge in God, you remove yourself from the influence of those things that are not of God—the voice of the world.  Ask God, according to , to turn your eyes from worthless things and help you purge your atmosphere of all that is not of Him.

3. Deal With Wrong Spirits Immediately

“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him…” , NKJV

Have you ever walked into a room and felt tension so thick, you wanted to run the other way? A wrong spirit was most certainly to blame. says, “For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there” (NKJV).

When you set your love upon the Lord, you will desire to love others as He loves them, but if you step out of love, you are stepping into Satan’s territory. Strife, unforgiveness, rebellion and pride are all tools the devil uses to come into your home and stir up trouble. His purpose? To divide and destroy your home.

It can be very costly to allow the “luxury” of a few quarrels or to permit your children to rebel and talk back to you, because when you do, you are inviting a wrong spirit to operate in your home. On the other hand, the power of agreement is a supernatural, miracle-working power!

So, determine to stop any attitudes or situations that cause destruction. When any wrong spirit tries to take up residence in your home, deal with it immediately. Say, “Spirit of strife, unforgiveness, pride and rebellion, get out of my home in the Name of Jesus!”

Blog HomeFaithBuildersNewsOutreachElite CX Team

7 Strategies for Building a House

is God’s covenant for divine protection.  It covers every danger—sickness, disease, assault, crime, tornadoes, fire and any other threat to your safety and well-being.

September 12, 2019📷📷

When you first move into a home, great care is taken to situate the furniture, hang family pictures on the walls, and decorate each room. A house becomes a home with time and love invested into establishing a comfortable space.

But what about the spiritual side of your home? Does being a Christian mean your home will automatically be blessed and protected? Unfortunately, the answer is no. So, what can you do to ensure your home is a safe place for your family? You go to God’s promises in His Word.

Promises of protection abound throughout the Bible, but there is one place where you can find all of them gathered together in a single, power-packed passage—and that’s in . is God’s covenant for divine protection.  It covers every danger—sickness, disease, assault, crime, tornadoes, fire and any other threat to your safety and well-being.

The good news is you can live in a fortress of protection and create an environment in your life.

But like any of the promises of God, you have a responsibility to receive the promises of by faith. God is asking you to

1. Fill Your Atmosphere

1. Fill Your Atmosphere

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

We live in two atmospheres—one is physical and the other spiritual.

An atmosphere is defined as “a pervading or surrounding influence or spirit, general mood or environment.”

In , the earth’s atmosphere was dark and empty—until God spoke. It didn’t automatically take on the spiritual atmosphere of God—

God had to fill the atmosphere with what He wanted to occupy that space.

The same is true for us. We have a spiritual atmosphere in our homes and our lives that we can energize with the power of the Holy Spirit, or leave blank for anything or anyone to enter in.

Leaving it blank is much too dangerous. If we fail to play offense, we’ll end up playing defense and wearing ourselves down with unnecessary trials.

How can you fill your atmosphere? Try these simple, but powerful, ideas at home:

Load an MP3 player with the entire Bible. Connect it to small desktop speakers and place it in the main living space of your home. Set it to ‘repeat’ and let it run on low volume 24 hours a day, seven days a week. No matter where you are or what you’re doing, the Word of God is being spoken into the atmosphere of your home!

Listen to The Word in your car, why you are working out. Play worship music softly throughout the day.Speak the Word of God out loud as you go about your daily tasks.

Listen to Word in your car, why you are working out. Turn on VICTORY™ network (formerly BVOVN) and let it play in your home. Click here for ways to access VICTORY.Play worship music softly throughout the day.Speak the Word of God out loud as you go about your daily tasks.

2. Protect Your Atmosphere

Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

We live in a world that is not God friendly. A World that define what was good bad and what is bad good.

Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

tells us not to be conformed to this world and its ways. Media choices like television shows, movies and music that promote fear, worry, infidelity, divorce, anger and sexual immorality oppose the Word of God and weaken the protection around you, your home and your family.

tells us not to be conformed to this world and its ways. Media choices like television shows, movies and music that promote fear, worry, infidelity, divorce, anger and sexual immorality oppose the Word of God and weaken the protection around you, your home and your family.

tells us not to be conformed to this world and its ways. Media choices like television shows, movies and music that promote fear, worry, infidelity, divorce, anger and sexual immorality oppose the Word of God and weaken the protection around you, your home and your family.

When you take refuge in God, you remove yourself from the influence of those things that are not of God—the voice of the world.

Ask God, according to , to turn your eyes from worthless things and help you purge your atmosphere of all that is not of Him.

Ask God,

Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through Your word.

3. Deal With Wrong Spirits Immediately

according to , to turn your eyes from worthless things and help you purge your atmosphere of all that is not of Him.

3. Deal With Wrong Spirits Immediately

“Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him…” , NKJV

Have you ever walked into a room and felt tension so thick, you wanted to run the other way? A wrong spirit was most certainly to blame.

says, “For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there” (NKJV).

When you set your love upon the Lord, you will desire to love others as He loves them, but if you step out of love, you are stepping into Satan’s territory.

Strife, unforgiveness, rebellion and pride are all tools the devil uses to come into your home and stir up trouble. His purpose? To divide and destroy your home, your life.

It can be very costly to allow the “luxury” of a few disagreements to permit your children to rebel and talk back to you, because when you do, you are inviting a wrong spirit to operate in your home.

Or just have that disagreement with people constantly, always fighting with people in your family, workplace, your school, etc.

But on the other hand, the power of agreement is a supernatural, miracle-working power!

So, determine to stop any attitudes or situations that cause destruction.

When any wrong spirit tries to take up residence in your home, deal with it immediately.

Say, “Spirit of strife, unforgiveness, pride and rebellion, get out of my home in the Name of Jesus!”

4. Anoint Your Home, family,church, and your workplace with Oil

4. Anoint Your Home with Oil

4. Anoint Your Home with Oil

“A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you.” –, NKJV

The world around you—even fellow believers—seem to struggle with constant sickness and tragedy.

The enemy is about his business to kill, steal, and destroy.

But under God’s promise of protection, those evils will not touch you. When you stand in faith for protection, you will see those around you falling, but that evil won’t come near you.

One way to have this is with your faith for supernatural protection and is anoint your home, life, church, and your workplace with oil.

Oil represents the power of the Holy Spirit and is a symbol of faith in God’s ability to cleanse and make holy. It is an act of consecrating your home to Him.

You can anoint the frame of every door in your home. and should pray and invite the Holy Spirit to fill every inch of your home in every room.

Pray that only His will be done and that everything that is said and done in your home will be pleasing to Him. Pray that your family will be protected and your workplace will have peace.

“And the yoke will be destroyed because of the anointing oil.” –, NKJV

5. Draw a Blood Line

“No evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home.” –

There is power in the blood of Jesus!

  For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. 

  It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.

We are told that we were redeemed from the curse with the precious blood of Christ. So, when the devil tries to nose his way into our lives, we overcome him by the blood of the Lamb.

How do we use the blood? In , Jesus says, “I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy.”

So, we plead the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ over our families, our property and our possessions.

In prayer and faith, you can plead the blood of the Lord Jesus.

The minister said, “Devil, you are a liar! You can’t kill my children.” Immediately, he went home and gathered in agreement with other believers. They agreed in prayer and by faith drew a blood line of protection around the property.

A week later, lying on the boundary of his land, were five dead foxes. They had dropped dead when they tried to cross the blood line!

In prayer and faith, you can plead the blood of the Lord Jesus.

7. Pray and Speak the Word

“His truth shall be your shield….” , NKJV

The Word of God is a weapon, a two-edged sword (), so when we pray the Word, we pray right on target.

How can you pray for protection? Pray over your home,family, life, workplace. Commit it to memory, and make it a part of your heart and spirit.

Hang a copy somewhere in your home as a reminder of God’s promise of protection. You can even pray something as simple as, “I pray protection over my home and family today.”

explosion, in your home and for others. It's a shadow of absence, and listen, you don't

have the absence of a shadow. You just lived in a shadow of absence. Why am I even

s

aying that? Well, I'm saying for you to understand that, as one writer says, we all labor

under the shadow of our parents, because it has kind of made us who we are, and it's

But that's not what we're gonna talk about, becau

influencing who we will become. But that's not what we're gonna talk about, becau

se

have you ever considered that there are people living in your shadow right now? Now, I

know there's all kinds of people that live in our shadow, and I've just broken it down to

three. In my life, your life, there are people that live in my shadow by she

er proximity.

They have no choice. My children don't have a choice. We brought them into the world.

They're in our shadow. My wife said I do 29 years ago. She's in my shadow. My friends

and coworkers, they're in my shadow, and then there are people that ar

e there

strategically. They've placed themselves close to you because there is something about

you that they feel is attractive and catalytic, and they wanna hang out with you, and

they wanna be close to you. Then there are people that are there accidental

ly. You

know the accidental shadows that we have is when you have gone to the same coffee

shop, but the barista, for the last seven weeks, is the same one, and it's now just weird,

'cause you make eye contact. You know each other, but you don't. Every time

you get

to the bench press, it's the same person that wants to be on your bench press, and

you've even skipped another day that you usually go, and that person is there again.

And it's accidental, but maybe it's divine. Maybe there's divine intention in a

ll of that.

But what is so amazing, or what is so hard, is people in our shadows are watching us

closely, and they are looking and saying, is that the kind of person I wanna be? Now, as

Christ followers, it becomes quite different, because you understand,

there's a lot of

people in our shadows, intentionally, proximity, and accidentally, that actually are

looking at our lives trying to decide whether they wanna become followers of Jesus by

the way we live. Now, lemme try another angle here. I believe every

single one of us, in

the construct of our DNA, was born with a desire to make a positive mark on creation,

on this world. Kids don't even understand it. Come on, you know the moment they

figure they can do something, they call for an audience. They go like

, hey, hey, hey, look

what I can do, look what I can do. Because in that moment, their desire to be seen, that

they can do something that you can admire, is in the very DNA of our hearts. We know

a lot of people have not done great things. Others have done

great things, but can I tell

you, the saddest thing in the whole wide world, listen, just listen, just lean in just a little

bit into this, is when we live invisible, forgettable lives, that at the end of our life,

whether we were alive or not does not ma

tter, when God's intention actually is for us to

have impactful shadows that are lived in an intentional way. Because you see, at the end ThePowerofaShadow_Transcript

3

of the day, I believe if I can lay on your lap very gently five things for you to consider

when you look at your shado

w, because your shadow has people in there divinely

assigned by God, and if we can be impactful with our shadows, do you understand the

mark that we can leave on this world around us? Come on, you've gotta help me right

now. Would you fist bump the person

next to you and say, I think this is a message for

you, 'cause I'm quite impactful right now. The very first thing I wanna share with you is

this: that your shadow has influence whether you want it or not. It's influential. It's either

intentional or unint

entional, because you see, absolutely I believe when we begin to live

a life that is godly, and by that, I mean that you're a pure reflection of Jesus in you, that

his work in you is pure, I believe that those who stand in our shadows when we live such

a r

eflective life of the One who rescued and saved us and loves us, that everybody in

our shadow has a great chance to be moved onto the agenda of God by the way we

reflect the One who knows us by name. But when we begin to live a life that is

compromised, ou

r shadow becomes foggy. Our shadow becomes confusing, and I've

seen it, and you see it, that the people that are on your shadow enter the same fog, and

potentially now, they began or they begin to drift. The second thing, I originally had 16

of those. Beca

use I love you, I went like, I'm just gonna pass on five. Your shadow is

always consistent with your life. I like my shadow 'cause my shadow's a lot taller. I saw it

today. I'm like, there you are. That's the one I like. My shadow has biceps like Pastor

Cr

aig. I'm telling you, I'm like, flexing. But here is the thing you understand. There is a

big difference between a projection and a reflection. A shadow is a reflection. It's not a

projection. People, Instagram's made us masters of projections. And some of

you are so

miserable right now because you are comparing your reflection to somebody else's

projection. You should get off Instagram. It's actually stealing your joy right now,

because they're giving you a projection of a snapshot of a really miserable li

fe that has

just got cherries and creams on. And you go, like, oh, I love your life. No, no, no, no, no,

no, no. You see, what you need to understand and what I need to understand constantly

is that our reflection will always be true to our own heart. Peop

le that stand in your

shadow will never experience compassion if it doesn't come from a compassionate

heart. Your shadow will never be a fountain of kindness if it doesn't come from a heart

that is filled with kindness. Your shadow will never just permeate

with the love of Jesus

if it doesn't come from a heart that's filled with the kindness of Jesus. Oh, come on, you

know this is good preaching. I can feel it going right now. The third point, an impactful

shadow comes from God's ongoing work in our lives.

I love that. You see, ,

God says to Jeremiah, I want you to go to the potter's house, and I want you to just go

look at it. And there, I will speak with you. Now, I can surmise from scripture, and I can

only live in it. This is the way my mind w

orks. I think Jeremiah went, ah, this is gonna be

such a waste of time. And then he gets to the potter's house, and his eyes are on the

potter, and he looks at the potter, and God's going like, no, no, no, that's the problem

with you and the people. You th

ink you are the potter. You're looking at the wrong

thing, because you live with a self

-

purpose, this self

-

invention, self

-

determination.

Jeremiah, don't you understand, I am the potter. Look at the clay. That's what you are,

Jeremiah. You are the clay. I'

m the one holding the master plan of your life. Jeremiah,

you don't understand it. And you're stubborn clay, on top of that, Jeremiah. You look at

the potter and go like, I do not like what you're doing with my life, and the potter is not

gonna fight you.

He's gonna set you on the side until you're ready. And I wanna say this

to you: the way that we have impactful shadows is to stay yielded to the hands of the

Potter, to stay soft and yielded to the sovereignty of God and not to right the hand of

the Potter

. So lemme ask you a question. When people look at you, do they see the

fingerprints of the Potter in your life? Because when they do, I guarantee you, your

shadow will have great impact, because you've been impacted by the hands of the ThePowerofaShadow_Transcript

4

Living God. So here

's number four. I love number four. Our greatest impact does not

come from our access to many, but our access to few. Think about it. You may sit there

right now and be watching this online, and you go like, yeah it's easy for you to say. You

hold the micr

ophone. Pastor Craig has the microphone. He speaks to thousands. It's

easy for you to talk about an impactful shadow when you get to speak to a lot of people

across the world. And I go like, no, no, no, no, you don't understand. I cannot impact

your life w

ith this microphone and this distance. I can only inspire you. But if you wanna

be impacted with my life, we gotta hang out, baby. We've gotta have coffee. We've

gotta bring proximity close, because impact happens when there is up

-

close proximity.

That's w

hy Jesus knew this. I'm so glad I wasn't Jesus's campaign manager. He would

frustrate me, because just when he gets the crowd, Jesus says, enough of them. Lemme

go find the individual. He didn't say to Zaccheus, Zaccheus, I'm gonna change you

publicly and

double the crowds. He says, well, let's leave the crowd, and let's go to your

house, because you see, there's this woman. Jesus was going to Samaria, and he sat at a

well. You know the story, and if you don't, go find it. Google it, you'll find it. Just go

read

it. It's so beautiful, and the disciples were not happy that Jesus was sitting at a well.

They though like, Jesus, why are you sitting at a well? And he would say to you, I'm

waiting for a woman. Jesus, why are you waiting for a woman if you can have

5,000 and

do the bread trick again? Do the big thing again. Do the thing that they'll write about.

And Jesus would not tell them that you see, I'm gonna change the village, but I've gotta

impact a life. I've gotta get to the woman, and she's not a good on

e in the eyes of

people. She has five husbands, and the one she's living with is not even her husband.

You know what makes me happy so about this? There is hope for us all, no matter what

has gone on in your life. And some of you, you may feel you've made

the worst and the

poorest decisions in life, and can I tell you something? You're a candidate of the

greatest transformative miracle of God, because everybody in your shadow knows it is

just bad around here, but when God touches your life, everybody in you

r shadow will

know, it's undoubtedly God that has done that. The Bible says the whole village came to

believe because of the woman. So can I tell you something? Don't look for crowds. Look

for a coffee date. Don't look for followers on Instagram. Ask God f

or a new strategic

friend. The dude at the bench press, he's your woman at the well. The soccer mom that

pulls her chair up every single time and you go like, it's you again. Oh, that is your

assignment. But you know what, baby, there is a village behind h

er. Don't ignore that

moment, because you don't know what God wants to do through their life and your life,

oh, I love this, because ultimately, it leads us to the last point, and that's number five.

That's this: obeying his impulse and taking the risk of

the seven

-

second moments in

your life. You say, what does that even mean? Oh, I love this. You've gotta obey the

impulses of God, and the seven

-

second moment, you go like, what is the seven

-

second

moment? Because you see, if there are people in my shadow t

hat God bring in, have

you ever felt that seven

-

second moment when you are in the line to buy groceries, and

all of the sudden, you look at the person in front of you, and I don't know if it's like you

with me. Whenever I have these moments that God inters

ects my life and he wants me

to do, it comes, you know those small planes that carry, come eat at my restaurant in

Florida? The assignments of God gets carried on the back of butterflies. You know when

you say in your gut, oh, this is a God moment. Ah, I d

on't wanna do it, I don't wanna do

it, I don't wanna. Here's this thing, why? Because there's risk with it. There's risk involved

with it. There is no certainty involved in it, because ultimately, I wanna tell you this story,

and there is a reason why we h

ave this out here. Kyle, don't kill me, 'cause we didn't

rehearse this at all, because you see, in our construct and in our culture, faith and risk

somehow doesn't go together. Now, I was just in Mexico preaching at a church, and the

couple that was assign

ed to me are the most beautiful human beings that God has ever ThePowerofaShadow_Transcript

5

made, the sacrifice to serve me and just be with me. And I asked her this story, how did

you come to faith? And the young mom, she said to me, oh, my family are not believers,

and I decided to

get baptized, and when I got home, all my belongings was outside the

door. Not only did they shut the house; they shut their hearts. Oh, I go, oh my goodness,

the risk to your faith. Now, lemme tell you about the seven

-

second moments, because

you see, what

God wants to do in our lives is risk. What he wants to do with the person

pulling up next to you and the soccer mom, it's a journey of risk. And I wanna tell you a

recent journey of risk for me, and it's my story, but it's our story. You say, but you just

said it's your story. I know, but if I stay it's my story, then you're not gonna think you

can have the story. But you can have the story, because it's our story, because God

wants to write a story. Because usually when I hear story like this, I go, like,

why can't I

get a story like that, you know what I mean? Because we can all get a story. So here is

my story of late. My parents are still in South Africa. My dad's 86, my mom's 81. Oh,

they're the most precious. I've gotta look in the camera and say than

k you for your

shadow that's living in me. Thank you, thank you, thank you. But we fly to

Johannesburg, and for those of you who cannot stand flying to Florida from here, from

Johannesburg to JFK and vice versa, it's 16 to 18 hours direct, right? When you

travel

with your family, there's no business class, just so you know. I have given up after 20

years praying the prayer, God, I'm the head and not the tail. I'm gonna buy the cheap

seats, and I pray you divinely upgrade me, Jesus. If they're gonna find any

body, it's me,

Lord. So pick me, pick me, pick me. I've decided, stop praying that prayer. The prayer

list is so long for upgrades to business class. Pray for the poor, pray for me, pray for

your pastor. You're wasting your time praying for upgrade. So I d

ecided, I need to know

how to play the game. Now I'm gonna teach you how to play the game. I wish I didn't

have so many people that are gonna hear how you play the game, because what you do

is you've gotta get as far back in the plane as possible if you ha

ve cheap seats, because

if there's any open seats, that's when you're gonna find the cheap seats. So my wife and

I take turns. My kids, they get two, we get two. They're not in the game. They're 20

years too young to be in the game. They've gotta sit in pa

in. That's how it goes. That's

how you get to playing the game. And this time was my turn. And you know, my wife

sits in an aisle seat, and then I go find open seats, and you've gotta occupy it like it's

yours. You've got to have that, these are my seats,

and then you've gotta have the it's

my seat face. Don't consider my seats. And then you look at the aisle, and you begin to

pray, I bind you in the name of Jesus. Any feet coming my way, go to first class, go to

business, get the upgrade. Oh, oh, and then

when people come, your stomach turns,

because they're getting closer to your fake seats, and then they go, oh, what is your

seat number? And you go, no, what is your seat number? They go, D196,000 is my seat

number. You're like, oh, I'm so sorry, I'm sitti

ng in your seat. I misread my ticket. And

while you say it, you scan for the new open two seats, and you go sit there, and you

occupy it like it's yours. And this time, we got in the seat. And I'm like, you're waiting for

the magic moment where they say, c

abin doors are gonna be closed right now. When

the say that, you are in heaven. I'm throwing my wife air high

-

fives. Baby, we're gonna

do it. I'm so thankful. I'm 5'6." I'm gonna go in fetal position, put my money in my

underpants, and roll up like a baby.

It is all good right now. It's gonna be amazing. And

the flight takes off, and I'm like, oh, there is a God in heaven, and then somebody throw

a neck pillow right on my seat, and I'm going like, oh, ain't gonna happen. These are my

seats. I throw it back

and throw it again. I threw it back, and for the third time, the pillow

came, with a woman. She was an older woman, and she sat next to me, and I'm an

introvert, and she's a talker. Introverts know quickly when there's a talker. And in that

moment, I go li

ke, why, just why? Just why? And I found out real quick. Her name's

Christine. I go like, hi, Christine. So, where you from? She tells me the city in South ThePowerofaShadow_Transcript

6

Africa. I'm going like, hey, are you married? She said, I was, for 40

-

some years. My

husband passed

away a couple of months ago. I'm a pastor now. Like, oh, dear God,

ugh. No, it aches. And I say, Christine, and your kids? Oh, they all live in the United

States. Oh. I go, Christine, how did you get over it? Are you over it? I can't imagine. She

says, wel

l, I've had to decide whether I'm just going to mourn myself to death or do

something with my life. She says, so I decided to go to one of our city's hospital.

Actually, it was for mentally ill people, but when I arrived, I realized the government has

not

given any funding to this for years. She says, it's terrible. So I went to a local grocery

store, and I collected bread that is expired, and I started putting anything on this bread,

and I would take it. She says, Pierre, they just inhaled it. They didn't

even eat it. So I

decided I better make them some soup, and I started making soup. And she is telling me

the story right now. But what Christine doesn't know, that we as a church at the Father's

House are in Hope Month. Hope Month is when we as a church ra

ise money that we

know is a faith raise to partner with missions organizations all across the world. And

now, I'm in this thing. You know that feeling like, okay, this is just divinely weird, that I'm

hearing of a missions thing. In my mind, I go like, Chr

istine, you're not on the list. And

then I say, and so, what city are you flying into? She says, Rochester, New York, and I go

like, oh, dear Lord, that's my city. I go like, okay, this is weird. Now, this is risk, and I go

like, who's there? She says, my

son, and I go, Christine, I know this is what God wants

me to do, but I don't wanna say it, because once I say it, I'm committed to it, right? I can

feel the tension, and listen, I can walk up and go to my wife and go, Christine, when I

sleep, I get weird,

I hug people, so I'm gonna go find my wife. But I know the seven

seconds are going tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock. She's in my shadow, she's in my

shadow. Who's in your shadow right now? There's decision to be made in that shadow.

And I leaned over to

her. I go like, Christine, I'm a pastor. She said, I knew it the moment

I sat down. I could feel your spirit. Now I'm like, oh, now she's pushed me to the edge. I

go, Christine, I'm not gonna make a promise, but I feel this is a divine moment, and God

wan

ts us to partner with you. The Father's House wanna give you $10,000. I don't know

who you are, multiplying it with your money. It's what my first house cost when I was

living there. The finest people are gonna go, have you lost your mind? We should first

do a background check on this woman, you know what I mean? But I know right now in

this moment, there's no question asked. We've gotta respond to who's in our shadow.

So, in that moment, I go, Christine, I'm gonna commit to that money, and if it doesn't

ha

ppen, I'm gonna find a way. And now I'm on the edge, and I've gotta go tell my wife,

and you know what she's gonna do. Really? Really? You always find them, don't you?

And my wife's the most tender person in the whole wide world, and she's watching, but

sh

e was not in the moment. She didn't feel the tension. She's not in the seven

-

second

moment, and I wanna say to you that every single one of you, God has legacy written in

your seven

-

second moments, and it's gonna take for you to realize that soccer mom is

not there by accident. You've gotta take a risk to your faith and realize she is in your

shadow for a divine reason. There is a purpose, and you know it when butterflies are

flying, and you're feeling weird and freaked out. But in that moment, this is wher

e the

miracles happen of the stories. You know, I went to the church. I told them about

Christine. The first week money came in, and it's not enough for our mission. Second

week, we surpassed that. Third week, we almost doubled what needed to come in. And

in that moment, Pastor Craig, I'm like, hey, send me some Christines, Jesus! Bring it on,

because God will always meet you on the edge where faith and risk meet, in the

shadow. So, we've got two groups of people in this place and all of our campuses. And

l

emme look at you right now, because you see, even when you're sitting online,

anywhere in the world right now, there are two groups of people. There are so many of

you that are followers of Jesus. But you've got scared of taking the risk, of realizing ThePowerofaShadow_Transcript

7

ther

e is a divine assignment in your shadow. The people in your shadows become

invisible to you because you think they just like me. No, they don't like you. They are

drawn to Christ in you, the hope of glory. And to you, I wanna say and I wanna pray for

you,

and I wanna say, what better chance this summer to walk the plank and invite them

to church? You go like, Pastor P, you don't understand. They've said no a thousand

times. I wanna go like, what if they say yes next time? What if the person at the well

befo

re the village comes? How about you realize, that guy that has been sitting there on

the side at the bench press has been asking God, would you give me a sign that you are

there? And unless you risk it out, and you have no idea. As I'm standing here, my le

gs

are buckling. I've got so much adrenaline, I can wrestle Craig down right now. I'm like,

pumped! I'm scared! When last have you lived scared in your mission for Jesus? And I

wanna pray for you if you are one of those people that says, God, give me kingd

om

eyes to recognize those in my shadow as my mission. Give me the courage to put risk to

my faith. Come on, just shoot your hand up right now. I wanna pray for you. No, you

don't think about that. Just shoot that hand up and say Jesus, I'm gonna bring 'em

, I'm

gonna bring 'em. Lemme just pray for you. Father, right now in the name of Jesus,

wherever people are right now, God, that you have been working intentionally to

connect people to their shadow. Ultimately, oh God, you wanna use them as the one at

the

well that knows the village. I pray that you would give them the courage, that they'll

feel the tension of the risk in their life and that they will lean forward and invite others

in. Now, while every head is bowed and every eye is closed, listen, many of

you right

now, you are hearing this, and you are still exploring faith. You have so many questions.

Somehow in your mind, you've come to the conclusion, once they answer my questions,

I will take the journey. And I'm gonna tell you that taking the journey

will still leave you

with a lot of questions. But you will meet the One who knows your name. And maybe

I've come all this way to look you in the eye and say today is the moment that God is

calling you, but he's calling you at the end of a risk journey whe

re your legs are

wobbling, butterflies are flying. But he is calling you to himself, and he says, my spirit is

just calling, come home, come home. And if you are at our campuses right now, online,

and you say Pastor Pierre, that's me. I'm tired of wrestlin

g. I've tried to be the potter,

but today, I choose to be the clay. While every head is bowed and every eye is closed,

oh, I so badly wanna pray with you right now. Those who are joining us online, just click

below me on the screen to respond. If you are i

n our campuses, especially in this room

where I can see, would you just raise your right hand and drop it real quick to say, Jesus,

I wanna walk? I see those hands, I see it. Yes, yes, oh, I'm so proud of you. Yes, yes,

come on, yes, yes. I'm walking out r

ight now, Jesus. I'm unsure, uncertain. My life is

messed up. Oh, it's actually very manicured, but it's empty. I wanna pray with you, and

I'm gonna ask that we all pray that prayer together. If you raised your hands, would you

lay your hand on your heart

and just pray this with me? Say, Jesus, here I am, nothing to

hide. I need a Savior. Thank you you love me the way I am. You promise me if I come to

you, you'll never push my aside. You are the God of new beginnings. I believe you're the

Son of God that di

ed for my sin, rose from the grave, and promised me if I call upon

your name, you'll give me the right to become your child. I believe you're hearing my

prayer, and as I'm standing with risk in faith before you, thank you that my life will never

be the sam

e again. Thank you, Jesus. Amen. Come on, let's just celebrate with every

single one right now. God bless you!