"A Defender Of The Ground" Rev. Jermaine Ervin

oh hallelujahs give that praise to the lord tonight oh let's lift up a praise to the lord of lords in this place tonight hallelujah jesus we've come to praise you jesus we've come to magnify you lord you're worthy lord you're worthy of all of the praise you're worthy of all of the glory we've come lord god to lift you up can we do that for just a few seconds let's magnify the name of the lord hallelujah he's worth he's worthy lord you're worthy lord you're worthy that's in church oh that sounds great let's make his praise glorious let's lift up a glorious praise he's worthy jesus we've come together to lift you up someone give the lord a handclap of thanksgiving that you're in this place tonight give it to him as loud as you can give it [Music] is [Music] hallelujah [Music] is [Music] hallelujah [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] yes he is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh every voice listed lifted high in this building oh every hand lifted high let's praise him let's praise him every praise my praise your praise the praise on this platform belongs to jesus the writer said oh taste and see that the lord he is good you want to taste him go ahead and praise him you want to taste real love just praise him if you haven't tasted the holy ghost it's for you and it's in this place tonight okay we praise him for just a moment [Music] if you have no words to give them if you've ran out of words you just simply have to praise him even when you don't feel like it even when you when you're tired even when you don't know what to do just praise him praise can be your way of escape praise can be the way that you get your victory can we practice for just a moment we might as well get used to it because in heaven all we're going to do is praise him [Music] oh let's practice that let's lift our voice and let's lift our hands and let's lift up a praise that is pure and righteous and holy before the lord go ahead church do that do that all of it belongs to god all of it belongs to god tonight [Music] you hold my every moment you my raging seas [Music] oh and i trust in you i trust [Music] i you are [Music] my torsion i believe you're more than enough for me jesus [Music] fire [Music] [Music] i trust in you [Music] i believe [Music] i believe you are [Music] believe you're my portion [Music] [Music] is jesus for you nothing is impossible nothing is [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] i believe you're me [Music] i believe [Music] [Music] is [Applause] nothing is impossible [Music] if is [Music] oh [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Music] in your hair [Music] [Applause] [Music] hallelujah [Music] you're more than enough for me [Music] someone may be in this house tonight facing an impossibility that we serve a great and mighty god who is able to do all things how many believe that god can do anything in your situation in the situation of your neighbor you may have a family member that's not in the church tonight but god is able to meet that need i want them to sing that one more time and i want us to pray for the knees that are in this house tonight but right now i want the church to stretch your hands as high as you can stretch them and i want you to pray god you're the god of the impossible god i know that you're able to heal me if you're here tonight and you've received a diagnosis that looks impossible we serve a god i'm here to remind somebody that we serve an able god oh that's it church come on look at that impossibility and call upon the name of jesus just say jesus in the name of jesus in the name of jesus in the name of jesus [Music] oh there's nothing impossible for you [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] oh come on that's your church somebody lift up your faith and say god [Music] [Music] [Applause] is [Music] oh [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] oh foreign begin to thank him right now in the name of jesus every eye closed and every hand raised if you would please the spirit of the lord is in this place let's thank him let's thank him god we've come with expectation in our hearts and in our spirits that you're able to do the impossible that's your church let's thank him right now lord we give you thanks we give you thank that's it something is starting to break chains are starting to fall something is starting to shift hallelujah that's it that's it give it over to the lord put it in the hands of the lord tonight [Music] hallelujah how many of you can feel the presence of the lord in the house tonight how many believe god still wants to move on a tuesday night hallelujah hallelujah amen it is good to be in the house of the lord again with the people of god and to feel the wonderful presence of the lord in this place aren't you glad to be in church tonight amen hallelujah god bless you may return to your seats for just a few moments as our ushers prepare to receive our tuesday evening giving of tithe and offering if you need an envelope in the house tonight raise your hand as the ushers move to the congregation they will make sure you can give one to all of our first time guests first of all thank you for being with us at first pentecostal church and if you've not already filled out an information card in the four you can text the word welcome to 919 up there on the screen 364-5236 when you do that you'll receive a link for a special gift and again that's just our way of saying thank you for being with us in service tonight just a few announcements before the ushers come there is a church yard sale this saturday from 7 00 am to noon amen all of the proceeds for the yard sale go to our seed money drive and if you're interested in participating in that please sister carol o'reilly if you would like to donate donate items to be sold or if you'd like to reserve a table to sell your items or just come during those times and do a little bit of shopping christmas is just around the corner men's breakfast tonight is the deadline to sign up for the men's ministry kickoff event taking place uh this saturday 10 a.m the family life center breakfast for five dollars please sign up in the foyer amen if you're interested in that ladies outreach this saturday meet at the prayer room at 10 a.m sister mikwe sister missy beckwith is uh going to be leading that if you have any questions please reach out to her and she'll be able to answer those also seed money dinner aren't you enjoying our seed money dinners every sunday night here amen down to the gym this sunday night sister hand will be serving an enchilada meal for seven dollars and for a dollar more you can get the tostada for uh for the meal desserts of course are dollar fifty amen just a great time of food and fellowship come on down after church sunday night for a great time for all of our uh the teenagers senior ministry ages 55 and up there are a small number of rooms available for the upcoming ark encounter trip planned for september 23rd through the 25th if you need a room see brother or sister higginbotham who will be in the foyer after service and they'll help you get that if you've never been to the ark the ark experience it is a great matter of fact i'm going next month you don't want to miss it it's a great time and then it's really really interesting and so if you are planning a part of the teenagers i'm not going with the teenagers i haven't quite got there yet i'm just a few years away but i plan on going personally just need to clarify that i know i look 29 i'm not quite a teenager yet amen and also there will be an ice cream gathering next saturday august 28th for fellowship and to discuss the upcoming trip so if you are part of the teenagers ministry don't forget all these great things happening and also uh ladies paint party the information table will be set up again tonight in the foyer for any ladies interested in signing up for the paint party coming up on friday night august 27th real important you do not have to pay now just need to sign up and uh they're just registering people to make sure they have ample supplies and i can tell you from first-hand experience and having a house full of these paint party samples because i know the teacher and we moved into the house she said i must have my own paint room and so now she has a dog and her own paint room you will be blessed and she makes it look so easy and she'll teach you how to do it you don't want to miss that sign up is out in the foyer tonight god bless you let's pray and ask the lord to bless this offering and this service in jesus name heavenly father we give thanks to you you are a blessing to all of us god for your mercy and grace continue to abound lord in our lives lord we ask you to bless the tithe and the offering as we give back to you in worship use it for your glory in jesus name we pray amen did you come to have church tonight how many know that there's one god how many know jesus is his name back in the old days they used to sing he's the great i am he's the everlasting father he's the prince of peace great eternal wonder holy counselor zion's righteous governor the great he's the great i am [Music] why don't you put your hands together and clap into the lord tonight [Applause] well he's the great i am everlasting father he's the prince of peace great eternal wonder holy cow zion's righteous governor he's the great he's the great i am [Music] all the seals and sages he's the mighty one of all the sacred pages he's the great he's the great i am well he's the great i am [Music] he's the greatest [Music] the coming kingdom glory he's the true messiah the lord of grace and favor he is jesus christ redeemer friend and savior he's the great he's the great [Music] a peace is [Music] why don't you put your hands together and clap into the lord they'd sing this song until people got the revelation that jesus was the mighty god in christ that he was the wonderful counselor mighty god he's the great eye and then they think well i've already been to the water and i've already been baptized i've already been converted and i feel i feel all right well i've been changed in jesus name and i feel i feel i feel i feel all right well i've already been to the water i've already been bowed tight [Music] i've already been converted and i feel i feel all right well i've been changed in jesus name and i feel i feel all right help me see i've already been to the water and i've already been passed i've already been converted i feel [Music] one more time i've already been to the water [Music] i've already been converted [Music] i feel all right can anybody testify tonight can anybody bear witness that he washed my sins away i already came through the red sea i already came through the jordan river [Music] and i came to give god glory because he's a great savior hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah praise god praise god praise god last sunday five people baptized in jesus name three people filled with the gift of the holy ghost oh god is good you've got to go through the water if you want to see jesus praise god praise god praise god god bless you you can be seated it is good to be in the house of the lord tonight good to feel the presence of god amen if you're visiting with us we are so glad you're here you are among friends you are among family and you only really get to visit one time after that we just consider you part of the church and we're just glad that you've come to worship god amen it's good to have barbara hines back with us again she has been several times it's good to have her back in the house of the lord god bless you good to have sheila holman and joyce mcniel here with sister tameka holman amen god bless you all good to see you in the house of the lord tonight it's good to have rodney drawn here with brother troy weaver god bless you romney used to come to church here amen and if we don't know your name welcome welcome to fpc it's good to see you in the house of the lord i hope you came to have church tonight i hope you came to let your faith rise in this place i hope you came to clap your hands and shout that's what the writer said he said oh clap your hands all ye people and shout unto god he didn't say whisper he didn't say meditate he said shout unto god can you shout unto god on a tuesday night can you shout unto god when you've worked your way through a work week can you shout unto god when hell threw everything at you it could but you came to church anyway shout out to god with the voice of triumphant hallelujah praise god praise god praise god amen we are happy that you have come god has been doing great things and it's exciting it's an exciting time in the church i want to give a shout out online to sheila norfleet sheila if you're watching tonight thank you for giving to fpc your contribution you are a friend to sister lisa johnson you live in queens new york and you not only gave but brother preston johnson matched your gift because you gave and we want you to know we appreciate you thank you for supporting us amen you just don't know who's getting blessed by the presence of god and you might live in new york sheila but the holy ghost in durham can reach all the way over there and touch you where you are and god can have his way hey i seem to remember jesus saying to the man i'll come to your house and the men said i'm not worthy for you to come into my house but just speak the word because i'm a man under authority and i say to this man come and he comes and this man go and he goes and if you'll speak the word jesus you'll set things in motion that distance can't stop geography can't stop circumstances can't stop the internet can't stop hey and i'm speaking the name of jesus tonight hallelujah praise god it feels good in the house of the lord [Music] well all right i know it's tuesday but god can do it right now [Applause] [Music] well we better wait for sunday night before god's to oh no you know better than that you know he's a healer on tuesday too you know he's a redeemer on tuesday too you know that god is able to reach down in the middle of your work week hey glory to god that's right you can run on tuesday you can dance on tuesday you can sing the songs of zion [Music] [Applause] [Music] praise god praise god praise god god is able god is able you can be seated amen what a wonderful wonderful few days we've had here in worship and praise unto god god is touching people god is moving on people and you know i might as well just say if you don't feel like praising him that's when you should praise him [Applause] but you don't understand what happened today brother hershey you don't understand the circumstances no i don't but but if it's that bad that's all the more reason to give god glory i know what your flesh is saying your flesh is saying sit down your flesh is saying take the night off if you knew what kind of a day i had stop telling god what kind of day you have he knows what kind of day you have you need to tell your day what kind of god you have hallelujah you need to remind today that today belongs to the lord you need to tell today this is the day that the lord has made praise god well praise god somebody say thank you jesus amen amen amen remain standing with me i feel the holy ghost in this place if you're watching online we're glad you're here but it is nothing compared to what it feels like in this house right now you gotta come on up into this house and feel the presence of god thank you jesus two quick announcements i need to make we have a cornhole and volleyball tournament coming august 29th see brother layton and brother earl webb jr about the cornhole sister catherine wright about volleyball the deadline to register is august 29th it's actually later on that's right but the deadline to register is august 29th it is saturday september 4th sister betty webb is going to be cooking you don't want to miss that i'm just telling you we're going to have a great time of fellowship and then finally i want to mention we announced last night that sunday school would be kicking off this coming sunday unfortunately we have to push it one sunday into the future because the paint the paint and a few little odds and ends so we're going to be pushing it forward just to give everybody enough time to get it all done but it's coming and we're excited about it amen we will keep you posted about it all now that's enough announcements i want to move in the holy ghost amen brother irvin you have blessed us this week you have poured your heart out to us sunday morning sunday night monday night and now it's tuesday night and i know you have a word from the lord we have loved having you and your precious wife and family with us we're excited about what god's doing come and preach the word we love you we appreciate you somebody clap your hands unto the lord right now we praise you mighty god we lift you up jesus we worship you o god praise god praise god oh magnify the lord with me let us exalt his name together praise god when you magnify god and i know you already know this but when you magnify god you don't change god god is the same yesterday today and forever but when you begin to magnify the lord what you do is you make god bigger in your view you let your problems know that god is bigger you let your circumstances know that god is bigger you let every situation know that god is bigger we serve a god that is bigger than every problem that is bigger than every test that is bigger than every trial we serve [Music] praise god let's get into the word second samuel chapter 23 second samuel chapter 23 and while you're turning there let me say one more time what an honor it is to be here i don't take it lightly just glad to be in the house of the lord glad to be among his people what a wonderful congregation what a wonderful pastor you guys have his family i give honor to brother galindo i give honor to bishop go there just what a wonderful group of people praise god my family has had a a wonderful time um my kids are we going to church to the new church yeah we're going to the new church tonight so they're excited my three kids god has blessed me god has blessed me with a beautiful wife and wonderful children it's the last night did anybody come to have church tonight well i got half of a voice but i'm not preaching to sunday morning so i'm just gonna give it everything i got is that all right you might have to strain a little bit to hear what i'm saying but if anybody's hungry for the word of god we're going to have a move of god in this house praise god praise god second samuel chapter 23 begin reading in verse eight when you gotta say amen if you need it say wait on me amen we'll wait the bible says these be the names of the mighty men whom david had the tachmanite that set in the sea chief among the captains the same was adino the east knight he lift up his spear against 800 whom he slew at one time and after him was eleazar the son of dodo the ahora height one of the three mighty men with david when they defiled the philistines that were gathered together to battle and the men of israel were going away he arose and smote the philistines until his hand was weary and his hand clave unto the sword and the lord wrought a great victory that day and the people returned after him only to spoil and after him was shama the son of aegee the heroic the philistine and the philistines were gathered together into a troop where was a piece of ground full of lentils and the people fled from the philistines but he stood in the midst of the ground and defended it and slew the philistines and the lord wrought a great victory praise god for just a couple moments i want to preach to you on this title a defender of the ground a defender of the ground if you would put your bibles down somebody extend your hand towards this pulpit pray for me pray that god or hide me behind the cross mighty god we love [Music] [Music] come on somebody lift up your voice right now lift up your voice right now cry out to god [Music] [Laughter] let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight jesus you're my strength and my redeemer and everybody say in jesus name amen you may be seated in the presence of the lord second samuel chapter 23 gives us some of david's last words the chapter opens and says now these be the last words of david the man who we know as the mighty king parting words from one of the greatest men who ever walked the face of the earth and as david back looks back over his life and begins to recount all that he was able to shoot to see and able to do his memory could have taken him back to a day when he was just minding his business just doing what he did tending the sheep and all of a sudden there came a man by the name of samuel with a horn of oil in his hand and that day he would become anointed king he could have talked about what it was like to kill the bear he could have talked about what it was like to kill the lion his mind could have placed him back in the valley where there stood a giant by the name of goliath that tormented his people the place where he would slay that giant and his anointing and his power would become public he could have went back to all the rendezvous on the backside of the hill with god he no doubt could have spent hours upon hours singing all the songs that he was so blessed to have the ability to write he could have got lost in all of his accomplishments all the wars that he won all of the successes after all he was the author of the most quoted book the book of the psalms the giant killer remember saul is slain his thousands but david o david has slain his tens of thousands but david like most great leaders didn't want to take the opportunity to highlight himself but david chose to use some of his very last words to talk about his mighty men a group of men whom david raised up as pillars around the throne some 30 plus odd men that would ensure that the throne of david was stable and david trained them up in the arts and exercises of war and set them as an example of conduct and of courage men who were instrumental to bring david to the crown and settle and protect him in the throne david was saying i know that everyone would want to talk about all that i accomplished but these brave and mighty men were key to a lot of my success second samuel begins to detail these mighty men he divides the men into three ranks the first three who had done the greatest exploits adino who slew 800 men at once with his spear eliezer who smote the philistines until his hand was weary and the bible says that his hand clave to the sword these men are at the very top of the list of david's mighty men but today i want to talk about the third man mentioned in the text the bible says that the philistines were gathered together into a troop where there was a piece of ground full of lentils or beans and the bible says that the people ran away from the philistines but there was a man by the name of shama who stood in the middle of the ground and defended it and slewed the philistines this meaningless this small this insignificant piece of ground shama what are you doing you're wasting all of your time on this ground that doesn't amount to anything this bean field you're outnumbered there's so many other people you just need to follow after the crowd just let them have it it's not even worth anything you can be doing so many other things but shaman said i know it seems small to you but it's mine and god has given it to me i need somebody to defend the ground scripture leaves out the details but i believe that this was a continual effort for him day in and day out he made the decision to either follow after the crowd or spend his time defending the ground in the face of the philistines all by himself he would be ready to fight for the ground he would set himself in the middle of the ground and we use the idiom all the time you need to stand your ground to stand your ground means to brace yourself and maintain your position during or when anticipating attack or to refuse to yield to refuse to compromise or to refuse to be belittled and after everybody else left that's what every that's exactly what shama did in spite of what the crowd was gonna do shaman said i'm gonna stand here all by myself with god because greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world i need somebody that's willing to defend the ground to rise up in this house tonight [Applause] in spite of what everybody else was doing he was a defender of the ground he said i'm not backing up i won't compromise i will not be moved this ground is worth defending and i believe today in 2021 there's still some ground worth defending does anybody believe that in the house the bible says in second corinthians 10 for though we walk in the flesh we do not war after the flesh for the weapons of our warfare are not corner but mighty through god to the pulling down of strongholds casting down imaginations and every hot thing that exalted itself against the knowledge of god and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of christ i think the first ground that we need to defend is the ground of your mind [Applause] it's the control center and the base of operations for all that we are for all that we see for all that we believe and for all that we do the first ground that the enemy is going to try to take is the ground of your mind if he can get here the whole battle is lost if you let the enemy take residence in your mind you could forget everything else this is why he said you need the helmet of salvation romans 12 and 2 says it this way and be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and the perfect will of god the first thing that god does is he gives us a renewed mind so that i don't think like i used to think he says so that you may be able to prove what is that good what is that acceptable and what is the perfect will of god so god gives us the power to identify when there are things that are encroaching on my ground and when you get full of the spirit you can start to decipher when things that don't belong on your ground need to go and you start to take control and you start saying things like doubt you've got to go fear you've got to go racism there's no place for you here i'm going to stand here and i'm going to defend the ground that god has given me i need a defender of the ground to get up on your feet right now clap your hands [Applause] doubt and fear and unbelief is running a mug through the church and as we stay on our news feeds and everything that's happening in the world the devil and the enemy is using instagram and the newsfeed to rob your joy to rob your peace that's why you got to get to the house of god that's why you my god that's why you got to come to church because you need to hear the goodness of the lord you need to hear somebody testify that god still heals that god still delivers that god still makes a way where there seems to be no way then you start when you start taking control of your mind you start saying crazy stuff i can't listen to that anymore there's there's just some places that i can't go anymore i can't watch that anymore i've got ground that god's given me that i've got to defend and nobody else i said nobody else is going to fight for this man i got to protect this at all costs if i lose this then i'll lose the power somebody asked me the other day or often i think about and somebody asked me what are you most thankful for i tell them i'm thankful for a sound mind when you lose control of this it's difficult to find your way to the house of god it's difficult when the enemy takes control when the pastor starts preaching hope when he starts preaching you out of your situation it's easy for us to stay where we are because we've been listening to songs of doubt and we've been listening to songs of fear i'm telling somebody in the holy ghost right now you have no reason to fear you have no reason to doubt i've read the back of the book and we win the outcome is we win no matter what happens on this earth if i die let me die in the army of the lord i'm going to defend the ground that god has given [Applause] [Applause] so you got to get an attitude about this ground you got to get fed up we get smacked around by the enemy you got to get fed up with the enemy grabbing a hook in your mind and dragging you wherever he wants to take you i wish an apostolic will stand up in the house of god i wish somebody will get a backbone and say not my mind you can't have my mind no sir i'm not watching that no sir i'm not listening to that that's gonna drag me in the pit that you're in that's why you gotta disconnect sometimes i don't even know why i'm staying here but i feel in the holy ghost sometimes young people you gotta disconnect you gotta find a place by yourself like jesus who will retreat and get away from everybody else he said i just gotta get a hold of god i don't care who else is there i just gotta get a hold of god listen i'm not diminishing anything that's going on in the world there's some serious stuff that's happening right now and you need to be aware but instead of going back to your closet and just claiming doom and gloom understand there is an opportunity for the church to rise there's an opportunity for me to win souls there's an opportunity the darker the day the brighter the lights it's our time right now you got people that are searching for answers you got people that are searching for hope they're looking at the news and they're looking at everything that's going on in the world and right here is an opportunity for an apostolic [Applause] it's not time to back up it's not time to shut up it's not time to sit down it's time to charge it's time to go it's time to mobilize can i talk about the mind for just a little while and be seated the mind is such an interesting place it's such a powerful place one doctor said it this way he says the first seven years is the formative years for a child and no seven years some believe uh some people said if you give me the child for seven years i'll show you the man that he's gonna be and these seven years are the years of framing and and training and and all of these repetitive things that happened he talked about this is why the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor he said the only way that you're going to be able to break the seven years is by new information and if you don't get any new information you're going to repeat the seven years over and over and over again that's why we read books but more importantly god it created you and he understood forget about all of that extra stuff i'm going to give you my spirit i'm going to give you a renewing of the mind so that you may prove what is that good and what is that acceptable so the first thing that god wants to do with you child of god when you come to his house is he wants to give you his spirit so when you get full of the holy ghost you're able to decipher what things are good and what things are bad you think that's elementary but we live in a world where they're calling bad good and they're calling good bad they're calling girls boys they're calling boys girls we live in a messed up world today is the day that an apostolic needs to stand up and defend the ground [Applause] so he wants you to be able to decipher he don't want you to be deceived by the enemy that would say that the things that are bad are good so when you get the holy ghost then you'll be able to understand and and notice what things are good and what things are bad and so this this seven years this this seven years is so pivotal with my family we sit around the table usually and we hold hands and pray and we built that into our children and now it's an expectation i heard one of them last night we forgot to pray so we hold hands in a circle and everybody's got to pray because we won't eat until everybody prays so if you want some good sanctified holy ghost food you ought to come to my house because by the time we eat we pray five times but it's repetitive and they're learning these patterns and if they grew up somewhere else they would learn different patterns and i remember growing up i remember growing up having a having a mom that the header had a pattern of prayer i remember waking up in the middle of the night two and three in the morning and my mom crying out to god and you start to pick up on some of these things growing up and you pick up on the repetitive nature of of what happens and this was our framing and i remember growing up and we we didn't have a lot of money we lived in a hood we lived in a project it was a rough situation all of my brothers were crammed into this one little apartment and it was it was just difficult times but i had a mom brother that that that was way beyond her time and she would take us and she would throw up throw us in that beat-up car that we drove and she would drive us to the best parts of town and at the time i didn't understand what she was doing i couldn't quite grasp what she was trying to communicate to us but what my mom was doing in that moment is she was taking a small mind and she began to stretch it out just a little bit more and she would say this bigger than where we are right now there's more than the place that we live i know we live in a rough situation right now but god's got bigger god's got more you're gonna be something great [Applause] we'll get in that messed up car she'll turn on that gospel music and we'll start singing tongues to the lord in our situation that's why you got to learn how to praise god right where you are you can't wait till the battle is over you got to give them praise in the mess you got to give them praise in the trial you got to give them praise in every situation [Applause] looking back on it i think she said this hood is not my home i'm just a passing through i know we're in this mess right now but baby it ain't gonna be like this forever you're gonna grow up and you're gonna be somebody you and this new information and this new understanding because god has spoken to her this new understanding started to stretch and expand a small mind because exposure equals expansion the books you read the places you go the people that you meet is going to determine who you're going to be in the next five years [Applause] i remember i remember growing up a little bit and starting to make a little bit of money and and starting to work and and do some things and i remember when i started driving we lived in birmingham and so i would drive to atlanta and i would drive to nashville cities that were a little bit bigger than where we were and i remember i get in my car and i drive to nashville and somewhere along the way i stumbled upon the opryland hotel has anybody ever been there you know what i'm talking i got a testimony in the house so you gotta get it i didn't stay in hotels when i was a kid if we were gonna travel we was going to go wherever family was so we was going to chicago inner city and detroit in a city that's where the family was at so we're going to find a relative to stay in so i i didn't stay in hotels i tell people my kids have stayed in more hotels than i've stayed in in the first 15 years of my life because exposure equals expansion so i stumbled upon this hotel 16 years old and my eyes are just open you got to understand if you've never been there you need to you need to go there's bodies of water there's roller coasters it was one of the craziest things i ever saw to date my mind was blown and that didn't take much to do so i'm walking through this hotel and i'm paying attention to everything that's happening around me and you know what i see i see little kids walking on their cell phones and i look at them and i'm thinking to myself do you not understand what we're seeing right now but that's why the rich stay rich and the poor stay poor for me this was a revelation for them they had been there before and it blew my mind and when i when i started making a little bit more money i would book rooms at the upper land hotel just cause i could little boy from the projects just trying to stay at the outer land i didn't even know how to use i didn't know how to drink right i didn't know how to hold my fork i didn't understand etiquette i didn't know what i was doing but i was in the building [Applause] and so i started to grow and i started to expand and i started to learn and i started to listen to the principles that were preached from my pastor and he used to pour into us and he used to show us that there was more to where you're standing the second thing that god will do is god will change your perspective god will start to change your world view and you won't think the way that you used to think and you won't act the way that you used to act because exposure equals expansion and i preach i preached last december around christmas time in nashville for brother hilton and we preached the revival there and you know what i did yeah yep i loaded them kids up in the car and i drove them to the opera land hotel and it's christmas time it's beautiful all the lights are out and my children at one in three years old are walking through the opera land hotel i know daddy didn't experience it until he was 16 but when you get hooked up to the kingdom of god when i grew up we was trying to make sure the power was on now i'm having conversations about how i'm going to keep my kids humble because we do have that's what the kingdom of god will do when you get hooked i'm telling somebody in the holy ghost keep on coming to the house of god keep on coming to the church listen to the word of god let god elevate your perspective [Applause] that's why you gotta get here and you gotta say just preach to me one more time pastor just tell me the principles of the word of god just tell me let's sing the songs again the third thing that he does when you get hooked up to the kingdom and we still talking about the mind the third thing that happens when you get hooked up to the kingdom of god is that now you can start to explore all the possibilities of what can be that's a big deal the reason that's a big deal is because a lot of times we've got a roof over our heads and we only live in the barbed wire of our existence but god is bigger than your neighborhood god is bigger than your last name god is bigger than the money you got in your pocket god is bigger than the car that you currently drive god is bigger than the small house that you live in god is bigger [Applause] [Applause] and he starts to open up the possibilities of what can be in your life and when he does that then it's difficult because you've seen it god's given you the vision god shows you what can be and the enemy doesn't stand a chance because god's already showed you what he wants to do in your life that's why you got to get control of your mind that's why you got to get to the house of god that's why you got to listen to the word of god david said it like this when i saw the prosperity of the wicked my foot had well not slipped but i had to get back to the house of god [Applause] there's a reason that you come to church there's a reason that you gotta get here every time the door is open so that the pastor can preach hope so that he can preach peace [Applause] but what happens is we subscribe to what the enemy is saying and when the pastor preaches hope the enemy comes and snatches it away and when you touch the threshold of that door the enemy is waiting outside he's he's he's he's not worried about you having a little shout down on a tuesday night he's worried about you getting transformative power that you can be and that you can do that you can go and so we come to the house and we get our faith elevated and when the pastor starts to preach things anybody ever feel like when the pastor preaches is over your head and when god speaks to you it's way over your head i had times where god told me stuff and i'm looking around like who is he talking to that definitely went for me and that's what we do is we try to handicap god and we try to put god in a situation where we start telling him where we come from and we start telling him what our family was like and we god already knows what you are but god is more interested in who he's called you to be gideon thou mighty man of valor i know you don't feel it right now but one day you're gonna stand and you're gonna be a mighty man of valor [Applause] but it's all about having control of your mind somebody under the sound of my voice right now you've been letting the devil run around in your mind too long and tonight is the night that you get control tonight is the night that you take control of your mind that you take the enemy's not going to torment you any longer but you've got to make a decision today is the last day last night was the last night i know he was right at your bed you were trying to go to sleep and he was singing songs of doubt he was singing songs of fear but he made a mistake and he let you get back to the house of god and god sent a preacher from birmingham alabama to preach hope one more time to preach joy one more time to preach you can be and you can do and you can go god's got a plan for you god's got a purpose for you if you buy into the kingdom of god you're going to go places that are not on the map you're going to blaze a trail for your family you're going to be the first one to do something to let everybody else know that god can do anything through anybody and when you step out and you start operating in the kingdom of god your family is going to say wait a minute wait a minute if he can do it i can do it too wait a minute wait a minute hold on hold on one second isn't that just this young man right here we know where you come from we know what you've been through we know the adversity and the test [Applause] because the devil is a liar i said the devil is a liar if he says you can't you can't if he says you won't you will but you've got to get an attitude about the ground of your mind you got to defend this ground tonight you've got to defend this ground that's why the bible says it like this neither give place to the devil some people get get comfortable just giving him a foothold let me tell you about your adversary if you give him an inch he'll take him out it's the old conversation about the camel's nose and the tent it won't be long to the whole camels in the tent and the devil is just walking through your mind doing whatever not today not today satan you can get out of my mind you can't have my mind you can't have my thoughts you can't control my emotions i serve god i'm living for god i'm praising god and god controls everything i got a move today somebody said it like this watch your thoughts they become your words watch your words they become your actions watch your actions they become your habits watch your habits they become your character watch your character before it becomes your destiny you get what you think if you start subscribing to what the enemy says and it's doubt that's what's going to happen the man that says i can and the man that says i can't both are right [Applause] so i just tag up with god i'm doing stuff that that's way above my pay grade you know what i do i say god you put me here and you gonna work it out you just gotta be faithful and you just gotta show up and you just gotta be here and you just gotta stand at your post and you just gotta stand in the middle of the field and when you get to fight for that ground god's gonna help you fight for that crown god's not gonna let the enemy take your mind if you get an attitude the enemy's not gonna take my mind i gotta go i gotta go hard i gotta move we've gotta defend the ground of our family god has put some precious things in our hands ground that is worth defending and the trick of the enemy is to tell you that as long as you provide for them you can rest you've done your part you put food on the table you put clothes on their backs you put a roof on their head but sir ma'am let me remind you that this ground is yours to defend there's a war right now that's being waged in the spirit on behalf of every family under the sound of my voice there is crown that is yours to defend i need a dad to rise up right now and say you can't have my family i need a mom to get an attitude oh for a mother in zion that will stand up in the house of god and say not today you can't have my baby this world is crazy we're sending our kids into schools where school shootings have become normal you better cover them babies in prayer every single day god god touch my babies god cover my pain [Applause] you got to defend this ground it's easy if somebody walks into your house you're ready to fight but if the devil starts playing with your family you got to fight back in the spirit you got to get to the house of god you got to get down on your knees you got to get a south in your spirit you got to clap your hands when you don't feel like clapping your hands you gotta shout this is how we fight we don't fight with guns and bombs the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through god somebody got to get a fight back in your spirit [Applause] it's easy to see this stuff in the natural and easy to neglect the spiritual you'll fight if somebody comes and tries to talk to your wife but the enemy is running amok throughout your household because a dad has got to stand up and say not today you can't have my family you can't have my children you can't you gotta cover them babies in prayer every single day you gotta pray for your family you gotta fast on behalf of your family god sees god hears god knows and god's gonna do his part [Applause] warfare in the old testament looked a little bit different the bible says that noah built an ark for the saving of his house and i know his sons they probably got fed up with the building of the ark and they didn't quite understand what moses had received from god and i'm sure everybody else was doing all types of other things they would ask that what are we going to do today we're going to build a boat dad but all of my friends are out we're going to build a boat because you got to get an attitude that i will stand here by myself with god on my side and he is the only one that i need in order to get the task done you gotta you gotta be willing to stand with god all by yourself let god be true and every man a liar [Applause] but dad can we just can we just do something else tonight i don't feel like going to church tonight young person hear me i was where you were and i understand but now i'm looking at a different view right now and god has shown me some things you'll understand it better by and by but listen to this preacher tonight when mama says it's time to go to the house you gotta come to the house of god when it's time to go to prayer you gotta come to prayer [Applause] noah was a defender of the ground and with every blow you can't have my family and everybody's looking at them crazy it don't even matter everybody else was looking crazy when the door closed you just got to get fed up in your spirit sometimes and you gotta get tired of the devil messing with your family and you gotta say no more we're done not today this is the last day somebody ought to get a hold of that right now you ought to shout right now you got to give god praise you ought to magnify the lord [Applause] defending ground looks a lot like the children of israel and the death angel is about to pass through and all they had to do was kill the animal and put the blood over the doorpost they go outside and everybody's looking crazy like what are you doing you don't understand sir you don't understand ma'am i'm defending this crown with every swipe you can't have my family you can't have my ministry you can't have my kids [Applause] you got to get a fight in your spirit and you got to get a you got to get a determination that this ground is my crown and this crown god has given me and this ground when everybody else says it's not worth it you need to do something else you got ground to defend hey it looks like a mama down on her knees every day fighting off the enemy on behalf of her kids i plead the blood over my family god protect my babies i gotta defend the crown it may be tough to stand all alone but i'm gonna be here defending the ground it's dangerous here's the deal goliath is in the valley david's brothers are fighting 80 times they hear the chance of goliath david comes down to the battle and one time he hears goliath's voice and he asks the question is there not a cause these were warriors these guys understood battle but nobody i said nobody thought that this fight was worth fighting you got to be persuaded that this ground is worth defending you've got to be persuaded that my kids and my wife and my family is worth defending somebody's got to stand up and get an attitude and say i'm sick of hearing the voice of the enemy is there not a cause is there not a cause i'm here to tell somebody there's a cause tonight there's something to fight for i'm persuaded that this is a fight we're fighting i remember when my my dad got serious about defending ground my dad was an alcoholic my mom was in the church i remember the tension that was happening in the home on went in mom was in church and she was desperately trying to grab her three boys to the house of god on the other end my dad was an alcoholic and we can kind of do whatever we wanted to do but i remember when my dad got fed up with living the way that he was living i'm here to tell somebody in this house if you struggle with any addiction god's here to break every chain i remember daddy got fed up with living the way that he was living and he walked into an atmosphere just like this he walked down to an apostolic halter and he lifted up his hands he received the holy ghost and he was baptized in jesus name if you never received the holy ghost today is the day if you've never been baptized in jesus name today is the day today is the day of salvation you don't have to leave this place the same way that you came there's restoration power in this house there's reconciliation in this house there's deliverance in this house right now but i remember things started to change my dad walked in the house and started changing some stuff up he says you're not listening to that anymore we're not watching that and if turn that off we're not watching that and i'm like hold on dad hold on you made a decision that you wanted to do this but you built he said i was playing sports and i was pretty good i thought i thought i was going to make it brother hershey i thought i was i'm five foot nine i was probably two foot six then but i was ready to go i had a work ethic and i was i was coming he came in the house and he says you're not playing that anymore god's got bigger for your life [Applause] and i couldn't quite comprehend what was happening at the time because i was just a young man but i'm standing here in front of you today because a mama and a daddy started defending some ground they said you're not going to have my babies my all of my brothers are in the house of god doing ministry right now cause somebody said but everybody doesn't understand when you start making decisions to defend the ground and sometimes it's a lonely road all of my dad's drinking buddies they was trying to drag him back into the world isn't it crazy how people that's living in mess and they see you striving want to pull you back into the mess that but when you got a maid of mine i said when you got a maid of mine it doesn't matter who says what who's doing what you're gonna find me in the house of god serving god living for god doing the things of god i'm going to defend the ground because god had a plan for three little boys but what helped that plan along is parents that were in place and defending the ground mama probably could have did it herself but oh and daddy got on board and he stepped in that house and he was hey listen to me we're not doing this anymore daddy you gotta get a backbone tonight and you gotta tell your kids we gotta get to the house of god they're not gonna understand it they won't comprehend it right now but just keep on telling them young people you've got ground to defend we live in a board generation and a lot of people have used social media to remedy the boredom and you see things on instagram like y'all know what i'm talking about say something i'm bored ask me a question i'm bored y'all know talking about oh y'all stayed sanctified and filled with the holy ghost in this church i'm gonna say something right here that all right i'll open up the chat box and i'm gonna put some in it i want to tell a young person right now that the enemy is not bored cause he's busy taking ground that you won't defend you've got to hear me young person the devil's not playing fair he's playing for keeps he wants he wants your soul he wants your purity he wants your sanity the enemy wants to wreck your life the anyone he wants to rob every dream he wants to rob every hope but somebody's got to stand up on a tuesday night and say i'm going to defend the ground i'm going to defend the crowd [Applause] we need some defenders of the crown to rise up we need some gatekeepers in the house of god that'll say you can't have my youth group you're not gonna take my youth group i'm gonna stand here i'm gonna fight all i need is a couple young men to get on board with what i'm talking about tonight and you can turn this city upside down you can turn this youth group upside down god can do something great [Applause] i watched it i watched it in my church the enemy came in and he started plucking young people out one by one and we lost a big group of kids you got to get fed up in your spirit with losing another person i get upset every time somebody walks out but i know this that if they walk out god's going to plug somebody else in their spot and we got to defend and we got to stand at the gate at the enemy and say you're not coming into this youth group [Applause] it starts young the enemy tries to destroy your soul in your youth he's trying to snatch away your youth he wants your purity he wants your sanity he wants your soul he wants everything that god told you that you can be he doesn't want you to achieve he doesn't want you to do there are some great things in this house right now my god i feel the holy ghost right now god wants to do some great things in this group of young men right now but somebody has to get persuaded that this fight is worth fighting you're not you're not going to have my soul i grew up fighting and sometimes when i get to preaching i'll be wanting to fight man i hate the deal look at this potential but every individual standing here has to make a decision that this ground is worth defending [Applause] because typically the reality is in a year all of you guys might not be standing here those are the statistics but i'm a defier of the statistics i'm a living testimony that god will pull you out of the blood god will pour you out of the dirt god will make something out of you when everybody else counted you out god will snatch you up and god will say just follow after me just walk after me somebody's got to get an attitude that i'm going to defend the crown i'm going to fight for the ground i'm going to defend this crowd that god has given me and what happens is this gets contagious because when you start defending ground then you start inspiring other people to defend the ground [Applause] and now shaman's not standing there by himself but there's an army that's rising up into him that's going to take off the wiles of the devil that's going to say you can't have my church you can't have my youth group i wish somebody will clap your hands right now i wish somebody [Applause] don't ever forget this day don't ever forget this moment when you were persuaded that this is a fight we're fighting whenever you get knocked off a little bit cause the enemy's gonna knock you flat on your back when you start charging hell you're gonna get knocked down a couple times but i'm gonna flash back to sunday morning you gotta get back up you gotta get back up you gotta get a determination in your spirit [Applause] [Music] the holy ghost wants to stamp this moment right now the holy ghost wants to sweep in this place right now somebody get a hold of what i'm preaching somebody get a hold of what i'm preaching right now as they come to the music somebody get a hold of it uh [Music] hear me today listen listen hear me hear me today you are not too young to defend ground you are not too young to start defending ground sometimes you got to learn how to fight all by yourself six-year-old girl six years old her and her mom and her sister were coming to the house of god living for god going to church every service you could play softly going to the church every service and just living for god and doing the things of god six years old her mom walks out on the things of god she's standing there with her sister who's a little bit older they make a pact together and they say look we're just going to keep on living for god we're going to keep on going to the house of god we're going to keep on doing the things of god years rocked home and that sister walks out of the church now eight years old she's standing with the decision to make because it would be so easy because nobody else is going to church for her to say look what's the use it's not a cause what's the purpose of fighting nobody else is fighting for me i might as well just leave the house that little girl had a determination in her spirit she had a hold of what i'm preaching today and she said no i want to live for god she went to a pastor and she paid pastor i don't have a ride to church i don't know how i'm gonna make it can you just pick me up for church like a good pastor should he made a way 30-minute ride there 30-minute ride back sunday morning sunday night wednesday night for bible study friday night for youth that pastor said yeah baby i'll pick you up and he started bringing that little girl to church for every service his years rocked on she got in a youth group she started growing up and she never forgot the commitment that she made to god she just kept on coming to the house of god and right now that little girl is all grown up she's sitting over there on that second in the third row wherever she's at [Applause] she's got those babies in her arms right now and that little girl is my wife [Applause] brother hershey was traveling all over the country doing ministry two kids from adverse circumstances but the only difference is that a little girl made a decision to defend the ground [Music] [Applause] young person you got to get an attitude and you can't wait on mama to do it all for you and if you're under the sound of my voice and you're coming to the house of god all by yourself just keep on coming just keep on coming you've got ground that you've got to defend you've got to learn how to fight for yourself you've got to learn how to touch god you've got to learn how to defend the crown you've got to learn how to get to the house of god hands lifted all over this house right now if you feel what i'm preaching i want you to come down around this altar go ahead and cry out to god the holy ghost is in this house right now god's gonna help you god's not gonna leave you god's gonna give you the strength god's gonna give you the tools to make it every step of the way [Music] [Music] come on lifty voices in this house [Music] there is power in the name of jesus [Music] to break every chain break every chain come on somebody you can make it today you can make it today you've got to defend the crowd you've got to fight to the nail you've got to give it everything that you've got come on come on come on go ahead [Music] [Music] to break every chain break every chain break [Music] break every chain break everything is [Music] rising down [Music] break every chain break every chain break [Music] break every chain break [Music] break every change [Music] [Applause] [Music] break every chain break every day make every change [Music] [Applause] [Music] i hear the changes [Applause] [Music] foreign [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] god's got something for you tonight [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] all right [Music] come on somebody god's gonna fill somebody with the holy ghost tonight god's gonna break some change god's gonna set so many freedom up [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] make every day [Applause] [Music] break every change [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] break every day [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Music] the changes [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] i hear the change [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Music] so [Music] so [Music] rising [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] break every chain break every chain break every day [Music] break every dream break every chain pick every [Music] [Applause] [Music] a [Music] [Music] i hear the change [Music] i hear the change i hear the change [Music] i hear the change [Music] [Music] oh let's love the lord in this house let's lift our hands let's lift our voices [Music] the holy ghost is in this place [Music] hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah [Music] let's give the lord a hand clapper praise tonight thank you jesus this ground is worth fighting for this church is worth fighting for this doctrine is worth fighting for hallelujah as brother ervin preached about david and he preached about goliath and how a host of people said this one's not worth fighting we'll we'll just do this another day they pointed out that david said all he had to do was hear at one time and he knew the voice of the adversary something rose up inside of him the bible says in that first chapter that they camped and they met in the valley of elah and the bible describes it geographically and at the very end of it it says it belongeth to judah what goliath was saying was we're taking this territory and there are some things god has given to you and given to the church and territory that god has given you in marriage and in children and in heritage and in doctrine that our forefathers fought for that bishop godair fought for that bishop sutton fought for amen and i don't plan on losing one inch to goliath one inch to any adversary i don't care how tall they are i don't care how much to their spear ways their shield ways their helmet ways i don't care how big of a host they have it belongeth to judah praise god and it's worth fighting for amen thank you brother irvin for preaching thank you for preaching to us tonight [Applause] precious family how many want them to come back and preach for us again amen precious people of god take the good word of the lord with you tonight take it to your job tomorrow it's a good day to be living for god it's a good day to be serving the lord let's bring somebody to the church on sunday let's see people baptized in jesus name let's see people filled with the holy ghost amen god bless you go in the grace of god take the spirit of god with you as you go in jesus name [Music] you

Channel: First Pentecostal Church of Durham

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Id: wz0w1yQXnCc

Length: 125min 8sec (7508 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 17 2021