Leave on a Limp - Garen Stanley

[Music] i bring you 76 years of pentecost without a flower without stopping without looking that way or that way or that way you're no doubt gonna be the leaders of the next great awakening there's a great spiritual awakening so in this room and beyond these walls and around this world we've got to take what was in the book of acts and we're going to make sure that it lives on in the next generation i didn't allow my generation to sway me left to right i didn't use my generation i served my generation now it's your turn to serve your generation by the will of almighty god [Music] your spirit [Applause] [Music] fixing [Music] your presence fade like a child known and prospected here in your arms my shame is unraveling unraveling you make me feel [Music] finally free your fear [Music] [Applause] i was living underneath gray skies [Music] [Applause] [Music] is fearless [Music] [Applause] makes me [Music] i'm alive to praise there's no turning back there's no turning back to praise [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] fearless [Applause] fearlessly [Applause] me [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] i mean if no one's going to get excited about that i will sunday night service [Music] welcome to our church and online family to refuge takeover thank you for coming this evening we are anticipating great and amazing things if our ushers would come at this time we are going to take the offering aren't these some handsome guys we have three ways to give tonight one you can come to the front and put your offering in the basket or the ushers will come around are our online family can give online for those who have received an random acts of kindness card hold those up everyone should have them hold them up this is our random acts of kindness card we created this to spread kindness throughout our community what you do is pick someone whether that is someone at the grocery store or maybe the person behind you in the chick-fil-a line and you take a picture of that card and you hashtag get one give one you pay for that person's food or their groceries so that we can spread kindness throughout this community [Applause] right after service we will have games and food trucks outside in the parking lot for everyone to have a good time as we move toward our next worship song i would like to call out a few of our refuge students in prayer as well as marie tyson which is in critical condition and any other requests in this room if you would lift your hands and join with me god you said where two or three are gathered in your name that you would be in the midst of them so here we are as your bride and we are coming before you in great expectation of what you are going to do we call on you for cohen doyle cassidy elliott landon delbridge and so many others in this room and across the world we speak healing in cohen's body by your stripes he will be healed there's no mountain you can't move and there's no heart you can't restore we proclaim his healing by the power of your name demons tremble at the sound of your name so as we speak jesus on the mountaintop are jesus in the valley low we speak jesus over these requests we speak jesus over this country we speak jesus over this city we speak jesus over this church we speak jesus over refuge and we speak jesus over every impossibility in this room you healed the lepers and you healed the lame man impossible has never stopped you give these families strength through this storm and give them a peace that passeth all understanding let your will be done in the mighty name of jesus [Music] now as we go into the next song join us at the front for worship [Music] saturday was silent surely it was through but since when as impossible ever stopped you friday's disappointment this sunday is empty tune but since when has impossible ever [Music] stopped this is the sound of the dry bones rattling [Music] and this is the phrase make a dead man walk again [Music] open the again this is stirring something new but you're not gonna run out of miracles [Music] this is [Music] this is [Music] [Music] oh my god is able to save and deliver and heal and restore anything that he wants to just ask the man who was thrown on the bones of elisha if there's anything that he can't do [Music] [Music] [Music] this no [Music] gonna live again this is [Music] [Music] [Music] i hear the sounds [Music] and the bones begin to this is what he said he he said and is [Music] i'm gonna live again this is [Music] [Music] he said [Music] my gosh [Music] this bag but i just can't win the fight i'm slowly drifting [Music] [Music] he told me [Music] thank god i cannot deny what i see got no choice but to believe [Music] you can just keep on moving you ain't welcome here [Music] is [Music] forever i thank god i am free i am i am free i am free i am free i am free [Music] [Music] am forever i thank god all right look at your neighbor and say are you in a dead situation don't don't ask him [Music] is there something in your life that you need to be brought back to life because if so look at them and say get up get up get up get up out of that grave get up get up get up get up out of that gray [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] he turned me around he [Applause] [Music] i thank the master i think the savior i thank god [Music] uh [Music] jesus is in this room [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] holy ground we're staying in the pool [Music] [Applause] oh [Music] [Music] singing along with the saints and the elders the glorious song and the phrases they seem never seen together god almighty [Music] [Music] glorious holy lord [Music] [Applause] jesus [Music] the glorious song and the phrases they sing never [Music] forever [Music] you are [Music] gloriously [Music] before you [Music] [Music] [Music] is [Music] is [Applause] holy forever [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] forever [Music] [Music] [Music] continually we can seek it for a moment we join and we just cry you are holy you are holy god we're man we're blessed but god you are holy you are above your foster above our thoughts your ways they surpass our way and we worship you great god there is nobody like you you are jehovah our healer you are jehovah our provider you are our team and our deliverer out of calamity out of the worry you are our fortress you are our strong power you are our refuge and we run to you we cry holy in the name of jesus hallelujah hallelujah let's magnify the lord hallelujah there's nobody like you jesus hallelujah hallelujah we didn't come here for entertainment we came to entertain the presence of god we don't come here for ourselves we come here for you to god be the glory [Music] in the name of jesus we glorify you we glorify you i'm so thankful we made it refuge they didn't think we would but we did anyway did it in spite i am pumped to see you to see your family that just shows you're not alone this church loves you and supports you [Music] amen [Applause] as you make your way back to your seat i am extremely thankful for all of the students we had over 40 students serving i'm sure you've seen all of them didn't they look so nice hostessing and ushering to all of you parents who got them here on time and early thank you thank you so much and to our amazing pastor thank you so much for believing in these amazing amazing students i personally believe they're the best [Applause] we launched back in january and it has been nothing short of supernatural um most of you if you follow us on social media you've kind of seen the journey we've taken and tonight i'll kind of continue that journey but it was amazing to me to watch as we launched into this different series that we launched in january and when we got to different generosity i watched as we launched a drive to start bringing things to homeless people and the people in these pews didn't just bring a couple things we launched we partnered with the synlaw homeless coalition and these amazing students after hearing a need they needed hygiene products toothbrushes toothpaste deodorant i watched as people partnered with us and we delivered thousands thousands of toothpaste deodorant people were bringing razors and shaving cream that's the kind of people that you're in the room with so i just want to let you know we're not just babysitting across the street that we are actually doing something i know some people wonder so tonight is an amazing night for all of us the students have been really looking forward to it but what i would like to do is kind of change maybe your focus to maybe not make it so much just about supporting them though we are and some of you i got a couple texts people were going out of town they're like i'm going to stay in to support you and i'm i'm really thankful for that but this night really isn't just about making us feel good but this night is letting you in on the direction we've been going and maybe see if you want to join with us amen so i'm going to talk to you tonight about a very simple topic i'm going to call it leave on a limp leave on a limp his name was secretariat more commonly called by his nickname big red some athletic performances were so magnificent to watch in the sporting arena arena that they almost assume an unworldly feel they almost seem so far beyond what is normal their dreamliking quality and yet wonderfully real this was big red he stormed home by beating the next closest horse 31 links in the 1973 belmont stakes to ensure his place at the top of the list of the greatest thoroughbred horses who've ever lived this is amazing because the announcer chick anderson perfectly captured this breathtaking moment on his run to the first triple crown in 25 years when he exclaimed big red's gap is whiting now he's moving like a tremendous machine big red soared from horse to a national hero after his extraordinary performances and the opening two legs of the triple crown he was featured on the covers of newsweek sports illustrated and time his muscular build identifies him immediately as soon as you see him his glowing reddish coat is a banner of health and rippling power he produces a breathtaking explosion whenever he leaves the gate and leaves novices and heart and horsemen alike convinced that there has never been a greater horse since then or before then it's amazing to see god's creation at work secretariat or better known as big red he ended up suffering from lamentness a painful hoof disease amazingly though through all of these races he somehow pushed through the pain the whole time that big red was a amazing horse horse racer and he was breaking all of the records nobody knew the pain that he was in suffering from a hoof disease that every time that his hoof would touch the dirt it was causing him pain and so when he died in 1989 they did a biopsy to figure out what made this horse so extraordinary what made him different from other horses and you see big red wasn't really bigger than other horses there were larger horses in breed than big red but whenever they opened big red up they found out that he had a heart twice the size of a normal horse's heart you see inside of big red there was something different there was something that caused him to push beyond the pain that he was feeling on the racetrack and not just run but run with such perseverance and such passion that he captivated audiences and broke records that have never been broken since then big red separated himself because of something on the inside and i would challenge some of you tonight that there's something on the inside that should make you different that should cause you to run a race in a different way than other people you might just have a double-sized heart and tonight i believe that some of us are going to leave with a limp big red's desire to win was greater than the pain that he felt he had to overcome that pain to run he had an oversized heart and his drive was unmatched his name was jacob genesis 32 accounts and it says and jacob was left alone and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of day and when he saw that he prevailed not against him he touched the hollow of his thigh as it went out of joint he wrestled him and he said let me go for the day breaketh and jacob responded i will not let you go fast forward down to 30 and 31 it says and jacob called this place pineal for i have seen god face to face and my life is preserved i can believe and i will believe that people tonight will leave on a limp jacob recognized that in this moment there was something different he wasn't faced with just a mundane moment but he had an encounter and god gave him the opportunity to see how much pain can you endure to get what you want how far are you really willing to take what you say you want what is the next step for you jacob and he said let me go it was a test will you continue to cleave to me though i'm about to cause you some pain jacob no doubt had strength you have to understand to wrestle an angel though i have never done that it had to be very difficult in fact in hebrews 2 it said god created man a little lower than the angels in second kings you read an account of one angel slaying 185 000 men in one night yet jacob had the audacity to wrestle with that kind of a thing he had something on the inside of him that caused him to cleave though it was wanting to separate he said i'm not going to let you go i will not let you go because though there's pain though i feel something this moment is special for me because you don't understand my past you see i used to run my mom taught me to run when i made a mistake she said flee get out of here you just need to run away and let me tell you something some of you you may have been born to run but you were made to limp there has been a moment in your life that every voice around you says it's time to run it's time to get out but let me tell you refuge you were born to run but you were made to limp there's been something on the inside that should change what happens on the outside you got a bigger heart than what you recognize we have legacy faith we have legacy people we have legacy giants among us to glean from and to pull from we have people who haven't quit and this is our moment as our elders have passed away and are passing away in rapid speed sooner or later we have to understand that though we have a disability though we have been touched and we are not paid we don't walk the same way and we have a little bit of a limp it's time to stand sooner or later you got to get up out of jacob and stand up as israel there's got to be a moment where you say i gotta embrace who i am [Applause] his past was sketchy and his future was dim but god called him back to face his past he betrayed his brother and he knew that where he was going esau the last words he said was when i see him i'm going to kill him he was running from his father-in-law laban and he was he had enemies behind him and he had an enemy in front of him he was trapped and it caused an immense anxiety to rise up in him he had no idea what to do do you know we've been called the most anxious generation in human history and on a poll they just recently done they asked what is the source of all this anxiety and depression that you're feeling the number one unanimously voted one was fear of the future i am afraid of what my life is gonna look like i'm afraid that i'm not gonna quite get there i'm afraid that i won't achieve what everybody says i'm going to achieve i'm afraid i'm not going to live up to the expectations we are the most anxious generation in history when tick-tock stars from our own state amassing over one and a half million followers on tick-tock in baton rouge take their life and the last words they said was i feel alone we are depressed and we feel alone like there is no hope and there's a fear of the future that captivates us and cripples us and paralyzes us to move forward i want to pose a question to you tonight to change your thought process what if your dysfunction what if your disability what if the moment that you are now not able to walk the way you used to walk what if those things where god's divine way to get glory out of your life what if the moment that god touched you and you you want to walk the way you used to walk but you see i got this limp i've been paralyzed i've been touched you see a limp marks you and some of us have become so good at disguising the limp we dress it up and we make it look good and we we kind of drag it a little different but god said hey i made you that way you may have been born to run you used to flee from all of this stuff but i've called you to something bigger you used to be born to run but your new name is hey it's time to limp walk towards your future walk towards your destiny you were made to limp our limping marks our lives that we've had an encounter that changed us and i am not interested in walking normal i am done with normal i'm done with fitting into what society tells us we have to be and what's okay and what's not okay i have a limp and i'm proud of my limp i am different and i am okay with being different i have no desire to walk like anybody else other than who god has called me to walk like your power is in the limp it is in the handicap in the lack of ability and the lack of talent and the lack of your speech it is in those moments that god takes those divine opportunities and wraps them all up and changes the world with them these are our moments and this lot has fallen to you once you learn to embrace the limp you'll never want to go back to walking normal god takes those areas where i feel no value can come from other than shame and he uses those things to propel me to the next level of my life the moments that i want to run from and god says hey this is a jacob moment what will you do will you let go and run i know that's what you're used to doing i know that's what you do your mom taught you that from a young age to run but i'm saying stand up as israel cleave to what you want to run to we live in a culture that overvalues 15 minutes of fame and undervalues lifelong faithfulness one of our misunderstandings of spiritual maturity is thinking that it should result in self-sufficiency it's actually the exact opposite the goal is not independence the goal is co-dependence on god our desire for self-sufficiency is a subtle expression of our sinful nature it's a desire to get to a place that we don't need god don't need faith don't need prayer we want god to supply more so we need him less you are not god you need help and i need help we are all handicapped we all walk with a limp we all need divine intervention and divine appointments with god you are not perfect our handicaps don't disgust god they attract god the moment that the pharisees thought they caught jesus in a moment with a lady caught in adultery they thought they caught him and they threw her at jesus's feet and they said what are you going to do the pharisees are the people who got her to jesus your mistakes is what attracts you to god your mistakes your faults your failures your lack of who you are your lack of what you messed up on in your past that's what god is attracted to it does not disgust him it makes him want you when we are refusing to embrace who we are we are robbing god of his potential to heal us and to change our name what israel means is a prince with god he said hey your name you may used to run you were a deceiver you were a liar you were cheat but i'm gonna give you power with god and favor with men and he did jacob embraced his dysfunction and god blessed him for it there's something new that i just love about new converts and you'll all agree when a new convert of pastor is preaching and he he gets up there and he says if you've ever been delivered of drugs and alcohol we all know it's like all the new converts instantly jump up to their feet they're like it's me that's me i did i did it but it's amazing to me that some of us have become so comfortable at disguising our limp that we sit there and we look at them and say man that's awesome and we forget where god's taken us from we forget that hey i used to be like that that's me i used to do that i am wrong i don't have it all together and we celebrate them but rob god of the power in us a new convert is so excited they don't care they embrace the limp they love the limp they're proud of that limp they're gonna show off their limp they're gonna drag that foot until everybody knows but somehow through us becoming more mature we instantly start saying well we just won't tell people our testimony we don't want to tell people where we've been we don't want to tell people of our lack of ability and the time we fail the time we drop the ball we want everybody to know i got it what does disability mean a physical or mental condition that limits a person's movements senses or activities you see god gave paul an amazing revelation in second corinthians chapter 12. he said unto me this is jesus was giving him this and he said and he said unto me my grace is sufficient for you my strength what my strength is made perfect in your disability you want to see god move limp you want to see god be strong quit disguising it own that limp my grace is sufficient for you my strength is made perfect in weakness and this is what paul said most gladly will i therefore rather glory in mine infirmities what a revelation for the church to own to accept that my my strength is failing my strength does not measure up i am not enough but god is enough in me he said i will therefore rather glory in my infirmities that the power of christ may rest upon me [Applause] when i limp i operate in the supernatural i tap into something different i am not who i used to be i am no longer jacob i walk in israel i have power with god and i have favor with man god will put you in the places that you can't ever imagine because you walk with a limp you were never made to fit in you were never made to look like everybody else you were never made to talk like everybody else you were men never made to laugh at the same jokes god will take that limp and change the world with it [Applause] walk in who god's called you to be pride says i have no flaws therefore i am perfect confidence says i have flaws but there is more to me than the flaws in all reality what we're really fighting for is our faith fighting to continue that believing that god can and will use all of our shortcomings but there's always a divine contrast between what you feel and what god says nero imaging has shown that as we age a center of cognitive gravity tends to shift from the imaginative right brain to the logical left brain and this presents us all with a spiritual danger at some point most of us stop living out of the imagination and start living out of memory instead of creating the future we start repeating the past instead of living by faith we start living by logic we go after things that don't require divine intervention nothing honors god more than a big dream that is way beyond our ability to uh to accomplish why because we can't take credit for it and that's what god wants is things you can't take credit for there is nothing better for our spiritual development than a big dream because it keeps us on our knees and raw dependence on god where your ability ends god's power begins where you run out of your lack when you run out of what you can do then all of a sudden you get supernatural help let me make up the difference that's what he does but we don't pray for what we're not willing to pay for if we pray for something we're going to pay for it with my tears with my time with my prayer with my work ethic i'm going to pay for it god's not going to have to do all of it i'm going to work we need a divine intervention of work ethic i know you know this but the problem is is that if it really got out of our head into our heart we turn the world upside down that when we run out of our strength god would make up the difference that would change the world because we would do whatever it took by whatever means necessary to run out of our strength and we'd run out of our energy and say okay god it's your turn i limped i got it done it's you isaiah 45 and 3 and this is amazing he said the prophet he said i will give thee the treasures of darkness and hidden riches in secret places that thou mayest know that i the lord which call thee by thy name am the god of who israel he is the god of the limp he is the god of your lack of ability where you run out i'm the god of the new guy i ain't got nothing to do with the old guy but if you want to be the new man i got you i'ma propel you farther than you can imagine i got you for jacob my servant's sake in israel mine elect i have even called thee by my name by thy name i have surnamed thee though you didn't even know me you need to be willing to embrace a new walk i want to live a life that leaves a legacy his name is cohen hey guys [Applause] my spirits up in these past couple days and getting all these new getting all this news and stuff it's really helped a lot and i really love y'all i appreciate y'all uh i just wanted to share the um wednesday night what i felt before i went to that doctor's appointment i felt while i was sitting there laying on my couch and i felt uh i felt some i don't know what it was but um i knew i i prayed and i was like lord if this is what you want [Music] and this is what this is your plan for me that i'm willing to uh i'm willing to do it i'm willing to go along with it no matter what challenges i'm gonna face as long as it gets me closer to you and just that's what i felt and that's what i prayed and i kind of knew that this was going to happen a little bit i knew that i was going to have this and so um it's just a challenge and i'm we're going i'm gonna get over it god's gonna god's gonna uh heal me i'll be perfectly fine it's all his plan uh one thing i've been telling myself over and over again is that god is god is too good to do wrong and it's too wise to make a mistake that's what i've been telling myself these past couple days sitting in this hospital bed he's too good to do wrong he's too good so let's keep praying i'll be back in no time on wednesday nights doing the games baby you already know all right i love y'all thank you that's what embracing a limp looks like if you're waiting for the moment that's what it looks like 15 years old and his heart is double the size and he's laying in a hospital bed lost it losing his future but he said god whatever it takes for me to get glory whatever it takes god whatever it takes you can use my life you can use my inability you can use my sickness you can use my disease i'll give you the glory that's what it looks like let's all stand [Applause] it's time that we embrace the limp at 15 years old to be faced with the news that you can't play sports and you know what we talked about on wednesday he said garen i'm afraid for my future but then after wednesday i know they don't have the picture but wednesday he had a move of god in his own personal life and he said garen whatever it takes for god to get the glory out of my life if this is the route i'm going to go i want god to use me [Applause] jesus in luke 5. jesus answering and said unto them they that are whole they don't need me you don't need jesus if you're perfect if you don't have any flaws and i know some people you talk and you say i don't have any flaws and your attitude shows you don't think you have any flaws i talk to lots of perfect people all the time all the time trust me but jesus said you don't need me if you're perfect i don't have anything to do with perfect people where i come in is if you're sick if you got a disability that's what i want i want that that area that you're afraid to tell anybody that area you hide [Applause] that area nobody knows that's the place where god is really wanting to use that thing you don't tell anybody you went through that thing you hide behind that thing that caused you to power up when you should be powering down that thing you protect and you put behind your back that's the thing that's the thing that god is saying embrace that that's the secret that's your superpower because when you say that's mine it's who i am but you can use it it's time that we embrace the limp and some of you walk away tonight and you'll leave with a limp some of you you'll stay at jacob it is possible to have a moment that could change your life and ignore it it is it is totally possible to see a move of god and never engage in it that's what changed my life in a junior high youth service at 12 years old [Music] i was in a j crew service as a student and my leader said if you want god to do something and to change your life come to the front and nobody moved i walked up to the front and i got on my knees and this is what i said god if nobody else wants anything from you give it all to me if they ain't hungry just give it to me if they afraid of walking in the lymph give me their limp baby because i'll walk in it i will talk in it and i won't be ashamed of who i am you can give it to me you can trust me with trouble you can trust me with pain i will walk through the fire and i know that you're gonna get glory out of my life and that's some of you tonight it's somewhere in this moment you felt something special if that's you i want you to move to the front i don't care what anybody says if you're ashamed of walking in a limb this ain't for you if you're perfect you don't need god but if you're hungry for god to change your life and to change your name change where you come from and change where you're going this is your moment this is a moment where you can stand up as israel and walk away with a limp embracing who you've been embracing who you're going to be god has chosen you for this moment god has chosen you to be who you are and to have the past that you do and to know the things that you know and have been exposed to the hurt god is going to use that limp to change the world he will change the world when you embrace the limp [Music] come on young people acknowledge the lymph acknowledge the disability acknowledge the lack acknowledge the attitude acknowledge your past quit running from it quit running from it jacob own who you are own where you've been on what you've done and walk towards israel you can walk away with

Channel: The Pentecostals of Alexandria

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Length: 64min 57sec (3897 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 07 2021