Marked Moments – Pastor Duerre Thomas

[Music] what's up play church anybody excited about jesus in the house today come on i am so excited elated and honored to be with you guys on today listen i am grateful for pastor david and passing a cold you guys have some of the greatest pastors in the world come on put it together and let's give god a praise for them of course pastor austin and morgan man you got you guys are just blessed at faith church and i'm jealous but i can tell you something i'm a son of this house because ever since pastor david and nicole came into my life my life has been better my marriage has been better my ministry has been better even my money has been better come on now somebody and so i've been embracing the face ever since god has connected me to pastor david and god's been doing some amazing things in my life and i am honored that i get to be with you all today any preacher in america any preacher around the world would love to have been on this platform because this is one of the greatest platforms in the world and so i want to start this moment well today and so um of course god's been good to me and in my message i'm going to share a little bit more of my story but i would like for you to do me a favor it's my custom to stand whenever we're getting ready to read the word so i'm going to ask you all to stand all around the sanctuary today those of you that are lying with us get your bibles those of you that are on the campuses man today is gonna be amazing we're gonna start from joshua chapter four and i'm just gonna read from verses four to seven okay from verses four to seven and it reads as this joshua summoned the twelve men he had appointed from the israelites one per tribe joshua told them go in front of the ark of the lord your god in the middle of the jordan everybody say in the middle each of you is to put a stone on his shoulder according to the number of the israelites tribes the stones will be a reminder to you that when your children ask someday why are these stones important to you tell them how the water of the jordans stopped flowing before the ark of the covenant of the lord when it crossed the jordan the water of the jordans start flowing these stones will be a lasting memorial for the israelites if i could tag a topic to the text today it would be marked moments i want you to do me a favor look to the person you're standing next to i know we're social distancing but listen to the person you're standing next to say neighbor you've got some marks okay you spoke to the wrong person they hadn't had their coffee yet turn to somebody else and say neighbor you've got to mark the moment father bless this moment bless this time in jesus name we pray and everybody say amen you've got to mark the moment you know as we get ready to jump into this text one of the things that i was praying as i was coming to share with you is what is it lord that you would help me to share especially in this difficult season that we're in and one of the things that god told me was that you've got to mark the moments of when i was a good god and how great i've been in your life see memories are important they're important for our lives because they make us who we are however they can be very fleeting and fickle even the memories of big events y'all can deteriorate over time that is why it is important to preserve memories now let me just note and parenthetically insert here that there are things that we should remember that we forget but then there are things that we shouldn't remember that we don't forget and here's the thing paul even said this he says don't remember your past or he says i forget the things that are behind me and what do i do i press toward the mark of my high calling that is ahead of me because here's the thing there are some memories that will try to keep you stuck there are some memories that will try to keep you bound there are some memories that will try to keep you from progressing into what god wants you to progress into but i'm here to tell you today that god has freed you from a horse from being a hostage of your past come on somebody and you've got a future because he is a good and he's a great god here's what i said when i was with you last time i said that your past should be a place of reference not a place of residence okay let me repeat that and back that thing up again your past is not a place of residence it is a place of reference meaning i don't have to live in it but i can leverage it come on now i don't have to live in it i can leverage it and i can allow god to take me to a place where i'm not limited by it i want you to declare this with me say i'm not limited by my past come on say i'm going to leverage my past and i'm not limited by my past and so even though i've got these memories there's some things that i cannot forget and there are some things that i've got to forget and here's the thing i'm going to hold on to certain memories because they are marked moments so as we navigate to the text into the narrative and we attempt to bring this text to life we see that after 40 years of wandering in dry places god speaks to joshua and tells him to prepare the people to cross over into everything that he has promised him this was good news y'all except the season that god chose to allow them to cross over was a difficult season now i've been wondering god for 40 years and now all of a sudden in this difficult season you're telling me it's time to cross over into the promise ain't that amazing that that's the way god is see god will cost you to do great things in difficult seasons because he don't want you to get glory for what he's about to do he wants to get all the glory for himself and i don't know if there's anybody in this 8 a.m service that had their coffee and i could give god a praise because regardless of the difficult seasons that you were in he allowed you to do some things that you wouldn't have been able to do on your own come on somebody ought to give god a praise right there so so he he told them the crossover in this difficult season it was a treacherous season where where the waters were treacherous and the banks overflowed where it was naturally impossible but when it's naturally impossible god is going to do supernatural things inside your life come on that when mine can't do it he is able to do it come on online i need you all to give god some praise because god is about to do some supernatural things in your life in this season today can i suggest that all of us have had to or will have to go through a jordan not in a geographical sense but in a spiritual and in a proverbial sense see jordan represents that circumstance or that season we can't get through except for the powerful hand and the presence of god let me say it again jordan represents that season that we can't get through except for the powerful hand of god and i don't know about you but i thank god that he's been keeping me in difficult seasons i thank god that even in this present moment i can depend on him and i don't know if there's about a hundred in you that could give god a real praise in this place because you know that if it hadn't been for god keeping you in this difficult season and in this difficult moment you wouldn't be here today come on as a consequence i believe that all of us will have marked moments moments in our lives where god not only showed up but he shall showed out moments in our lives where he came to the valleys of our lives and moved mountains out of our ways moments in our lives where we can look back and said if it had not been for god on my side i wouldn't have been here today if we were to recall the moments that god kept us it will blow some people's minds okay if you're taking notes here's something i want you to remember who we are and where we are today is because of what god did in our yesterday let me say it again who we are and where we are today is because of what god did in our yesterday see some people believe that they're here on their own talent on their own gift on their own abilities but i believe that there are some of us that understand that we weren't talented enough we weren't gifted enough to make it to this point in our lives if it had not been for the grace of god and some people wonder why you get excited when you're in god's presence or when it's time to praise him because baby ain't nobody like you know what you've been through like you and god and and sometimes folk may say it don't take all that you don't gotta scream that loud you don't gotta shout that loud but baby if you only knew what i'd been through and if you only knew what he brought me out listen some people wouldn't even believe you've been through some of the stuff you've been through see someone asked me the other day during god's healed you of lupus and you were supposed to die at 18 years old and you're alive today don't you want him to completely heal you and take the scars away and here's what i told them sometimes you need scars so that people could believe that you actually been through some stuff come on now see because some people wouldn't believe you unless they see the stars but come on is there anybody in fake church that got some scars your scars may not be visible but all of us got some scars that if we were to testify about what god's done and how he's been good somebody shall preach young man i'm doing the best i can can i tell you i am so blessed because with these scars i'm still here today you're looking at somebody that shouldn't be here but i'm on one of the greatest platforms in the world as a testimony of how good god is and y'all he blessed me with my scars cause can i tell you i got a fine wife oh yeah and i got four handsome good-looking boys hallelujah do you care me because god is that good somebody say he's that good so when i think about all of this i go to the psalm because the psalm is under the inspiration of the holy spirit put pen to parchment and begin to proclaim this in psalms 105 verse 1-5 give thanks to the lord call on his name make known his accomplishments his resume his history make known his accomplishments among the nations sing to him make music to him tell about his miraculous deeds boast about his holy name okay you all didn't shout on that psalm so let's go to the next one hallelujah look at somebody say you gotta boast about him i like psalm 78 verse 1-4 it says pay attention my people to my instruction listen to the words i speak i will sing a song that imparts wisdom listen to this i will make insightful observations about the past [Applause] what we've heard and learned that which our ancestors have told us we will not hide from their descendants we will tell the next generation about the lord's praise where he acts about his strength and the amazing things he has done seek his presence continually recall the miraculous deeds he's performed his mighty acts here's what the psalmist is saying hallelujah he's saying when i recall and when i remember the past things that he has done it helps me to insightfully observe how he's brought me over and how he's brought me through and it produces something called praise i wonder if there's anybody that got a praise on the inside you see somebody should praise god because the young mark moments help to adjust your perspective you see some people think that they gotta have it good in order to give god praise but can i just tell you how powerful praise it is praise says this prayer says it may not look good in my present but god is always good praise says this that it may not be what i wanted to be but god is always good so it don't have to be good for me to give god praise i'll praise him because he's been good and he will always be good is there anybody that came with the praise on the inside that could give god glory in this season we need our perspective to be adjusted come here online come here all of our other campuses we need our perspective adjusted because here's what praise says prayer says because of his participation in my past i got a praise in the present okay only shout out on that praise reminds us of how good god's been in the past it sustains us with peace in the present and it positions us to cross over into our future promises hallelujah that's what praise does praise then says sometimes you need to have a flashback to make a forecast preach during you preaching better than they shouted at this early service sometimes you got to have a flash look out somebody say don't make me have a flashback because i'll tear this church up come on anybody could have some flashback here's what my flashback says my flashback says this that watch this i may not be comfortable in my present condition but i have got a confident conviction of the future outcome because if he did it before he could do it ah if he did it before he could if he healed before he could heal again if he delivered before he could deliver it again if he brought you out before he can bring you out [Applause] look at somebody say have a flashback somebody shout don't forget i like deuteronomy watch what deuteronomy 4 verse 9 says only be careful and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart how long how long as long as you live he says don't forget he says he says teach them to your children and to your children after them i like deuteronomy 6 10 to 12 when the lord god brings you into the land that he swatted your fathers to abraham to isaac and to jacob he says a land with large a land with large flourishing cities that you did not build houses filled with all sorts of good things that you did not provide wells you did not dig and vineyards you did not plan and all it grows you did not plan then when you eat and are satisfied be careful that you don't forget the lord who brought you out of egypt and the land of slavery i don't got much time but can i tell you all one of the things i detest is when i go to places and churches and everybody look like they've been sucking on lemons all day look like they got their faces is just pruned and they're mad and they angry and people got to pump them and prying them to praise god here's what i say to myself they forgot hallelujah they forgot but baby i'm at faith church and at faith church we got a hundred or 200 or a couple thousand people that never forgot what god's done for them is there anybody up in here and say i can't forget i can't forget i can't forget can you look at somebody and say after all i've been through and how he brought me out i can't forget if you didn't forget i need you to give him a real praise come on if you didn't forget give god some praise [Applause] i got to hurry up so when i reference the moments when i reference the moments that i'm mocking my life i've concluded that he's a reliable rock that's why i don't allow fear to control my presence that's why i don't worry i worship hallelujah because my faith says that he's a reliable god that he's trustworthy and he never fails even if he doesn't do another thing he's still worthy of the praise come on y'all three hebrew boys tell him even if he doesn't deliver us we still empowered to the culture of the world because he's been too good and so no wonder god told joshua he says joshua i want you when i cross you over to get 12 men from each and i want you to grab stones from the center of the jordan it's interesting because he didn't tell him to get stones from the sides and the banks he says i want you to grab a stone from the center i want you to grab stones from the places where you should have sank but yet your feet standing firm see in order to get these stones you got to go through some stuff and a lot of people maybe ain't been through nothing but baby if you ever been through anything in your life and god's been good then you got something to mark he says get the stones and here's what you want to do you want to hold on to these stones because these stones are going to be a memorial so that when your children and your children's children ask why are these important to you you're going to be able to tell them it was because of what god did if i hadn't been in the hand of god i wouldn't have been here some of you parents ought to have your moments mark so that when your great-grandchildren and when your children come and say mommy how come you're giving god praise daddy how come you're so content and at peace and you could be able to go back to some mark moments and say here's what god did for our family here's what god did in our lives here's how god brought us out here's how god brought us through everybody's saying mark the moments he says get he says get these movements get these stones and mark the moments mark the moments everybody said one more time say mark the moments because joshua i'm about to demonstrate my power i'm about to demonstratively demonstrate my power demonstratively show my love and my affection in the open that eyes are going to see hallelujah and heirs are going to hear about what i've done for you and the children of israel this day joshua i am about to show my hand on your life so mark the moment now i knew i was coming to faith church one of the most creative places on the planet and so i said to myself how can we really bring this message and this narrative to life and i said i wonder if the stones could have talked would the stones would tell what kind of story the stones would tell and here's what i asked myself god why stones and i'm glad you guys want to know too because at the end of the day here's what god said at one point he said if they don't praise me okay i got some folks and he said they don't praise me here's what's going to happen the rocks are going to cry out and tell the world how good i am so in the few moments i have i want to ask us what kind of story do you think that these stones would tell well i believe the first stone would tell that he's a god that is a god that provides protection come on it reminds me that i'm the apple of his eye that like an eagle stirs his nest and hovers over his young to protect it so is god protecting me that i will walk through the waters and not be overcome that i would walk through fire and not come out smelling like smoke come on is there anybody up in here that know that he'll go before you and make crooked places straight hallelujah you could honestly declare that the lord is your life and my salvation whom shall i fear of whom shall i be afraid the first storm would say he protected us everybody say protection yeah he protected us when we when we were through the desert he was a fire by night and a cloud by day the second stone would say that he's a god that provides yeah is there anybody up in here that can have a flashback about how he provided so why worry because the same god that feeds the birds of the air hallelujah and the fowls of the air and close the flowers of the field is the same god that will take care of me and i'll take care of you everybody say he provides hallelujah i hear another stone crying out another stone that cried out to tell his story is a stone that says i was in the desert with those rebellious and stiff net people and they were complaining that they was in this dry place and they didn't have nothing to drink or eat and moses got upset and moses came over to me and moses was so angry with them because of their lack of faith that he struck me and all of a sudden a dry stone like me started to gush out water can i just tell you what it means it means that it doesn't matter how it looks around me it doesn't look it doesn't matter what the economy says i know that my god is a jehovah gyra that provides my needs according to his riches here's the other stone it's the stone of grace anybody thankful for grace come on i'm in first faith church i'm in faith church where people connect families growing lives are changed how is that possible that's only possible by the grace of god i'm a recipient of his grace is there anybody here that should have been dead is there anybody here that walked away and turned your back but yet the grace of god okay y'all y'all didn't shout on that stone and so maybe on that stone with grace just shout it out to me and say tell my story tell my story hallelujah it was a stone that was in the hand of a bunch of religious elite a bunch of pharisees and sadducees that were too sad you see and they were too far to see hallelujah and they caught this woman in the act of adultery hallelujah and they were about to stone her but then jesus hallelujah he went and he drew a line in the sand and he said that you that don't got no sin you could cast the first stone and preacher because we all need grace everybody had to drop the stone i get about a hundred of you to give god some real praise for grace the stone of courage this stone says that pastor they were courageous come on online come on all out of campuses in this season god needs some courageous believers not those that will be cowering in a corner but those that will stand up and be brave and bold and say no matter what comes my way on christ the solid rock i stand all of the ground is sinking the stone of courage here's the other stone that will tell a story is the stone of victory come on hallelujah anybody god gave you some victory victory over your enemies victory over your circumstance victory everybody shout victory yeah i hear another stone and that stone was in the hand of a shepherd boy that heard a circumcised philistine defying the armies of god and when he ran up to him with me in his hand i heard that giant say you come to me without a sword and without a shield and that shepherd boy said yeah but i come in the name of the lord and he pulled back and when he released me that giant kingdom falling down oh what am i trying to say your stones are going to help you to slay your giants i gotta go but i hear another stone because that stone said they didn't shout so if they don't shout over me then i don't know what will cost them to realize that god's good but this was a stone that was pushed in front of an empty tomb in front of a tomb where they placed the body of jesus that stone said they said that he wasn't gonna get up again and on day two i was a little concerned because i heard them say that this savior would get back up from the dead but on day three hallelujah on day three it took a few men to push me in front of it but it only took the power and the finger of god to move it in front of him in front of him [Music] somebody shout victory the stone of faith the stone of faith will make you look at dry bones and say you're going to live again hallelujah anybody got any faith in here god is saying that your circumstance with your faith is going to live again the stone of wisdom has he given you wisdom in the past wisdom that you didn't have but he gave you hallelujah here's another stone the stone of deliverance any former drug addicts any former drug dealers come on any former sinners in the house that say he delivered and he set me free [Music] here's another stone it's the stone of healing anybody the doctors gave you a bad report can i tell you they looked at me and said your mum died from lupus you're gonna die from lupus and even if you live to see 18 year old you wouldn't be able to play basketball run swim do anything 18 year olds do but can i tell you that god has been faithful that i'm 39 years old today and still alive because he gave me the stone of healing i'm done i'm done but here is another stone the stone of faithfulness he sees me even when i don't see him come on he's faithful hallelujah he's never changing the stone of endurance i survived some stuff and i kept going come on the stone of love i tried to run from him tried to hide from him but his love just wouldn't leave me alone is there anybody online on other campuses that could say his love just wouldn't leave me alone is there anybody in faith church thankful for his love is there anybody in faith church thankful for his love is there anybody that got some marked moments in their life that they can tell generations god's been good as you stand all over the sanctuary and as i get ready to close i want to read this last scripture from deuteronomy 32 verse 5 because i think it's important because here's what moses said to them moses said this when he had finished reciting all these words to israel he said to them keep in mind all the words i'm solemnly proclaiming to you today you must command your children to observe them carefully all the words of this law for this is no idle word for you it is your life by this word you will live a long time in the line you're getting ready to cross over to possess do you hear me in this season you needed a reminder you needed a mark to say if he got me through it before he can get me through it again i close with a bottom line and that bottom line is this your past stones are going to help you to slay your future giants if you believe that give god a praise [Music] you

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Length: 31min 49sec (1909 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 06 2021