Men Like Trees | Robert Madu | LWCC

if you're not standing stan please again this is an important moment we take when we have a guest minister and it's honoring esteeming the gift of god in a man that the lord has sent us and it's hugely important because a lot of people you know you hear them say well i don't i don't really like that preacher i've had this said about me occasionally once every thousand years or so somebody will say i don't like pastor max preaching i just don't like the way he comes across whatever we can do that about any minister because in the natural they're always going to be things that we might not really like or identify with about another person but god says if you want his gift that he's deposited in that man to be a conduit for the anointing that impacts and changes your life you have to esteem that gift you need to esteem and honor that gift so that's why we take a moment to do this i mean we have a very special in the natural as well as spiritual gift of god with us today in the person of robert madue and so i want us to be grateful for the time the effort the energy the prayer that he's invested and that the lord has you know taken to send him to us esteem the gift and you'll be changed eternally by robert has crisscrossed the globe for 20 years almost 20 years preaching the gospel that's where many of you probably have already heard his name uh i know many of you have but now he's got a fresh vision and an undeniable passion for the city of dallas texas he has stepped into the role of senior pastor in a church there that is named social dallas and so we are really blessed to have him up here with us on a sunday after having started this new work he is husband to taylor madue and a father of three beautiful children would you please give robert a warm welcome to our pulpit wow come on can we give jesus a big handclap of praise today come on living word you can do better than that let's lift up the name that's above every name come on this is the day that the lord has made let's rejoice and be glad in it are you glad to be in god's house amen you may be seated in the presence of the lord don't get comfortable you might be back up again come on it is an absolute honor uh to be here in fact i am red bull excited and espresso elated uh to have finally made it to minnesota here at living word church how many know you're a part of a phenomenal church come on i hope you know that you have to know that because i left the great country of texas uh in the city of dallas on father's day left uh our baby church that we just launched on easter sunday uh to be with you but it is incredible just to see what god has done here in this church and i'm glad to be here i want to do this i know pastor mack did it earlier but it is father's day it's father's day and let's be honest sometimes men are tolerated and not celebrated okay so i'm gonna ask all the men all the men not just the fathers every man because how many know you do not have to be a by a lot have biological children to be a father you can be a mentor you can father even if you don't have biological children so i'm gonna ask every man to stand if you're a man and you know it would you stand up on your feet come on can we thank god for all these mighty warriors mighty men of god come on y'all can do better than that i salute and celebrate you amen just incredible to see all the mighty men of god today and i'm gonna talk to you i'm gonna let everybody else eavesdrop on the message that i have but i know it's gonna be a blessing to you and i particularly want to thank god for your pastor the father of this house for pastor mack who has been faithfully for 40 years preaching the gospel and not just you but to your incredible wife lynn i love love love who you are they're not just great leaders they're great people and it's evident if you just spend five minutes with them you see their heart and how you live is the greatest sermon anybody will ever preach i'm in a season of life i'm not impressed with your intensity i'm impressed with your consistency people that just keep showing up and keep doing it are faithful and you're blessed to have pastors who've been faithful and consistent come on one more time help me thank god for them thank you for the trust to preach in this pulpit today and i'm gonna preach it like i feel it it's gonna be good good good if y'all feel like hearing it like i feel like preaching it i know it's gonna be good uh i'm gonna go to mark chapter eight today mark chapter eight and i'm gonna look at verses 22 through 26 the gospel according to mark chapter 8. we'll start at verse 22 and we'll land at verse 26 while you're turning your bible on or actually turning into your bible how you got a real paper bible in here with you come on just need to see where the real christians are hey man i'm playing i'm playing i'm playing how many you actually you've never heard me preach before can i see your hand you've never heard me preach before oh lord that's almost everybody okay a quick disclaimer quick disclaimer as pastor mack mentioned there's just different preachers and different preaching styles and there are some preachers who are very calm and very quiet very stoic and sedate as they stand behind the pulpit or circular table to softly pontificate the processes of philosophy eschatology and zoterology and they would consider it uncanny and boisterous for you to say anything while they're sharing what the lord has deposited in the deep recesses of their heart soul mind and spirit uh i ain't one of those preachers okay just letting you know right now all right i am what you call a hollaback preacher okay all that means all that means is for the next six and a half hours uh that we have together if anything i'm saying you're feeling or it's resonating with you you could say amen you could say preach that you could say that was good you could say whoo that was for me you could say oh that was for you any one of those work uh i just think a quiet church is a dead church and how many know you're not dead you are alive on this father's day so let's go on to the word mark chapter 8 we'll start at verse 22 and we'll end at verse 26 and it says then he came to bethsaida that he is jesus and they brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him and so he being jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the town and when he had spit on his eyes unsanitary jesus and put his hands on him he asked him if he saw anything he looked up and said i see men like trees walking then he put his hands on his eyes again and made him look up and he was restored and saw everyone clearly then he sent him away to his house saying neither go into the town nor tell anyone in the town can you say amen so much in this passage that intrigues me especially that spitting jesus but particularly i want to look at the first words that come out of the mouth of this blind man he said i see men like trees walking i see men like trees walking i want to appreciate today using this as a title men like trees men like trees that's my message this father's day i think we need more men like trees i think our nation needs men like trees i think our families need men like trees i think the next generation needs men like trees would you look at somebody next to you whichever one you like the best and just look at them right in their face and say neighbor oh some of y'all don't want to talk to your neighbor come on this is a friendly church you can talk to your neighbor i promise just look at your neighbors say neighbor we need men like trees not like shrubs not like flowers not like weeds men like trees come on let's pray father thank you father thank you god thank you that you're our father your faithful father that you're a loving father your father that shows up that you're a father that'll never let us down thank you that we can come to you and cry out abba father god i ask that you would have your way in this place today lord i pray that you will let every word every phrase every syllable that comes out of my mouth let us speak to the hearts of your people when we leave church today let us not say we were entertained but god let us say we were drastically changed by the power of your word in jesus name everybody said come on everybody said hey man first of all it's an incredible honor to have my father here with me in service my dad is right here on the front row my father robert meduse senior the man after which myself and my only son my man child is named he is undoubtedly unashamedly and authentically africa was born in orwe nigeria in 1957 but in 1979 he pulled an eddie murphy and came to america he met my mom on the collegiate campus of texas a m and from what i'm told their first encounter was at a library upon which my father encroached my mom and said excuse me are you from nigeria are you united to which my mom said no i'm american but they kept talking and then came love then came marriage then came me in the baby carriage and i have to tell you today that when your father is african and your mother is american it's very clear which box you check on the paper i am african american growing up in the household somebody just got god growing up in a household with a nigerian father is just different it's different growing up as a nigerian kid i mean i'm telling you it's just different you are inundated not even in your childhood even your adulthood with these these statements these pithy african proverbs that you won't find in your bible but they'll just hit you out of nowhere he'll just come with it like as a kid you're in your room playing playstation and he'll just bust in and say things like have you done your homeworks yet like no i'll do it tomorrow let me tell you something tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today these are the statements that i grew up with not just in my childhood even in my daughter my daughter checking my savings account and my investments and will look at the number that's in there and go oh my goodness that is all that you have in your savings account let me tell you something if you take care of your pennies your dollars will take care of themselves these are the statements that i grew up with and and today i thought as a father's day gift i would unlock the rich heritage of my african father my nigerian father and give you an african proverb that really is going to set the trajectory of this message today because there's an african proverb that says that until the lion learns how to write every story will glorify the hunter until the lion learns how to write every story will glorify the hunter that proverb is packed with so much pertinent truth but i love it because within that proverb with clarity and brevity is actually letting you know the human tendency to edit our stories in such a way where we highlight our strengths but we hide our weaknesses have you noticed this about us people are real loud about their victories but they're quiet about their vulnerabilities oh especially men oh come on this is in our dna we love to talk about our strengths we do not like to talk about our weaknesses we want you to know that we are superman we want you to talk about the s on our chest we want you to see our cave we want you to know that we can jump a building in a single bound but we don't want to have conversations about our kryptonite oh yeah don't talk to us about our weaknesses we can't stand hearing about our kryptonite and our clark kentness we want you to know that we're superman and let me just parenthetically pause right here and help some of the ladies your man will never become the superman god is called him to be if you keep bringing up his crypt tonight no man wants to keep hearing about his weaknesses and you never do this and you never do that he'll never be the superman god's called him to be if you keep bringing up his kryptonite we know our kryptonite don't talk to me about my clark kentness tell me who i am in christ tell me who i can become tell me that i can do all things through christ who strengthens you if you will speak life to your man and tell him how you see him not what you see i promise you you'll see a change i'm telling you he will find a phone booth and he'll transform right before you oh but you're not gonna see it if you keep bringing up the tonight brothers y'all not gonna say amen and help me out if i didn't do nothing else i just gave you that right there oh we're loud about our victories we're quiet about our vulnerabilities until the lion learns how to write every story will glorify the hunter i love that proverb you can get the imagery of the proverb it's as if you see a man coming in from the wild of the jungle into the village with the carcass of the lion on his back and he throws the lion in the middle of the village and all of the villagers come and they see as he tells the story of his bravery and his valor and how he ripped the lion apart and tackled it down and everybody stands in amazement but the reality is since it was only the man and the lion in the jungle how do we know you telling the truth how do we know you didn't just stumble upon the dead body of a lion and all you did was pick it up and bring it into the village in fact the only way to find out if the man is telling the truth or if he's lying is to ask the lie oh we love to talk about our victories we don't want anybody to know our vulnerabilities but hear me man hear me today your victories are not just in your valor your victory is also in your vulnerability your ability to show your weakness your ability to say this is where i believe this is where i heard your victory is often found in your vulnerability i once heard a pastor said that we lead with our strengths but we connect through our vulnerabilities to our weaknesses no wonder no wonder men have a hard time connecting it's because we're too busy saying i got it i'm good we hate vulnerability and don't get mad at us you taught us when we were kids suck it up big boys don't cry that's what we did we sucked it up we've been sucking it up for years sucking it up no big boys don't cry yep suck and then you get married to a woman who looks at you and says you never communicate like you never tell me how you feel and we're like how i've been sucking it up for 17 years you don't want anybody to see our vulnerability but i'm telling your victory is in your ability to be vulnerable this is what i love about jesus he is our model for manhood how many know your god was powerful but he was vulnerable he's the model for manhood jesus was powerful don't get it twisted he was powerful who else but god could be asleep in the middle of a hurricane wake up from the storm because his disciples were scared go to the edge of the ship and just say peace be still and a hurricane gets slain in the spirit he was that powerful that he could sleep in a storm and had to be woken up to calm it but that same savior was in a garden of gethsemane one day and he was facing the cross and now he's running to the same disciples that woke him up and said would you please wake up and pray for me because i'm going through a storm on the inside this god was powerful but he was also vulnerable who else but god could go into a graveyard and preach a three-point sermon and say lazarus come forth and call a dead man out of the grave it was powerful but he was also vulnerable because he wept with the family before he raised a man from death to life man i'm telling you your victory is in your ability to be vulnerable i love this text in mark chapter 8 because this text when it tells you there is a blind man is telling you there's a man who is vulnerable there is nothing like blindness that makes you vulnerable having no vision the byproduct of no vision is vulnerability i'm you have not seen vulnerability until you've seen a person that's blind you don't believe me let's do an exercise close your eyes can you close your eyes everybody here close your eyes close your eyes you know i can see you close your eyes for a moment close them i want you to imagine trying to get back to your car after this service when that's all you can see how far would you get you wouldn't get out of this room you wouldn't even get out of your seat you can open your eyes if that's all you could see there's no way you would take a step the byproduct of blindness is vulnerability is that you have to always be led by somebody this is how this man his life was he had to be guided when you're blind when you have no vision you are susceptible to the voices around you if you're blind and somebody tells you your hair is blue it could be blonde but you have to believe that it's blue because i have to rely on the voices around me when i have no vision this is the danger of a man or a person with no vision when you have no god-given vision you will live your life believing the lies that other people told you telling you that you're stupid telling you that you'll never be anything some of us right now even in our adulthood are still dealing with the pain and the trauma of people telling us stuff when we were a child that we're still trying to fight somebody telling you're stupid you'll never be anything and here you are an adult and you are so smart you got more degrees than a thermometer but every single day you're trying to fight the voices of your past when you had no vision for who you really were those voices that tried to put an imprint on your life and tell you who you were oh it is so vulnerable to have no vision to have to be led anywhere this was this man's life until one day the bible says some people i don't know their names but they are heroes in this text because some people come upon this blind man and say hey you better get ready guess who's in town jesus is in town oh yes i saw it on google maps he is in town right now and i'm telling you i got a feeling that if you get in the presence of this jesus he is going to change your life i heard he's got a reputation for healing the sick and giving sight to the blind and casting out demons come on you better get up i'll tell you where to go i know you can't see but we know how to see so we'll guide you we'll lead you can you see this blind man walking step by step by some people who are leading him into the presence of this savior who was gonna change his life forever see to me this is where the miracle began the miracle did not start when he met jesus the miracle started when he said i'm gonna trust you to lead me to a savior that i can't even see but i heard by faith i feel like preaching this service i heard by faith that he's able to do something so since i'm gonna take a step by faith knowing that if he can do it i'll trust you to lead me to him this is where the miracle started the miracle didn't start when he met jesus the miracle started when he said i'm gonna let these strangers lead me into his presence the miracle didn't start when he opened up his eyes he couldn't even find jesus the miracle started when he decided to be led by those people that is a picture of us how many know that you didn't even know to know you needed jesus blind people can't find jesus oh see when this man got his sight it would have been ridiculous for him to say yeah i found jesus one day what you mean you found jesus blind people can't find anything and that's why some of you need to change your testimony because you've been telling people yeah i found jesus one day in the service no no no no jesus was never lost you didn't find him he found you he was seeking you when you weren't even thinking about him his grace oh my goodness when you were in the club and you knew there's got to be more to life than this his grace was working on your heart he was drawing you to himself that's where the miracle started the miracle started before he even met him the miracle started when he said i'm gonna trust him to lead me into his presence i wish the bible would have given us the names of the people that led them they are heroes in the text because they knew it is not my responsibility to heal this blonde man it's just my responsibility to get him in the presence of the one that can they knew that the healing is on jesus the bringing is on us i wish the church would get this today that the healing is on jesus but the bringing is on you can i speak to some fathers in here don't you let the mama in the house be the one waking up every sunday time now come on we're going to church no no no you can make a decision that this father's day as for me and my house we are going to serve the lord you ought to be the one as the man as the tree to say come on kids get up dad you never made us get up before oh it's a new father's day we are going today we're going to the house of the lord this is what we do it's not your job to do the healing but it is your job to get them in the atmosphere where the healing can take place oh i know what i'm talking about i live this you see that man sitting on that front row that nigerian father we didn't have a choice growing up there was no votes it was no democracy it was a dictatorship every day the doors were open we had to be in there i'm telling you he just put us in the atmosphere i remember one sunday i got a little brave i said i ain't going today said that to him i'll never forget what he said he said let me tell you something you have two options huh you can get out of that bed and go to church or i can kill you and we will go to church and have your funeral but either way you will be in church because as for me and this house we will serve the lord that's a true story that's not a joke look at these friends these friends knew their responsibility was just to bring him to the presence of jesus he'll do the healing we'll do the bringing i even like god's word is so good i even like what they said when they brought them they go touch them that's what he did they dropped him off his head here he is he's blind touch him that is clear brand identity right there they didn't say heal him they said touch them they knew that one touch from god can change your life forever that just one touch all it takes is one touch they didn't say heal them they just said touch them and i can see the man go on here it goes he's about to touch my eyes and i'm about to get healed but he doesn't touch his eyes the first thing jesus touches is not his eyes it's his hand that's the first touch of jesus is to take his hand in that just like jesus i found that jesus sometimes will touch areas in your life that you think have nothing to do with other areas and many of us are like the blind man standing there like going here we go and all of a sudden you feel them touch your hand you're like what my hand is good it's the eyes are the problem and that's your problem is you don't know your problem our problem is we don't know our problem but jesus would generally touch another area of your life that you don't think needs to be touched but it's actually connected to another area see some of you think the addiction the addiction the alcoholism the women whatever it is that you keep running to men or whoever it is that you keep running to you think that's the problem that is the fruit of the problem the root of the problem is the pain in your soul from never having maybe an earthly father tell you who you were so you keep trying to find it in the bed of this woman and that woman and in the bottom of this bottle and that bottle and the thing that you're wanting will never be found in that bed or that bottle it'll only be found in a savior that looked over his son and said this is my beloved son at home i'm well pleased and once you have that approval from your father you'll stop reaching for it in other places because he'll touch one area and the addiction is not the problem it's what's at the root he takes him by the hand and he says okay follow me i love it because this is what faith looks like the embryonic stages of faith always looks like you forsaking what is familiar and the voices and the people that brought you to now saying i'm gonna take your hand jesus and i'm gonna follow you wherever you lead me can you see him following jesus this is what faith looks like it's saying i don't know which way to go i don't know the step but i'm trusting that god you know the next step come on the steps of a good man are ordered by the lord he said he'll order your steps it doesn't mean you can see the steps it just means you got to hold his hand and trust him for where the step is and he follows him and jesus takes him out of the town out of the village i'm going to deal with your eyes in a minute but the first thing i got to do is get you out of this town you've got to get out of this village that's what he did he said let's get out of the village takes him all the way out of the village that's the first thing jesus does is gets him out of the village your eyes are coming but first things first let's get out of this village why do we have to get out of the village oh it's very simple because your village affects your vision for my notetakers that's point one your village affects your vision your environment affects your eyes and jesus is teaching us a principle that what good is it for me to give you new eyes and for you to stay in a negative environment what good is it for me to touch your sight if you still have the same surroundings your village matters i want to ask you right now in this season to do an analyzation of your village who are the people around you are they people that are building you up men of god do you have anybody that's sharpening you the bible says iron sharpens iron not iron and wood iron sharpens iron do you have another man of god that's pushing you into your purpose who is your village because your village will affect your vision some of you right now god does awesome things in your life he speaks to you you have an incredible pastor that preaches the word of god and you're blessed on sunday and you're fired up but then you go back to your job all monday and there's your village that cubicle those negative people who seek to squander what god is doing in your life you ever met just negative people you ever met those people like like that they light up a room when they walk out [Applause] just always gonna find something negative to say some of you gotta get away from that village because you will take on that negativity you will take on that doubt it'll get into your heart it'll affect your vision jesus knew he said i'm about to give you new eyes you're going to see a sunset for the first time and you don't need it the worst thing to do is to be looking at a magnificent sunlight in the myriad of colors within the sunset and to be an awe at the sunset and be sitting next to somebody going yeah i've seen it before negative environments negative village we got to get out of the village it made me wonder what was this village oh the bible tells us bethsaida that was the village that jesus said we got to get out of bethsaida and i know things are opening back up thank god people are traveling and if your travel agent is booking you a trip don't go to bethsaida no i'm begging you go somewhere else go to the bahamas go to aruba go to branson missouri do not go to bethsaida i'm just telling you because jesus couldn't stand bethsaida i didn't know that jesus had cities and towns he didn't like you don't believe me matthew 11 matthew 11 watch jesus had towns he didn't like it says did he begin to rebuke the cities not people the cities which most of his mighty works had been done because they did not repent it says woe to you this is jesus talking when jesus starts saying whoa you had to pay attention woe to you corson woe to you beth sata for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done entire and sidon they would have repented long ago in south cloth and ashes jesus why do you say woe to bethsaida he says because that's the city that i did mighty works that i did miracles and they still refuse to believe he says i cannot do the miraculous in an environment and a village of unbelief he said i cannot change somebody who is committed to unbelief i've got to get you out of this village because unbelief will be the barrier to the breakthrough that you've been believing god for he said i can't work with unbelief let me flip it and help some of you some of you right now are trying to prove who you are to some people who are committed to unbelief there are some people who are never going to believe you've changed there are some people who are never going to celebrate you and you are wasting time and emotional energy trying to get somebody to celebrate you that never will you need to learn to tell people god bless you goodbye i'm not going to spend hours and day trying to convince you to believe something that you are committed to not believing if jesus couldn't do it come on you may as well chillax you know you can't do it he said i gotta get you out of that village because the village will always affect your vision and once it got him out of that village now here comes the moment that he had to be waiting for he's like oh okay i can tell we're in a different environment it's just me and you this is gonna be good i'm sure worship music started playing in the background and right as he's wedding ready for the king of kings and the lord of lords to touch his eyes he hears a noise over the worship music he hears a ah i guess what that's odd that's not in that part of this one and jesus proceeds to spit in this man's i'm assuming twice two hours spits in this man's uh come on you felt it when we read it why is jesus spitting on people oh some of y'all are super safe can we just be honest and just agree that is nasty jesus why are you spitting on people oh my goodness this is what's hard as a preacher we have to preach this stuff why is jesus spit what does that have to do with this healing jesus can you have done something else come on can you imagine being in service and pastor mac saying well i'm trying to be like jesus you need a breakthrough come here come here i'm gonna pray for ah pastor matt go back on vacation you need some more time what why is he spitting on people and those who have been to sunday school have read your bible you would know this is not the first time jesus has spit on somebody oh it's not turns out jesus is a serial spitter oh yes read your bible mark chapter seven mark chapter seven there is a dude who is death and almost in the same way jesus leads the death man out of the city and then proceeds to spit on his finger and put it in the man's ear it gets worse in john chapter eight or nine i believe there's a man who's been born blind and jesus spits in mud and takes the spit and the mud and starts caking it in his eye breaking all kinds of covet 19 rules just all in his eyes and then does the most gangsta move ever he says go wash it off and see what happens i got some stuff i got to do you go ahead why is he speaking on people is he sick is he mean is it rude is it lack of care or could it be compassion could it be that spitting in that man's eyes was an act of love and an act of compassion you have to understand when you read your bible you must read your bible understanding the context and the culture that your bible was written in and in that time period they believed that spit had medicinal value they believed that there was healing power in spit so when jesus was spitting in this man's eyes he wasn't trying to be rude he wasn't trying to be gross he was actually being kind he was actually saying i'm willing to meet you at your starting place of truth you think that healing is in spit it's not it's in me but since you think that the healing is in the spit i'm willing to meet you where you are i'm willing to meet you at your starting you think the healing's in the spit it's not it's in me but i'm willing to meet you at your starting place since you trusted me to leave that village of unbelief and you're out here i'm gonna meet you where you are i'm telling you somebody you need to understand that if you'll take a stab god will take a step to you you just gotta start he draws close to people who draw close to him oh who am i preaching to today i've seen so many men get defeated because they think i can't be the man of god god's called me to be because you think in 24 hours you got to have the whole bible memorized and got to start speaking christianese and when somebody says how are you you can't even say i'm good you gotta say well i'm blessed and highly favored of the lord yes i am no just start just start you gotta pray six hours a day pray six minutes pray six seconds just start you ain't gonna start reading leviticus and you just gotta say just start start with the proverbs it's 31 chapters read a proverb a day just start and god's willing to meet you right where you start thank god for the spirit oh the spit said i'll meet you at the place where you start he spits in the man's eyes and then he touches the man's eyes and this is where the miracle gets crazy because you would think after having the spit in your eyes and after getting the touch that the natural progression would be hallelujah i can see i mean come on this is the part of the miracle where the man's supposed to start praising and saying thank you jesus but that's not what happened jesus spit touched the man's eyes and the touch did not produce the healing oh no wonder mark is the only person that records this miracle matthew doesn't talk about it luke doesn't talk about it john doesn't talk about it leave it to mark look crazy mark the guy who skips christmas and went straight to full grown jesus leave it to him leave it to him to talk about the miracle where jesus had to do two touches you know most of the miracles it was one touch oh one touch from jesus you shouted about it earlier one touch from jesus will change your life come on all throughout the bible we see instances where he touched people's lives and one touch changed him one time he didn't even touch somebody a centurion said my servant is sick at the house but i'm not worthy for you to come to the house just speak the word and jesus does the first wifi miracle he just speaks the word and somebody got healing without even being in the same proximity of jesus come on you know the word there was a woman who he didn't touch he was just on his way somewhere else but she pressed her way through the crowd and she touched the hem of his garment and his clothes produce him he can heal any kind of way he wants all it takes is one touch please don't get it twisted if he touches your eyes you need to already have your netflix account ready you bout to see if he touches your ears get you some headphones you about to hear if he touches your legs you need to know what dance you gonna do before he touches your leg because if he touches those legs you gon get up and dance oh our god can do anything so obviously it's not a lack of power since he's touching them twice in this miracle but that first touch and asking the question that he asked after the touch look at what he asked can you see anything you know when jesus asks a question you got to pay attention because he knows everything question's never for him it's always for you he touched him and then said can you see anything because he wanted to see if that man would be honest about his current condition hear me men hear me god does not need your perfection matter of fact you can't be perfect he was but he does need your honesty he has to have honesty if you are honest about your condition and where you are god will run to you he just can't deal with you pretending like you're good when you're not but if you'll be honest he will meet you a broken and a contrite spirit he will not deny he wants your honesty and he touched the man and didn't heal him fully on purpose to see if he would be honest enough to say jesus mr jesus i appreciate the touch and the spirit but it's not clear it's blurry he wanted to see if he would be honest about his blurry condition one of the hardest things for believers to do hear me i've been in church my whole life is to be honest about blurry because we always feel like we got the clear picture that we never want to be honest enough to say i don't know that's what i loved about this whole season i mean not people losing their lives but the pandemic it was beautiful to see experts go uh uh yeah i don't know they changing every week press conference yeah i'll wear masks yeah wear masks no take them off take them off now now put it put them back on put it back on now it's airborne don't go in the air don't know that ashley's on surfaces just tell me you don't know just tell me you don't know wouldn't that be refreshing hey i'm sorry i know i'm a part of the cdc but it's blurry i don't know but pride pride will make you not admit i can't see clearly why can't people admit when it's blurry i'm telling you you serve a god that will take you from blind to blurry i appreciate the hallelujah but people don't like it we don't we like songs amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved the rest like me i once was lost but now i'm found was blind but now [Music] [Applause] we don't like that song we want to see immediately we hate uncertainty but this text is powerful because it teaches you god will take you from blind to blurry and the blurry is not a burden the blurry is a blessing because there's something about it being blurry that makes you seek him more there's something about it being blurry that makes you say god you got to give me a word from you i don't know whether i'm supposed to stay in this job or whether i'm supposed to start the business god i don't know if i'm supposed to marry them or not yeah he looks good but i'm looking at his credit score and it's looking real blurry god i need clarity god i know she's fine but i'm seeing some character issues and i need to know if she's it's blurry blurry makes you see god for clarity have you ever downloaded something on your computer and seen it take forever to download and if it's taking so long you go you get all up in your computer screen trying is it still moving have you ever done it you ever leaned in close to see if it was still downloading and moving if the little blue circle or whatever dot was still moving you lean in close when it's blurry that's what god wants god wants you to lean in don't give up when it looks blurry don't give up because the first touch didn't work i wonder if god wants to see if you have the tenacity and the relentless faith it says i don't have the full picture but i'll seek you until i get it i don't have clarity yet jesus oh i feel your presence god i don't have clarity yet jesus but i'm gonna seek you till i get the clarity i don't know who this is for today but somebody walked away because it was blurry and god's calling you back to say if you're not honest about it being blurry you might not get the second touch thank god he had the honesty to say it's not clear it's blurry and then look at what he says he says i see men it's better than it was before i see men then he says something very strange they look like trees i see men and they look like trees walking that's an odd thing for a blind man to say how can you just have received your sight and have the nerve to say i see men and they look they look they look like i'll talk about the trees in a minute but it's the like that i didn't like how can men look like in order to say like it means you have to have seen something before somebody got it you have to have seen something before if i say you look like luther vandross i better have seen luther vandross to make the comparison how can this man say they look like trees it's because this was not a miracle of a man receiving his sight for the first time this is a miracle of a man who saw before and went blind but jesus was bringing restoration to his sight this man saw before this is not a man who was born blind this is a man that at some point in his life i don't know when he could see but he lost his sight he had to how else can you say man look like you had to have seen trees before i don't know when he lost his sight just like i don't know when you sir lost your faith i don't know when you lost your hope but this man lost his sight and for whatever reason he remembered what trees looked like of all things that's the only way he could say they look like trees that means jesus was not allowing him to receive his sight he was restoring his sight because your god is a god of restoration can i prophesy over somebody right now this is your year of restoration i don't care what you lost in 2020 i'm telling you don't you let the enemy make you think that god can't restore it come on somebody he'll restore your marriage he'll restore your family he'll restore your finances he'll restore your children he'll restore the years he'll restore the years that the kangaroo and the locust ate up we serve a god who is able to restore somebody needs to give us some praise today like you know he is a god of restoration there is nothing our god can't restore this is what he does he brings restoration to families to marriages to churches to businesses he will restore don't you lose hope don't you make the enemy think that it's too broken for god to restore this is what our god does he brings restoration he restored but the restoration didn't come until he was honest about it being blurry and once he was honest he got the second touch and when he got that second touch he said oh i can see clearly now i believe today is somebody's second touch god is gonna bring you clarity over a situation that's been blurry if you won't walk away he will give you the clarity gave him clarity and then told them to go home he says go home and don't go back in that village go home and don't go back in that village which means that village wasn't even his home he had a home go to your home go home and do what i think he wanted to go home and be a tree [Music] of all the things that he could have compared the men to in his blurry state he said i see men like trees oh thank god he didn't say i see men like elephants i see men like park benches no he said i see men like trees because that's what i see in this room i see men like trees i see men in their homes planted i see men in their homes grounded i see men in their homes like trees whose roots go deep into the ground who don't give up i see man that when wind and challenges and adversity come you might bend but you will not break i'm telling you what i see i see men like trees i see men who are not perfect but they're growing every single year in the knowledge and the wisdom of god i see men like trees i see men who have branches that reach out that will touch future generations that have leaves that will bring shade and covering i see men like trees this father's day i prophesy over living word that you will have men like trees men grounded man planted in the house of god men who will be shade and covering and protection oh somebody by faith get up on your feet and give us some praise if you believe it god give us men like trees men like trees blessed is the man that walketh not in the castle of the ungodly nor stands in the path of sinners nor sits in the seat of the scornful but his delight is in the law of the lord in that law does he meditate both day and night he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of living water whose leaf does not wither who brings forth fruit in due season oh we need men like trees [Music] don't you dare give up i prophesy and speak against the spirit of suicide sir don't you dare think about taking your life you might be bending but you will not break you are a tree you're a tree you're a tree and your influence goes wider than you realize are people who need your branches sir they need your branches they need you to show up they need you to be faithful they need you to be grounded they need you to have roots that go deep they need you not to be perfect he'll start with spit but to grow every year to allow him to cut and prune things in your life that need to be cut so you can grow more we need men like trees god give us men like trees that's what i'm praying for you for this father's day that you'll be a man that's a tree planted planted who i sense the presence of god that's just the prince of god i i need i want to ask every man oh can i do this i'm gonna ask every man can you just get out of your seat and just come here to this altar every every man every man every man even if you got to come down from the balcony if you're comfortable and you're fine i know there's all kinds of things i'm gonna ask every man come on look at these men like i see men like trees i see men like trees hallelujah hallelujah men like trees men like trees men like trees men like trees men like trees oh men like trees come on look at all these trees look at all these trees look at all these trees look at all these trees oh that's why the enemy's been trying to cut you down because you're a tree that's why he's trying to get you to give up because you're a tree look at all these trees look at all these trees young trees old trees trees that are on facebook trees that are on tick tock trees that got snapchat trees that got the text on your phone is about this large trees no matter your age you're still a tree don't ask those you're in your seats would you stretch your hands out towards these mighty men and men just lift up your hands like you know and a tree needs sunlight thank god for jesus who is our light and our salvation would you stretch out your hands and pray for all these mighty man father i thank you right now for every man whose hand is lifted god i impart strength into them today strength for the battle strength god i pray courage over every single one of these trees some of them are carrying such a weight such a weight and god i pray that they will know that their victory and their strength is in their submission to you god thank you god that you're giving them safe places to be vulnerable some of them have been sucking it in and holding emotions and holding past hurt and trauma things they've never told anybody god i pray right now for safe places for these men safe places to be able to share this is my kryptonite this is where i'm struggling god i pray right now that as their hands are lifted that you would open up a window of heaven just as you did god over your son that day in the jordan river and you spoke the word that he needed to hear that would carry him throughout his ministry this is my beloved son in whom i'm well pleased god i pray they would feel that approval right now right now right now right now they won't try to find it in a bottle they won't try to find it in a woman god right now they would sense thank you right now they would sense the approval from heaven their strength their security their identity would be found in you god god give us men again who won't give up give us men again not perfect but they're following you as an example and growing every year strength strength strength god i come against fear that would cause them to back down god i thank you you've not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind jesus speaking over every man this father's day in jesus name amen amen amen amen come on somebody give god the big shout of praise that you got oh come on you can do better than that give god some praise today come on give them some praise today men like trees men like truth men like truth do one more thing one more thing and then i'm done just i said every head be about every i close just in this moment even if you're already at this altar i want to be very specific and give anybody an opportunity today who's never taken that first step which is to say jesus my life is yours you might already be at this altar but if you're here today and you know you're not in a relationship with jesus i need you to know something about your heavenly father he's not in heaven with a hammer waiting to beat you upside the head and condemn you one of the worst things you can do is project the image or the character of an earthly father who failed onto your heavenly father he is not like that if you want to see what your father looks like and how he acts towards his sons you need to go to the gospel of luke and see a boy who wasted his father's inheritance went out and spent it all with prostitutes he was in the pig pen of life the lowest of the low finally realized he got himself in that situation and decided to come home and said i'm not even worthy to be called his son anymore he had a whole speech prepared he said i'm going to get myself together and i'll be a servant and as he's run into the house the dad doesn't even let him say the speech he takes off running towards that son runs towards him doesn't wait for him to clean up puts a robe over him and covers him which unless you know you don't clean yourself up to come to jesus you come to him just as you are through a party for a boy who wasted his inheritance who throws a party for a boy who wasted his father's inheritance your father does your savior does that's his character he's been waiting for you to come home my head's about eyes closed today i don't care if it's just one person if you've never surrendered your life to jesus i'm talking to men i'm talking to women i'm talking to anybody this is your day would you just lift up your hand as a sign and say lord i'm giving you my life today it's about all's of clothes but those you who say today's my day i'm coming home yeah to my father i see those hands thank you jesus thank you god thank you got anybody else thank you jesus hallelujah come on let's pray this prayer is one big family but especially those of you who responded would you say this say dear jesus thank you that i have a father in you lord i know i cannot do life without you i don't know where to go i'm blind by sin i'm vulnerable and i need you come into my life forgive me of my sin make me brand new from this moment forward all that i am is yours i trust you for each step i'll let you god i'll let you lead me i will be a tree in jesus name amen amen amen come on give god one more handcuff of praise were you blessed by the word of god today were you blessed by the word today i'm gonna turn it over to pastor mack but i want to do one more thing paul i met him right when i walked in this young man drove an hour and 30 minutes to come to surface today and uh paul wants you to know that god sees your heart god sees your passionate pursuit of him for you to be a young man and say i'm gonna drive an hour and a half it shows your heart for god it shows your commitment and you do have an anointing like a paul you have an anointing that is gonna spread out farther than you even realize god's given you influence he's giving you favor i'm telling you don't ever try to fit in with anybody because god's called you to stand out and it is your consecration and the things that he speaks to you in a secret place that is going to revolutionize and transform your generation so i speak life over you i pray lord the gift of an evangelist over him today god i pray that thousands lord ah millions god would come into the kingdom because of paul's dedication to you god i pray protection over him god lord i pray any plan of the enemy god would be canceled right now he will step into the fullness of his purpose and his destiny thank you for the lies that will be changed not even only in his generation but in generations to come for a mighty young man of god whose heart is submitted to you in jesus name i pray amen amen amen amen come on give god one more hand clapping praise that's me love you hallelujah you guys got blessed then you need to let the lord know and let let robert know amen

Channel: Living Word Christian Center

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Rating: 4.9810429 out of 5

Keywords: LWCC, living word, living word christian center, living word church, robert madu, Men Like trees, men like trees robert madu, robert madu ministries, sermons, robert madu sermons, pastor robert madu, lwcc robert madu, robert madu 2021, mac hammond, robert madu testimony, pastor robert madu 2021, robert madu elevation church, robert madu social dallas, robert madu they are us, elevation church robert madu, robert madu sermons 2019, men like trees, church service

Id: W_V5I1wXb2Y

Length: 62min 52sec (3772 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 21 2021