Michael W. Smith Shares About The Father-Heart Of God At Saddleback Church

hello Saddleback are you enjoying your summer good I want to say hi to all of our 18 campuses I love you this last week I was in Mexico all week and it was sad for me to watch the news about our nation from outside our nation as I heard about the deaths and all of the violence with the white supremacist and the neo-nazis and the skinheads and all that racial bias and bigotry that was going on in Charlottesville and and then all excuses that were being made for it and I I just want to know as your pastor I felt very powerful emotions I felt angry I felt sad for for our country I felt defensive for a lot of my friends who are not white and I felt disgusted by a lot of what I saw you know anytime there's a crisis like this in our nation I feel it's important for me as your pastor for us to just go back and do a couple things to review first what do we believe about what we're seeing what's going on in the world and what are we going to do about it and so I want to just just take a second here this morning to just kind of help process what we all saw this last week now pastor Tom and I have preached against the sin of racism countless times I mean I've done it as recently in the last 11 months I did a message called Amazing Grace for every race about the sin of bigotry and Prejudice and racism if you missed that sermon I'd be glad to send it to you just write on your card mp3 or sermon on race I'll send you a free copy of that message because I want you to know what we believe about this the truth is folks there's only one race it's called the human race okay it's the human race I mean we all came from the same Adam and Eve so you're my brother from another mother but you're my brother and and because of this we have some very fundamental beliefs here at Saddleback Church and because we have new people joining us all the time I think it's important for us to go back and review why we do what this church was designed to fight racism let me explain it to you in a very practical way let me start with a scripture Philippians chapter 2 if you're going to call yourself a Christian then you need to have the attitude of Jesus Christ and what was the attitude of Jesus Christ let me read it to you it says this Philippians chapter 2 verse 3 down to verse 11 never do anything out of self-centered pride or vain conceit but instead in humility you should treat everyone else better than yourself that's what it means to be a Christian not that you're better than somebody else but that you're going to treat them better than yourself that's what it means to follow Jesus it says never do anything out of self-centered pride or vain conceit that that word vain conceit in the Greek is the word kenneled axia and it literally means being proudful or boastful about your origin I'm Irish I'm Mexican I'm American I'm Italian what are you bragging about you had nothing to do with that so how in the world could you be proud about your ancestry when you didn't have zip to do with it there's no God chose who your parents were God chose your nationality your race when you were born where you were born God chose the color of your skin God made you have you figured this out God likes diversity if you figured this out that God likes variety he could have made us all look exactly the same like robots that would be incredibly boring and how would you know who your wife is and so God even identical twins are different in thousands of different ways there's nobody like you in the world now it says here never do anything out of self-centered pride or being conceited out of boasting over your your heritage your background your race or anything else but instead in humility you should treat everybody else better than yourselves let each of you each of you should never protect just your own self-interest but you should also look to protect the interests of others that's what Christians do genuine price followers your attitude should always be the same as that of Christ Jesus what was the attitude of Christ Jesus humility let me read it even though he was equal to God in nature he did not demand and cling to his rights as God instead he Jesus humbly made himself nothing taking the very nature of a servant and becoming human he humbled himself in love and became obedient to death even death on a cross open expression of your value is that Jesus Christ died for you in the ultimate expression or everybody else's values that Jesus Christ died for them too you're not better than anybody else and nobody else is any better than you we're all in God's creation he died even on a cross therefore God has exalted him to the highest place Jesus and gave him the name that's above every other name that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father now what that passage is saying is this the way up is down the more you build yourself up the more you boast about your background the more prideful and vain conceit you have about your color your race your background your nationality the more you do that the more God is going to bring your low on the other hand the more you treat other people with respect and dignity and the more you treat them better than yourself God is going to raise you up in the ultimate example that is Jesus Christ as I said we have a lot of new people coming to Saddleback all the time so I think it's important that I explain to you what we believe about this issue then and and what we're going to do about the first place there's always been prejudice in the world there's always have been bigotry in the world the problem is today the bigots are bolder people used to be ashamed of their bigotry that's why the Ku Klux Klan wore capes over their head they were ashamed of what they didn't want to know who it was I was doing it today they're in the wide open skinheads neo-nazis and the Internet has made it okay to be hateful question is the world kinder now or ruder now than it was 10 years ago yeah there's no doubt about it the world is not getting more loving it's getting more divided more hateful and more bigoted more prejudiced more racism and as a result of that as the world culture it's darker and darker the light of Christ needs to shine brighter and brighter and the church has to stand up with unambiguous language and say we oppose racism we oppose bigotry we oppose hatred we oppose violence I I'm a pretty tolerant person the only thing I'm intolerant about is intolerance the point is we accept people in this church from every kind of background every kind of nation it doesn't matter what you've done how long you've done it who you've done it with what matters is the direction of your feet right now and and and and so what do we believe about this well the first thing we believe is that every person who's ever been created was made by God and every person was made for God and everyone was made in God's image let me say it again nobody's better than you in this world nobody's better than you but you're not better than anybody else either we're all in the same boat God has never made a person he doesn't love God has never made a person he doesn't have a purpose for God has never made a person that he doesn't expect you to treat with dignity in fact the Bible says very clearly you were to treat everyone with dignity even people you disagree with doesn't matter what the religion is what their lifestyle is you don't have to prove of everything somebody does but you do have to treat everybody with dignity and as a result of that because we're all made in God's image you know the US Constitution says that all men are created equal that's good I'm glad that's in the Constitution but we have a higher authority it's called God's Word and from the very first chapter where he says let us make man in our image in the first three chapters of Genesis God made it really clear that you are not to treat anybody else with less dignity and the fact is God loves variety if you don't believe that look down your road nobody is made at all like you now as a result of that racism is sin it's not just okay it's not like a pattern it's not like a preference racism is saying racism is not a skin issue it's a sin issue racism is wrong it is always wrong it is never right bigotry prejudice is wrong and and so we we oppose these things on intentionally because it's a it's a sin problem racism is actually a form of idolatry it's saying I know better than God it's setting up an idol my kind of people are better than your kind of people that's called idolatry and and God hates it and so if you think racism is okay you're not going to like this church because this church was planned to prove to the world that all people matter to God all right that's what it matters and if you think it's okay or funny to make jokes about another group you need to give that serious consideration in fact you need to repent if you think it's okay to make fun of say Jewish people I want to remind you that our savior is Jewish God chose to use the Jews to bring the Messiah into the world and if you think it's okay to be prejudiced against that group for this group you're going to have three problems in the church sure you've got a problem with me because there's a pastor I'm not going to tell you what you want to hear I'm going to I'm not going to tell you what I think I'm going to tell you what the Bible says and you're not going to like that second thing if you think racism okay you're going to probably God because God says why should you consider wrong or evil or bad or in fear what I've created it's an insult to God anytime you treat any of his creations with less dignity so you can have a problem with God not only that you're going to you're going to like the church because you're not like us because the people here we come from all different kinds of backgrounds and we kind of like each other right okay we like each other and in fact we love each other I've told you this many many times Saddleback may be the single most diverse Church in America maybe even the world I don't know but probably in America I told you many times our church members speak 67 languages all right on our staff of 500 staff members we have staff members and pastors from dozens of cultures we have black pastors and Hispanic pastors and Asian pastors and people from a Middle Eastern background as pastors and Africa and pastors and European pastors and every kind of pastor in this church and we like each other so really you should go find another church really I'm just telling I'm just being honest with you that you're not going to like it here because we like each other and we're trying to prove that the world fact2 very this is intentional it's not by accident in the first place in Seidel back 10 values you know each letter of Saddleback Sadd LD BAC K stands for a different value the S stands for second chance place of grace if you screwed up this is the place for you if you've messed up here's the place to get a second chance we showed grace to everybody here that's the s but the a is all nation congregation which means we want our church to look like heavens going to look when you get to heaven most of the people in heaven are not going to look like you if you don't like what you're seeing here where everybody is treated with dignity and respect you're not like heaven because God it was God's idea thank God to make us look all different and if there's one place in the world that should show unity in diversity it should be the church if there's one place in the world that should show how love conquers hate it should be the church if there's one place in the world where we build bridges rather than walls it should be the church if you want to be a Christian if you want to call yourself a Christian you have to be a bridge builder not a wall builder your job is called reconciliation Christ calls it the Ministry of reconciliation we tear down walls and we use that material to build bridges of love and the evangelism it's when I build a bridge of my love between my heart and somebody else and Jesus walks across that's witness that's evangelism so don't call yourself a Christian if you're not willing to build bridges to people who are different from you just don't call yourself you should have the same attitude as Christ not only is it one of our 10 values it's the first letter in the peace plan which Saddleback is famous for PE AC e and P stands for promote peace promote reconciliation plant churches of reconciliation and peace Jesus said I've given to you the Ministry of reconciliation that means we're to bring people together not split them apart into this group in that group and that got on this ghetto in that wall on this nation and those are immigrants and these are this and no no the Bible says in Galatians in Christ there is no Jew or Gentile there is no male or female there is no slave nor free you're all one in Christ this is the one place in the world that ought to show up where there's unity and there's harmony so it's a big deal for us when this happens and we will always stand against white supremacy we will always stand against any kind of racial prejudice or bigotry the fact is I said it earlier we all have prejudice in our hearts because growing up you learn prejudice from about different different things thing is we don't like it we're not proud of it we're not marching around promoting our prejudice we're actually saying Lord we want to get this out of our hearts we want to be lovers not haters so what are we going to do as the world gets more and more rude as the world gets more and more violent as bigotry gets bolder well we're going to do two things first we're going to keep on doing what we're doing which is model for the world Wow look at all those people they come from hundreds of different backgrounds and races and they form a place a family called Saddleback Church and they actually love each other where else are you going to find that in the world it's not in the church where are you going to find that kind of unity in diversity nowhere else nowhere else so we're going to keep on modeling that the second thing is we keep trying to train other leaders how to do the same and I want to ask you to pray because tomorrow on Monday when I wasn't even in the country this week but I saw what was happening and so I immediately contacted all of the most influential pastors in America I know them all the influential black pastors Hispanic pastors Asian pastors middle-eastern pastors in America African pastors in America white pastored America all the influence riser they're all coming I've invited them to come to Rancho Capistrano tomorrow for a one-day retreat on racism and they're all coming and if I told you if I told you the names of the pastors you would know all these names this is a who's who of Christianity in America and they're coming to Rancho Capistrano they trust me they're coming here for one day retreat so I'm going to ask that you pray for those pastors as we talk about the best response for churches in a world that's getting more hateful rather than more loving let's bow our heads let me pray for you father I look out from Baskin Robbins 31 flavors I look out on Heinz 57 varieties and I love the fact that you have built a church where we nobody's really a majority in our 18 campuses in our 45 services we have every language and background and race we have rich and poor we have educated uneducated we have young and old with people of all different sizes and shapes and colors and backgrounds and it's the way you made us help us rejoice in the strength of diversity and unity I pray for everybody here that as the world gets meaner that we will be nicer I pray for every person on our family who has been stung by prejudiced or stung by bigotry stunned by racism heal their hearts give them a tough skin and a tender heart help us to be better not bitter help us to always respond with love you've said blessed are the peacemakers they will be called the children of God so I ask that even this week that you work in all of our lives that we would be agents of reconciliation that we would refuse to listen to the the negative comments and the the jokes that are hurtful of other people help us to be like Jesus Jesus we want to have your spirit in our heart not the spirit of racism the spirit of love and charity and grace help us to treat everybody with dignity and risk act realizing that they were created in your image Lord we pray for all of these pastors who will be flying in today and tomorrow morning to meet with me as we talk about how the church can respond in love to all this hatred I ask your blessing on that meeting in Jesus name Amen alright now one of my favorite people in the whole whole world is michael w smith artist songwriter teacher preacher speaker leader amazing guy Saddleback has been singing michael w smith songs for 35 years and he's back at Saddleback this week I want you to stand right now give a warm welcome to my dear friend michael w smith Smitty give a warm welcome everybody love you okay it's great to be back at Saddleback I love how that rhymes so and yeah and just and thank you Rick and the staff has been great and good to be in sunny California and good to be back and I feel like I'm here too I feel like I'm here not by mistake I feel like I'm here to bring you a word I don't preach like Rick I didn't go to seminary or any of that stuff but I do feel like God's birth something in my heart for us today first of all I just want to tell you about a little bit about my family I got this amazing family unfortunately and fortunately my dad is no longer here with me my dad went to heaven it'll be two years this November 26 he went on the other side in 2015 and I miss him terribly my dad was the kindest man that ever met in my entire life who happened to be my father he was amazing he had names for everybody I mean literally everybody all these crazy names were all his friends my nickname was bubs have no idea he bubs hey bubs my sister's name was Seuss her name is Kimberly I don't you know it's just my dad you know he just jokes and he would tell jokes he I saw my dad laugh every day every single day of my life I never heard him say anything he was never down on me I know that's rare let me just say if he didn't have a good dad God can follow you if you didn't have a good mom God could mother you I'm not going to try to understand your pain my mom was left on the doorstep when she was eight years old she was eight Pat D six and five bill for all the siblings my real grandmother walked out with a suitcase and never came back ever my mom could have been bitter for the rest of her life she just says I'm just gonna let God mother me my mom's the bomb she's incredible my mom and dad are amazing I get stopped seriously I get stopped four years I got stopped and I still do to this day for 20 years in Nashville my mom and I've been Kenova West Virginia I moved to Nashville 1978 to take a stab at the old music thing ate a lot of bologna sandwiches I can tell you that I never went back home except I went home every three months to get somebody but I get stopped all because my mom had this impeccable reputation because my dad would be within the the homeless shelter at church and my mom cooking for everybody and my mom they have this just incredible reputation and so I would get to always know I live in Nashville just actually Franklin and a lot of celebrities live here I live a very normal life I love that but I always know when I'm being stalked I always know when somebody's following you you know because they always end up in the same outlet Whole Foods and hey and they walk up almost every time they walk up to go you're michael w smith well yeah it's nice to meet you and they go all we love your mom and dad almost every time they don't want an autograph and they start going out all your dad and your dad did this your mom is my mom's great cook Oasis bread for she brings his bread all down my mom just a lot to live up to and so but yeah just an amazing parents I'm very very blessed they modeled an amazing life for me and my dad like I said I miss him and he my dad was funny he seemed in that aisle just when he because he can come to all my concerts he coached me in baseball I wanted to play for the Cincinnati Reds and my air was the Big Red Machine Pete Rose Jill Morgan and Johnny Bench and yeah 1974-75 and I was a good ballplayers pretty good ball player I learned from my dad my dad played minor league ball and he coached me all growing up and I got to be 15 years old I didn't make the all-stars for the first time because I was beating around on a piano then my dad became our PR agents and would tell everybody how great I was all the time even before I moved to Nashville and I went dad you got to stop that kind of embarrass me says well you're the best son well yeah you're going to say that because you're my dad you know I remember Kim Cote coaching baseball seven eight years old our first year playing and we were awful we had 16 games and we were Oh in 15 and I remember he would come into the dugout you know as 8 years old when you get killed like 20 to nothing you know you just feel like the world's come to an end and my dad would come in and he would say boys him next time and then he would take us to Dairy Queen now you didn't go to Dairy Queen unless you won the game anybody who won the game got to good at Dairy Queen you got Dairy Queen California it was big in the 70s and 80s you know then going to Dairy Queen was like big time well my dad took us every time at third game fourth game fifth game we just got killed boys again next time let's go to Dairy Queen about the sixth or seventh eighth all these winning teams ago what are you guys doing in here we just annihilated you never forget that 16th game I'm on second base we get were down by one runs gallon third and I was the winning run we won the game Utah we won the World Series oh my gosh we were jumping up and down going crazy and high-fiving and hugging and all that my dad came that dugout two boys great job great job let's go to Derry cool my dad amazing and he had all these things he came from that great generation like if he had the flu if he had a temperature one hundred three hundred four he went to work he went to work I hardly ever remember my dad not going to work you know just roll up your sleeves and do it you young people look at that generation they were the greatest generation I'll stop there on that one so but my dad had all these things he would say I keep just he's so funny because he tell jokes and eat if he didn't laugh at him he would laugh at him but I seriously saw him smile and laugh every single day of my entire life but I was with him but he would have all these things like what in the wide world sports going on and he always said this - oh he said hold the phone hold the phone which means I got something to say and he always said something I never could figure I'd say something I thought was smart he said son you got a head on you like a house cat I never figured that one out so I guess house cats are supposed to be smart but my dad was amazing and golly I just I miss him terribly my mom is doing great she's a rock she's got a lot to to live together Bible study group and grandkids and and she's doing really well yeah I just thought just show you a picture just my dad there's my dad my dad my dad had dementia thank God he still remember who I was there I am that's my sister Kim and that's my mom on the right and then just another picture of me and my dad look he just sorted he walks into a room he just sort of lights up you know just lit up the room and then the next picture I have five children we are populating the county that I live in we have grandchild number 14 on the way she's having contractions at this very moment and then the woman behind the man Debra K Davis Smith this September will be married 36 years so he's amazing golly woman five foot three hundred pounds oh my gosh just it's crazy how we met because I met her like it was love at first sight which I said would never happen to me never ever ever and she walked by me I was meeting this Benson record company back in Nashville and 81 to talk to somebody about getting a record deal and she walked by and I went oh my gosh oh my gosh and then five minutes later she walked by went oh my gosh I ran to an office and called my mom back in West Virginia and I was just like I'm high for anyway I'm a mommy that's not gonna believe it she's amazing sister she's my soul mate she's incredibly loved her oh it says uh what's your name I said I don't know I don't know her name my mom thought I flipped out we got engaged three and a half weeks later and married four months later now when I'm talking to young people this is something that do not recommend you really want to know for sure my wife had a bat about of anorexia just real quick this first time I've told this story this weekend I feel like I need to tell it just a miracle in our lives my my wife's mom and dad divorced and she was eight years old and she never went off the deep end like I did for four years she just found herself unattractive whatever I seen a picture of her a senior in high school she's 78 pounds and she had a bout of anorexia and so she told me when we met when we started talking about IU and you know when we got engaged we're gonna have a family someday and and you know talk about kids and she's just obviously well the doctor told me that I probably will not have children not be able to have children oh man so she don't be the hole obviously hearing the whole story on Google I will adopt it's fine we'll adopt this it's all good I'm I'm here man I'm yours forever you know I love you you're amazing you're the best thing that's ever happened to me other than Jesus you're the best thing has walked in my life so so crazy thing is we got married and then you know obviously you know she's not pregnant so we hear about Vanderbilt doing all we worked on this medical hub of Nashville Tennessee Vanderbilt was doing all these medical studies I can't remember all the terminology umbria whatever and all this scientific stuff and we read about it we thought well maybe we should go there you know maybe they could help us so we went to Dom Pinto my mentor and pastor of 35 years and we talked to Don about it and Don says I'm fine with episode maybe we should just like lay hands on you and pray for you guys so we show up on a Sunday night we did this worship service every three months we blow it out this little chapel on Music Row and right before that meeting we went in and twelve elders anointed us with oil and pray for us it was the most powerful prayer meeting I've ever been in my entire life I didn't know I was going to have a bottle of oil poured on my head as well drifting down my face seems like and I'm never walking out go man what was that what was that that was amazing three months later my wife's pregnant so so Ryan Cain so Ryan came and then here comes Whitney here comes Tyler here comes Anna and then we're in Beavercreek we got a little sweet little place up in the mountains of Beaver Creek and I remember we were up there on an anniversary and she says I'm going to run to the drugstore I said why you going to their drugstore for I'm just going to kind of pick up one of the there's no way there's no way I'm in the hot tub upstairs you come to see like an hour later and she walks in and she's got tears rolling down her face and I just remember my whole body just submerging under the water I'm going oh my gosh so I remember the first thing I did I got that hot tub I went to the phone and I called Belmont Church I wanna speak to Dorothy Dorothy's the head of the prayer deal she says hi Michael what can I do for you I said I'll tell you what you can do for me Dorothy you take us off that prayer list right now true story crazy five children great kids well I was going to get to my message called the stick I'll tell you this real quick I was and I'll get to the stick walked into Dick's Sporting Goods the other day just wanted to pick up something I'm running through the line I've never seen this girl cashiering and she kept looking at me kind of staring at me glass probably notice I am a big deal you know and and I just go up just Norma in my shorts and I'm workout clothes and she says you're you're that singer aren't you oh yeah I'm one of them a lot of that there she said what's your favorite scripture first thing she's - what's your favorite scripture just there's just you just feel like there's this thing that she needed watch your favorite scripture and I said some 139 how precious are your thoughts about me oh god how vast is the sum of them and if I were to count them they would outnumber the gray and so thus and how precious are your thoughts about me O God how vast is the sum of them found without number if I would count them they without number the grains of the sin you're going to the beach you got beaches out here I like to go to the mountains all the kids like to go to the beach and I'm overruled every time and I'm sitting on the beach this spring in April with all my kids I'm dumping sin on the grandkids and kind of lessons go gosh boring it's amazing the grains of the sand that's unbelievable think about that guys think about that it's absolutely astonishing how much Papa loves us it's a game changer when you get it the stick what'll I say about the stick right before I talk about stick last thing I promised our families going through a little crisis awful just being transparent my fourth oldest and us struggling she's actually doing okay someone has decided to depart the family and two precious girls Harper and Juliet been the one of the greatest challenges of my life you can pick on me all day long he'll pick on my kids especially my girls so I've swung from anger extreme anger guys yes Michael Debbie Smith wanted to beat the top out of a wall or whatever he wanted to do and I swing all the way over to him laughs he'll love swagger love anger love hang out uh I'm gonna I just need to go to the hospital hook me up then I'll be because I'm about to lose it about to lose it and it ended crazy when you get in the gutter and you're in the middle of a heated battle that you forget about the promises of God because it's just overwhelming it's just the grief and sorrow and tragedies is whoa God and he just go where are you and every once awhile we just need to be reminded that he said he'd never leave you or forsake you ever even what the enemy means for evil he always turns it for the good even in the valley he's working it for a good he's working a burnin he's got this that's what the stick reminded me of I got invited by a great friend who I'm going to see this afternoon in San Diego his name is Bob Gough he's the happiest man I've ever met in my entire life he was a lawyer in San Diego he shut down his practice got everybody jobs he started open up orphanages in Uganda he has a witchdoctor school he's got that only got two books the Bible in his book love does and which doctors are coming to know Christ it's just crazy he's just radical I caught he's a cross between Mother Teresa and Tigger yeah hey come on boys go to Uganda come on let's go to Iraq I promise up we're back safe this Bob he calls me brother bear I call him papa bear he invited me to come to a place called Malibu Lodge no it's not Malibu California it's up in Canada and it's in the middle of nowhere you go to Vancouver you get on the bus for 45 minutes then the bus gets on a ferry for an hour then you get off the ferry and you go for another hour and a half and you get on a boat for two hours up and it Inlet in the middle of nowhere in Canada and what a magnificent place is Malibu lodge and so I didn't really want to go because I didn't find out till the day before who was going sort of like a you just don't know who's going to go so you have to walk on faith then you know for me I like taking risk but you know I'd like to go if I'm going on a little getaway I like to go away with people that I know and I'm going with a bunch of people I don't even know and my wife says I think we're supposed to go so we did we get there it's a long story I could write a whole book about my four and a half days there but we had this devotional on the on the deck and it was just it was a life changing just this little thing we had on the inlet God met me where I was at I cried I just had this whole come to Jesus thing he's like wow man that's the reason I came to this is the reason I came to Malibu Lodge god you're stirring in my heart and then I'm in the middle of trying to sort of unpack all this of what God was saying to me and buses hey guys I'd tell what we're going to do we're going to put you on a boat and we're gonna take you down the inlet we're just going to one by one we're just going to drop you off in the middle of nowhere and all you can take is your journal in your pistol and we'll just we'll come back and pick you up at some point we're okay so I'm the last one to get off the boat one by one and you get it so far away from the other you don't you don't seem think you see anybody I'm the last one to get off island out in the middle of nowhere all by myself swimming trunks t-shirts sandals Journal pencil so I sit on the rock I start pouring out my heart god I want to be your man I want to be your man there's a desti on my life I'm just praying I'm right and I'm praying I'm writing and I'm just going to do that for like an hour he's drinking tired and then you're going then there's just silence silence and I'm doing when's that boat coming and all of a sudden it's true story I hear a voice I don't think it was audible I heard but it was almost as loud as someone saying and this big pole go baptize yourself I want you've got to be kidding me so I thought it wasn't God sometimes you hear the voice of garbage god I just made it up it's it's absurd you know kind of flipping out you know two minutes later go baptize yourself oh you gotta be kidding really really I just it stayed on the rock I didn't move third time two minutes later go baptize yourself okay I'll walk down the shore take my shirt off got my sandals I'll walk into the water and I'm just standing in the water I guess water spat this on I now think about somebody looking at me this is somebody like somebody get look thinking I'm flipping out having a nervous breakdown I'm and I I just said all right here I go so I put my hand on my head all the way under in a and I come out and just like wow no dove heavens did coping and I'll walk back on the shore and then I just stood there and I just okay yeah that was that was cool yeah what's it mean yeah what's it mean I'm just look at the mountains got view of two three miles across this Inlet stunning these currents kind of coming down this way and I look out there and about a hundred yards away maybe not even that far I see a sea set and floating in the water and I just thought it was odd but I sort of didn't pay attention to it and I kept praying and thinking and I could look back over there all of a sudden it's getting closer getting closer I'm going oh my gosh it's a snake HIPPA snake that the bigger snakes in California floating down there I'm going that's not a snake he keeps getting closer and closer it's snagged that's a snake that is I Smith that's a snake there's the eye right there that little thing I miss doing it and it's getting closer to me this thing was I think it's a snake it's not a snake it's just ink you got all horrible British accent oh my god and it just getting closer and I'm sitting there I'm still going I'm just watching it I'm going this is significant I don't know what's going on but this thing was way out in the middle of the deal and all of a sudden ten minutes later Dada Dada up boom it's right in front of me literally comes right up to my feet not on that rock now I'm at rock not to that person not to that other person nothing else floating in the inlet and there's that stick that I thought was a snake and the end of you notice the little ease of the just awake and it's just the stick is just kind of moving and it's what and I'm sitting there going okay all right look at this thing it is pick and I grab this thing and I started doing this I promise I didn't do this and I start swinging this thing I'm swinging it I swing it swing it and I've got us 100,000 damn damn mm-hmm and I just felt like God was saying you've got everything inside of you to defeat whatever comes your way and I thought was a snake that I'm cutting the head off the serpent the same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in me greater is He that is in me that is in the world I've got everything I need to defeat no matter what comes my way because that's what it says in the word it's either alive the truth I believe it's the truth come on back off dude back off devil you're going to place my life every once well you got a con dude back off dude back off and you feel those things kind of clanging on you you're clinging on yet is it back off you have no place in my like you I am Do You Know Who I am same pirate races from the ilysm me back off you have no authority in my life come on you have no authority in my life and I went that's why that thing floated up here its reminder and last week I was at the end of myself I'm going I'm flipping out and I walked in my closet I walked in my closet and I pull this thing back and I went oh my gosh the stick a reminder God's got this God's got this whatever you're going through God's got this maybe you can't see the light at the end of town he's got it may your faith rise up if you don't have enough faith this morning for whatever you're going through I got enough faith for you because my faith is high it is high this morning for what God wants to do in here this morning I promise you you will meet you where you're at he'll meet you where you're out and the father heart of gun let me tell you this I want to end right here I'm going to end with this story about my dad I told you my dad had dimension and thank God he knew who I was till the end I'm so grateful for that that's tell you about Tokyo had left for the Asia trip been doing these world tours and I supposed to join Franklin for the last three days Franklin Graham for a big crusade in Tokyo and I'd left my dad I was going to be gone nine nine ten days went ain't dead he's in this facility just right down the road he'd been there for a year and I told my dad I said hey do you want to get back and he just always rooting for me and and then all of a sudden I'm halfway through this Asian tour and he starts to take a turn for the worse he got an infection it's a long story and so I get this call on the opening day of Tokyo I just been to Tokyo six months earlier sensing that God was going to break something up big in the heavenlies in Tokyo Japan so I'd gone even prepared to prepared that way for a long time and I felt like I was called to go to Tokyo while all of a sudden on the opening day of Tokyo I get a call going your dad said that chain and I think you need to come home that's what my manager said I talked to my mom and my mom just says you guys do what you got it you need to do guys I wrestled with it I wrestle with it so on sand if he asked my dad the question is go don't you come home stay there and do what you're called to do I stayed in Tokyo for one night it was the right thing to do and that's when people wouldn't stop singing out of this day I walked off at this kind of lost it in the dressing room and my wife Debbie now went to the airport got wind to one of the clubs and based on my dad and you know a lot of relatives you know when they're on there dying they always wait for that last relative to show up and I looked at him I know he could hear me he's a little out of it and I said dad don't wait on me you don't need to wait on me I'll release you I'll release you I release you I release you I love you I love you thanks for being a great dad three hours into my flight my dad crossed over to the other side not mr. terribly LM with this that three and a half years ago this is before my dad went to the facility I get a call at my studio for my mom my mom never gets frantic my mom is steady my mom mom is frantic on the phone she said son your dad's fallen I think we're going to lose him oh gosh cuz I jumped my car and speeding down the road I pull it in front of my mom and dad's house there's five emergency vehicles I mean the whole thing the lights are going on I run in the house there's paramedics paramedics everywhere and there's my dad in a cheerleading sort of almost comatose to some degree and he's white as a ghost he is white I'm thinking about God Oh God I don't think this is his time if you want to take him you taken but lord I pray you just restore him right now just pray restore him they put him on the stretcher long story short again they take him outside I think we're gonna go to the hospital and they put him back in this the emergency vehicle there's five guns working on him and so I'm staying close I'll see what these guys are doing in the meantime all the neighbors are out they're all coming out hugging my mom and and it's a beautiful thing and it was awesome but I'm not talking much to anybody because I'm standing right here well all of a sudden ten minutes later the color is coming back into my dad's skin I went oh my god she's gonna make it he's come naked so I'm thinking he was dehydrated and all there's a long story had a bleeding ulcer and crazy things so I took oh he's fine I turn around start greet neighbors and I'm right in the middle of greeting somebody and all of a sudden I hear my dad go hold the phone and it wasn't just one this was this is exactly what it sounded like hold the phone hold the phone hold the phone oh wow I know when what and go back over there and all those paramedics net back to that thing were like and my dad leans his head off that stretcher and looks at those paramedics and says y'all know who that is out there that's my son that's my son michael w smith i'm going dead you're crazy he thought a hung the moon and I believe with every fiber in my being this morning that pop in heaven looking down here going no Thaddeus you know that is Oh Billy I love you your stud muffin Oh Susan I got a call gone your life oh I just I love you Kathy love you Michael love you Larry Oh long to be with you that's what he's saying that's what he's saying this morning I believe it with every fiber of my being once again that's the message it's the message and I believe at the church worldwide truly believe this to get up in the morning and look at yourself in the mirror Gwen I like who you're becoming got a ways to go I'm getting there because I believe what your word said you're going to complete the work inside of me you're going to do it I believe God that you're going to do it I'm looking at myself in the mirror you're going to do it the same part of the reiji's from dead lives of me I'm looking at myself in the mirror I believe that the church would believe that worldwide the world would look a little different look a little different he's a good good who you are but who you are who you are and I love I the - are you - are you the - is your Google gelatin - you are and I'm loved by you - I am come on you are perfect in all of your ways you are perfect in all of your ways you are perfect in all of you way to come on your good good luck you're good good [Music] and I'm loved by you [Music] yep you're good good father try yeah and I'm loved to buy yeah My Lord bless you keep you I could say shine upon you and be gracious unto you the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace and I bless every one of you with an abundance of favor hey there's a third mm-hmm come on favor and may you walk out of here but you walk out here with a greater sense of hope the call of God on your life god bless you guys thanks for checking out this week's message on youtube we would love to get you connected with our online community there's three easy ways to get you involved first learn about belonging to our church family by taking class 101 online second you can join an online small group or a local home group in your area and third check out our Facebook group to engage with our online community throughout the wings to take these next steps visit Saddleback comm slash online or shoot me an email at online at Sababa calm here from you soon you

Channel: Saddleback Church

Views: 27,113

Rating: 4.8518519 out of 5

Keywords: saddleback church, rick warren, michael w. smith

Id: EldtoE68QFY

Length: 57min 19sec (3439 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 21 2017