Robert Madu | Upgrade The Connection

are you ready for the word today are you sure come on would you stand with me to honor the reading of god's word i'm excited to preach i want you to keep uh pastor hennessy in your prayers he is preaching in new mexico today and i'm thankful for the apostolic call on our pastor god's called him to oversee a lot of churches and how many thankful that we get to send him out and so other people can experience what we have here amen amen and i'm gonna preach this word like i feel it i had to eat my wheaties today uh i preached this morning preaching this service preaching a different message tonight in social dallas but i feel good i don't know if it's the anointing or coffee but this is gonna be good today going me to john chapter 15 john chapter 15 and i don't know if there's something you can do with this microphone can y'all hear me good john chapter 15 i want to look at verses 1 through 11 the gospel according to john chapter 15 start at verse 1. we'll land in verse number 11. we've been in a series called upgrade okay some of y'all revealing how long you've been coming back to church we've been in a series called upgrade and i want to add another layer to this series today look at john 15 verse 1 jesus is talking he says i am the true vine and my father is the gardener he cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful you are already clean because of the word i have spoken to you remain in me as i also remain in you no branch can bear fruit by itself it must remain in the vine neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me i am the vine you are the branches if you remain in me and i in you you will bear much fruit apart from me you can do nothing if you do not remain in me you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers such branches are picked up and thrown into the fire and burned if you remain in me and my words remain in you ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you this is to my father's glory that you bear much fruit showing yourselves to be my disciples as the father has loved me so i have loved you now remain in my love if you keep my commandments you will remain in my love just as i have kept my father's commandments and remain in his love i've told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete can you say amen come on that is good stuff that is good stuff i don't do drugs i do scripture and that is good scripture i want to add to our upgrade series uh this thought today upgrade the connection upgrade the connection would you do me a favor would you look at somebody next to you don't touch them but just look right in their face and just say neighbor come on y'all know me i do this all the time don't be afraid to talk to your neighbor say neighbor upgrade the connection come on find you another neighbor that you are socially distanced from and look at family say other neighbor oh it's time for you to upgrade the connection come on if you believe god's going to speak with you give him some praise and he come on give him a for real crazy radical ridiculous break all the walls of my tradition praise in here today come on somebody some of y'all haven't really given god praise like you ought to give them praise today come on this is still the day that the lord has made i will rejoice be glad in it this ain't even a part of my message but some of y'all been waiting to get happy happiness is not a fruit of the spirit you just gotta choose to rejoice you gotta choose to have joy you gotta choose to say i'm gonna receive something from god today god's gonna speak to me today you gotta get every distraction out of the way and say god this is my moment right now for you to fill me up hallelujah okay you may be seated in the presence of the lord god have your way today upgrade the connection oh trinity fam perhaps one of the most groundbreaking books as it relates to relationships and particularly to how spouses relate and connect with each other is a book by dr gary chapman entitled the five love languages anybody read this book it is a classic it's an oldie but it's a goodie it was written in 1992 and yet every year up until this day it has found its way on the new york times best sellers list the five love languages if you haven't read this book don't worry don't trip let me give you the wikipedia version today because this book outlines five general ways that romantic partners express and experience love okay you ready for the five love languages number one acts of service acts of service acts of service looks like hey boo i cut the grass i cleaned the house i folded the laundry and i put it in its prospective place just because i love you that's acts of service number two is physical touch hello physical touch looks like boo take off those uncomfortable heels i'ma give you a foot massage that's gonna change your life that's number two number three is gift giving gift giving looks like girl i love you so much i just bought you some brand new uncomfortable heels for you to wear the number four is quality time quality time that is i cleared my day this is a date day that's going to turn into a date night somebody is watching the kids i'm leaving my phone in the car and we are going to connect today eyeball to eyeball that's quality time and the number five is words of affirmation words of affirmation that looks like what your co-worker said what about you first of all let me tell you something you're the most kind loving giving selfless person i have ever met in my entire life i cannot believe she said that the whole job it should be happy to have you there because that place will fall apart without you okay that's words of affirmation now here is the theory that dr chapman postulates he says that we tend to give love in the way that we prefer to receive love so if you're wondering about the person that you love and what their love language is just watch what they give you and they will tell you let me keep it real transparent today let's say uh hypothetically today this message just bombed okay whatever that looks like terrible message i'm feeling bad about this message i'm like oh my goodness i didn't connect with anybody how many you know as soon as i get off of this stage there is one person that's gonna make sure no matter how bad i felt about the message she's gonna say babe that was incredible okay that was not bad that was good guess who that person is she's right here on the front row looking real good her name is taylor madue okay that is affirmation station okay i won't even get to this last step before she told me bait well first of all you had a busy week okay there was a lot on you and you read scripture at the beginning of the message and everybody just needs the word of god that was a good message and all of a sudden the message i feel bad about i'll start feeling good about in fact i feel so good i'll reciprocate my love and i'll be like hey guess what i just bought you a brand new pair of uncomfortable heels because her love language is affirmation mind is gift giving if you love her tell her you love her if you love me don't tell me buy me a gift with a gift receipt too okay so so our challenge in our eight years of marriage is i have to make sure that i'm giving her words of affirmation and she gives me gifts now can i tell you the greatest gift she has ever given me okay besides our three little mocha humans okay greatest gift taylor has ever given me about six years ago my 30th birthday she takes me random surprise trip stuff you can do before kids she said pack your bags we are going to new york city we go to new york city she said i got you front row tickets to see your favorite actor on broadway front row to see my favorite actor on bro when i say favorite actor people i have lines of every movie from this man memorized okay to this day if he has a movie opening day i am there at the movie theater my favorite actor i'm about to see for the first time in person we get to the broadway show i am teaming with excitement i'm on the front row as soon as the curtain goes up he walks out i passed out immediately it's for real i promise you in the middle of the play he got passionate and he spit i kid you not his spit hit me right in the forehead i didn't wipe it off i just left it there smile and let it evaporate in the air greatest moment of my life and we're leaving the theater i'm like babe you killed it greatest gift ever and we're about to get in the cab in new york city i will never forget it and before i get in the cab i look at my peripheral and i see a group of people standing by a door next to the theater i was like not a whole lot of people but there's a little group there and i'm like hey what are those people doing standing about the door next to the theater she said i don't know let's go i said let me just see while they're standing there and i walk over and i was like hey why are y'all standing by this door they said oh all of the actors and the actresses in the play come out of this door i said all of the actors and the actresses i said is he about to walk through that door is that what you're telling me he is coming through that door he said well you don't know sometimes he does and sometimes he exits out the back i said well i'm about to find out so i stayed there i waited 10 minutes i waited 15 minutes i waited 20 minutes i waited 30 minutes at 30 minutes taylor looked at me like i'm about to kill you on your birthday i waited 35 minutes at 40 minutes i'm about to walk away and say forget it it's not worth it and just as i'm about to walk away this happened watch this real quick [Applause] [Music] all right i see mr washington how you doing now watch this what is not on that video is me walking around new york city looking at my hands like coach boone shook my hand going crazy and i looked at taylor i looked at taylor and i said this the next day i said what would have happened if we would have left early and we had mistake did you realize the power of that moment the next time i meet denzel and somebody introduces us they say mr washington this is mr madue i'm going to say good to meet you again he's going to be like again but i can't remember that time about 10 years ago and don't act like you don't remember dennis hill i have a point of reference now what would happen if i would have walked away and i hadn't remained ladies and gentlemen i came to tell you that there are some things that you can only receive when you know how to remain there are some things that you will only get to touch that you will only be a part of when you have the resolve to remain there are some things in your life that you will never step into until you understand how to remain there are things in god that you will never receive unless you learn how to remain now i know i'm being funny talking about denzel washington but how many you know there are so many people who are content to just know about god they are content to just have a mental ascent of who god is some of y'all are just content to just come to service and get close to his presence and you act like this is a broadway show but i'm wondering if there's anybody in here that understands you have a god that wants to touch you you have a god that wants to be intimate with you he wants to be close with you and if you can learn how to remain you'll receive things that you never realized you would ever receive the power of remaining somebody just say remain oh say it like you had your coffee say remain over 10 times in 11 verses of scripture jesus keeps repeating this word remain remain remain remain another version says abide abide don't quit remain remain do you know the power of remaining sometimes the difference between a successful marriage and one that falls apart is just the power to remain if you leaving i'm going with you just remain remain the power of remaining i said this in first service you do know that this is pastor appreciation month pastor appreciation month and do you know why i thank god i've been here since i was three years old i'm so thankful for two pastors who have remained 25 plus years of being faithful just remain whether they felt like preaching or not remain loving people whether they felt like or not remain come on contending for the supernatural and believing this will be a cancer freezer just remaining you ought to thank god for some pastors and leaders that said i ain't gonna quit because things get tough i ain't gonna quit cause it's another election year god is still on the throne so i got to ah remain we're made every night we finish this social dallas and we're down there i'm talking about fighting devils it's not no cute church we're in a rock concert and every night we finish i literally could tell i go oh my goodness i said pastor becky did this he's been doing this for years every single sunday i'm like we're like two years in and i'm about to pass out every year the power of remaining the power of sticking with it to resolve the resilience to not quit don't you let 2020 make you throw in the towel and quit you'll never step into what god has for you you got to learn how to remain remain i love that it's john who is recording the words of jesus who says remain john records this not matt not marky mark not uncle luke this is john and i think john gives us insight into remaining because who else but john knew how to remain who else but john was not content with just seeing jesus at a broadway show he's like no i'm gonna remain and get closer you remember john he's the disciple who jesus loves he's a disciple that's not even content to be a disciple or to be a part of jesus inner circle he's not even content to just sit at the table with jesus this dude is cuddled up next to jesus read your bible he would lay his head on the chest of jesus just saying if i can get this close i'ma get this close because there's always more with god if i can hear his heartbeat i'll hear his heartbeat i don't care what y'all think about me see you gotta be willing to look ridiculous if you're gonna remain you gotta be willing to look stupid to have intimacy with god he he knew how to remain john is that disciple who was exiled not executed the last disciple to die he was exiled on quarantine on the isle of patmos and the quarantine in the isolation did not stop him from seeking after god the isolation didn't stop him from seeking god in fact his isolation incubated his intimacy with god he just leaned into god closer so much so that god began to give him revelation and visions of a new heaven and a new earth and he began to write down what he saw the book of revelation comes from this john because god will always give revelation to people that know how to remain oh you missed that i'm going to say it again god will always give revelation to people who know how to remain quit expecting to get revelation from god when you got a microwave hot pocket relationship with him i don't understand my god's not revealing things to me he only gets two minutes twice a week with you no wonder but i'm telling you if you learn how to remain oh he'll reveal things to you uh can i give you somebody and give the first service do you remember luke 24 where two people two guys are walking on the road to emmaus and all of a sudden jesus just shows up out of the blue didn't even know it was jesus because sometimes you don't know he's with you even when you're walking and all of a sudden as he began to talk to him every sudden they said something different about this guy and jesus pretended like he was going to go away he's like all right to your house now it's a good walk good talk i'm out he said no no no no no no don't leave don't leave come back would you remain with us he said all right if you want me to stay i'll stay and they remain with jesus and all of a sudden the one who thought they thought was a stranger because they remained he took the bread and he broke it and when he started passing out the bread they saw wait a minute all those nail prints in his hand and all of a sudden they got a revelation that this is him this is the resurrected savior he did what he said and he rose from the grave oh but they would have never got that revelation if they hadn't begged him to remain there is power and remaining i'm telling you cannot have a microwave hot pocket relationship with god and expect to get revelation you got to remain somebody say romaine i say this all the time i say god is a lot more crop pot than he is microwave oh that'll tell you some of y'all look at me like crock pot what is that a younger generation any mamas in here know about a crock pot come on somebody i remember growing up we would have hot pockets that was my jam hot pockets about two minutes and 30 seconds you put it in the in the microwave and the box will tell you like a minute 45. don't listen to the box okay two minutes and 30 seconds that is the magic number if you go on minute 45 it's gonna be cold in the middle okay and hot on the outside two minutes and 30 seconds and this is a hot that's why some of y'all got cold hearts because you only been a minute at 45 hot pocket relationship and hot pockets are good but hot pockets in the microwave do not compare to evelyn madue's pot roast that she would put in a crop pot oh this crop this this pot roast and this crop pot will bless your life my mom will start cooking it saturday in the afternoon saturday and afternoon you would smell that those flavors just start hitting you while you're playing your sega genesis you're like what in the oh it's the pot roast and you would come in the kitchen trying to get some of the pot roast and you would reach your hand and i'm gonna go oh this is not for now i was like oh it's for dinner tonight she's no this is for afternoon lunch i said tomorrow we gotta wait 24 hours to get this pirate she said yes it's not ready yet and all saturday you'll be thinking about that pot roast all saturday night sunday i've been here since i was three years old pastor jim be preaching i'd be like man will you hurry this terminal this pot roast is waiting on me and then you get home after church on sunday and that thing's just been remaining in that crock-pot and all the juices and all the flavors has had time to settle i'm having church off of this i started settling in the pot roast and when you pull that pot roast out you don't need a big fork you don't need even a knife you can just breathe on that thing and it'll just fall apart and be slain in the spirit no tenderizing no struggling just [Applause] know why it's easy no it's tender because it remained it remained there were some things that you can only receive from god when you learn how to remain john is writing this gospel and he reveals this self-disclosing statement about jesus and i want to backtrack a little bit because what i love about john's gospel is that he's different than matthew mark and luke because his primary purpose is to reveal jesus identity that's his purpose he wants you to know who jesus is he is more concerned with his identity than he is about his activity in fact he tells you the activity to point to his identity and why is that important because if you don't seek who jesus is you'll never find who you are he says i'm writing this so you know that jesus is the christ and then you'll be able to find life in other words as you seek him you'll find you you'll find life as you seek him see culture inverts this culture says if you want to find you seek you you need to go on a journey self-discovery i'm on a journey where you going i'm trying to find myself let me cut that uber ride short for you okay if you're on a journey of self-discovery all you're going to discover is yourself and when you discover yourself you're going to see how jacked up broken messed up and dysfunctional you really are so just save the self-discovery trip and just passionately pursue who jesus is and as you seek him he'll begin to reveal this is why you had to go through that this is why i let you endure that this is why you face that this is why that happened he'll show you as you seek him but you'll never find you looking at you you got to seek him and so john gives us seven i am statements about jesus identity seven i am statements you know these statements he says i am the bread of life i am the light of the world i am the door i am the good shepherd i am the resurrection and the life i am the way the truth and the life and the last bar that he drops on all of us the ultimate crescendo of the self-disclosure of who your savior is i am the vine you are the branches it's the last i am statement of jesus now all of those i am statements are important but i am divine as different because it's the last one jesus says and how many know there's something about what is said last that carries more weight when he says i am divine the cross is imminent this is the end and if you ever had anybody that you've loved and you've experienced them being on their deathbed how many know throughout their lifetime they said a lot of things but it is what they say on their deathbed that carries more weight you will hold that for the rest of your life jesus is essentially on his deathbed and he's in an intimate room with his disciples all the crowds have left who just wanted the miracles it's just the ones that have stuck with them and he says guys there's one last thing i can tell you if you don't get anything else about me if you forget i'm the door if you forget on the bread if you forget i'm the good shepherd don't forget i'm divine [Applause] and you're the branches and all i want you to do oh all i want you to do is remain in me just remain if you don't know everything else just remember i am the vine and you are the branches i want you to see the intimacy the interconnectedness of this statement of jesus do you know how connected a vine is to a branch they are so connected jesus is saying if you don't get anything else about me get i am divine you are the branches and we must stay connected please don't quit please don't give up it's about to get tough they hate it on me they're gonna hate on you they persecuted me they're gonna persecute you and the words i want ringing in your head when trials and suffering and persecution comes is to remain in me let my words remain in you stay connected to the vine in fact he says i am the true vine the true vine now when he said that that had to ring in their ears because anybody that was a jew at that time knew that any time he mentioned a vine in the old testament isaiah chapter 5 a vine was always indicative of the people of israel he called them his vine and then he would judge them often by saying you had no fruit you were my vine but you had no fruit do you see what jesus is doing he's upgrading the connection he said guess what you are not the vine in other words you cannot be your source he says i am the true vibe i'm gonna be your source and as long as you stay connected to me you'll have every single thing that you need so the first thing i want to give you as it relates to upgrading the connection is you've got to protect the connect protect the connect i said it like that so it could rhyme would you just say that say protect to connect sound like you had some coffee you got some passion come on say protect the connect protect the connect protect the connect protect the connect what connect am i protecting i'm protecting my connection to the vine i am the branch he is the vine and i got to protect my connect because if i don't protect my connect i will only be fruitful to the degree that i'm connected he said i am your source he goes on to say apart from me you can do nothing you can do absolutely nothing that's how serious the connection is he says protect your at all costs no matter what you have to remove in your life no matter who you got to tell by whatever you do protect your connect because apart from me you can do nothing would you just say nothing i wish we really believed that verse that apart from him we could do nothing i think we think i'll speak for myself that some things we can do you know instead of like oh i can do this without you i mean i mean i know the miracles yeah the big stuff that's you no no apart from me you can do nothing you can't be the husband he's called you to be you can't be the wife he's called you to be you can't be the single he's called you especially in these dating streets today you better pray and speak in tongues if you sing up to hey my goodness and check instagram profile you can't do not you can't raise those kids without me you couldn't even get up this morning without me i'm the one that kept your heart beating all throughout the night you can't tie your shoes but apart from me you can do nothing oh what if we really believe that i think we think we can do some things and then when we step out and do the some things and it falls apart then we're like oh god okay okay i need you i need you i need you it reminds me of my little my little one remy she's she's uh oh she's the one that needs prayer okay she's my third child she's the most gangster of all of my kids and uh she's not safe she is not saved and and remy this happens every week this happens every week remy is i've never seen a three-year-old so particular about her outfit okay i don't know where she gets it from she is so particular about her clothes i will have outfit put out for her or wife taylor have an outfit put out for her and she'll refuse she's like no i want to wear this and she'll put it on and then she'll fight you about putting it on i'm my girl apart from me you can do nothing okay let me help you put on this ridiculous outfit that you've picked okay she's like no no leave me happens every week so i'll leave her alone i'll walk out the room never fails about two minutes out here gabby i need help i need help i will walk in the room this girl will have two feet and one pet hole leg she will have a coat all twisted around her head like this her head is covered by the shirt and the other five layers she's got on she'll be just like this ah daddy help me and some of y'all laughing but that's what you look like because some of y'all have stepped out of your own strength trying to do that thing you thought you could do without god and no wonder when worship started you thought my apart from him you can do nothing nothing oh god speaking to me while i speak to you this is why as it relates to children you understand that my job as a parent is to take my children from total dependence to independence the litmus test of their maturity is their independence in the kingdom it's completely opposite god's job is to take you from total independence to complete dependence upon him and you know you're growing in him the more you're leaning on him and you are connected to the vine why do i have to spend time with the vine to stay connected because i have to bear fruit that's the whole purpose the purpose of your life is to bear fruit why am i here to bear fruit bear fruit that's why you're here because he's checking watch this not for your shout not for your holy ghost two step not for your church attendance although you should come not how much you read the word although you should he's looking for fruit fruit fruit fruit fruit that's what god is checking for fruit now what is fruit we talking about apples and bananas or oranges no galatians chapter five let's look at it in a real practical way this is the fruit he's looking for can we put that on the screen here's the fruit love joy peace patience kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self-control watch this that's not the fruits of the spirit that's the fruit of the spirit it's one fruit jesus says i'm looking for all of that fruit continually and perpetually in your life and not only am i checking for it i want to know are you growing in it are you more patient this year than you were last year are you more loving because i'm looking at what you comment on other people's pages too are you more loving this year than you what that's what i'm checking for i am checking for fruit and he says if you think you can produce all of those continually and perpetually and grow in it without me good luck you only produce it as you stay connected that's the fruit now here's the thing you can't produce you want to do this without god go ahead put the flesh up there worship the flesh sexual immorality impurity lustful pleasures idolatry sorcery hostility quarreling jealousy outburst of anger why are you driving slow in the fast lane well that's just me okay selfish ambition dissension division envy drunkenness wild party all that you can do on you but if you want to produce fruit put the fruit back up there you gotta stay connected to me protect connect now if you see that and you go oh i got to produce that all the time perpetually and continually and then i got to grow on it like i'm still getting report cards at 50. yeah if that stresses you out don't let it stress you out relax because how many of you have ever walked up to an apple tree this has never happened and you walk up to apple tree and you put your ear up to the tree and you heard this apple it's never happened apples do not strain to produce apples apple trees don't that means please don't miss this fruit should never be the burden of the branch it should just be the byproduct of relationship oh is this helping anybody in here today fruit should never be a burden it's just the byproduct of relationship have you seen my son robin do the third that boy don't got a strain to look like me no he just looks like me should never be a burden it's just a byproduct of relationships so my responsibility is just to protect my connect whatever i gotta remove protect the guy i gotta find can i just be practical i gotta find my rhythms of intimacy with jesus to protect my connect because all of us have different rhythms they're staples worship reading the word prayer but we got different rhythms i used to spend night times connecting with god when i was in college nighttime that was my time man i studied the word just having amazing just time with god at night now huh i get up at 4 15 in the morning not because i'm super spiritual that is the only time in the entire day before my three little red racks are gonna get up and start wreaking havoc on my time i gotta find my rhythm i have different rhythms taylor she's got a different rhythm she'll walk and she'll be working out and walking and listening to worship music i'm like how you listen to worship music while you're exercising she'll be like i'll raise a hallelujah i should be going around the block that's not me that's not how i connect when i mean i'm like i gotta listen to like rap music when i'm working out you know i gotta we have different rhythms you gotta remove whatever you gotta remove you gotta remove that's why i take social media breaks don't mess around and watch the social dilemma on netflix and see how much our attention is drawn away from a little app and i have to take seasons away why because i'm protecting the connect protect the connect [Applause] so he defines it he says i'm divine you're the branches i want you to bear fruit in other words people ought to look at your life and go man i want to take a bite out of your life it looks that good no for real people should look at your life and go hmm look at your marriage honoring god i want to take a bow on some of that look at your kids worshiping god not perfect still crazy like mine but look at them they know how to worship i want to bite out of that that's what you understand that's the purpose of fruit and so fruit is never for you fruit is always for somebody else fruit is never for you it's for somebody if fruit is eating itself it's rotting and you have never seen somebody as mean and hateful and rotten as a religious person that know all the scriptures proud sunday school alumnus but has never exercised their faith can speak in tongues but don't know how to smile at nobody oh come on somebody fruit's eating itself is rotting fruit's always for somebody else protect the connect and i'll bring my illustration out here i'm laying on the plane because after he defines the relationship that we have with him he's the vine we're the branches then he brings out another dynamic he says i'm the vine the true vine you're the branches worship team join me and then he says my father is the gardener he's the gardener he's not just a good good father he's a good good gardener i should write that there's something about a gardener any gardeners in here gardeners y'all cheer me out because if there's anything that gardeners know they know detail they have concern about their plans taylor got into like house plants and i kid you not she went to this store with all these plants and this weird person working at the store that's one of those gardeners said that before she left it now make sure you talk to it so what make sure you talk to the plant because you got to talk to it yes that it does something when you talk to them you ever seen gardens they are protect they know details about the plant that nobody else knows they'll come to your house and tell you stuff about your plan they're walking but i love your japanese hibiscus like my no i had had a drink at starbucks what you talking about japanese hibiscus oh the tree yeah yeah yeah i love it they know details they know details this is what i love about god is that he knows details about your life how many thankful that god knows your name he knows details about you come on i'm telling you gardeners are particular about the soil that you're planted in i'm thankful for a god that knows the soil that i'm planted in that's going to make sure that he checks the condition of the soil soil and it's going to nudge me to check the condition of my soil my soul he's gonna make sure i take care of my soil i'm thankful for a god that knows how much light i need as a matter of fact he is my life that's why i got to protect my connect because in a world where stuff is looking crazy and stuff is looking so dark come on how many are thankful that he is your light in the midst of darkness i'm thankful for a good good gardener i'm thankful for a gardener that knows the season that i'm supposed to produce fruit because i can get caught up looking at everybody else's life and going how come i'm not there how come god's not doing that through me but i gotta throw in my hands and trust a good gardener because he knows my season i don't have to force anything he knows when i'm supposed to produce fruit my job is to remain he'll make sure i produce fruit in my season oh i love that he's a good good gardener i understand all those things i said in the text they are implied by the gardener there's one thing that is explicit we read it earlier he says not only my divine and you're the branches not only is my father the gardener he says the gardener actually has a clear explicit job description and that is the gardener is in the ministry of cutting he's in the ministry of cutting he says any branch that is dead the dead things in your life the things that are attached to you but they are sucking the life out of you they're not producing anything anything attached to you that is dead that is brittle how many you know sometimes you got to prune a dead branch especially where that thing is positioned because a dead branch can fall off and harm somebody it can break a power line so he says if it's dead i've got to cut it i gotta cut the dead things into your life and you know it's dead when he starts to cut it because some of us are in denial about the things that have been dead in our lives and some of you think 2020 was a train wreck no this is a gift god said i've given you a gift in this year because those things have been attached to you since 2017 and this is my year to start cutting some things off that are dead in your life that will never produce fruit that have been attached to you too long if it's dead i gotta cut it [Applause] cut off every dead branch [Applause] the stuff you've learned to live with i'm gonna cut it then he takes it deeper he said not only am i gonna cut was dead he said i'm gonna also prune the ones that bear fruit the thing that's not dead the job that you just got before the pandemic it was your dream job and all of a sudden it's like what why why you cut that why did you cut them out of my life look at your gardener he said i'ma cut what's dead i'ma prune what you thought you needed he said but i'm not cutting it or pruning it just to prune it i'm pruning it so we can produce more fruit i'm pruning it because i'm doing something deeper in you i'm pruning it because i am more committed to your growth than i am to your comfort that's why i'm cutting it i'm cutting it because i am god i'm not in time you're just looking at 20 20. i'm looking at 20 30 and the fruit that you're gonna produce years from now will only be sustained if i cut the thing that you think you need i am god trust oh i feel your presence jesus trust the cut hear me protect the connect but number two you gotta trust the cut you gotta trust the cut i'm telling you this is why a lot of believers are losing their mind this year you know why because the church has done real good about talking about a god that blesses you and yes he is a god that blesses but i gotta tell you he's not just the god that blesses he's a god that cuts too but you gotta trust him even when he's cutting you you gotta trust him even when you're losing things you gotta trust that anything that my father cuts he's only letting it go because he's gonna add more to my life come on is there anybody in here that says i'm gonna trust him i wish i had somebody that would help me have church i'm to trust him in the don't quit in the cut dress him in the cup [Music] oh stand to your feet [Music] i know this year has been hard i know you've cried tears going god why did i lose that and why did i lose that it's because he's a good gardener he is committed to your growth and your fruitfulness more than he's committed to your comfort he will cut you but if he's doing the cutting trust him protect the connect and trust the cut because as long as he's got the pruning scissors i'm going to trust him you do know that serial killers and surgeons both use knives but i much rather have a knife in the hand of a surgeon than in the hand of a serial killer and i'm thankful that my god is a good surgeon and if he's cutting something it is always for my benefit it's always so i can produce more fruit came to tell somebody if you will protect the connect if you will trust the cut and not quit just because you're being cut number three you will produce the fruit how am i gonna make it in 2020 protect the connect trust the cut produce the fruit protect the connect trust the cut produce the fruit protect the connect trust the cut produce the fruit i'm going to ask the heads be bowed eyes be closed father thank you for your word father thank you you're a good good father you're a good good gardener [Music] thank you that you are the vine the true vine jesus we are the branches jesus our lives are here on earth to produce fruit the end of our lives they won't be talking at our funeral about what car we drove how many instagram or facebook followers we had how famous we were they won't be talking about our clothes or any material things they'll be talking about the fruit of our lives oh god i pray for my brother i pray for my sister [Music] right now in this moment the enemy is so loud in their ear trying to get them to quit because they're in a season where you're cutting god thank you that we can trust you in the cut holy spirit help us to protect to connect our intimacy with you jesus [Music] god thank you that even though we can't see it now we look back over this year and over our lives we'll say god thank you for 2020 because i wouldn't have had the fruit i have right now if i hadn't gone through the cutting and the pruning in a moment i'm going to give you a chance to respond to this message can i show you one more thing [Music] anytime i'm preaching a sermon god always makes sure something in my life something just natural illustration speaks to confirm the word i'm supposed to preach and i was reminded when we were building our house two years ago we decided to pay for the landscaping separating that's when i found out how expensive trees and grass is and i remember we planted this grass by the side of our house i got that picture planted that grass by the side of my house i don't even know what that's called there what do you call that plant like a little it's called monkey grass i don't know what you call it but i know it's not supposed to look like that supposed to be like big and i was so mad at the landscape dude i said baby trying to get us i said you saw the bill for the grass i said look at the little bite-sized mini-me grass that thing should be bigger than that i had attitude and do a close-up of how small it is i was so mad i was like look at that little bitty grass that's why i attitude with the landscape do i say hey man i said i need the big big grass he said mr madue you know those get bigger to the point you're gonna have to cut them back say man i don't believe you i need big grass i want it now he said if you'll just leave it alone if you let it remain it'll get to the size you want he said it'll get so big you'll have to cut it back it's all right let me not go off because he doesn't know i'm a pastor let me chill out a little bit this morning i took a picture of that same area in our house look at what it looks like right now it's so big right now you see all the stuff in between it guess what i'm about to do this week well not not me but somebody i gotta get haircut i'm gonna cut it back because i was out there playing with the kids the other day i heard something moving all in the grass i was like i don't know what that was i need to see i'm gonna cut it right back to the size it was when it was planted and the only reason i got confidence to do that is because i know even when i cut it back it's just gonna keep coming back year after year come on that's why the enemy wants you to uproot yourself this year and to walk away from god but i'm telling you if you will remain oh if you will stay planted in the house of god even when he's cutting you're gonna come back stronger you're gonna come back with greater fruit so i want to pray for people you say you know what this message speaks to me i want to pray for the person that says robert i got to protect to connect this isolation this season has not incubated my intimacy it's actually causing me to pull away and god's calling you to come back he said if you don't feel intimate with me divine it's not because i walked away it's cause you did come back protect the connect i want to talk to somebody that's going in the cutting season i believe god's going to give you the strength to trust them in the cut without heads bowed our eyes closed anything if you know this message is for you the worship team's about to lead us i just want you to get out of your seat and just come find a place here at this altar i don't care how far you got to walk but you say i know this is for me this is for me some of you right now the enemy is in your mind trying to get you to quit to walk away i'm telling you to remain trust him in the cut if you're in here today or you're watching online and you've never surrendered your life to jesus come on this is your day he is not a vine he is the true vine and if you've been running to other things and connecting yourself to other things and you wonder why it's no life in it it's because that thing was never meant to be your source you were never meant to be your source he is the true vibe if you know this is for you i just want you to come i just want you to come i just want us to have a moment here the worship team is going to lead us those you at this altar just pretend like you're the only one in here and right now let's seek after him divine to find god we trust you come on thank you jesus god we trust you today god we put our hope and our faith in you [Music] jesus we need you [Music] thank you my jesus in you

Channel: Trinity Church Cedar Hill

Views: 25,574

Rating: 4.9509802 out of 5

Keywords: TrinityChurch, Trinity, Church, CedarHill, Robert Madu, Taylor Madu, Social Dallas, Madu

Id: c-yoguVl7nk

Length: 50min 21sec (3021 seconds)

Published: Mon Oct 26 2020