"The Great Escape" - Sarah Jakes Roberts

hey family pastor T here god bless you listen you're getting ready to hear a powerful message and I wanted to also remind you about the message that is in this book it released as you know on February 6 is already number one new release on Amazon in three different categories if you don't have this book in your life get it in your life it is changing the world one whole person at a time but God bless you for now I've got a great message that I want you to hear check it out see you soon sizes are from arenas to small lunch rooms and I still get nervous every single time and so this song right before we wind up just reminded me that nothing can separate me unless I allow it unless I allow fear to get in the way unless I allow nerves to get in the way nothing can separate me because death didn't hold him down and he lives within me so nothing can kill me unless I give it permission to sometimes you have to tell fear you can't have my dream you can't have my purpose fear you can't have my child you can't have my marriage fear you can't hold me down I've been studying and praying and I believe I'm in the right room I'm gonna be speaking from Ezra 9 verse 5 through 9 they'll have it available on the screen but if you're like me and sometimes you need to actually have it in your hand I'm gonna give you a second to find Ezra in the Bible or on your phone if you have it's a man if you need a minute say wait a minute all right shout you better be honest in the house of the Lord I'm not gonna pretend I got it when I don't how you doing you got a child yes I mean she got it praise the Lord Ezra 9 verse 5 and it says at the evening sacrifice I arose from my fasting and having torn my garment and my robe I fell on my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my god and I said oh my god I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to you my god for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads and our guilt has grown up to the heavens since the days of our fathers to this day we have been very guilty and for our iniquities we our kings and our priests have been delivered into the hand of the kings of the land to soar to captivity to plunder into humiliation as it is this day and now for a little while Grace has been shown from the Lord our God to leave us a remnant to escape and to give us a peg in his holy place that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage for we were slaves yet our God did not forsake us in our bondage but he extended mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia heats the net mercy to us in the sight of our enemies he extended mercy to us in the sight of those who didn't want to see us when he extended mercy to us in the sight of those who would have rather dustbin oppress he extended mercy to us and the sight of the kings of Persia to revive us to repair the house of our God to rebuild its ruins and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem God you know every person in this room and you know this word better than I do and so god I ask that it would only be you standing here that you would use anything that is available to you within me everything I studied everything I prayed or none of it at all all that matters is that your glory is manifest only you can take this word and allow it to reach the hearts the individual hearts of thousands of people take this word molding and transform it that it touches the deepest parts of their being and that it demands change that it demands revolution that it demands revival take place down on the inside of them and God I'm asking that it begins with me that you would allow that revival to start right here from this pulpit and allow it to permeate throughout the room because with you I am nothing I can do nothing and I can say absolutely nothing to change lives but with you I believe powerful things can take place God I am your vessel this is your word and these are your people that sounds like the perfect combination for radical life-changing God experiences to take place so have your way and let your way never stop in Jesus name ten years after the anniversary of 9/11 the mayor at the time Mayor Michael Bloomberg was having a press conference and in the press conference he said that it was time for us to retire the moniker Ground Zero remember for the longest time after the attacks in 2001 the only thing that we called the World Trade Centers was Ground Zero Ground Zero by definition is the place that experienced the most damage so what was once considered the World Trade Centers the pinnacle of the New York skyline all of a sudden was called Ground Zero specifically he said the time has come to call those 16 acres what they are the World Trade Center and the National September 11th memorial and museum as a leader I understand that the reason why he made this demand that the moniker Ground Zero be retired is because he recognized the challenge the city would face if they didn't learn that though it was once the place that experienced the most damage it now represents a memorial and a commitment to moving forward and I was wondering as I was studying how many of us get trapped in this idea of us still living in Ground Zero despite the fact that we've actually started rebuilding we called the place where we experienced the most damage Ground Zero and ignore the fact that God gave us the grace to rebuild for some reason we think that if we handcuff ourselves to the reminder of Ground Zero that it will keep Ground Zero from happening again the Ground Zero of divorce the Ground Zero of death the Ground Zero of losing myself the Ground Zero of my life turning to shambles I called place Ground Zero because I never want to forget what happened to me and every time I call it Ground Zero I robbed myself from the ability to see that I've actually started rebuilding that that attack that was once ground zero will never happen to me the way it happened to me again because I'm not that person anymore yes I was wounded when it happened but underneath those wounds were wisdom and I took that wisdom and I threw it at life and I built something that was a memorial to what happened to me but also a sign that I knew how to build again I didn't graduate from college the way I was supposed to but I threw all of myself at job and at my job and I got promotion after promotion and I learned to build something in the place of my insecurities I love so much that Michael Bloomberg challenged the city of New York to see beyond Ground Zero because if you don't force yourself to see beyond Ground Zero you will always to see your life through the terror that you experienced and not the victory and that you survived or the victory that you can recover or the truth that restoration is available to you so I can't afford to tie myself to Ground Zero any longer I don't know who that is for but I feel like before we move on in the service before we move on through my notes that I need someone to recognize that you built a monument where you were once in shambles that you're not that broken person who ended up in that toxic situation any longer that you're not the person who was susceptible to jail time any longer that you're not the person who was susceptible to addiction any longer you found a way to use the wisdom that life had thrown at you and as I was studying this text and I was looking at areas like I realized that for some of us we need to embrace the fact that we are no longer at Ground Zero and for others of us we must recognize that we're still standing at Ground Zero that we were too afraid to build in the place that caused us the most damage that we were too afraid to love again to try again to risk vulnerability again and so we've just been sitting at this place emotionally and spiritually that we realize isn't the best that it could be but because ground zero hurts so badly we were too afraid to build and risk losing again this message for those of you who choose to take notes the subject is the Great Escape and I want to talk about escaping Ground Zero I want to talk about who we have to become in order for us to know but longer be held down by our life being in shambles maybe you're here and you say pastor well my life hasn't really ever been in shambles things have actually kind of worked out pretty well for me you need to recognize that purpose has a ground zero to that no matter how successful you are or how many achievements you have received that until you're rich you're willing to risk allowing your achievements to be the floor so that you can pursue another level of glory than you are at Ground Zero - you got to be willing to be a novice on the next level once you've become an expert on the current level or else you're going to see people pass you because they didn't mind being at Ground Zero and so when the text begins we have to understand understand that prophet Ezra has been in Babylonian exile and he's been in exile for so long that when he comes back to the city what should be a time of rejoicing and freedom he actually learns that he's not returning to the place that he left that the place that he left is not exactly how he remembered it have you ever gone back home to being away for school or after being away for some trip and you realized that something either happened to me while I was gone or something happened to home while I was gone because for some reason it doesn't feel the way that I thought it was supposed to feel so as Ray has this freedom from being released from Babylonian exile but when he returns to Jerusalem his freedom doesn't fit in the context of what he had in mind and that is when he recognizes that freedom has a level of responsibility attached to it that his freedom has worked attached to it because in order for him to really be at peace he's either going to have to shrink and make home something he's either gonna have to shrink and make his freedom fit into the context of home or he's going to have to be willing to make home stretch to recognize who he is when I go back into environments that I used to have fun in but I don't have fun in them any longer either have to pretend that I'm the person I used to be or I have to stand in the truth of Who I am and let whatever happens around me happens I think exiled people have powerful potential exiled people often feel rejected and they feel like they didn't really fit in anywhere and they feel like no one quite fully understood them and I think the reason why God didn't allow anyone to embrace them is because if they would have been embraced by certain groups they would have never been hungry for him and because they became hungry for him their purpose and power was set on fire I believe there is power and being an exiled person I don't know if you're in this room and you're like me and you never quite fit in and you always wondered where you fit and you got to a place where you realized that had they embraced me that I would have stopped growing but because I kept growing because I had to learn to love myself because I had to learn to figure out what was special about me because no one else aw I read now that there was something down on the inside of me that they would have contaminated with their opinions so God protected me I thought I was being abused I thought I was being rejected I didn't realize it was really protection I thought exile but that exile was protection it wasn't punishment it wasn't punishment I wasn't supposed to be the popular one I wasn't supposed to be the one that everyone else understood I was exiled but exiled worked time for my favorite because it told me I could fight by myself exiled works out for my favorite because it taught me that I had ideas and creativity that only I could manifest exile works out in my favor because I had a relationship with God that wasn't just religion it wasn't just Church I know how to call on the name of Jesus by myself I didn't have no choir I didn't have no worship leadership team all I had was my brokenness and my loneliness and the belief that if I called on the name of Jesus that if I did something and opened my mouth in prayer that he would be with me I was exiled but man but I was brought in closer to Jesus I was exiled from the world but I was brought in closer to the Lord Ezra was still exiled he was released from Babylonian exile but because he had to go back into home that wasn't quite home he was exiled again and I love it because Ezra wasn't too excited when he found out that home was slipping home was slipping because the people of Israel were having intermarriages with people who worshipped pagan gods and so he came back and he recognized that because they were a chosen people that they had to be careful about who they connected with because if you connect with someone who worships something other than what you worship then your power is diluted I'm gonna move on it wasn't even one of my points but I feel like that needs to marinate for somebody when you are connected with someone who worships something differently than you they dilute your power no he believes in God yes but if he has more faith in sports or he has more faith in what he can do in other places I leave that alone that wasn't even one of my notes and I feel like I was out there walking on water you got to pull yourself back in Ezra was upset when he returns to Jerusalem and learns that the people are having intermarriages with people who are connected to other gods and he gets upset and we know he gets upset because he rips off his clothes and he pulls out pieces of his hair and his beard and on his scalp and in the old times if he would have just been sad he would have shaved his head but he got upset he got angry and verse five begins it says at the evening sacrifice it's important that we recognize that it was the evening sacrifice because it speaks to the point of religion that he was still functioning in his routine ride though he although he needed something needed to change and he's functioning into his routine but he gets desperate and when he gets desperate he decides to try something different at the evening sacrifice I arose from my fasting he did it everything he did everything the way he was supposed to and he recognized that having torn my garment in my robe I fell on my knees and spread out my hands to the Lord my God when you're getting ready to plan an escape from Ground Zero because Ezra is that Ground Zero he's not home the way he remembered it and everything around him is broken and everything around him is confused but he has made a decision that he is not going to allow that confusion to contaminate his power instead he's going to release his power until it changes the atmosphere he's trying to escape Ground Zero and he's trying to do it the way he's supposed to do it in the morning sacrifice and the evening sacrifice and fasting and all of a sudden he gets desperate and decides to try something different if you're going to escape ground you have to be willing to try something different you got to be willing to step out and look a little crazy you got to be willing to do things your way in your style because you just got so desperate for things to change that you didn't care what you look like to anyone else any longer Ezra got desperate and he decided that I'm not just gonna sit here and talk about what's wrong with other people I'm gonna do something on the inside that changes my outside I feel like what God has been doing in this place is something on the inside that gives us the power to change the our outside if you want to escape your current circumstances and your current situations stop looking on the outside for someone to hand you something and start looking on the inside and saying God what can I do on the inside to change what I'm experiencing on the outside if I didn't say nothing else that would be enough homework for us to go home and focus on I've been thinking that I needed someone to hand me a job I didn't realize that I had a business down on the inside of me God give me the wisdom to reach down on the inside and pull out something that changes on the outside Ezra decided to get uncomfortable Ezra decided to do something different he spreads himself out on the ground his tore his clothes are torn off and he spreads himself out on the floor and he realizes that I can't afford to dress up my frustration and pretend that I can function when I'm really upset some of us can escape Ground Zero because we won't admit that we're at Ground Zero in the first place some of us can't create any change because we can't acknowledge that there's brokenness down on the inside of us this isn't a whuppin this is us in here having a conversation about the things that are keeping us from escaping the very frustrations depressions and disappointments that make us believe we can never become everything that God has called us to become but I believe that God wants to give us a way of escape but it's on us to first dig down ten and admit that we're in trouble and verse six says and this is when he begins to pray out to God and He first acknowledges how he feels he says my god I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to you when's the last time we had a real honest conversation with God we're talking about trying to lay a road that leads to our escape but he can't do it based off of our ego and our pride and off of who we pretend to be if we're gonna have a way of escape God says I want to meet you right where you are I don't want to meet your church face I don't want to meet the face that you put on for your marriage I don't want to meet the face that you put on for your mother I want to meet you right where you are yes you confuse yes you're upset that's who I want to meet I want to meet the real you because I want to change the real you if I can't have access to the real you then my power can't help you radically transform your life I want to know who you are for real if you have to wait until you get into the car to unmask it that's fine with me as long as you get in a place where you are in relationship with God I don't want to just have Church I want my life to be changed I don't want to just clap my hands I want to be in relationship with God and God because I am in relationship with you I want to say I'm lost I want to say I'm confused I want to say I don't get it I want to say that your way is better than my way but right now your way is scaring me I want to say that if you don't do it it cannot be done I want to say that I need you I want to say they left me and they hurt me and they broke my heart I want to say that I never thought it would be them I want to be real with you I'm strong for everybody else but with you I can be real with you I can be we your strength is made perfect in my weakness well God here it is here it is I know I should walk away but I don't have the strength to I'm too ashamed and humiliated to tell you to even lift up my face to you because I did the very thing you told me not to do and it turned on me and it hurt me and it broke me but I dragged myself into this sanctuary because I recognized that you can see past the words I don't say and the words I do say I want to be connected to you on an intimate level and Ezra demonstrates to us that you can do that regardless of the position you're in somewhere along the way we made leadership look like perfection when in reality real leadership is servanthood where you can show me what I'm supposed to look like as a servant where you're supposed to show me that I don't have it all together where you're supposed to show me where I can be ashamed and humiliated because God can take that very thing that was ground zero and built a monument for his glory and so Ezra says I'm embarrassed okay I'm supposed to be leading these people I was supposed to have done something that was going to change their life in the moment I was gone they turned back to who they were and so he begins to go on behalf go to God on behalf of those connected to him they didn't have a meeting and say Azra we need you to pray Ezra was crazy enough to believe that if he got on his face that he could save the people who weren't on their face Ezra enough was crazy enough to believe that the power of one can change we he was crazy enough to believe that even if my husband didn't come to church that I could receive enough glory that when I went back home I could be coming to church maybe the reason why God hasn't given us the breakthrough is because we don't want recognize the power of weed we want him to bless him so that I can have a nice car so that I can have a nice car but when you ask God to start blessing you so that people who don't even realize who he is can be transformed when you start asking God to let my cousin who's never been to church to be saved as a result of me being on my face I feel the presence of God in this place I need you to know that you are the one you are the one that can break generational curses off of your family you are the one that can get down on your face on behalf of people not even in this room and change a nation all I need is one said God if I can get one person who didn't mind saying Here I am on behalf of the brokenness of this nation God I need you to resurrect something on the inside of me I need you to heal something down on the inside of me there are millions of people in this room because you're in it you are the one I wish somebody would start walking around with the type of confidence that said I am the one that doesn't mind getting on my face I'm the one my kids may not even know you but because they got me the power of one will change something they don't even have to know who you are I know who you are and I will pray do you hear when praying grandmother's got on their knees in the corner I know that I'm the result of somebody praying it only took one person to radically change generations his name was Jesus and here we are thousands of years later still talking about one where is your shot at where is your purpose at what did God calls you to do in this earth and when are you gonna do it I need one person who decided it's not gonna happen on my watch I need one person who decides if the world is against me and all there is is me and a word from God that's more than enough for me baby I'm 1 1 I'm 1 I got enough Holy Ghost for everybody at my job it's only one of me and that's enough for demons to start trembling baby I'm 1 I know it looks like I'm lonely I know it looks like I'm exiled but really my power it's so strong that it only took one of me to change generations after me 1 1 as we said if nobody else gets on their knees and prays this if nobody else gets on their knees and prays because I'm the one I believe that I can shake up something in the spirit realm I wish I man some people who knew that you're one prayer could that cancer all that Joe one prayer could cause kidneys to be healed that you're one prayer could create radical breakthrough in your life that you are the one generational curses one person changes the whole time one person changes the whole narrative it took one person still coming and unlocking this church for it to still be here it took one person saying I'm still going to serve in my spot it doesn't matter what happens and then one turn into two and two turned into a thousand and a thousand turned into two thousand one is contagious you could do something with your one that permeates everything connected to you someone can be so captivated by what you do with your one shot that it makes them look at their shot differently that's your responsibility is to take that one idea that one word that one concept and turn it into something that becomes contagious for everyone around you I believe that marriage is holy and sanctified and no one else around me may believe it and everyone else may have given on it but I believe in one and because I believe in one I believe my one marriage could become contagious to someone else's marriage I'm not gonna let the poison of everyone else's disappointment change the power of my one Ezra gets down as one and goes in on behalf of everyone who had messed up and he believes in the power of we even though he was just one so when you find your way you have to realize that we is the only thing that gives you the power to escape from Ground Zero if you're going to escape and build something from Ground Zero you have to have a weed connected to you even if the weed doesn't know that they're connected to you my we are teen moms and church girls my we are preachers kids my weeds are single moms my we they're divorced seeds so when I'm tired and I'm wandering and struggling whether or not I have enough strength I remember my we I want to give you homework for this week and that is to identify your we what are you doing it for who are you doing it for I have to make sure that I differentiate between what and who because if I say what you'll say checks or cars or homes but if I say who you'll see people hurting and broken just like you once where who needs you to win so that they can come out on the other side if you're going to really get down and do this thing for real if you're gonna escape Ground Zero the greatest escape at all is when you have a we when Jesus got on the cross he didn't say I'm gonna get on the cross so that I can be resurrected and everyone can know my name he did it for we so when you find your cross and the thing that's gonna cause you pain the only thing that gives you the power to get out of the bed and do it anyway is when you wreck mine's the we that my children are my we that my community is my we that other people who experience the pain that I experienced that is my week and so Ezra has a we and he admits the faults and the issues with all of his weeks and then in verse eight I love this and this is the part that really made me capture this idea of the Great Escape and it says now for a little while grace has been shown from the Lord our God to leave us a remnant to escape the Great Escape that is available to all of us starts off as a remnant it starts off as a small flicker of hope in the middle of complete darkness and the reason why they escape is so great is because it seems like the odds are against you and it seems like that remnant is not nearly enough for you to escape if you're in this room it's because you have a remnant if you're in this room it's because you've been following this voice this sound in your head this feeling in your spirit that makes you believe that you can actually break out of something if you're in this room you're trying to make sure that you go to the next level that you're challenged to grow and stretch you're trying to figure out where your remnant is and Ezra tells us that the people of Israel had a remnant from the Lord our God and that remnant was for them to escape and to give us a peg in his holy place and I love this because for me it was just a realization that your escape only comes when you recognize that they're still a remnant that your Escape is in the recognition gratitude and response to grace it says an ounce we're little while Grace has been shown from the Lord it's important for us to see that he says for a little while the grace has been shown but our eyes didn't always see the grace that was there in front of us our breath is Grace I know it doesn't seem like all of the time that breathing is all that it's cracked up to be because you wake up everyday and you have it and it doesn't always seem like blinking is all that it's cracked up to be because you wake up every day and you have it and I know that walking sometimes doesn't always seem like it's always cracked up to be and so you end up ignoring the grace that is available to you every single day and instead we magnify the issues that are controlling our emotions and making us feel like we don't have it The Great Escape starts with recognizing the small things that don't have to be within the challenges this week I dare you to start thanking God for the things that have become your norm I dare you to start thanking God for the things that are so built into your life that you hardly even recognize them as grace any longer I dare you to stop focusing on what isn't going right and what isn't progressing and to start thinking God for the remnant because the remnant is enough to explode in your life Ground Zero was a term that began in like 1946 it was after a Hiroshima bombing and they marched Ground Zero as the place right up underneath a nuclear detonation and as I was studying I really felt like that there is a spiritual detonation ready to take place in our lives but the only way for us to release it and to see God's glory explode in our life like never before as if we followed the remnant if we followed the clues that he's still with us if we follow the clues that even in our bondage that he still knows exactly where we are and that he's been showing us a measure of grace and this is when things got really really good to me when I was studying because of course he said that they have a remnant and the remnant is there for us to escape and he says God enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage he says this looks like ground zero this looks like I'm down on my last leg this looks like I've maxed out everything that I can possibly do but I know that you are the kind of guy that can send revival even in bondage that means that when you get ready to send revival that revival doesn't have to take place when everything looks good and when everything is going well that as a matter of fact revival is the most powerful when I am still in bondage and so god when I open up myself in worship what I'm asking is for you to show me a place of bondage so that I can experience revival y'all's life must be amazing everything must be going well you must not be having the Ezra type of experience where you've stepped out on faith and you don't know how God is gonna do what he's gonna do with the pieces that you have but for those of us I'm one of them this word is for me I'm gonna get the tape and I'm gonna listen to it myself this word is for those of us who recognize that I need revival in the middle of bondage that my mind is consumed with fear that every time I step out to do something I have a thousand thoughts pulling me back God I need you to sing revival to me and the place where I'm bound up I need you to send revival to me and the place where I have given up I need you to send revival to what has been the place that caused me the most damage God awakened something down on the inside of me that's worse revival to everything down that you put down inside of me I need revival in the place of bondage Ezra said right down in the middle of bondage and he called on God to send something that would lift everything up around him for us fifty people who know what I'm talking about I'm gonna share the notes with everybody else because maybe I messed it up but I'm saying this the Great Escape as when you all forgot your bondage and you demand a revival take place The Great Escape Ezra nine in the in verse nine it continues and it says we used to be slaves it was important that he recognized that he used to be a slave because it was a sign that I used to be in bondage and you brought me I'm just talking about Egypt when he brought them out and he used Moses he used one man two three thousands I remember when I was a slave and you used one man to bring me out of bondage and so right now at this new ground zero I thought when I was a slave that was ground zero but life has convinced me that ground zero happens over and over and over again but because I used to be a slave and you freed me out of that bondage I'm gonna sit right here at the potter's house of Denver and I'm gonna say God's in revival to me again send revival to my dreams again send revival to my passion again send revival to my marriage again send revival to my church again until demon starts trembling and fear starts backing up all for me until I start birthing and manifesting something that I could have never done unless you said revival I'm trying to escape something I'm trying to get out of the way of my fear I'm trying to let depression losses hold off of me I need the Great Escape I need I need the Great Escape and I can't do it unless you send revival staying with me I'm almost finished there was power in Ezra recognizing that Israel needed a way of escape but just because he recognized it it wasn't enough record he had to call back on his recollection of when he'd been in bondage in the past and how God sent revival from a remnant from a one he sent revival through one and now as we're standing in this building and I was praying and I was looking at our nation in our country and how desperately we need revival I heard God say is there one who would be willing to be the Great Escape for the rest of the people and hurt and in pain I heard God calling us to a higher level of growth and maturity and power within ourselves that he gives us the kind of power that doesn't need validation from anybody else the kind of power that says God if we're the only ones who get it that's enough to radically change things I want you to become The Great Escape the way Jesus was the Great Escape for us that sometimes we pray that God would change our circumstances not recognizing that within us is a remnant that God can magnify it until our circumstances are changed as a result of us producing that remnant and making a demand on it this message the great escaping you've got to read it because God answers his prayers it's really powerful this story but it all started with one and usually we do an altar call and there are so many different calls that we do but I feel like this altar call is for the person who is the one that you know you are the one and you know exactly what you have been called to change in your marriage in your community that as I was speaking you felt like that's the reason why no one could partner with me because I am the one I am the remnant I am the Great Escape that I have been looking for I am the Great Escape that my family needs I know it's me and I've been knowing it with me for such a long time I just didn't think had enough power to put everything on my back and still affect change and I want to challenge you to recognize and consider that maybe you thought that you were going to be the one who did it on your own and you didn't realize that what made Azra so powerful and effective was that though he was only one that his one was backed up by heavens resources that though he was the only one he was the one who knew how to call on the name of Jesus and partner with God so that the people of Israel could be saved I recognize that some people are going to be inspired by your choice and your decision to walk into the identity of you being the one and I recognized the pressure attached to that and the fear of failure attached to that but God stamped you before he puts you in your mother's womb and he gave you an impartation of power and strength before he allowed the cells to make you an embryo and and then a fetus and then a person he already knew what you would need in order to be the one he knew you'd feel lonely he knew you'd be afraid he knew you'd be scared but he still called you the one anyway because he knew that you would not allow the fact that you were exiled to keep you from pressing in and I just want to have a moment at this altar for that one to press in maybe you're the one in the family who's not going to do everything the way everyone else did but you know for a fact that you have discovered your purpose and your reason for being on the earth so you need strength to withstand the pressure of not doing what everyone else did maybe you're the one that's going to change the definition of love and healthy families and marriages within your family and you need strength and power to resist the gravitational pull of falling back into the mentality of what everyone else did I'm the one I know I know I'm the one I received a word I received a word years ago that I was the one that was gonna do it for people who looks like me and I need power because I am somebody's Great Escape somebody else is someone's great hope someone else is someone's great inspiration I am the reason why someone else is going to escape I am the reason why demons are gonna backup all for somebody because someone's gonna look at me and say because they were the one who did it I can do it too and I'm the one I'm called to you a unique group is not for everybody but I know who it is for I am The Great Escape for my generation for my household for my family it's me I know it's me I'm gonna pray in just a minute but I kind of feel like there's somebody who should be here but they're not here and I think part of the reason why you're not here is because you're too afraid to escape your comfort zone but you cannot become the Great Escape unless you step out of your comfort zone we don't ask you to come to the altar to embarrass you I see you praise God we ask you to come because we recognize there's something about escaping the comfort zone that gives you the faith to walk on water this is a moment where we're going to get our feet wet but we're not going to drown this is the moment where we answered the call and we break up routine and we break our patterns and we say you were talking to me and yes I can receive the prayer from where I'm sitting but I'm tired of acting like I need to stay in routine when I recognize that I've been caused to do something different I'm trying to do something different with my life and it starts with me walking down to this altar it's not even me I'm not even comfortable but you're talking to me and you won't stop talking to me so here I come The Great Escape just took place you see people come and I see darkness being pushed back you see people come and I see hail trembling you see people coming back I see marriages being restored you see people coming I see communities being healed and restored I millions of people coming to know our Jesus I see relationships coming together I see healing I feel the presence of God is here here just start worshiping with me this is somebody's moment to escape this is somebody's moment to lay a foundation for a new beginning this is somebody saying it's not Ground Zero any longer that I'm laying a foundation first from the inside then on the outside that I'm changing the way I see my own past I'm changing the way I see my own potential I'm changing the way that I see what's possible for me because I am the one and God is stretching my mind that I can have enough depth and enough wisdom to be the one without fear to be the one with discipline and grace and humility and generosity I'm not perfect but I'm the Great Escape as a matter of fact the fact that I'm not perfect is the reason why I am the Great Escape because some people could only hear it from someone who understood exactly what they've been through and that's why I can be the Great Escape for a Teen Mom someone else can say it who did everything right but when the Teen Mom tells you you still have virtue you still have power that you still have were thing that God isn't finished with you it changes the way I see myself what stories are you going to change that people are currently telling themselves you are The Great Escape and when you take that power and you partner with God no paths can keep you from laying hold of the future he has for you no pass can keep you no mistake no shame no torment no regret can keep you from laying hold of what God has for you I rebuke second-guessing right now in the name of Jesus I rebuke depression right now in the name of Jesus I rebuke fear right now in the name of Jesus I rebuke torment surpassed memories right now in the name of Jesus heartbreak I demand you to heal that's the kind of anointing that exists in this house depression I command you to flee I demand that someone has the power to admit that they are broken so that they can be healed I rebuke besides I rebuke Mass I didn't come here to play Church I came here to get healed God show me who I am God show me how I can use my power how I can use my wisdom and my experiences to help somebody I wanna be somebodies escape I don't want to just be here on my own trying to see what I can get I want to do something with my time that inspires everyone around me and you know what's in me and you know what I went through and you know how it hurt me and you know how it broke me and yet I'm still here I'm at the altar over a remnant god take the rim mix represented at this altar and use them for your glory God take that remnant for a little while you've been showing us grace after grace after grace and I've been so consumed in looking at what didn't work out that I missed the grace that has been consumed in my life somebody is a miracle you see another church member somebody shouldn't even be in this room you push prison off of me you pushed addiction out of my way Ted could not hold me down because of a remnant that was down on the inside of me god I don't know why you chose me I don't know why I'm the one but what I am saying is I surrender to it and I embrace my identity of being the Great Escape I embrace my identity of not being random because I have purpose God help every soul at this altar to be transformed by the renewing of their mind enlighten their eyes O God that they may see themselves with purpose with wisdom with hope and with strategy God stir up the gifts that you place down on the inside of them stir it up O God and let your power permeate every facet of their being until books are written and nonprofits are started and marriages are healed and little girls know how to embrace the love of real men because something took place it that's all to where a woman said not on my watch any longer I am the one that's going to change it for my family God do something at this altar that makes little boys realize that they can cry and be emotional and come to know you because some man had the courage to come to this alternate a I want to change the way our little boys are raised God I'm serious about this thing I want them to do thing radical that's done on the inside of them and I know that they can do it because you graced me to do it and you graced Jesus to do it and you grace so many others of us to become great escapes so God may we escape the beauty of our comfort so that we can understand the power of our purpose can you just repeat after me Heavenly Father thank you for Jesus thank you for making him my Great Escape thank you for allowing me to share in his victory because he overcame death I can overcome fear because he overcame death I can overcome insecurity because he overcame death nothing can stand in my way help me to remember that when I leave this altar that I am equipped and empowered to overcome and pave the way so that no one else has to fight my giant because I knocked it out for them in Jesus name Amen pastor and I love you I want you to take this word I think they've got capes outside maybe it's just on YouTube and listen to it over and over again let it become a part of your mantra and your daily daily reminder of what God has called you to do I'm looking forward to next week where we will be joined by a technology with our la family may the Lord bless and keep you may make his face to shine upon you and be gracious towards you may he lift up his countenance over you and grant you Shalom Shalom in Jesus name we'll see you next week

Channel: The Potter's House of Denver

Views: 253,967

Rating: 4.8827038 out of 5

Keywords: Sarah Jakes Roberts, Sarah Jakes, Touré Roberts, Pastor, Ministry, Church, Escape, Great Escape, The Great Escape, Denver, Colorado, LA, OneLA, Potter's House, The Potter's House of Denver, Potter's House of Denver, Bishop Jakes, Bishop TD Jakes, TD Jakes, Purpose, Wholeness, Destiny, Victory, Who Am I?, What is my purpose?

Id: KginiwgYHwk

Length: 53min 38sec (3218 seconds)

Published: Sun Mar 11 2018