The Point of Contact - Pastor Michael Phillips

i have a word from the lord this morning i'm excited to get into it and i believe god has spoken to me concerning this hour as a matter of fact i was touching my wife as bishop was up talking and he was dancing all over my message and i was hoping that he would hop off of it so i can go ahead and preach it but it's good to know that i'm in the right place at the right time amen let's go to the word of the lord if it's all right with you it is my tradition and custom to stand for the reading of the word and i know the potter's house has that same tradition and so if you would stand with me and join me in the book of acts yeah the book of acts we're going to pick this up in the 16th chapter of the book of acts if it's all right i'm going to read this from the king james version just because i like how it sounds that's all that's all hallelujah acts 16. from the king james version and the bible says this paul came to derby and then to lystra where a disciple named timothy lived whose mother was jewish and a believer but whose father was a greek the believers at lystra and iconium spoke well of him paul wanted to take him along on the journey so he circumcised him because of the jews who lived in that area for they all knew that his father was a greek and as they traveled from town to town they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in jerusalem for the people to obey so the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of phrygia and galatia having been kept by the holy spirit from preaching the word in the province of asia i need to say that one more time having been kept by the holy spirit from preaching the word in the province of asia having been kept mean it was forbidden if they were hindered they were stopped by the holy spirit from preaching the word in the province of asia when they came to the border of messiah they tried to enter mithnia but the spirit of jesus would not allow them to not once but twice they were stopped they were delayed from going where they wanted to go not once but twice their preference was put on hold for god's purpose verse 8 says so they passed by messiah and went down to troas during the night paul had a vision of a man of macedonia standing and begging him come over to macedonia and help us and after paul had seen the vision the bible says they got ready at once to leave for macedonia concluding that uh concluding that a shortly gathering that the lord had called us to preach unto them and for the sake of time if you don't mind i want to skip down if you will to the 25th verse of the same chapter follow me down there and put those words up on the screen for me and it says and at midnight [Music] my god i filled this thing in here already and at midnight paul and salas prayed and sang praises unto god and the prisoners and the prisoners and the prisoners heard them then the bible says in the next verse the bible says and suddenly i gotta pause right there for a second because i feel something happening in the atmosphere and suddenly somebody just shout those two words and suddenly there was a great earthquake so that the foundations of the prison were shaken and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone not someone's but everyone not a person but everyone not one individual but everyone's bands were loose and the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep and seeing the prison doors drew out his sword and would have killed himself supposing that the prisoners had been fled but paul cried out with a loud voice saying do thyself no harm for we are all here oh my god i fit we are all here and then he called for a light and sprang in and came dribbling and fell down before paul and silas and he said these words he brought them out of the cell and said sirs what must i do to be saved brothers and sisters for the next few moments we have together i want to preach to you from the subject titled the point of contact if you're watching online if you're streaming at home if you're on zoom i want you to interact with this message we cannot in our normal custom and tradition high five our neighbors right now but what i want you to do in this moment every time a word comes in your direction and it's a word that is rhema right now for you i want you to jump up and grab it as a point of contact and so before i start preaching and give the prayer i want us to have a practice just reach your hand up and go [Music] and every time as i'm preaching the word prophetically as soon as you hear that word for you i just want you to put your head up and go [Music] oh i feel it in the atmosphere right now come on you're doing it at home or you're doing it on june every time the word hits you just throw that hand up and go i got it it's a point of contact let's pray spirit of the living god we thank you for this moment this time this divine appointment that you have set aside for us you set it aside so that we may have rest to hear to have a pause to listen to be healed to be encouraged to be changed you accomplish this through the preaching of your words for your word is the only thing that can separate soul from spirit no masterful surgeon is able to do what you can do it is the only tool that we have that has a built-in defibrillator that every time we feel like we're going to lose it when we hear the word we can shout clear and we're revived and we've come back to life just because of your word so i ask that you speak such a word to us today that it changes our very nature and that it causes us to be conformed to the image of your son jesus a word that will transform us by the renewing of our minds touch our heart souls open to receive this word and on our ears that we're able to hear it in this moment i take spiritual authority and i bind every spirit except the holy spirit and i say god have your way you are our night present which means father you transcend time and space and even for those individuals who are not in the room you're right there in their living room and in their bedroom and in their kitchen and in their car whatever device they're watching on you are there and you said if any two or three of us would gather together concerning anything [Music] that you would show up right in the midst of us so show up holy spirit show up in an unprecedented way somebody needs to hear a word from you somebody needs direction somebody needs correction and father if we get the direction we won't need as much correction order us this morning by your spirit and we will give you all the praise and all the honor and all the glory in jesus name if you agree go ahead and shout amen you may be seated while you're going down to your seat just throw that hand up and go [Music] it is not lost on us at all that we are all living through a period of disorder a period of global disorder if you will moments of uncertainty unprecedented times we've heard this over and over and over and over again on our news feeds on our cell phones every day that we've wakened up over the last year we've had to come to the realization that we are in a moment of disorder we have to come to the realization that it's not just us that is going through it it is everyone around the world people around the world are experiencing tremendous suffering and uncertainty and disruption in their lives it is happening everywhere reality in and of itself is being unveiled in the beginning of this year as a matter of fact the holy spirit spoke to my heart and said this is a time of unveiling in that time of unveiling systems of injustice and systems of evil are coming to the forefront and being seen and the covers is being taken off and this is a moment for unprecedented change to happen all around the world things are becoming very clear and collectively if you will normal for us is something that has been radically upended you could not get back to normal if you tried you could not get back to that place that you once held familiar if you tried because collectively we've all gone through an experience that whether you like it or not you have been changed and things have changed permanently look at where we are today even in this moment you have to be a little bit of ways from somebody's socially distance we have to be in the atmosphere of worship with our mask on these little things that we've had to endure over this period of time has brought us to a place of walking through a chaotic moment but i don't want you to sit here or sit there online watching on youtube or through a zoom or in some virtual space consider for one second that the chaos is going to get the best of you i need you to understand that we serve a god that knows how to create out of the chaos as a matter of fact if you look at the creation narrative where god decides to start the beginning as the bible says in the beginning god elohim created the heavens and the earth you and i must understand that this is not god's beginning but where he chose to start the beginning god chose to start the story at a chaotic place oh you're not talking back to me the reason why god chose to start the story when the cosmos was in chaos was because he wanted to show us that he had the power and ability to take the chaos and make the chaos a canvas to create something completely and totally new don't be disrupted by the chaos don't be disrupted by the chaos in the world don't be disrupted by the chaos in your life maybe i'm in the wrong place but i think i'm in the right place and i know there's some folk in this room that has to deal with some chaotic situations and some chaotic things and i came to tell somebody that the chaos is nothing more than a canvas it is the place where god is about to do some of the greatest work you have ever seen him do in your life my god let me come over here and say it it is the place where god is about to do some of the greatest work you have ever seen him do in your life don't be disrupted by the chaos oh god the enemy wants you to be disrupted by the chaos your family and your friends might want you to be disrupted by the chaos uh the politicians might want us to be disrupted by the chaos but god is trying to tell us the chaos is where i do my best work i got the chaos when the earth was void and darkness was upon the face of the deep my bible says the spirit was hovering over the waters just waiting for god to speak can't you feel the spirit of the living god hovering over your life right now over your situations over your circumstances over your purpose and over your vision can't you sense it [Applause] isaiah said it this way behold i do a new thing now it springs forth do you not know it the chaos is nothing more than the canvas that's all it is it is nothing more than a place where god can do some of his greatest work and despite the uncertainty and despite the disorder it is our present moment that we must realize this is an opportunity to awaken to a place of deeper transformation of love and of hope and a vision and of dream and of aspiration and of the assignment that god has placed on your life this is the moment when you shake off everything that is not essential to your purpose and to your destiny and every individual that has nothing to do with where god is about to take you this is the moment where you just shake some stuff off that was attached to you that you could not get rid of old mindsets and habits and ideologies and all sorts of things [Applause] excuse me i got to grab that one for myself [Applause] this is an opportunity because in every crisis there is an opportunity let me sit on this thing for a little while i'm going to get us to the text but let me back into it if that's all right this is an opportunity this is a moment in time where you would not have disrupted yourself you wouldn't have changed nothing because we are creatures of habit and whatever you do habitually will always have the power to defeat what happens occasionally and i just said a thing we are creatures of habit and if it wasn't for the chaos and the crisis we would have never chose to enter into this new moment this new opportunity this new place this place is a place of discovery it is the place of contact it is where the person the man or the woman meets the moment and it is also the place where the moment meets the man or the woman this is the place my god that you just don't uh uh find there is no compass to this place there are no directions to this place and that is the difficulty of the place of contact there is no roadmap to get here it can only come when things have been disrupted it can only come when things have been displaced and cannot interject into your spirit before there can be any replacement that must first be a displacement and when god displaces things you have to know he doesn't leave you hanging he will always replace what he has displaced in your life [Applause] there is no compass no road map no real way to navigate this place the bible says that jacob stumbled upon a certain place oh let me preach this thing to you this morning ah the bible says that jacob stumbled upon a certain place the bible says that abraham was told to leave his father's house and he would find the place eventually here the bible says that abraham looked for city whose builder and maker was the lord but there was no gps there was no road map there was no compass he just had to leave what was old so that he could obtain what was new but it's first in the leaving my god that you begin to realize and discover i'm out here and there's no way back i came to talk to somebody who stepped out of something old and who realized you're about to step into something new but you know that there is no way you can get back to what was there is no way back as abraham was looking for a city uh whose builder and maker was the lord jacob the bible says when he left his home his place of familiarity the bible says that he stumbled he light it upon a certain place and by the time he arrived there it was dark my god he had stumbled upon a certain place and by the time he arrived there it was dark and he laid down to go to sleep and heaven opened and he saw angels ascending and descending he saw angels my god ascending and descending he saw angels ascending and descending y'all missing it he saw angels ascending and descending meaning the angels were already here first he saw angels ascending then deal y'all just missed that he saw angels ascending then descending which means his help was already there and he didn't even know it he saw angels ascending then [Applause] the angels of his old assignment were leaving and the angels of his new assignment my god i feel like talking to somebody here the angels for his old assignment were leaving and the angels for his new assignment were [Applause] excuse me i'ma grab that one for myself [Applause] and the bible says he lighted upon the place the the word lighted means he happened to to find it as a matter of fact in the original hebrew it actually means to collide with when when jacob stumbled light it happened to find a certain place where he saw a heaven open it was not a place that that was happenstance it was it was a collision what does that mean it meant as he was looking for the place the place was also looking for him and before he could find the place he ran into the place because the place was running after him like he was running after the place my god who am i talking to up in here it is after you as much as you are after it [Applause] somebody talk back to me somebody talk back to me somebody talk back to me it is chasing after you as much as you are chasing after it i will hasten after my word to perform it my god my god my god my dog you didn't hear what i just said i just told you you are on a collision course with your destiny i just told you you're on a collision course with your purpose i just told you you are on a collision course with the promises of god i just told you that everything that you're looking for searching for trying to understand praying for hoping for is looking for you just as hard as you're looking for it and there is about to be a a collision at the place of contact ah god bishop was up here talking about it earlier and i was like get up off my message bishop but he was talking about it earlier when you're at the place of contact you are alone and there's not an audience for what you're about to be assigned to do and you have to come to your own conclusion to realize that your condition is not your conclusion and so you begin to have a conversation with yourself david was in ziggler and the bible says he was in great distress but he had to have a conversation with himself so he told himself pick yourself up dust yourself off and go get in the face of god to find out what you got to do next the woman with the issue of blood had to talk to herself because she was ready to have a point of contact [Applause] oh somebody shot i'm talking to myself right now i'm talking to myself right now i'm saying pick yourself up dust yourself off get ready to step into what god has assigned for you to do for every person that has felt stuck and unsure and uncertain about your next move and where god is about to take you you got to have a conversation with yourself [Applause] [Music] and you have to tell yourself you are going to get there you have to tell yourself that this is not the end because he that has begun a good work our god shall perform it god would not have started it if he wasn't going to finish you i feel like i'm talking to somebody in the room if he started it that means he's going to finish it let me put it down to your street if you are still alive if you are still breathing that means he's still gonna finish what he started to do do i gotta be alive folk in the room any folk that's still drawing breath and air throw your hands up and give god a shout right now [Applause] who i feel this thing i feel this thing you have to have a conversation with yourself if i were to argue this point in terms of anthropology it it would sound very educated and very articulate and even though the enemy is trying to mess with my voice right now it ain't going to prosper y'all a shout for me if i were to argue at this point in terms of anthropology it would sound very articulate and very intelligent and i would use words like liminality sounds real buttery liminality liminality is is nothing more than a word that simply means a threshold when we hear the term threshold let's just break it down thresh old okay okay okay okay come on come on come on come on come on fresh it means to put away by the blowing of the wind what is useless and no longer relevant to your future thresh old it separates the point of contact between what's hanging on and what needs to go [Applause] am i talking to anybody in the room it's not easy for old stuff to leave your life [Music] and as much as we talk a good game it's hard to let stuff go and so then we are gifted with moments of disruption that does it for you the key is not to try to hold on to what god is saying you need to let go of [Applause] liminality is a threshold it is a place of disorientation and and ambiguity you you don't get a lot of details in this place it is the middle stage it is the rights of passage it is it is the space and the interstate and and out of situations that can begin to cause us to think and act in new ways liminality is a time that is graced but we don't feel the grace only the prick of the thorn which is why paul said in corinthians as he's coming to the conclusion of going through this journey that i'm talking about he says to the church at corinth you're pointing out my thorns but you don't see my grace so he says i will not boast in what i have the right to boast about i would rather glory in my infirmities because i've discovered that human weakness is the greatest backdrop for the display of divine power when i'm weak then i'm strong this is a season where i don't have to sugarcoat or hide my weaknesses but learn that my weakness becomes my greatest weapon because i still got the weakness but god used me anyway [Applause] my god i feel this thing in here i want some honest folks to say i'm still weak in some areas but god is still using me anyway [Applause] and i don't have to hide it anymore because my weakness now becomes the greatest display the greatest backdrop for display of divine power because god has taken me somewhere that my business acumen could not take me he's taken me somewhere that my pedigree could not take me he's taking me somewhere that my network could not do he's taken me somewhere that in all of my scheming employment i could not have got to the place where god is about to take me and paul realizes this and it is his life that i would like to use as the canvas to talk to you more about the place of contact through his call at his conversion at his crossing and more importantly his conviction can we distill somewhat of a compass to get to the place of contact because there are no directions here and so we can only allow paul's experiences to show us the way to the place of contact paul's life which he didn't know at the time would come to be one of the most influential people in the world but the people in the bible don't know they're in the bible [Applause] see when your story is is being documented you don't know the impact that you are about to have because you don't know that you're in it did you did you hear what i just said see you're trying to get in it and don't even realize you already are i'm gonna come over here and say it all of us are trying to get somewhere where god wants us to be but what you don't realize you're already in the moment [Music] so you're crying to get out and god is saying no i need you to stay in because the process has already begun [Applause] am i talking right to somebody and so paul doesn't know that he will write two-thirds of the new testament he doesn't know he's trying to be obedient to the vision that he got in his call we call it his conversion but but but but a conversion is not synonymous with a call because scripturally speaking our calls come before our conversions god calls us when we don't feel adequate when we don't look like we're supposed to look talk like we're supposed to talk or walk like we're supposed to walk and yet and still he calls us he called moses on the backside of the desert after he killed somebody oh y'all ain't gonna talk back to me he called isaiah in the year king uzziah died and he saw the lord high and lifted up and isaiah said i am a man of unclean lips [Applause] he called peter while he was a fisherman and peter told jesus basically get out my boat because i'm a sinner and jesus like god ignored isaiah and moses and peter and every other individual that he called who had an excuse about their inadequacy and told them what he was about to make them into because the process had already started that's why you never give up on your kids or on your seed or on your vision or what god told you or on your dream because it's all ready in the process [Music] [Applause] i want to talk to somebody right now that's struggling at home and your kid is giving you all types of fit here is a reality check i was that kid look at me now y'all ain't saying nothing i was the one that they told my mama i would end up in jail and i would never be nothing but look at what the lord has i feel like dancing up in here and y'all ain't going to give me no help but i want to talk to a parent that's struggling right now don't you give up on your baby don't you give up on your child the process has already started our calls come before our conversions not the other way around i know the church wants it the other way around i know religious puts the cart before the horse re religiosity and religion puts the card but for the horse and you got to have it all together and you got to be pristine and and you got to have every word right and you gotta know it all and you gotta be all together but god doesn't do it that way here he'll call you in your darkest hour he'll call you at your weakest moment he'll call you when every critic said you wouldn't amount to nothing and he'll still call you and he'll take the foolish things of the world to confound the wise [Applause] our calls come before our conversions your call happens in an instant but your conversion takes place over a lifetime somebody just shout god ain't done with me yet baby i know you gave up on you a long time ago i know you're doing a towel on my purpose but god's not done with me yet and so paul has a call on a damascus road and as he has this call the bible says that the lord knocks him off of his high horse a light shines from heaven we know the story i ain't got to babysit you with it oh god and the bible says that as the light shines from heaven he falls off his horse and he hears the voice of god and the lord says to him paul and he says who is it and and and and he said he said is that you lord y'all missed that one right there uh that means he or god had already been talking to him while he's persecuting the church while he's still breathing murmurings while he's sitting complicit y'all they said that in the murder of the saints the lord was still calling him oh y'all don't want to talk back to me why everybody was hating on them and afraid of them the lord was still calling him he said who is it and he said is it you lord and he says yes it's jesus the one whom you persecutes and he asks him a question that says is it hard for you to kick against the pricks what he was saying was simple he was saying when an ox goes out to do work the farmer would pry the ox with a stick and poke him and every now and then the ox would kick back on the stick and wound himself because we always do more wounds more damage to ourself when we're unwilling to do the work that god has called us to do i came to pull somebody out into the space of the god-given assignment that god has given you so that you don't cause more damage because not to do the work that god has called you to do makes you a generational thief it guarantees that there will be no generational equity because the work god called you to do is not about you but it is about the generations that you are supposed to impact and he has his call on the damascus road and he goes into exile after being blinded and god gives him instructions before the exile to find a man by the name of ananias who will help him regain his sight and god speaks to ananias we know the story and he's getting all these type of instructions on what to do next 14 years he spends in exile preparing and getting ready for what he was called to do it wasn't that he wasn't exuberant about the call or the conversion for the bible says straightway he went the preaching but he needed to be processed first he needed to be set apart he needed to have a moment that is going to bring him to this place the point of contact where he would ultimately fulfill his god-given destiny and it is here that we begin to understand in the texts now that he has already accomplished one missionary journey he's already now become part of the electorate of the body of christ he has traveled with barnabas they have gone all throughout lystra and derby and preached the gospel so much so so eloquent that they called them gods but now there's been a shift in his life barnabas and him are no longer together mark who used to travel with them are now is now gone the people that he had in place are no longer there because just like the angels that were assigned to your life there are also people that are assigned to your life and now those people who were a part of what was old in his life have now departed and new people are now showing up and so when we open up acts the 16th chapter we're opening up the beginning of paul's second missionary journey where new people are about to show up in this life because paul is about to go to a new place and the place that he's about to go to is the place of contact and so now the bible says that he goes to derby and he goes to lystra and he finds a young man by the name of timothy and they spoke well of timothy now he has his successor now he has the person that he can transfer wisdom and knowledge to now he has the individual that will take the church and that will shepherd the people and that he can pour into because there's nothing more frustrating when you have been giving a bottle anointing and you are surrounded by cats y'all they said nothing to me that when you have to pour out there is no capacity to handle what you have but now god is surrounding paul with other bottles so that as he pours out he can feel their cups and they in turn can feel somebody else are you still with me and so he goes to derby and he goes to leicester but we must not miss that this is the places that he's already been before why does paul begin his second missionary journey where he's already been because paul is searching for that place and he doesn't know where the place is and so he's being guided by his preference and there's nothing wrong with that there's nothing there's nothing sinful about that i'm just trying to get done what god told me to get done and i don't know what the next move is yet but i want to keep moving and so the bible says that timothy was half jewish and half greek and so he circumcises timothy why because paul's tradition whenever he went into a new city was to go to a synagogue come on stay with me i'm going somewhere with this thing why did paul go to synagogue first well first strategically it made sense because during that time you couldn't just stand up and preach in the street because you would be arrested so he wanted to have a strategy to figure out which way was up he wanted to know and figure out how in the world i'm going to make this happen and so he had the strategy of going to the jew first but there was one problem with that concept and ideology that was not his call that was not his assignment his assignment was that he was going to be the apostle to the gentiles you're not talking back to me but he was accustomed to his tradition of going to synagogue so now he's holding the tension in the gap of his destiny of tradition and his aspiration and his assignment that god has given them to do and he doesn't know how to alleviate the tension and so he's doing all that he knows to do that is familiar and normal to him so he's going back to what he knows a familiar place a familiar pattern do i have time or do i have to rush good because i want to sit right here for a second he's going back to a familiar place why because that's all i know all i know was synagogue i was trained in the greatest schools i spent my life in this place i spent all of my time preparing and developing that's all i know but yet god is calling him somewhere else to unfamiliar territory but i'm doing all that i know and the bible says that he circumcises timothy so that he wouldn't have any trouble when he goes to the synagogues and he's dancing around his past he's dancing around all the places that are familiar to him and as he's doing that new folk are showing up silas is there with him and the bible says there's a we in the text that we means luke joined them also because he needed somebody who was going to be able to tell the story because when you're in the bible you don't know you're in the bible you already said nothing and so now luke joins him so he can have somebody to document the journey and he now has timothy which means he's got succession and he's got solace the able partner who's able to stand with them and do the work that god has called them to do but he's still trying to figure out where the place is so the bible says they decided to try to go into asia where ultimately he would go asia is modern-day turkey and so he's trying to get to a place that he longs to get to but the bible says the lord shut the door we never bishop we never think of hindrance leading us to the place of hell we never view hinderance as help y'all not talking back to me but sometimes you have to come to the realization that the devil don't have no keys god says i open a door that no man can shut and i shut a door that no man can open who am i talking to up in here if the door is shut news flash it ain't the devil oh i lost i lost half the church i lost half the church if the door is shut it ain't the devil he is not that powerful if god wants you in the door guess what you gonna get in the door the devil don't have no keys y'all and so they were hindered by the spirit to not be able to go to turkey and then the bible says well we'll try to go to to bethnia which is a little further north and the bible says the spirit of jesus said nope i don't think so all of us have come through a period of nope i don't think so y'all ain't talking back to me all of us have had a year of nope i don't think so every person in this room every person watching online every individual under the center of my voice have had to endure no the key is not to take the no as never come on y'all got to help a preacher out with half a vote no it's not never excuse me no it's not never no it's not now no it's not never no it's not now when god says no it's usually because things are not in place yet paul was already prompted to go where god was going to send them anyway it just wasn't time and so the bible says like jacob that stumble upon a certain place the bible says while he's trying to figure out where to go at night he has a vision oh i'm preaching good and in this vision he sees a man from macedonia saying come over and help us and then paul realizes that all of that hinderance was was help and so the bible says he gets luke he gets silas he gets timothy man if y'all don't shout on this one i don't know what to tell you but the bible says straightway they sailed for samoa trace which means they got there in two days if you get into acts 20 it took them 156 days to get to where when they got a vision to go where god was calling them to go it took them two days to get there which means the wind was at their back i came to talk to somebody who realizes the wind is at [Applause] oh somebody shout the witness at my back baby i'm about to step out into a moment of destiny where the wind is right [Applause] [Music] straightway straightway straightway oh i feel it straightway straight way straightway way straightway straight way somebody shout i'm going to get there straightway not crooked way not sideway not backway but straightway my god i feel the power of the holy ghost let me clean this thing up so straightway they get to watch this now a new continent y'all don't miss this paul was satisfied with a few regions but god was trying to give him continence [Applause] who am i talking to i might not be talking to everybody that's all right but i know i'm talking to somebody because you feel it down in your spirit that you were about to settle for something small and god was trying to give you a very large impact he just wanted to touch a few regions but god said if you just wait on me i'll give you continents [Applause] and they get the philippi which was a new european continent that paul had never been to and he's about to establish the first church in europe and he doesn't even know it but when he gets there old habits die hard the bible says that he goes down to the riverside in philippi because he's looking for a synagogue which was his tradition but when he gets there he finds no synagogue because philippi was a city occupied by former roman soldiers which means there weren't enough jewish men to constitute a synagogue you need at least 10 of them and there wasn't even 10 jewish men in the city to be able to have a synagogue and so the bible says that as he's looking for one he can't find none and so he finds a group of women down by the riverside who are believers and so he goes to preach to the women because he can't find the men my god i feel like talking to somebody up in here and as he gets down to preach to the woman he finds lydia lydia is not even jewish but she is a believer of judaism [Applause] lydia is a gentile who turns out to be the first gentile that paul preaches to this is the beginning of his assignment [Applause] and we're watching in real time his conversion take place as he crossed over the chasm of the aegean sea and now comes to the place of unfamiliar territory where he's never been before and as he gets there he finds lydia stays at her house and begins to start to preach the gospel and in so doing a slave girl begins to follow paul and silas and cry out and says ye men of the most high god and the bible says it was annoying to paul because the slave girl didn't know the god that paul knew i feel like preaching in here ah she was talking about apollos and so paul agitated by it turns around and casts the devil out of the girl but she got her owners a lot of money and so they started to go to the magistrate and drag paul and silas to the magistrate and beat them openly in the marketplace and the bible says that in that moment it can only be that paul was saying god did you bring me out here to get beat up like this did you bring me out here to be batted like this did you bring me out here to be messed up like this and then they threw them in the prison but not just any old ordinary fashion they threw them in the inner cell and then fastened their feet into the stocks which means that when your feet are fastened into the stock you are spread out in a way that's uncomfortable and it is the most uncomfortable position that you can possibly be in and while in the most uncomfortable position that he could possibly be in the bible sits at midnight my god paul and silas started praising and praying in the most uncomfortable [Applause] do i got any praise us in the room i dare you to lift your voice even though it's uncomfortable and say yet shall i pray [Applause] watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch this watch his horses it's at midnight midnight is the ultimate moment of liminality it is the beginning of the new day but it is the darkest moment it is the ultimate space of transformation it's where the weeping that endured for the night gives way to the joy that's about to show up in the morning at midnight and some of us are at midnight moments in our life but what you have to understand watch this that this is the praise that paul gives before the breakthrough there is always a praise that precedes your greatest breakthroughs in your life this is not the praise to get out of the jail but this is the praise to stay up in the situation [Music] [Applause] [Music] i think there's somebody on the zoom somebody watching on youtube somebody in this room that's got a praise down in their spirit that's about to let everybody's bands loose and i dare you under the sound of my voice to throw your head back and shout her leg [Music] something's breaking my god i feel this thing y'all gonna have to shout for me because i'm losing my voice that's all right something's breaking the bible says that everybody heard them see this phrase was not for paul there are people assigned to your life paul wasn't praising for him i don't want you to miss this i want you sober when i say it this is the praise before the breakthrough paul is not praising to get out of jail it is the moment that he realizes his assignment everybody is not your assignment that's why you don't have any energy [Applause] but your assignment has the power to impact everyone [Applause] don't play me come on come on come on come on everybody ain't your assignment but your assignment has the power to impact everyone why doesn't paul and salas leave i tell you right now if i start praising god and my bank account explodes i'm out if i start praising god and all my debts are canceled woohoo you understand if i'm in a dire situation i start praising god and and he gets me out of it let's go but paul doesn't move more powerfully nobody else does even this is a room full of prisoners who just had their bands released what was in that prayer what is silent in the text is that we don't know what he prayed he could have prayed for their destinies he could have prayed for their purpose he could have said that you're going to fulfill your god-given assignments and god sent me all the way from another continent to tell you it ain't over that you're coming to the point of contact don't leave because when god sets you free it ain't a jailbreak when god sets you free it is an apology for everything that tried to hold you back when god sets you free you don't have to run out of it because the reality is you're anointed to stay in it and that is antithetical to everything that we often hear in church i gotta get out i gotta get out i gotta get out what if your assignment is in then paul doesn't move because he realizes in this moment at midnight that i will do my greatest work from a prison cell i will write two-thirds of the new testament from this place of contact [Applause] i will have the most influence from the most unusual spot it is not my preference i don't want to be here but god if you will it so be it [Applause] and he doesn't move and the reason he doesn't move is because he's on assignment and he's looking for the man in the vision the man that god showed him metaphorically speaking in paul's mind it was probably a real man but metaphorically speaking really wasn't a man it was really his destiny was calling and he's looking for it and he realizes if he does not stay a life can be lost and so nobody moves but everybody's free [Applause] the god comes in contact and he draws his sword because he's going to fall on his own sword because the penalty of losing a prisoner is death by crucifixion and so paul stays so that the man will not be crucified it is a shadowing type of jesus staying in the stocks so that we would not be crucified [Applause] hi chateauboomba my god i feel the spirit of the living god and wake your spirit can't you see god said i'll stay so that your life won't be lost you don't have to figure out which way is up i'll show you because i'll stay and the jailer says where are you and paul says we're all here do yourself no horror and the man falls on his knees ancestors what must i do to be saved isn't it amazing that the man was able to recognize in a moment that salvation has nothing to do with condition that's why paul said when he was in a roman prison cell whether in a jail on house arrest he penned these words from that posture we are seated with christ jesus in heavenly places because my condition does not determine my conclusion what must i do the world is waiting what's the question what must i do and if we are so busy trying to go to the places we want to go and do the things we want to do somebody could do themselves somehow but would you stay on your assignment at the place of contact and to finish my message the bible says the jailer took them out and when he took them out he took them home and paul witnessed to his entire family and his whole house was safe you have a generational assignment [Applause] it is not lost on me who i'm talking to many of you are leaders in this house ushers and greeters and deacons and elders and we have a generational assignment to every person that is watching on zuma on youtube don't think i'm not talking to you your assignment is so important in this moment that you embrace it fully wherever god sends you wherever he tells you to go whatever he tells you to do do it and there will be such a rejoicing over what you have accomplished because there's another praise that follows the praise that set paul free wasn't his it was the jailers the bible says that the jailer started to rejoice in his house and by the time they got back to the jail the magistrate said go ahead and let them go but paul said nope you put me in here you owe me an apology because i wasn't supposed to be in in the first place and the magistrates had to apologize to paul because he was a roman citizen and paul set off to do some of the greatest exploits in a region in the country that will ultimately help spread the gospel like wildfire [Music] let me close with this this just wasn't about the right people and the right place this was also about the provision that was going to be necessary for paul to accomplish his assignment god put him on the continent where all the resources were for his assignment for the church at philippi come on somebody were the first to give liberally to his ministry that's why paul writes to philippi from prison and he says my god shall supply all your need according to his riches and glory what does that mean preacher it means it's as if they got it on the ground floor of an investment that was about to go public it was like an ipo you know what an ipo is as a initial public offering before it a business brings their product to to the to the public and let everybody invest in the company it's held privately but when they bring it to the market what happens is they issue an ipo this is the first time anybody can invest in their company and if you're getting on the ground floor as the stock rises so does your investment so the church at philippi were the first to give liberally to paul's ministry it was as if they bought google for two dollars [Applause] oh tesla for a buck a share their lives were overwhelmingly blessed their lives were overwhelmingly less and in this moment your assignment is coming to the point of contact where the right people and the right place and the right provision collides with you i don't know who i'm talking to but i know i'm talking to somebody and if i'm talking to you just throw that hand up and say i made contact today i can't bring you to the altar but i want you to lift your hands if this word touch you in any way and while you're trying to figure it out like the old song says god has already worked it out come on lift those hands up all over the room [Music] come on right where you are right online right on youtube wherever you're watching and as your hands are lifted i want you to get in your mind's eye your vision your assignment what god is calling you to do the next thing that you're about to step into that next endeavor that next mission whatever it is whatever it is whether it's a business whether it's a ministry whatever it is whether it's a vision of you working on you whatever it is get it in your heart get it in your mind get it in your spirit [Music] and as your hands are raised and your hands are lifted god says you're coming to the place of contact the moment is about to meet you and you are about to meet the moment and i hear the lord say the provision that you need is already in place you are about to come into a command god you are about to come into a collision with provision my god somebody pulled that word down from the atmosphere you are about to come into a collision with provision everything you need is already there everything you need is already provided it's already there lift those hands put those hands together and give god praise for it right now in the name of jesus [Music] come on come on come on a little louder a little louder a little louder a little louder a little louder if it was your rhyme it was the word if it was a word if you meant it in an uncomfortable place [Music] and it was your word give god the glory [Music] lord you got me stretched out here but i trust you and i praise you and i got nowhere [Music] having that all the stand i'm going to stand and i don't want to miss this moment i was standing there and god told me to sow a seed and this is for me i don't know it's for you but i believe it's for other people in the room and this seed [Music] is going to break my wife just confirm it is going to break the spirit of almost [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the spirit of almost is about to be broken over your life you almost did it you almost got the loan you almost got the business you almost got the house you almost got the degree you you almost made it it almost worked out this time god says it's gonna work out this time you're going all the way in to your destiny this time so i got my phone because that's how we got to do it and we're going to show a c and i want to so see bishop not only do i want to sow a seed [Music] i want to yield myself to you this seed doesn't just represent money it represents my life my calling my anointing my sign and when i met you [Music] some almost four years ago i was quitting not because i wasn't successful i had the largest church in west baltimore [Music] but i didn't know if i could do it if i could make it and i felt like my whole life has been almost but i sow this seed today sweetheart i need you to come join me [Music] because the curse of almost is about to be broken [Music] on glory to god glory to god glory to god hallelujah my god my god my god you're the god over our lives you're the god over our destiny you're the god over our future you're the god over our plans and our thoughts holy ghosts have your way oh it's your business oh lord do your business oh can't nobody do it like you do it do your business in this place in this life in this heart as he presents she presents embodies a living sacrifice yielded to your service stir up the gift that lies within them stir it up stir it up stir it up stir it up stir it up stir it up stir it up and i pronounce the benediction on the spirit of almost it is finished it is over it is done everybody that senses the presence of the holy ghost find a way to praise him find a way to praise him find a way to pray find a way to praise it find a way to praise it find a way to praise it find a way to praise it [Music] this is the lord's noise [Music] this is the lord's doors and it's marvelous in our eyes [Music] god's time god's place god's way i know the bible says when the prophets prophesy let the other prophets judge the prophecy i know for a fact that that was a word from god i know for a fact that was a word [Music] from god i know for a fact that that was a word from god and he's shifting us into a position and it hasn't been comfortable but it's going to be so fruitful it's going to blow your mind what god is going to do in the strangest time at the strangest place in your life abundance is going to explode and erupts in your life thank you jesus i want to get in on this we got to get in on this i got to get in on this too it wasn't just i can't let them have this blessing by themselves i got to get in on this too if the holy spirit spoke to you to sow in this moment there is a spirit of release in this place there's a spirit of release there's a spirit of direction i heard god speaking to me [Music] about some things that have been almost there coming into place you need to seize [Music] this moment if if you judge it to be a word from god for your life you you you have to sense it for yourself i know it's a word for my life i know it my wife came up and touched me in the back and bore witness [Music] it's a word it's a word it's a word welcome home [Music] we found the place from the place this is the place come on come on come on somebody come on somebody come on somebody come on somebody come on somebody come on i know this is not church as usual this is church unusual god is doing what he wants to do how he wants to do it [Music] oh you're sitting there watching in your house [Music] the lord is speaking to you speaking to you in a very definite and prophetic way he's explaining why some doors were closed why some things didn't work that you wanted them to work why he shifted you around why he's placed you in an unusual position to give you an unusual blessing [Laughter] this is the point of contact glory to god this is the point y'all don't hear me i was saying one more time this is the point of contacts hallelujah have you ever been on a plane and it was coming down lord and lord it was about to land and when those wheels hit the ground there's a little feeling you get in your spirit a little bounce the point of contact gives a witness in your spirit we have landed this is touched down on the supernatural mandates of god it would take a long time to explain because i think we all heard the same message but we all got a different word it just depends on what's going on with you what you heard but he that had an ear let him hear what the spirit is saying to the church we're in a moment right now that we're gonna have to get back into the move of the holy spirit for for where we are right now for where we are right now thank god for the government but we can't look to the government think thank god for the world but we can't look to the world right now we need an anointed revelatory flow of the holy spirit that unlocks hidden treasures that have been shut down this is the moment right now that you can't just be a church member you got to go on and have the holy ghost you got to go ahead and get baptized in the spirit you've got to go ahead and start walking in a new direction you can't just say oh i belong that's a no no no this is deeper than that god shut all of that stuff down he set all of that stuff down and now it's a matter of he that having the ear let him hear what the spirit is saying to the church is he talking to you i said is god talking to you i said is god talking to you is god talking to you you streaming online is god talking to you he's moving in a most mysterious way father i bless the obedience of your people all around the world who have hearkened unto your voice and your word and your flow and your anointing i bless their obedience it is not just the seed they sowed it is the obedience it is the obedience it is the obedience it is the obedience lord you said in your word obedience is better than sacrifice i bless the obedience of your people who submit to your will and to your word and to your way and i thank you i thank you for the point of contact just landed right now right now right now right now right now right now right now right now touchdown touchdown touchdown right now in the name of jesus my prayer is that you would walk out of this service or when you leave this service or when you shut down the service a sense of calmness and peace and knowing and understanding would envelop you [Music] the hysteria falling on your own sword is over the spirit of seeing this as a calamity is over god is getting ready to reverse what the devil meant for evil and make it good in your life you're not gonna have to run you're not gonna have to crawl out the window you're not gonna have to climb over the rubble you cut you're gonna stand right where you are and god's gonna restore your name your name your dignity your reputation watch and see somebody's gonna have to apologize god is correcting messes right now correcting anybody need god to correct a mess right now i believe it and it is so i decree it and it is so i pray it and it is so i receive it and it is the obedience of your people opens the windows of heaven in jesus name amen lord don't let anybody watching this broadcast or in this service leave this building or leave this service without knowing you you have ordered our steps you have determined our way today is the day of salvation i pray for every backslider i pray for every sinner i pray for every wayward girl i pray for every prodigal son i pray for every weary father i pray for every broken mama i pray that right now in the name of jesus that a sense of direction and wholeness and clarity and trust in you would manifest right now in the name of jesus amen give him the best praise you got wave that flag wave that flag that's a victory flag as a victory praise as a victory praise as a victory praise as a victory of praise as a victory of praise as a victory a victory a victory a victory that's a victory break that's some intimate prayers that's a victory that's a victory friend that's the victory afraid god is so good we honor him i'm going to dismiss the service i want you to i want you to leave here how many people are glad you were in the service today i want you to leave here with the taste of the word god gave to pastor michael phillips still in your mouth have you ever ate something that was good and you didn't want to eat nothing else you wanted that taste to linger this is a lingering word hey hallelujah i i wanted to linger in your mouth so i'm going to dismiss you i'm going to open up all the doors all the notes we can all go out different ways has it not been good for us to be here if you are happy that you're watching online type in the comments i'm so glad i got that word i'm so glad i got that word somebody you got to bear witness some way i'm so glad i got that word i'm so glad i was streaming today i'm so glad i was online today i'm so glad god spoke to me today and see god has to show us some time that he doesn't have to always use who you expected that he's god and he will use whosoever he will father god we thank you for your word we thank you for the service we thank you for the people who are watching from near and far away we thank you both for the people that are in the building and people that are in their house and on their job and in their car and on their ipad and on their laptop on their cell phone receiving life let life radiate from this woman oh god i trust you for it in jesus name amen go in peace i love you [Music] you

Channel: T.D. Jakes

Views: 373,267

Keywords: td jakes, faith, potters house, bishop jakes, The Potter's House of Dallas, TPH Dallas, td jakes sermons, bishop td jakes, inspiration, td jakes motivation, motivation, sermons, td jakes ministries, motivational speaker, motivational speech, gospel, motivational, sundayservice, tdjakes, td jakes 2021, td jakes sermons 2021, pastor michael phillips, pastormichaelphillips, thepointofcontact, the point of contact, where is new opportunity, what can we do for other generations

Id: bGke0qmNubk

Length: 95min 54sec (5754 seconds)

Published: Sun Apr 25 2021