Say amen. I want to go back to that whole, the entire last part of amen. But look what it says here right before we take the Lord's Supper.
Matthew 18:19 says, "Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven."
And when we say that word amen, we're actually agreeing with God, meaning simply, so be it. There are often times in life there are some amens that we will run to say amen to. It's some things that we will quickly agree with God with no hesitation, no reservations. It's like, amen, yes God, I want that.
But then there are times where the amen is not one you want to run to so fast. You begrudgingly want to say amen. You have this long delaying pause of wanting to agree with this thing that God is saying.
But how many know, whether it's on a mountain or a valley, we still got to say amen. That thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
And so maybe you are in a season right now where it's difficult for you to say amen. Maybe you had to leave a job or things didn't go the way you wanted to go. The business deal didn't go the way you wanted to go. You didn't get the loan offer that you thought you were going to get.
And you just got to say amen. God, I don't like it. I don't understand it, but I'm going to say amen. Maybe you lost somebody in 2024 and you have not fully accepted that God brought them on into his presence.
And maybe this is the year that you finally say amen. Maybe not even a physical year, not a physical death, but the death of a thing. And it's time for you to close the door on that.
And I just want us all across this building to sing that entire last part again with everything that's on the inside of our heart. The Bible talks about that our body is instruments, that as we lift our hands, it's an instrument unto God.
And so as we sing this one more time, I want you to use your hands as instruments and tell God amen as you lift up your hand.
Maybe you need to walk a little bit and tell God amen. Maybe you need to paint the room a little bit and just say, God, I don't like it. I don't understand it. It don't make sense, but I'm going to say amen to this.
I don't like the darkness report, God, but only you can turn it around. So whatever you choose to do with that, God, I'm going to say amen. Can we sing that right now? Amen.
Amen. I'm allowed to take a seat for just a moment right before our final worship song. And just let's keep the same posture of heart as we prepare our hearts to receive our communion on this morning.
I want to read a scripture to you found in 1 Corinthians 11. If you did not receive your communion elements on your way in, please lift your hand up real high, and one of our ushers will put those elements in your hand in just a moment. Just lift it real high if there's one who is overlooked today.
But look what the scripture says here in 1 Corinthians 11, verse number 17. It says, "Now in this that I declare unto you, I praise you not that you come together not for better, but for the worse. For first of all, when you come together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you, and I partly believe it. But there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you."
That when you come together, therefore, in one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper. For in eating, everyone taketh before other his own supper, and one is hungry, and another is drunken.
He said, "What? Have you not houses to eat and to drink in, or despise ye the church of God and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you in this? I praise you not."
For I received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "Take, eat, this is my body, which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me."
I mean, there were two ordinances of the scripture in the New Testament that God tells us to remember. And one of them is water baptism, and the other one is what we're doing right now.
We're remembering, we're taking the Lord's supper. We're remembering that last supper that Jesus had with his disciples. And he took that bread, he took that wine, and he used those as symbols to express what was about to happen, about his death and how his body was going to be taken and broken for our sins.
And now his blood will be shed for us. And so today, as we remember what the Lord has done for us, we're going to reflect and remember and be reminded.
Over 2,000 years ago, God sent his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him does not have to perish, but can have everlasting life.
I want to take about 30 to 60 seconds and just pause and reflect in your own way as we prepare our hearts to eat of this. Maybe you want to just sit there asking God, you know, to touch your heart and forgive you of anything. Anything that could cause you to feel unworthy of taking this supper on today.
Let's just pause for about 30 to 60 seconds. Examine your own heart.
We thank you, Father. We thank you, Father. Forgive us of anything, God, that will hinder us from a pure heart of receiving and taking this supper.
God, sins of omission, sins of commission, things that we don't even realize that offended you. We ask for forgiveness as a church body, as a family right now.
And God, we thank you, God, for being able to come boldly before your throne of grace, making our petitions known, knowing that you will forgive us of any and everything that has offended you.
So we do that today as a family. We ask you as a church body, as a family, to take our hearts, renew it within us right now, purify our hearts, purify our minds.
And as we take this bread, which is a symbol of the body of Christ being broken for us, we take it and we eat.
And after the same manner, he also took the cup, and when he had said, "This cup is the new testament in my blood," he said, "This do ye, as often as you drink it, you do it in remembrance of me."
What can wash away our sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make us whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus.
Let’s pray to stand as we go into our final worship song as our altar workers come forward. Whether you're on a mountain or a valley, the scripture is clear that one can chase a thousand, two can put ten thousand to flight.
So let's worship and let's pray right before we go into the message on today.
Amen, amen. Happy anniversary, Hope City. Happy anniversary.
If you've been with us any length of time, you know we don't generally celebrate anything major year to year. We do a five-year anniversary with us last year. We did our five-year or ten-year, and it was bougie. Come on, somebody. It was real nice.
So we're going to be 15 off the charts. It's going to be amazing. If you want to just reflect over all that God has done for us and through us in 2024.
I just want to do something real fast here. Does anybody that's in this particular service, I did this in the first service, I'll do it now again. Is there anybody in this first service that was with Hope City in that first year? If you could stand to your feet.
Anybody in that first year that was with us, that first year? Amen. Amen. The first year. And were anybody in that first year with us on that first day? On that first day. Stand to your feet still.
Ms. Mary, stand to your feet. Okay, good. Matter of fact, you ain't going to even speak, so I ain't going to even call you up here. Okay. But Mary was with us like day one, Charlotte, Ms. Ann, Ms. Mary.
Matter of fact, this church really, to be honest with you, to a great degree, wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the prayers of Ms. Ann. Wait, Ms. Ann, Ms. Ann like my mama, y'all. So y'all would see her.
But she was the one that first year being here that made sure things were in place. She did everything. I mean, she was my executive assistant at one point. She was a dream team coordinator at one point. She was a pickup person at one point. She did a whole thing.
Came, let's say, to the second and third. Third year. You stand to your feet real fast. Second and third year people. Okay. Fourth and sixth year. Fourth and sixth year. Yeah, fourth and sixth year.
Okay. The seventh and eighth year. You came in the seventh and eighth year. You've been here about three years now for the most part. The most.
Okay. Okay. Anybody who came in the past two first-time guests. Okay. Just stay where you are.
Whether you came on just yesterday, do know that you are loved and appreciated, and we can't do what we do here at Hope City Church without you.
It's a scripture that says where there's no vision, the people perish. I like to flip it and say this here. Where there's no people, the vision perishes.
So with your support and your help, you have to bring the vision of Hope City Church to pass. So give yourself a hand on today. Thank you. You guys can be seated.
I want to just share something real fast and then I'll jump into the word. I've shared this maybe over the years at some point, but I want to kind of try to share it here.
It's not in the notes, so the media team will not actually have this. It's in their notes. But I thought about this on this morning, and I want to just read a couple of scriptures.
Again, this is not my message, but I want to make a point with this thought as we talk about vision on today. I call this Sunday our Vision Sunday more than our Anniversary Sunday. I just want to talk about vision.
I just want to read for you in Matthew, I'm sorry, in Genesis chapter 12. Genesis 12. Just listen. It's not on the screen. If I can get the digital thing, it'll work.
Okay, where we at here? Where we at? Where we at? Okay, there we go. Genesis 12. Listen to this here. Now, this is God calling Abraham to do and fulfill a purpose.
It said, "Now the Lord has said unto Abraham, Get thee out of your country and from your kindred and from your father's house unto a land that I will show you, and I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, and thou shalt be a blessing, and I will bless them that curse thee and curse him that curses thee, and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed."
And so it goes on to say, "So Abraham departed, and did what God told him to do."
What I really want to focus on here in just a second as I go back to Genesis 15, I want to just remind you that there's three types of vision that the Scripture speaks about, and it's what I call personal vision, corporate vision, and universal vision.
Abraham, we're going to find out here in just a moment here, he was responsible. God wanted to do something great through Abraham that Abraham was going to be the one that helped bring the universal vision of Jesus Christ on the scene to places.
So we're going to look at even a corporate vision of getting the children of Israel into some land, and then that personal vision that we actually see here that God is talking to Abraham about here.
Personal vision. He's going to make his name great. Now jump back over to Genesis 15 for those who are following me. Genesis 15 says this here, "After these things, the word of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision saying, Fear not."
It's about to say fear not. He said, "Abraham, I am your shield and your exceeding great reward." And Abraham said, "Lord God, what will you give me, saying I don't have any children, and this steward of my house is this Eleazar of Damascus."
And Abraham said, "Behold, to me thou hast given no seed, and lo, one born in my house is mine heir." And behold, the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, "This shall not be your heir, but he shall come forth out of your own bowels shall be your heir."
And he brought him forth abroad and said, "Look now toward heaven and tell the stars, or tell the stars if thou are able to number them." And he said unto him, "So shall your seed be."
So three things I just read to you here in Genesis 12 and 15, it was a personal vision, there was a corporate vision, and the universal vision.
I showed up in Abraham's life and said, "Abraham, I want you to get up and take these people over into the promised land." There was a corporate vision that God said, "Abraham, I need to use you for something. I want to give the children of Israel some land."
There was a corporate vision to take the nation of Israel into the people that God was going to use to bring Jesus Christ on the scene in the New Testament. Then he brings them to his place and says, "Hey, this little boy or this person in your house would not be your heir. You're going to have your own. You're going to have your Isaac, if you will. You're going to have your own son."
You're going to have your own son. You're going to have your own son. You're going to have your own son. Your own son will come out of your own bowels. He said, "Look at the stars and tell me if you can number them."
Obviously, he could not number them. He wanted to show him just how many people was going to come into a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
And so Jesus Christ was the universal vision. I'll make it plain. The personal vision was Isaac, his own child. The corporate vision was the land he told him to get up and walk into to get the children of Israel into.
And the universal vision was that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever might believeth in him does not have to perish but have everlasting life.
God so loved the world. So God was showing Abraham the universal vision, his desire to save all mankind.
And God said, "If you do something for me, Abraham, I'm going to do something for you. I'm going to give you your personal promise."
Here's my point I want to make to you today. As you are partnering with Hope City on this corporate vision of Hope City Church, make sure you got a personal vision.
Make sure you got an Isaac that you are believing God for. Because remember this here, every corporate vision is hinged upon many things and it don't go at the speed of one person.
Come on, somebody, you got to get this here. Every decision in a corporate place is not hinged upon one person. So when you're in a corporate place, you don't always get what you want.
But if you have a personal vision in your life, you won't get upset about everything that's moving and changing within their organization because you understand it's bigger than the person that came to the first year or the fifth year or the tenth year or the twentieth year.
It's about a corporate vision. So when you always have something personal going on in your life, you won't get upset with every change and every decision that's made within the organization.
Are you with me right now? Because you understand this thing is bigger than just me. It's about the whole thing that God is trying to do at Hope City.
And then the universal vision of the body of Christ, all the local churches, they have a corporate vision and all these churches together. It's bringing to pass the universal vision, and that is the world being saved.
Are you with me on today? So I want to encourage you on today. If you don't have a personal vision, God has a desire for your dream, for your vision to come to pass as you're partnering with your local church to make a difference.
And then all these local churches that were planted in Pooler, that were tied to in the art, even the local churches here in Savannah, all these churches together are doing a corporate thing in their own backyards and all of us together is bringing to pass the universal vision.
Can we give God a praise for that on today? Somebody say, "Let me get a vision." You got to have a vision for your own life. You got to have a vision for yourself, and you can literally watch all the amazing things that God will do in you and through you.
I want to just start today talking about possessing the promise. That's the message on today. Possessing the promise, talking about vision, 11 years of God has been faithful to us here at Hope City.
The definition of vision is very simple. It means divine direction. So I'm going to say divine direction. It is a clear picture of God's purpose and plan for our lives.
Vision isn't just about seeing the future. It's about moving forward in faith and in action. I think about me and my wife, the kids leaving Jacksonville. It wasn't just about vision, seeing a thing, but it's also about moving in faith and boldness of what you believe God is saying to you.
Because many of you got vision and boldness of what you believe God is saying to you. The question is, am I bold enough to get up and do what God told me to do?
You got vision, you got insight, you got dreams, but am I bold enough and confident enough to pursue what God is showing me in this vision?
Proverbs 29:18 says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish, but he that keepeth the law happy is he." Again, "Where there is no vision, the people perish."
I like to say, "Well, there's no people, the vision will perish." Well, there is no vision. One translation of King James in the Hebrew, it says, "Well, there is no redemptive revelation. People, they lose restraints or they have no restraints and they're just shaken loose."
In other words, they're just living life by chance. You don't have no sense of purpose. You don't know where you are going. Well, you don't have any vision for your future, no vision for your life.
Well, there's no vision. The people perish. It's not necessarily talking about physically perishing. It just means you're just existing. You don't have no real life. You don't have no reason to be existing.
And so you have to make sure that, watch this here, you get a redemptive revelation on why you showed up, why you're here, why you're here, and why you said yes to life.
Vision, watch this here, vision provides direction and it provides purpose. Without vision, people wander aimlessly and fall, they fail to step into God's best for their life.
For many people, it doesn't mean you won't achieve anything. It means that we don't fulfill God's best or we don't possess God's best for our life.
We almost get a secondhand version of what God desires for us to have because we don't have a clear vision on what we're supposed to have.
I like to say your vision needs to be clear, concise, and compelling. Let me say it again. It needs to be clear, concise, and compelling, particularly if it's a vision that you want people to follow.
It needs to be clear, it needs to be simple, it needs to be understanding, and it needs to be powerful. I believe our vision here as a church is simply to know God, find freedom, and discover your purpose and make a difference. That's simple within itself.
Everyone can say, "Know God, find freedom, and discover purpose and make a difference." But to be clear, just as simple as that sound, it is a very difficult thing to do because everybody don't want to know God.
Everybody don't want to find freedom. Everybody don't want to naturally discover their purpose and definitely don't want to make a difference.
So there's work to do with helping people know this God that we're talking about on today. Look what it says here in Joshua chapter one. I'm not going to read it, but it's something I shared on last week.
God gives Joshua a vision to lead his people into the promised land. And he constantly said, like in verse number nine, "Be strong and courageous. Be strong and courageous for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."
So as you're pursuing vision, you're pursuing destiny. The promise is, God's going to be with you wherever you're going to go.
And God is saying, there's going to be some things that will tempt you to not want to do what I'm telling you to do. The water's going to get tough. The situations are going to get rough.
But I'm going to tell you, even in that, be of good courage, be strengthened. I'm going to be with you even in this. I'm going to say, "God's going to be with me even within, even in that."
For the Lord God will be with you wherever you go. Just like this. Hope City is called to lead people into the fullness of God's promises.
Again, our mission is simple. That's to help people know God, find freedom, and discover purpose so that they can make a difference.
Let me break those four things down to you here. Number one, point number one, know God. It's the foundation of everything. Knowing God.
It's just not words that we have on the wall. Know God. But what does it mean to know God? I like what it says here in John 17, verse three.
Now, this is eternal life that they know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. He said, "Now this is eternal life." You get eternal life by knowing who God is.
So it's not just words that we have on a wall. It's not just a cute cliché, but helping people really know who God is, give them real access into the presence of God.
So when folk come to Hope City Church, it's not about knowing the worship team or knowing Pastor Corey. No, we want to get you to know God.
Because what is it to know Pastor Corey, but don't know God? That's why I tell people, don't be trying to bring people to meet me. Try to get them to meet Jesus.
Come on, some people. It's not about knowing me. It's about knowing him. And don't get me wrong. I understand that people go to a church and they're looking for a leader to teach them and preach the word.
But at the end of the day, all I am is just a fish and a piece of bread. Come on, somebody. That God's going to ultimately use to get people into his presence.
Again, think about it. Think about what I just said about the fish and the bread. If you go back to the story when Jesus fed the multitude, his mission that day was to preach the word.
But he saw a fulfilled need that the people was hungry. And he realized, I can't even preach to them right now because their stomachs are growling.
Come on, somebody. Have you ever been to church before and you can't even hear nothing I was saying because you're hungry?
Yeah, uh-huh. Now, you weren't supposed to say that. You're supposed to keep that to yourself. Some stuff don't even confess.
So I'm preaching and all you're thinking about is that steak, that chicken. Come on, somebody. Man, I wish he would hurry up because I am hungry.
And the person next to you said, "What was that?" "Oh, that's my stomach growling." You know, you're hungry and the desire is to get people to know God and not me.
And knowing God is a powerful thing that we need to do. One of my favorite scriptures when I talk about knowing God is Acts chapter 9, verses 1 through 5.
You may not have those verses on the scriptures. I added those on today, but here we have Saul who was a murderer of Christians, and he did not like anything about the church.
He had permission from his leadership, those that was totally against the church, to kill as many Christians that he came across.
But look what happened to Saul one day when he encountered God. Verse 1 says, "Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples."
It says, "He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem."
And it says, "As he heard or near Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground, heard a voice saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?'"
And it says in verse 5, "Saul asked, 'Who are you, Lord?'" Two of the questions that every church, if we are worth our salt, two questions that churches should answer for anybody that walks through the doors, who is God and what has God called them to do?
That's why it's important for us to help people know who God is, because when Saul said, "Lord," he found himself knocked off of his donkey, knocked off his horse, forced to look up and say, "God, who, Lord, who are you?"
And ultimately, "What are you asking me to do?" Those are two questions every good church should help people do. Help them say, "Man, who is this God that y'all talking about and what is he calling me to do?"
Listen, listen, it's not always the devil that knocks you off your horse. Sometimes God will knock you off your horse.
In that moment, that wasn't the knocking Saul off his horse. That was God trying to get his attention.
Listen, God will sometimes knock you off of your horse just to get your attention. And that's what he did to Saul that day. He wanted Saul to know who he was.
Is it possible, is it plausible that that's a situation that has arisen in your life that you don't like? It's frustrating and it's forcing you to find out who God is.
You know who your favorite Facebook person is. But do you know who God is? Come on, somebody. You ask Facebook what they think about this, but did you ask God what he thinks?
Come on, somebody. You call your therapist and keep your therapist about this, but did you ask God about it?
God ultimately, his desire through the therapist, through the preachers, through pastors is ultimately to get us to know who he is. Can we give God a praise for that?
He said, "Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked. And he says, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting," he replied. "Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do."
We want people to know God so they can ultimately, as Saul is about to discover his purpose. Come on, somebody.
Saul is about to discover why he showed up, why he said yes to life. Now remember that it's a scripture I always quote oftentimes when I'm closing out and doing the altar call.
It is Elijah who, I'm sorry, Jeremiah, when he was questioning his ability to do what God was asking him to do. God wanted Jeremiah to be a prophet unto the nations and Jeremiah questioned his ability to do what God was saying.
And he said, "Jeremiah, before I formed you in your mother's womb, I knew you." Come on, somebody.
That word "knew" was the same word used over in the book of Genesis when God said, "And Adam knew Eve."
That "knew" was not just that they knew each other, but ooh, girl, you cute, or ooh, man, you handsome. No, they became intimately acquainted to the point they gave birth to a baby.
And that's what he said. And that's what he said. Come on, somebody.
And when you become really intimately acquainted with God, you become spiritually born again. And this is what we mean about knowing God, not just a t-shirt, not just a short word on the wall, but really knowing who God is.
Now I'm going to say this here, and I can't prove this, but I believe this with everything on the inside of me. I believe every one of you in here that before you was placed in your mother's womb, you had a conversation with God and you knew exactly what you were going to do.
And I'm going to say this here, and I can't prove this, but I believe every one of you came down here to do. I can't really prove that, but I believe every one of you in here, you had a conversation with God and you knew why you came here.
Who remember the Men in Black show? It's been years ago with Will Smith, Men in Black. And you remember that the men would come and they would be doing some crazy stuff and people would see it.
"Oh my God, what happened?" And then to get them to forget what they saw, he'll say, "Look into the stick."
And they look into the stick and then boom, and everything they saw, they forgot. I believe that when God said to Jeremiah, "Jeremiah, before I formed you in your mother's womb, I knew you."
"Jeremiah, we had a conversation about this. You knew why you were coming down here for this purpose in which you came."
You just can't remember right now because I, boom, you come on somebody. And this is the reason why it is important when the Bible talks about raise up a child in the way that he should go, because parents, it's not the parent's job to tell the child what to do.
It's to help the child to discover what they were bent to do. Come on somebody. God already placed it on the inside of you. It's just our job to push you to that place so you can, man, this is what I was born to do.
Why do I like doing this? Why do I like doing hair? Why do I like teaching? Why do I like selling? Because you're trying to figure out what you said yes to life to.
Am I making sense to you right now? God want us to know who he is. And in knowing him is when we really find out what we were designed for and who we really are.
That is so good, y'all.
Listen, a GPS is useless if you don't know your destination. A GPS is useless if you don't know where you're going.
If you don't know your destination, a GPS would do you no good. Like, "Hey, you got a GPS?" "Yeah, I got one." "Okay, good. So where you going at?" "I don't know."
Well, the GPS would do you no good if you don't know where you're going. The first step in any journey is knowing who you are following.
When you know you're following God, who really is your GPS system, he will ensure to get you to your destination.
Watch this here. Not only just get you there, but he'll get you there on time. And some of y'all think y'all late.
Some of y'all think, "I ain't going to never get there." And here's a proven fact that even if you were supposed to be there early, you're not late because God got you late.
You're late because you got yourself late. You know, similar to the person who always wake up late.
Similar to the person who forgets to set the clock. Similar to the people who get up on time and somehow still find themselves late.
How in the world am I late? I set my clock. I had my coffee. I got it. But I still show up.
So if you end up getting there late, it's not because something God did wrong. It's more than likely we did something wrong.
Always remember. Remember, there's never a breakdown in God, but there's always a breakdown in man.
And so whenever things don't go your way, the way you want it to go, the speech, you got to go back and look. What did I do wrong?
How did I get off course? And the beauty about us getting off course is one thing with God. He know how to recalibrate you and get you back on course.
But if you refuse to get off when the GPS say you made the wrong turn, get off on the next exit. But you're like, "No, I'm going to figure this thing out."
You go to the next exit and the next exit. And all you're doing is getting further away. And you extend the time to get into your destiny.
And then you say, "Oh, the devil did not." The devil didn't do that one this time.
One scripture says, "Let no man say that when he is tempted, he is tempted of God." It said, "No, he is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lusts and pleasures and entice."
Come on. You know, this way look better. I'm going to go that way. This way look better. This way look faster.
Come on. You ever been there before? A way seemed like it was faster, but it really wasn't faster.
You're like, "Oh, man, what I done done right now." Now I'm going to be fit because there is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof is death.
You got to let God be the GPS system in your life. And you can only do that if you know who he is. Can we give God a praise for that?
Here's a second thing here. Number two, find freedom. You can't step into the future while stuck in the past.
I'm going to say it again. You can't step into the future while stuck in the past. And that's why we believe in true freedom happens in the context of relationships.
And this is why small groups is important to us here at Hope City. What God is doing here at Hope City is not because what's happening in the crowd on Sunday mornings.
It's because what's happening in small circles in the middle of the week is when people are really doing life together, taking off their masks for real.
It's because what's happening in small circles in the middle of the week is when people are really doing life together, taking off their masks for real.
Because all of us can look like Sunday's best right now. Come on, somebody. All of us look like we got it going on, got the best careers, the best job, your nails done, your hair is flipped right, your edges on fleek.
Come on, somebody. Everything look right in the crowd. But when we all start getting five groups of five and ten and everybody start taking the mask off and sharing what's really going on in your life for real, that's when people really begin to find freedom and get real help.
So I want to encourage you to get in a small group in the sea. You may say, "Well, why they go in a fishing group?"
Hey, listen, a fishing group will end up at some point talking about the Lord. Come on, somebody. Somebody going to end up getting in prayer in the fishing group.
And listen, everybody don't need a Bible study group because some people stay in the word. They need some opportunity now to go relax.
Come on, somebody. And do something casual. You know, it's the people so churchy. It's all they do is church.
So it's okay to go out and hang out with some girls. And maybe just do what y'all do best. Just talk.
Just leave me out of that group. Come on, somebody. Y'all should call a group called "It's a Talking Group."
If you like to talk, come join our group because we ain't going to never shut up. We meet every day, seven days a week. It's our small group.
Galatians 5:1 says, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free." I'm going to say it again. "It is for freedom for which Christ has set."
Why did he set me free? For freedom's sake. He set me free so I can be free.
Some of y'all say, "Well, I'm in control. If I want to stop this thing, I can stop it. I'm not addicted to this thing. I can stop when I want to."
I can stop cussing when I want to. I just don't want to stop cussing. No, you can't stop. No, you got a cussing spirit.
Come on, somebody. I can stop lying if I want to. No, you got a lying spirit.
Whatever it may be, whether it's porn, whether it's social media. I can stop watching social media when I want to.
I'm telling you, some of y'all are addicted. And it is a proven scientific fact how it has shaped our thoughts over the past 15 years.
Some of you, your phone, if I say, "Say everybody, when you leave here today, leave your cell phones on your seat. We're going to lock the doors and no one will be able to touch their phone until next Sunday."
Some of y'all... You can't even... I got to have my phone.
Watch this here. Some of y'all will get 20 miles away from the house and realize you left your phone.
Are you going to go to work or are you going home? You're going by... And I'm not saying people who are using it for business purposes wise.
You turn around. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. You know, there was a documentary. They did a documentary they did on teens with their phone.
That it's a word called for them not being able to be separated from their phone. That these kids had panic attacks.
And you can see it visually in their body having panic attacks, hyperventilating because their parents or whatever happened. They took the phones away from the kids.
And so it's not just a simple saying, "Give me that phone." These things are literally attached. Their identity in many cases.
It's in that box and watch this here. Not just the kids today, grown folks.
If everything, everything, matter of fact, with the algorithms now, you do enough stuff in your phone. Those algorithms would know you better than you know yourself.
It will show you how you can't step into the future while stuck in the past.
Listen, God didn't just bring the Israelites out of Egypt. He wanted to get Egypt out of them.
When? When? When God delivered, when he said to know God, find freedom. The Bible talks about work out your salvation with fear and trembling.
Once we get, there's nothing to do. Our salvation was paid for through Jesus Christ. So once we get saved, I'm sitting over here.
Once we get saved or we don't work for our salvation. But once we are saved, there's work to do. Are you with me?
I don't work for my salvation. Jesus died for my sins. It was a gift. John 3:16. God so loved the world. Jesus paid the price.
But once I get out of Egypt, I got to do the work now of getting Egypt out of me.
It goes back to a point I made many times here at Hope City. You could be dating this guy or this girl for years and you knew they were no good for you.
And you finally say, "I'm done with Elroy. I'm done with Elroy. Me and Elroy, we're done with. I'm just tired of Elroy. I'm done with Elroy."
It's not Elroy. Please don't be no Elroy. It took me a long time to figure out a name, not to call a name out for real.
I had two or three good names. They said, "Pastor Corey, you used my name in your sermon up there." So Elroy, she finally let Elroy.
I mean, she got her clothes out of Elroy's house. She took a toothbrush out of his house. Elroy lived on the south side and she lived on the west side.
And she finally let Elroy go. All her friends were, "Girl, you did it. Girl, I'm so happy for you. Girl, you did that thing."
She let Elroy go. She get home at night. It's one o'clock in the morning. She cried. "I miss Elroy. I wonder what Elroy doing. I wonder if Elroy's asleep."
Because, see, look what happened was, she got out of the environment with Elroy, but Elroy was still in her heart.
Come on, somebody. See, the first step to freedom is to get out of the environment that's causing the problem.
See? See, when God got the children of Israel out of Egypt, he wasn't even trying to get Egypt out of them at that point there.
He just wanted to get them out of all the 400 years of slavery that they were in because now the mindset has been reshaped.
He's like, "Let me just get them out of the environment and now I'll spend some time dealing with what happened on the inside of the heart."
Think about a person who was addicted to drugs. The first thing, if they're trying to get them into detox, they're not trying to get them to start smoking or drinking just this moment.
They're trying to get them into the car, out of the environment that is feeding the problem.
And once they get them out of the environment and put them into detox, now they can get the stuff out of them.
But if I don't get you out of the environment that's causing the problem, I'm working, we're working against what needs to be done.
Are you with me on today? You can't step into the future while stuck in the past. You got to get out of the environment, get out of the mindsets and the conversations that's causing the problems so that God can now make us truly free.
Joshua had to lead the people beyond their past failures and into the promise. Here's number three as I hasten to close here. Know God, find freedom, discover your purpose.
Listen, you were created to be free. You were created to be free. You were created to be free. You were created to be free. You were created for more.
I'm going to say it again. You were created for more. Some of us, some of you, you have settled for a lesser version of what you were designed to be.
You've lowered the standard, if you would, of who God have called you to be. Saul thought he was doing something absolutely amazing.
That thing woke Saul up every day to go kill Christians. And listen, you could be doing the wrong thing and passionate about it. It don't mean it's right.
See, y'all think because everybody got a crowd, they must be right. All your friends who got all these 5,000 followers, they must be right.
What's special about them? Why can't I ever get my numbers up like that? Why can't I ever have that there? You know, we got to be very careful of measuring everything based on size.
Size is great. Being big is great. But numbers only tell a story. It don't tell the story.
Okay. Numbers tell a story, but it don't tell the story. Right now, if someone falls out on the ground here right now, the first thing a rescue person is going to do is going to check what for some numbers, their vitals.
And why big? Because the vitals is going to tell them something. It may not tell them exactly what's wrong with them fully, but it's going to give them an idea of what is going on.
If you're going to get a new home right now, the first thing they're going to do is check your numbers. How much money you are making? How much money you got in this savings account?
Why? Because that's going to tell them something. It tells a story, but it tells a story.
And I'm telling you right here, even when it comes to churches, you can't always look at big churches and say, "Oh, God is with them," as if God is not with the church with 40.
God can be with the church with the 40, and God can be with the church with the 400. You can't measure God based on that.
That person may got a different grace and a different gift on their life, but it doesn't mean that God is not with the other person as well.
Can we give God a praise for that on today? I would go so far as to say people, Hitler drew a crowd, but he was dead wrong.
Just because you can draw a crowd don't mean you're always right. Come on, somebody.
Stop measuring stuff in this season of your life. Who's the biggest and who's the baddest? God may want to draw that man with five followers because they got the word that you need.
Come on, somebody. Yeah, they got what you need, not they got what you need.
And when you really understand that, that's how you're going to bump into your purpose. You were created for more.
Look what it says here in Ephesians 2:10, "For we are God's handiwork created in Christ Jesus to do good work, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
Somebody say, "I was created for more."
Listen, Joshua wasn't just leading people out of something. He was leading them into something.
I'll say it again. Joshua wasn't just leading people out of something. He was leading them into something.
And I'm telling you right now, God is just not calling you out of something. He's calling you into something.
Whatever God's trying to take away from you, I promise you, he's trying to give you something back as well.
Whatever God is trying to get out of your life, he's trying to bring something in your life as well.
And God is always of this mindset of adding and multiplying, never dividing and never subtracting.
And even when it look like God is subtracting something from your life, he's really not. He's about to multiply your life.
And when you understand that if God need to take this away, take that away, that mean because he's about to add something bigger and better to my life.
And I'm going to carry some of this stuff with a loose hand because I want to make sure I keep myself available to receive everything that God has for me.
Some of y'all holding some stuff so tight you about to break your hand, your heart, and your mind.
But God is working on bringing something bigger and better in your life. Why? Because you were created for more.
Listen, a locked treasure box, you know there's something valuable inside, but without the right key, you would never unlock the purpose.
Imagine being given this nice chest box full of diamonds, but you don't have the key to access it.
I'm telling you, God has given all of us a true role of stuff, of purpose, of plans, of ideas and visions. He's the key.
Knowing him is the key to accessing not what your neighbor have, but what belongs to you. What he has set aside just for you.
Listen, I don't want nothing none of y'all got. Before I covet what you got, I'm going to celebrate what you got.
Come on, somebody. No. I want what God has for me, and I learned the more I can celebrate you and your success, it's getting me closer to my stuff.
Come on, somebody. But you're walking around mad like, "Man, oh man, oh God, I'm going to bless them again. How they got it?"
Hey, just go and bless the Lord. Praise God. God is awesome.
The Lord did that for you. Amen. God favors us all, but he favors us sometimes in different ways.
God is not trying to give you everything your neighbor got. He's trying to give you everything that belongs to you.
Come on, somebody. Y'all, who remember the saying, "Keeping up with the Joneses?"
Y'all, many of y'all. Y'all don't know what that mean. So let me interpret that for you.
Keeping up with your friends on Facebook and whatever they get, you go try to get it because you're trying to keep up with the Joneses.
And it's worse now because you got a lot of neighbors now. Back in the day, they just went right to your left and your right, across the street.
Y'all got 5,000 followers. Y'all got 5,000 neighbors. And you was faithfully running your race until you found out, "Oh, they got a new house."
Now, let me go and try to get me a house. You was committed. You was content with being single. But now they got somebody.
Now you got to go find somebody. No, that was the right timing for them. This could be the wrong timing for you.
Come on, somebody. You were created for more. You got to follow God's plan. Let him be the GPS that you need to get you to where you're going.
Come on, somebody. And here's the fourth thing that I'm going to be done for today. Make a difference. That's the ultimate goal.
Let me ask you a question. Let me say this. The ultimate goal is to make a difference. Show of hands. Just please, show of hands.
Who in here don't want to make a difference? Come on, somebody. Please, one person. Please give me one person.
Please, please, please, please, please, please. That's not good. Okay. Who in here, please, please. Who in here do not want to make a difference?
Who in here want to make a difference? Somebody? There's got to be one of y'all in here.
Can I do this one more time? Okay. This is so frustrating. Okay. Hear my heart.
Is there at least one person in here that don't care about nothing, don't want to be nobody, don't want to achieve nothing of significance, and want to be somebody that doesn't want to make a difference?
You don't want to make a difference? And you mean that? You mean that? You mean that?
Do you trust me in this moment right now? No, seriously, don't just say it because I'm making, but do you trust me?
In this moment right now, you say yes or no, now and it's okay. Be honest. Cause I'm going to get you to do something you may not want to do.
So you better stay right there. If it's a no, it's cool. So stay right there. Stay right there.
I'm glad she was bold to say she don't make a difference, but most can see, 99.9% people, we naturally want to make a difference.
We want to do something. We don't want the appetite over our grave to be, "I even care." Most of us don't want that.
No life can. This just blows what we do want to check out. And this is where people commit suicide because they don't see the value of who they are.
But I'm telling you today, the ultimate goal in life for all of us is to make a difference.
And some of you may need to go back to when you was a child and remind yourself of that little girl, remind yourself of that little boy that dream to be, watch us here, a fireman, a doctor, a school teacher, a lawyer, and every now and then a dinosaur.
Come on, somebody. You ask a kid, "What do you want to be?" "I want to be a dinosaur." He says, "Lord, dinosaur."
But the credit I give that little kid, he was a visionary. She was a visionary. They were dreaming.
And even if they realized I was never meant to be a dinosaur, I'm meant to be somebody. I'm meant to be something.
Come on, somebody. The ultimate goal in life is for all of us to make a difference.
Matthew 5, I'm done right here. Matthew 5:16 says, "Let your light shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father."
How did you do that? How did you get that? How you got so much peace? I see all the chaos you're in, but you got so much joy.
I saw you just lost this, but you're still happy. Am I talking to somebody right now?
He said, "I want your light to shine before others that they may see your good deeds."
Because here's the ultimate thing. They're going to glorify your Father who's in heaven.
God said, "The ultimate goal, I need you to be significant. I need you to achieve because I'm going to use you as a light that make people question you so you can ultimately talk about me."
Who fixed that? God fixed it. Who restored that? God did. Who regulated your mind? God did it.
Who healed your body? I thought the doctor said there was no hope. God did. Who brought your body together again? It was hope.
God did it. That's the ultimate goal in life. Can we give God a praise for that on today?
So when you hear us talking about helping people know God, find freedom, and discover the purpose of making a difference, don't look at it as a goal.
It's just a little cliché. No, we want people to get out of Egypt, know God, get Egypt out of them, find freedom, then ultimately put them, help them to discover what their redemptive purpose was, and then ultimately release them to make a difference.
Jeremiah, before I form, come on, stand to your feet. Jeremiah, before I form you in your mother's womb, Geronetta, Jeremiah, before I form you in your mother's womb, Geronetta, Jeremiah, all you ladies and gentlemen, I speak that scripture over your life.
Before God formed you in your mother's womb, he knew you. He had an intimate conversation with you, and he ordained some specific things for your life.
And watch this here. He want to bring them to pass. Do you believe that on today? That God want to bring some of those things to pass?
Can we give God a praise for his word on today?
Before we pray, I've been trying to do something with these glasses for a minute. Phone calls, take pictures, got a video recording of this entire service right now.
All because some man in his life... wisdom, discover the intelligence and mindset to allow this inanimate object to do some amazing things.
If this inanimate object can take pictures, make phone calls, read me my text in my ear, play my music without my phone with me, if this inanimate object can do that, you are fearfully and wonderfully made.
You are the apple of God's eye. You was created in the image and likeness of God, and I don't care what blow life has dished you, there's greatness locked up on the inside of you, and God wants to see it come to pass.
Can we give him one more hand type of praise?
Hey, Metta, stop recording. Thank you. She heard me. Let's pray.
Father, we thank you. Thank you for giving us a chance to know you, find freedom from our past, discover why we said yes to life, and ultimately, we begin to walk out our purpose.
Maybe someone is saying today, "Pastor Corey, I needed this word today. I know church, but I don't know him. I know you. I've shaken your hand, but I've yet to shake God's hand.
I got good religion, but I don't have a personal relationship with this God you're talking about. I want to know what it means to be born again, to be saved, to give my heart to Christ."
Listen, I know we are all God's creation, but we choose to become a son. We choose to become a daughter.
In the first garden, first Adam in the Garden of Eden, we lost it all because of the sin of Adam. We were no longer able to come into the presence of God.
But second Adam, Jesus Christ restored it all back in the Garden of Gethsemane, giving us now access to come right into the presence of God.
Hebrews talks about we can come boldly before the throne of grace. And I want you to know that God on today.
You're saying, "Hey, Pastor Corey, I want to move from just being God's creation to accepting the finished work of Christ."
And then secondly, maybe you're saying, "I want to move from just being God's creation to accepting the finished work of Christ. I already made that decision. I'm assured of my salvation. I'm confident that when I take my last breath on this side, that I will enter into the presence of God, my creator.
I have that assurance. But what I don't have is a church home that teaches the word of God in such a way that I can take it and apply it to my life.
I believe my faith and my family can grow here at Hope City Church."
If you're in this place, I'm not going to call you up. I'm not going to call you out. But I want to know who to include in this close-out prayer.
If you're saying, "Hey, Pastor Corey, please include me in on this." A prayer on the count of three. Let me quickly, quickly see your hand.
One, two, three. Will that be one? No pressure. No problem. I see that hand. I see that hand as well. I see that hand. I see that hand as well.
I see that hand. I see that hand as well. Amen. I see that hand, ma'am, as well. God bless you all.
Do me a favor. Just one more time. All over the building. Lift your hands towards heaven. Head still bowed.
All the ones that's moving or looking should be those ministers at the altar who's maybe ministering to some of you at the end.
If you can repeat this simple prayer with me. Say, "Lord God, I believe you sent your son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for my sins, but I also believe he rose from the grave with all power in his hand."
Now, say, "God, I don't fully understand what all this means, but I do believe with your spirit living on the inside of me, I will become the person you desire me to be."
So, say, "God, I ask you now to forgive me of any sin. Any and every sin that has separated me from your love."
So, now, say, "Holy Spirit, I welcome you into my heart for the rest of my life."
Father God, your word declares any man being in Christ, he's a new creation. Old things are passed away, and behold, all things are becoming new.
I pray for those that prayed that prayer for the very first time in faith, who were spiritually separated from you or even physically separated from a church body, that God, any of those positions, God, whatever they lost prematurely, God, that was right for their life and right in their life, I declare they're moving into a season and a state of restoration and recovery.
And Father God, I also declare that every stronghold, every chain, every addiction that has attached itself to the life that is sucking away at the quality of their life, that those things are falling off right now, and who the Son sets free, they are free indeed.
Come on. Let's celebrate for every decision that was made in this place on today.
on Feb 02, 2025
