Heroes - Week 2: Hannah – When Your Pain Becomes Your Prayer

Well, hey family, it's another beautiful month, and then we got another amazing series that is just right for you.

Have you ever looked at people in the Bible and wondered, wow, how did God use them?

They did some great things, they had great faith in God.

Truth of the matter is, we call them heroes of the faith, not because they're supernatural or they've done everything right.

We call them heroes of the faith because they continue to trust God despite difficult circumstances.

And I believe you got a hero on the inside of you as well.

So this series this month, I guarantee you, is gonna help you see that if God can use people that he used in the Bible that had all of their flaws, all of their complications, and God can do some great things through you as well.

So I'm excited for what God's gonna say today.

But I also want to tell you that we got some exciting things happening around here at Impact because this is open enrollment for Impact Christian Academy, our school.

So if you have a pre-K student all the way through 12th grade, we believe Impact Christian Academy is the right environment to help nurture your child, to grow them into the purpose that God has for their lives.

So if you want more information, go to icajacks.com and we'd love to have you on a tour or to take the exam to have your child be a part of this community.

Now let's take a listen to today's message.

All right, I am excited today.

Uh I'm continuing in the series that I started here last week.

If you weren't here, I started a series called Heroes, and it's one that I actually do every few years or so.

And it's a it's a series on Bible characters.

And I always like to go back and find some different Bible characters, sometimes characters that we may not have heard about.

And let's go back and learn some lesson from their lives.

The book of Hebrews, chapter 11, walks us through what we call the Faith Hall of Fame.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

And it tells us things like by faith, the parents of Moses hid him for three months.

It tells us by faith, Abraham was willing to leave Earth the Chaldees and go to a land that God was going to show him.

And it talks by faith how Sarah lived her life, and by faith how Isaiah lived his life.

And I believe what God is trying to show us is every one of them, we call them heroes, but they weren't superheroes.

They didn't wear a cape, they didn't fly through the air.

They were simply, watch this, men, women, and even teenagers that were willing to believe and trust God.

They were individuals that were walking through the valley of the shadow of death, difficulty all around them, but the one thing they had in common is every single one of them was willing to trust and believe in God.

So I'm going to pick up at Hebrews chapter 12 because even though it's in the next chapter, it's still talking about the same topic.

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

And he says, As for us, we have this large crowd of witnesses around us.

Because of that, let us rid ourselves of everything that gets in the way and the sin that holds onto us so tightly, and let us run with determination the race that lies before us.

As I said, the grandstands of heaven are filled with these heroes of the faith who have run their race, and the Holy Spirit has left us through their lives a training guide so we can see their victories, but also learn from their defeats.

And God's desire, I believe, is that we would learn from their examples and be able to take our lives and build on their experiences.

In fact, the Bible says this in Romans 15, 4.

It says, Everything that was written in the past was written to do what?

Come on, don't whisper, it was written to do what?

Come on, say it like you mean it was written to do what?

To teach us so that through the endurance that is taught in the scriptures and the encouragement that the scriptures provide, watch this.

We might have hope.

Hope is a confident expectation of the future.

And if there's anything we need to hang on to today, we need to grab hold of hope.

We need to be people that believe that no matter how difficult it is now, no matter how dark it feels right now, God's got something better for my future.

If you believe that, come on, give God a shout of praise in this place.

Well, now last week in week number one, we took a look at one of the Bible characters, one of the disciples of Jesus' named Peter.

And we could have looked at the fact that Peter walked on water, we could have looked at the fact that Peter preached a great message and 3,000 people got saved.

But instead, we chose to look at some of Peter's failures.

How many know we ought to let people learn from our failures?

We ought not walk around in this bubble like we never made any mistakes, we never missed a mark.

And Peter had some failure moments, but God was able to teach us some lessons from his failures.

And today I want to dig into another Bible character, one that many of you probably have not heard about, and her name is Hannah.

And we go back and look at this Bible character in the book of Samuel, uh named Hannah.

Her name actually means gracious, and it is a variation of a very popular name at that time, which was Hannah.

And the thing about Hannah is that we don't know a whole lot about her.

The Bible doesn't tell us a whole lot about her, except for the fact that she was a wife and the fact that she was a mother.

It doesn't tell us who her parents were, the Bible doesn't tell us what hometown she came from, it doesn't tell us anything about her background, her occupation, her upbringing.

All we know about Hannah is that she was married and she had kids.

And I think it's apropos because so many times for women and even for men too, sometimes you can get lost in what you do and not really have a chance to celebrate who you are.

So often for ladies, ladies get so busy taking care of the husband and taking care of the house and making sure the lunches get packed and make sure the kids are ready to go down for bed and make sure everybody gets run from this place to that place.

If you don't watch, you can spend all your time investing in everybody else and get let your whole identity get soaked up in what you do for everybody else and forget that the greatest title you have is not mother.

The greatest title you have is not wife.

I'm getting ready to give you a place to shout right here.

The greatest title you have, watch this, is Daughter of the King.

I told you in advance you still didn't shout.

I'm gonna give you another chance.

Man, I just knew it.

I was about, I thought the usher was gonna have to hold you back when I said that one right there.

The greatest title you have is not mother.

That's a good title.

I mean, this is a good title.

The greatest title you have is not wife, it's not secretary, it's not CEO, it's not vice president.

The greatest title you have is that you are a daughter of the most high God.

If anybody, if anybody wants to know what's at the top of your resume, it is the reality that you are a daughter of the most high God.

And when we go back and look at the life of Hannah, Hannah was married to a priest named Elkanah, and he followed a practice during that time that was common to them.

I don't understand it, but it was a practice called polygamy, where men were allowed, even biblically allowed, to have multiple wives.

Now, some of you men think it'd be good to have that today.

You are a lie.

I've been married to one woman for 33 years, and it's taking this long for me to just get to know her.

And to have to deal with two wives, and in this case, I that's why I told you last week the Bible is the greatest reality TV show you've ever seen in your life.

I mean, Jerry Springer got nothing on the stuff that's in the Bible.

And when you go back and you look at the story of Hannah, she was one of two wives to this priest by the name of Elkanah.

And the two wives he had, one's name was Paninna.

And all I can say about her is that the girl was fertile myrtle.

Every time they went in the tent and came back out, she's like, I'm pregnant again.

And the other wife, Hannah, the one we're talking about today, she couldn't have any children.

She was barren.

It's bad enough to desire kids and not be able to have them, but what made it worse is the other wife, Panenna, was always rubbing her face.

She was always teasing her with it and making her feel bad about it, and boasting and bragging about how many kids she had and the fact she was able to give Elkana children, and Hannah was not able to give Elkanah children.

And Elkanah really loved Hannah, but just like most men, he loved her, but didn't really understand what he needed to do to take care of her and to make sure he honored her.

So he he he saw her depressed one day, saw she wasn't eating her food one day, and he came along trying to say the right thing, but he did what we do sometimes, men.

He's trying to fix it and he made it worse.

This is what he says in 1 Samuel chapter 1, verse 8.

1 Samuel 1:8

He says, Why are you crying, Hannah?

Why are why aren't you eating?

Why be downhearted?

That's where he's about to mess up.

Why be downhearted just because you have no children?

And if that wasn't bad enough, it got worse.

He said this, you have me.

It gets worse than that.

And he ended with, isn't that better than having 10 sons?

Even though he was trying his best to be a help, to be an aid, to cheer her up, he didn't fully understand.

Can I just say, in your life, too, there's some people around you that love you.

They really do have your best interest, but they're not gonna always understand what is needed to help get you out of that funk you might be in.

And even though he was trying to say the right thing, trying to be present in the moment, he didn't really understand what she needed.

And so the first lesson we learned from the life of Hannah is one that every one of us needs to walk out of here with, and that is this.

She cried out to God in the middle of her despair.

When she found herself in a tough place, she tried to talk to her husband, he didn't know what to say.

She didn't have any kids she could go and confide in.

So she had to turn to the one that we should all learn how to turn to, not eventually, but first.

She turned to God, and I love that she didn't have to turn to God and make it seem like she had it all together.

She didn't have to turn to God and give Him a version of it that's been glossed over with a whole bunch of praise of the Lord's, and I'm doing just fine, and I know everything's gonna be alright.

She turned to God, the Bible says this.

She was deeply distressed and she prayed to the Lord.

Watch this, but she also wept bitterly.

Notice she's praying to God, but she's still weeping.

She's praying to God, but in the moment her heart is still broken, and it's okay for her to be vulnerable.

It's okay for her to be honest.

It's okay for her to not have to act like she got it together with God because the truth of the matter is, even when we fool everybody else, God knows what's really happening in our hearts.

And because she came to God and she was honest with God, I believe the honesty with God in the middle of her depression, in the middle of her disappointment, probably kept her from doing something else destructive.

Can we just get honest enough to say it's usually in those times of disappointment when things haven't worked out, when we were trusting God and we haven't seen the breakthrough yet, that's usually when the enemy comes and brings us a distraction.

Brings us somebody that makes us feel better about ourselves because they're telling us all the right stuff.

Sometimes he brings that friend that really is not our good friend because they're our good friend.

They wouldn't be gossiping and talking like they do.

Sometimes the enemy will tempt us to stop responding to everybody else's messages and climb up on the couch and get that gallon of ice cream and just sit there, watch Lifetime, and just veg out.

Sometimes the enemy will tell you, you need to grab another bottle of this, you need to grab another peel of that.

And all he's really trying to do is to get you to use something artificial to medicate the pain.

Come on, say amen, somebody.

Instead of doing what we learned from Hannah, let me not try to fix it from the outside.

Let me take this pain, this despair, this disappointment to the only one that can actually fix it.

Amen.

I said, Amen.

When I look at what she says in verse 11, she vowed a vow and she said, Oh Lord of hosts, if you will indeed look on the affliction of your servant, and if he will remember me and not forget your servant, but if you will give your servant a son, then I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall touch his head.

See what Hannah came to realize is that the depth of her pain cannot be resolved by another human being.

She realized only God can fix this.

And there's something that happens, something powerful that happens.

We reach a point of liberation and growth when we come to realize that God is our only trustworthy solution.

As long as you're sitting around waiting on somebody else to show up and fix it.

Come on, you're waiting on the government to show up and give you a check, and you're waiting on your family to show up and give you the money that you need.

As long as we're looking for somebody on the outside, instead of recognizing the only real solution I have is I got to get to the foot of the cross.

That's why the Bible makes it real clear that when you're and we're in pain like that, we have to learn how to cast the care of it on God.

Now I know some of you have done that before.

You've cast a care, but you you cast a care like I do when I go fishing.

You cast a care, zzz, zzz, it's at the altar.

And you're waiting to see if anything happens.

And then when God hadn't moved in three days, you reeled it back in.

You've cast it multiple times, but you keep reeling it back in.

And what God is wanting you to do is don't cast it like a fishing line, cast it like a baseball that you're throwing out into the middle of the ocean.

That one God said, once I let it go, hear me out, I'm never getting it again.

Well, I'm talking about that adult child, I'm talking about that financial situation, I'm talking about that doctor's report.

Doesn't mean that you don't stay responsible.

What it means is this time when I cast it, hear me out, I'm not gonna ever again let it come back and touch me mentally, where it takes me off course.

I'm gonna do the stuff God tells me to do, I'm gonna be responsible, I'm gonna do all the stuff, but I'm never again gonna give myself space and let it take me to that depressed place, to that dark place, because I'm recognizing the responsibility, yes, mine, but the care of it, it belongs to God.

And why says we can't both have the care at the same time?

And if God's gonna have the care, then there's no reason for me to have the care too.

Come on, shout, amen, somebody.

Come on, give me a better amen, somebody.

The Bible tells us this in 1 Corinthians chapter 10, it says, No test and no temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face.

1 Corinthians 10 · chapter mention

You know what God is saying right there?

What you're going through right now, you're not the only one that's gone through that.

I mean, doesn't it feel like when you're in the middle of a deep, difficult situation that the enemy sits on your shoulders and tell you, nobody else has ever been through anything like this?

Then you get then you get that Elijah complex.

Remember, he went and sat under the juniper tree and said, Lord, I'm the only one that's still serving you.

God said, I got a gang of prophets that are still serving me.

You're not the only one.

That's what God is trying to say.

You're not the only one going through this.

Hear me out.

And somebody else has gone through what you're going through right now, and they came out on the other side victoriously.

He said this.

He said, No, others have gone through this.

He says, All you need to remember is that God will never let you down.

Come on, tell your neighbor, God will never let you down.

Come on, tell them like you mean that God will never let you down.

Now turn to your second choice on the other side and tell them to say, God will never let you down.

Then he says this, he'll never let you get pushed.

Watch this, past your limit.

Anybody, anybody, anybody willing to be honest enough to say you feel like you're at the end of your rope?

Come on, just get honest.

But the Bible says he'll never let you get pushed past your limit.

He'll never let you get pushed past your limit.

He never said he won't let you get pushed to your limit.

He never said he won't let you get pushed out of your comfort zone.

But he'll never let you get pushed past your limit.

Which means, watch this.

If you're still being pressed, you're still being pushed, it's because there's more on the inside of you than you realize.

And just in case you didn't know it, let me tell you what's on the inside.

Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world.

You got the power of Holy Spirit dwelling on the inside of you, and sometimes God just needs you to know that all this good words you're being taught, that if you turn that word on, that word will turn your situation around.

But you got to have some faith in what God has said.

Here's a second lesson we learned from Hannah.

Hannah kept her word before God.

She prayed in her despair and said, Lord, if you'll give me a son, I'll bring him back to you and I'll give him to you for the rest of his life.

Now, she didn't just mean he was gonna come and visit, he's gonna come and work at the church on the weekends.

What she meant was if you give me a son, I'll raise him as a Nazirite, which means he'll be strictly obedient to the law.

She said, But I'm gonna come and drop him off here at the temple, and for his entire life, he won't live with me.

I'll make sure he lives in the temple so he can be trained and developed in the in the calling you have for his life.

She made that commitment to God.

She made a Nazirite vow.

Well, now, how many know it's one thing to make the vow, something else to actually fall through with it?

Let me ask this: has anybody ever made a promise to God in desperation but then forgot when he brought it to pass?

Have you ever been driving down a highway?

You go a little bit over the speed limit, you fly right past police, and you're like, oh, please don't let them, please don't let them.

Then they pull out behind you.

And you like, oh hopefully that come after me.

Then them lights turn on.

Then they get right behind you, and then you say this, Lord, if you just let me get off with a warning, I promise you.

I swear for God, if you just let me get off with a warning.

I remember when I was in college at Michigan State, my brother's on the firmware, he remembers this.

I was in college at Michigan State, and my freshman year, I pledged the fraternity in the springtime of 89.

That was back before they had all these rules, and they did you were pledging, pledging back then, man.

And I remember going through this pledge process, and halfway through it, man, I'm like, what in the world?

And uh, but I'm you know, I ain't I'm about to quit, so I knew the next best thing to do, I need to call on King Jesus.

So I prayed this prayer, Jack.

I said, I said, Lord, if you get me through this one, I promise you, Lord, I'll go to church every Sunday.

I'll do everything you want me to do.

If you just get me through this, God, I'll do exactly what you want me to do.

And God got me through that pledge and became the president of the chapter that next fall when I came back.

And I came back to school in the fall, and I was throwing the biggest parties on Michigan State campus.

I mean, I remember this one party I threw at the IM West of Michigan State.

There was like a thousand people in there, and you had, you know, NBA players that came back because they heard about the parties in the fall, and you had NFL players that came back, and I'm feeling like a big shot because I'm the one that threw this party, man.

And so I'm walking around feeling like a big shot.

And I finally, you know, got a chance to get them to dance for, and I was right in the middle.

I had just done one of these like this.

And I was getting ready, I was getting ready to hit them with one of these right.

I was gonna smurf it up, and and right in between this one and when I was getting ready for that one, the Lord told me, He said, But I thought you said, And I was kind of like, Well, couldn't you wait till the party was over to convict me?

But I had made a vow to God, I made a promise to the Lord, but watch us when the pressure was off.

I forgot all about what I said I would do.

Hannah made a promise to God, but Hannah teaches us a lesson.

When you promise, commit to God, come back and keep your word.

1 Samuel 1:20.

1 Samuel 1:20

It came to pass in the process of time that Hannah conceived and bore a son, and she called his name Samuel.

She said, Because I have asked for him from the Lord.

Now the man Elkanah and all his house would go up to offer to the Lord the yearly sacrifice and his vow.

But Hannah did not go up with him, because she said to her husband, I'm not going until the child is weaned.

Now, weaning a child back then was more than just no longer nursing him.

They were allowing them to get settled, get established.

And typically weaning took place somewhere between age three and age nine.

So what she was saying is, I'm not gonna go up every year like I normally would.

I'm gonna wait till he's weaned, and the next time I go up to Shiloh, to the temple, I'm gonna take him and I'm gonna leave him there like I promised God.

She says, and I will take him that he may appear before the Lord and remain there forever.

Verse 25.

They slaughtered a bull, they brought the child to the prophet Eli, and she said, Oh my Lord, as your soul lives, remember me.

I'm the woman who stood by you here praying to the Lord.

She said, For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition, which I asked of him.

She says, Therefore, in other words, because God did what he said, I'm gonna do what I said.

Therefore, I also have lent him to the Lord.

As long as he lives, he shall be lent to the Lord.

Watch this.

So they worship the Lord there.

This lady said, After I wean my child, I'm taking him to the prophet.

I'm gonna let him live there with the prophet, be trained there with the prophet, follow God's call for his life there with the prophet.

And she did all that because she wanted to be a woman who kept her word.

I mean, did you hear what I just said?

I don't mean she took her third child.

You know, it gets a little easier as they go, right?

Y'all know what I'm talking about.

You know how that first child is.

You're so protective, and they they they drop their little binky pacifier, you picking it up, you scalding it under hot water for 30 seconds, you know, 28, 27, you you scalding it.

By the time you get to that that second one, you put it underwater real quick and stick it back in their mouth.

By the time you get that third child, you but this is her first child.

Why this is her only child.

This this is the child she prayed, labored before God.

God for.

The child that finally broke her free from her depression.

Yet she's prepared to take him to have him live with the prophet and be trained there.

Follow God's calling for his life for the rest of her days.

She's only saying one time a year when they come up there to do their annual sacrifice.

I'm just trying to ask how many times I mean, think about that.

If he had been two months old, that would have been difficult, but it probably wouldn't have been quite as hard.

She's been raising him for three years, maybe five years, as much as nine years.

You know how much attachment you've gotten to your first child, your miracle child in nine years.

Yet she's still willing to take him to keep her word.

I remember when our daughter Caragna will be 25 this year.

I remember when she graduated high school, she was 17 at the time, and we took her to college in Alabama, and I thought I was gonna have to put Pastor April in the ICU union.

That was that was dropping off our kid.

We had two more at home.

And that was just dropping her off to go to college when she was still gonna be able to come back home on a regular basis.

Can you imagine taking your only child, your miracle job, and you dropping him off to live there at the temple?

Because you promise God, if you do what I ask you, I'll turn around and give you the very best you're giving back to me.

And I and I really think she's teaching us a lesson here that we need to learn, and that is this we need to learn this lesson.

Our children don't belong to us.

They are God's gift, and we simply get to raise them to follow God's plan.

Oh, you miss a good place.

I know you fed them, I know you gave birth to them, I know you labored for X number of hours, but they still don't belong to us.

They're God's gift to us, and we get to raise them to help them follow God's plan.

I saw this polishing on Instagram, and then it just calls them to leap on the time.

It isn't to raise our children to be successful.

It is to raise our children to love God when we're not around.

Because our greatest for many of us is better to say, My child is a lawyer, my child is a doctor, my child is an engineer, my child is an engineer, my child is just and we think that just because they become successful in life, that means we must have done well.

And it's good for them to become successful in life, but that means nothing if they don't turn around and worship God when you're not looking at them.

I'd rather my child be considered common in the eyes of humans, but a superstar in heaven.

I'd rather their name be written in the Lamb's book of life as a worshiper in spirit and in truth.

And the ultimate job that I have, the ultimate measure of me doing my job as a parent is when I put enough Jesus in my job to where when they become an adult and have the right to walk away, they still end up with a passion for Jesus all on their own.

Here's a third lesson we learned from Hannah.

We learned that she offered God her best and he rewarded her in return.

She offered God her best and he rewarded her in return.

She took her only son, her miracle son, and dropped him off.

But she didn't do it with sadness, she actually did it with joy in her heart.

I'm gonna read to you the prayer she prayed while she's dropping him off.

Hannah said, My heart rejoices in the Lord.

She said, My horn is exalted in the Lord.

Then she said this.

Because I rejoice in the salvation of the Lord.

Nobody is holy like the Lord.

There's nobody besides you, nor is there any rock like our God.

She's talking to Paninna.

She said, Talk no more so very proudly, Paninna.

Let no arrogance come out of your big mouth.

For the Lord is the God of knowledge, and by him everybody's actions are weighed.

The bowls of the mighty men have been broken, and those who stumbled have now found strength.

Those who were full are now the ones that are hiring themselves out for food.

And those that used to be hungry are hungry no more.

In other words, God is turning some things around.

Even the barren has borne seven kids, and the one who had a lot of children has become feeble.

The Lord kills and makes alive.

He brings down to the grave and he brings up.

The Lord makes one poor and another one rich.

He brings somebody low and he lifts somebody else up.

He raises the poor from the dust and he lifts the beggar up from the ash heap to set them among princes and make them inherit the throne of glory.

What is she trying to say?

I may be dropping off the most treasured gift that I had, treasured gift that I have, but let me tell you, I serve a God who can pick you up out of desperate situations.

And I need somebody in here today to get a little bit of encouragement on the inside of you that even though you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, you can fear no evil.

Because if you're down, God can lift you up.

If you're broke, God can make you rich.

If you're sick, God can heal your body.

But you gotta be willing to believe that He's a good God, He's a holy God, He's a righteous God.

Come on, you gotta shake off that heaviness.

Be willing to put your trust in God.

1 Samuel 2.18, it says, Samuel ministered before the Lord even as a little child.

And he was wearing a linen ephod.

And every year his mother used to make him a little robe and bring it to him.

She came up with her husband to offer the yearly sacrifice.

And then Eli the priest, watch this, he would bless Elkanah and his wife.

This is what he said to him May the Lord give you descendants from this woman because of the loan that was given to the Lord.

You know what he was saying?

The priest was not I know what she sacrificed.

I saw her crying in the temple for a child.

And when God gave her a child, she brought him back to present him to the Lord.

What he's saying is, watch this, you can never outgive God.

You brought him your best.

He said, May God reward you with many children from her.

Then they went to go to their own home.

Look at verse 21.

And the Lord visited Hannah.

I'm declaring that that's gonna be the testimony for you.

I just declare while you're sitting here in church worshiping the Lord, that they're gonna say about you when you get home, and the Lord visited your house.

Because you were able to shake off that disappointment, you're able to get back into faith.

I believe that come on, the testimony is gonna be that the Lord visited your house.

When God shows up and visits your house, he brings his power, his anointing, his grace.

When Jehovah Jirah visits your house, he takes care of every need.

When Jehovah Rapha visits your house, he heals what the doctor said can't be healed.

The Lord visited Hannah and she ended up conceiving and bore three more sons and had two more daughters.

Meanwhile, the child Samuel grew before the Lord.

Can I tell you because she watched it?

Because she offered God her best, God rewarded her with a house full of children, just like he rewarded Peter with a boat full of fish.

I think God's trying to teach us a lesson.

You bring me your best, I got something better for you tonight.

Don't ever be afraid to offer God your best.

Don't ever be afraid to trust God with your best.

Because He's proven over and over through these Bible characters.

If you bring Him your best, He'll turn around and give you something even better than that.

Here's the last lesson we learned from the life of Hannah.

She understood that she was responsible for stewarding greatness.

It's amazing that all we know about Hannah comes from these two chapters.

1 Samuel chapter 1 and chapter 2.

1 Samuel 1 · chapter mention

The rest of the book doesn't talk about Hannah.

2 Samuel doesn't talk about Hannah.

New Testament doesn't talk about Hannah.

Even the book where we learn about who she is isn't called the book of Hannah.

It's called Samuel.

So everything we know about her is through the lens of her being a mother, but this is something I think we need to grab hold of.

What a joy it is for her to know that God trusted her to put the right things in Samuel so he could fulfill his greatness.

All of us as parents need to understand God has entrusted us to steward greatness.

And whether you're a biological parent, your mom, your dad, your auntie, your godmama, your neighbor, whatever children are in your orbit, just know God is counting on you and me to put the right things in them.

Watch this to be the right example for them.

Because you never know what greatness is on the inside of that kid that you're having a chance to have an influence on.

I spent time last week talking about Peter, spent some time this week talking about Hannah, but I got one more before we go.

There's a modern day hero that I want to tell you about.

And I want to tell you about this modern-day hero through this video.

Some heroes are in the pages of scripture, and some heroes walk among us.

Thirty years ago, God didn't just call me to plan a church, he gave me a partner.

Someone who said yes to the mission before the mission made any sense.

Before there was a building, before there was a crowd, before there was anything to show for it except faith and a whole lot of hard work.

Her name is April.

And in 33 years of marriage and 30 years of pastoring Impact Church Together, I have watched this woman be three things extraordinarily well.

She's been an amazing mother.

And our kids can tell you better than I can what that looks like up close and personal.

She's been an exceptional wife, and I can tell you that marrying her is the best decision I ever made outside of surrendering to Jesus Christ.

And she's also been the first lady of this house, Impact Church.

Quietly, faithfully, powerfully, serving people in this church in ways that most of you have seen, and in some ways that many of you have never known about.

Today we honor her.

And I'm gonna let a few of the people who know her well share their hearts.

She's a friend, she's been a sister, and I report to her in ministry.

Something that April does that people have no idea is she talks Bishop down off the ledge.

You all don't know.

But she does.

She doesn't do it out of self-gain.

She she knows what's going on and she still is able to bae, because she calls them they.

You know, they may have thought about or they may have been thinking about.

And a lot of people don't see that.

The other thing that people don't realize is when she finds out about something, uh, she prays immediately.

Uh, she will sit in her car before she comes in, uh, whether it's at home or at church, and she'll just, okay, God, we need to, how do you want me to let's move forward with?

I don't think people realize how much she prays.

Um for them.

I think over the years I've learned, especially now becoming an adult, is that the highest, the the biggest level of love, the most prominent form of love is consideration.

And my mother, if you know her, she considers you when you're not around.

To me, it's easy to think of someone when they're around you.

It's easy to think about how your actions will affect them when they're right in front of you.

However, if you know my mother, she thinks about you nonstop.

You can be far away, she cannot have seen you today, but she's already thinking about how can I make their day better, how can I improve what they need.

That's just who she is.

So if there's anything to learn about, it's just always to consider someone even when that person's not around you.

That is the best way I feel like that you can love someone.

April really enjoyed just being my big sister.

You know, with it being a close to 13-year age gap between us, you know, she never really looked at me as that annoying little brother that most girls or siblings will look at having a sibling that young.

As you get older, you realize that that's not natural behavior, but it's natural for April.

She's patient.

It shows how patient she is, it shows how kind she is, it shows how thoughtful and selfless she is.

And she didn't have to do it.

She didn't have to include me into her life, but she did.

My goals in life aren't like, I don't have career goals, I don't have a bunch of like bucket list items.

My biggest goal in life is I want to be a great mom.

Growing up, we were her priority.

Um, we've always been her priority.

Yes, the church is important, but we knew that we were a priority.

She didn't miss a thing.

She might have been late picking us up from school a few times, but she didn't miss a thing.

My mother is a black mom still.

She, you know, you might not realize it, you might not see it, but when she needs to be, she is still that black mom.

I remember going to a movie theater, and one of the managers did me and my friends wrong.

I come back home that night, telling them what happened.

She got up, put clothes on, 9 o'clock, drove back up to the movie theater, and gave the manager her two cents because she did her child wrong.

And that is the moment that I realized, no, my mom, she still got it like that.

Something um I think is underrated in our culture nowadays is the ability for women to be feminine still.

My mom is the most feminine person I have ever met.

And she has shaped the way that I fully carry myself.

Um you know something is wrong with my mom if she doesn't have on a body butter.

Like, that is how you know there is something wrong.

You can like you can open the bedroom door and be like, oh yeah, she's in the house somewhere.

I'm like, what are you doing?

And not leave home.

No, like she she and she's not even going nowhere.

No, she's the most unintentionally funny person I have ever met.

What is like she's not trying to be funny?

Like, she's so serious.

Mom, you have cared for each of us, all three of us, in ways that I could never repay.

None of us could repay.

However, I'm gonna speak from me.

I'm the youngest, your last one, your baby boy, all of that.

And I think that the whole family could understand that I am probably the closest to you.

We I you're I'm the most like you, I'm the most do what you do, the way that you take care of the house.

That is something that I probably carry the most, I've received the most traits in that from you.

And as I become older and as I'm becoming my own person, you could say I'm really understanding that there is things that you have put into me, things that you have imparted into me, habits, characteristics, traits, all of the love that you have poured into me, that is something that I could never repay.

That is a debt that is too much to ever even try and owe back to you.

So I just want to say thank you to you.

You are loved, you are seen.

I know leading this church, how big it has become, the organization that we have, the spotlight that you don't necessarily always like to be in.

Sometimes you can maybe fall back and feel like you are seen.

But I want you to know today that you absolutely are seen, you are loved, you are appreciated, and I can never repay anything that you have paid to me.

Thank you.

April, uh, sis.

You believed in me when I stopped believing in myself and have walked me through some of the hardest times in my life with no request for anything in return.

Um, your heart goes before you.

You are consistent, and you love um without any thought of yourself.

And thank you.

I am where I am and I am who I am because you love me.

Thank you.

April, I just want you to know that I got you.

You know, for 42 years, you've always had my back, my side, my front, always been my biggest cheerleader.

But I want you to know that now is my turn to do that for you.

For the next 42 years, 52 years, 62 years, however long, till Jesus comes back, I want you to know that I got your back.

You are my big sister, but to me, I still look at you as my little sister, my big little sister.

And I love you and I always will.

I got you, sis.

Ma.

If there was anything that I could say to you, it would be thank you.

Um, you have taught me more than anything else how to weather storms.

Um raising us, being the first lady of this church, showing up in the ways you have has been everything short of easy.

Um, but you have weathered the seasons with such grace, such humility, such um faith, that I have learned what it means to be the constant in a storm because of the way you show up in them.

Um for that I am eternally grateful.

Um I could not imagine anyone else being this person in my life, being the person that raised me and imparted everything they know into me.

And so thank you, Ma.

I love you deeply.

April.

I stood in front of thousands of people and preached about faith, hope, and the goodness of God.

But I want to tell you, the clearest picture of God's goodness that I have ever seen is you.

Three decades ago, you made a promise, and I have watched you keep that promise every single day.

Not just to me, not just to our kids, but to this church, to this city, to the call that God has placed on our lives.

You've cried in rooms that nobody saw.

You've prayed over people who didn't know your labor of love.

You've held this family together in seasons when holding together took everything you had.

And you've done it all with grace and with strength, and somehow with joy.

I'm a better pastor because of you.

I'm a better father because of you, and I'm a better man because God blessed me with you.

Impact Church would not be what it is today without you.

I love you, babe.

And I'm so proud of you, and I'm so grateful that God knew before I did exactly who and what I needed beside me.

Impact Church's 30th anniversary is for you.

We all love you.

We love you, Pastor April.

We love you, Pastor April.

Hey, we love you, Pastor April.

We love you, Pastor April.

We love you, Pastor April.

We love you, Pastor April.

We love you, Pastor April.

We love you, Pastor April.

We love you, Pastor April.

We love you, Pastor April.

We love you, Pastor April.

We love you, Pastor April.

We love you, Pastor April.

We love you, Pastor April.

You are the best.

You're special, you're charity.

Thank you for being here.

Love you.

Let everybody see you.

But you move in silence, and your success is your noise, and you don't post for likes, but you've posted up for the call of God and carried so many.

And uh, I went into the last service to say this because I didn't know if I'd get in trouble or not.

But um, when I got hired, Bishop said like you were the seal of approval.

You signed off on it.

He goes, I would never say this to her, but she's usually right about people.

So thank you for being right about me.

Uh, we'll find out if you're right about me next year, but uh after service, we'll have a conversation.

But my wife was over there, and we just love you guys so much, and uh, we're grateful for you.

They said it in the video, we could never repay you.

We do have a few more gifts for you coming out just to try to show you that we appreciate you.

But we just are grateful.

Do you want to say anything to these people?

First service, six, and the the last of twelve get me.

Um just thank you.

Um the words, the the respect, just the Ability to let me pour into you the way God instructs me to.

I'm not like everybody else.

I don't try to be like everybody else, just me.

And for 30 years, you've allowed me to be me and bless your lives the way that God has instructed me to move.

I'm so grateful to be here.

Um 30 years has been a long journey for us, but it's been God's journey and God's plan.

And there's not another journey that I would have wanted to be on than to be on the one that He's put me on with you.

And yes, we've had some storms and we've had some challenges, and I just thank God that some of the things that my daughter said that he's allowed me to be a constant to lead us through.

And I feel like our family and our church hasn't missed a beat with some of the things that the devil has tried to throw our way.

We stand strong, we stand victorious.

I'm very thankful for you all and your prayers.

I love my family, I love my kids, I love my husband, and I thank you for honoring me and just letting me know that God sees me through you.

I love you all.

Be seated a second.

This is a little bit different type of service for us today, but we don't want to lose focus of the main thing.

And Bishop preaches this amazing message about Hannah, who was willing to give it all to honor God.

And then we see the video about Pastor April, and in a many, many ways she's given all to follow God.

But the truth of the matter is, is you can't really give it all until you receive it all.

And all is Jesus.

And sometimes we can have these ideas that, man, I want to be that type of person.

I want to give the best that I got.

And it but it sounds difficult.

And I like to say Christianity isn't difficult, it's impossible without Jesus.

You can't do enough things to make him happy, you can't do enough things to earn your way to heaven, and you can't stop doing enough things that you end up off the quote unquote naughty list under the good list.

No, you just have to have simple faith that God, you gave me the best that you had.

And I'm gonna receive that.

And that was Jesus.

We already said that he came and he suffered with us, he touched the lepers, he hung out with the sinners, the people that didn't seem worthy.

And if that's you today, if you say, I want that relationship with Jesus, it's free.

It's simple as your yes.

Uh, I'm gonna want to pray with you in a minute.

I'm not gonna ask you to stand up, I'm not gonna ask you to go into another room, but if you're in this room or you're in our overflow room, uh we would love for you to uh, when I ask everybody bow their heads to grab this say yes to Jesus card in the seat pocket in front of you.

If you don't see one, you lift your hand, the ushers will slip one to you, and and and I'll pray with you.

And it'll be a moment just between you and God where you can have eternal life for free.

And it's after that you get eternal life that God begins to speak to you about how He's hardwired you and the purpose that you have.

And if you want that today, I would love the opportunity to pray with you.

If you're online, just say that's me.

Give it, let just follow the directions, let us know that we're praying for you too.

So everybody bow your head right now.

And if you're one of those people saying, Yes, that's I knew, I knew, I know this is what I want.

I came here today knowing this what I want, or I know what I want now after coming here.

I want you to grab that white say yes to Jesus card.

In a second, I'll count to three.

I ask you to just slip it up so I can see it.

It's uh not a spooky moment, may or may not be any goosebumps, you probably won't see lightning, but you have a moment with God.

You know you're right with him because of what Jesus did.

So if that's you on the count of three, just lift that card up so I can see it and I know who I'm praying for.

One, two, three.

Thank you.

Wow, way in the back.

Thank you.

Thank you in the middle, thank you over here, thank you to my left, thank you, way in the back over there, thank you.

In the overflow room, just slip it up so our ministers will know who you're praying for.

We'll pray for anybody else.

Thank you.

Thank you.

This is the day.

If you got that feeling, like, yeah, should I?

That's it.

That's Jesus calling you.

Just answer it.

He'll take care of everything else.

Awesome.

Now we're gonna we don't want anybody to feel left alone, so while of our heads are bowed, I want everybody to pray this.

Say, dear Jesus, I receive all that you give.

I receive forgiveness, I receive healing, I receive newness, I receive purpose.

Thank you for paying the price.

Thank you for touching the untouchable.

Thank you for paying a price that I could not pay.

Today I put my faith in you and I trust you.

Cleanse me, heal me, make me brand new.

And according to the faith of my heart and the confession of my mouth, I am right now born again in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Can we put our hands together for all of those who just said yes?

Did you just make a decision for Jesus?

Welcome to the family.

We're so excited.

Trust me, we're clapping for you, and we believe that you've made an important decision today.

We'd like to help you on your journey.

So if you'll follow the directions that are on screen, there is a free book you can download.

It's going to take you five to ten minutes of your day for the next seven days.

But our pastors have put together some amazing resources that we believe will help you on the journey ahead.

If you don't want it, nobody's going to email you, text you, bother you, anything like that.

We just want to make sure you are successful in your walk with Jesus.

Now, let me tell you, one of the things you should consider is baptism.

And if you're in the Jacksonville area, we do baptism after our first weekend service every month, and you can just scan the QR code that's on the screen, sign up for that.

I'd love to be a part of that journey with you, um, or any of our ministers would.

If you don't live in town, we do believe you should find a Bible-teaching church and at least go get baptized, even if you're still gonna watch our service.

But download that book, it's free.

We're excited for your journey ahead, and we can't wait to be a part of that.

Now, this is a part of the service where we also demonstrate our generosity.

If you're just checking this out today, you don't feel any pressure to give.

But for those of you, this is your church, you know that we are generous is one of our core values.

And so you can give online or you can give through our app, which I really like.

You have the Apple Pay option right on our app.

Just go to your Google store or your Apple store, download the We Are Impact app.

It's also a great way to study notes that um come from the sermons that you watch on here, and there's a lot of events on there as well.

But you can give through that app, it's super easy, and we're just grateful that you partner with us week after week.

Well, we're so excited you joined us today.

Hope you have an amazing weekend, and we'll see you next time.