Build a Church to Reach the City - Pastor Philip Steele - July 29th, 2026

Hi, my name is Michelle Steele.

Pastor Phillip and I want to thank you for listening to this message from Life of Faith First.

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And uh we have been over the last number of weeks talking about the core values of the believer.

And uh, of course, we will get uh back into that.

Um but in seeking the Lord uh over this past week and and the weekend, uh he began to share some things with me.

And um, you know, the Lord said to me some number of well, about a year ago now, and I made the statement here that we're building a church to reach a city.

We're building a church to reach a city.

And uh so that's what I want to deal with.

And there's some other things that we're going to do tonight as the Holy Spirit leads us.

Uh but Hebrews 11 and verse 3, it says, Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things that do appear.

Through faith, we understand that the worlds were framed by the Word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

In uh probably June, July of 1996, uh, I was sitting in our living room of a little apartment that we had in Grandview, Missouri, Redbridge, Missouri, actually right outside of Grandview, and I was just studying, seeking the Lord about some things, and he told me, he said, turn to Hebrews 11 3.

And so I turned to Hebrews 11.3 and I read the verse that I just read to you.

And the Lord said to me, He said, That is the vision for your life and ministry.

To build people's faith and frame their world by the word of God, to build people's faith and frame their world by the word of God.

And so uh that's where the vision for this ministry started.

Um now, you know, at that time nobody wanted to hear me preach.

Nobody, I don't, I don't even know if anybody knew me.

It didn't matter.

But uh I know that that would have been uh in the middle of the week and Saturday morning, and you can ask my wife, and and you may ask why I did this.

Maybe it was a step of faith, maybe it was just me being me.

But I came out of my room in the morning and I had I had the only white shirt I had and a tie, and I sat down on the couch with my Bible, and I looked at my wife and said, I'm on call.

I'm ready.

If if they call me for building faith, I'm ready.

Right?

And so, hallelujah.

And so, of course, the Lord began to open up some doors from that from that time, but that was the vision for our life and ministry.

And so when the Lord uh opened up the the location, the location in DeSoto in December of 1998, uh that church was uh uh a Pentecostal church.

It was called Full Gospel Tabernacle.

And we were there one year and we changed the name to Faith Builders.

And for the next almost 28 years, 27 years, we were faith builders.

And then you'll remember that uh uh earlier uh in the year the Lord dealt with us to change the name to Life of Faith.

And um, you know, it wasn't hard for me to do that because uh it's the Lord's ministry.

You know, somebody asked Pastor Caldwell one time, they said, was it hard for you to transition the church that you'd worked so hard to build and to found over into the hands of someone else?

He said, No, because it's not my church.

It's God's church, it's Jesus' church.

And so I figure if it's the church of the Lord Jesus Christ, he has the right to call it what he wants to call it.

But here's the reason that I'm going into all that is because we we began, that was the vision, and it still is the vision to build people's faith and frame their world by the word of God.

But of course, he's added to that as we've moved on, and uh uh raising up a spiritual production center, producing life, city, state, nation, and world.

Hallelujah.

Do you see that?

So God places you strategically where he needs you to be as a body.

So God has placed us strategically in Little Rock to reach our city.

All right, strategically.

Uh I'll tell this probably a little further on in the message.

But Pastor Michelle was on her way home one time.

This was home when home was in Kansas, and she had been up here ministering over the weekend and was headed back and was listening to a message by uh uh Brother Moore, and he was talking about uh Iwo Jima in World War II, and how Iwo Jima, Iwo Jima is basically this volcanic island out in the middle of nowhere, right?

In the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

And the only good that it was was it was uh a place that our bombers could stop off and be refueled, repaired for bombing Tokyo.

And he said, Nobody thought much of that little piece of rock, but he said this.

He said, watch, he said, that little rock was strategic.

And the Lord said to her, Little Rock is strategic.

Little Rock is to is strategic.

So we're we're we're here strategically in Little Rock to reach our city.

Hallelujah.

And uh we've got some verses, but probably we we founded the church in '98, and probably around um 2005, I guess, 2005, uh, I'd been seeking the Lord about some things, and this just began to come up in my spirit, and it was this that we were entering into the second phase of our ministry.

That we were entering into the second phase of our ministry.

Well, I had heard Brother Hagin say one time, he said uh many ministers, actually he said most, but I say many, he said most, most ministers live and die and never get out of the first phase of their ministry.

And so it always been in my spirit to seek the Lord about uh what was the next thing that he wanted us to do.

And so it it that was just in my spirit that we were entering into the second phase of our ministry.

And uh that year uh we had Ed Dufresne come.

And Dr.

Dufresne minister at the church uh there in uh DeSoto.

And he was there for a Sunday morning, Sunday night.

And, you know, when the Lord's dealing with me about something, I'm not a person that goes and tells everybody what the Lord's dealing with me about, right?

If it's the Lord, the Lord will confirm it, right?

He's already confirmed it to my spirit.

I know it's him, but I don't have to go tell everybody and find out what they think, right?

So I'm I'm just you know, I'm just I'm I'm playing merry.

I'm just hiding all these things in my heart, right?

And so uh he came and he ministered that Sunday morning.

And um after the Sunday morning service, we were in my office and and uh actually it was that that Sunday evening, and I was in in the office with him and had some other people in there that was talking.

And um I got up to uh had to go take care of something, and uh, as I was going to towards the door, you know, Dr.

Dufresne was uh used in the prophet's ministry, and uh as I was going towards the door, he uh spoke to me and he said, Pastor, I said, Yes, sir.

He said, The Lord shows me you're moving into the second phase of your ministry.

And I said, Well, praise God, you know, because uh obviously it confirmed what the Lord had said.

Well, it's a very supernatural occurrence because then the next Sunday, uh, of course, he went back home.

The next Sunday uh we were having church and we had a tremendous move of the Holy Spirit, and uh it was such a move of the Holy Spirit that it was like it drained you.

And so I uh had ministered and I was just sitting on the front row.

Uh we had some music that was playing, and and the people were just basking in the presence of God.

And uh I've only had an experience like this maybe twice, maybe three times, but uh I just I looked up and I saw two feet before me and a white robe.

And when I looked on up, this being was standing there with two buckets of the only way I know to say it was a golden liquid like golden oil.

And so I'm sitting there on the front row and I said, Lord, what is this?

And he said, That is this anointing for the second phase of your ministry.

Amen.

And so we received it.

Now I'm going through all this for a reason.

Here recently, what I've been experiencing and sensing is that we're moving into the third phase of our ministry.

We're moving into the third phase of our ministry.

And so that it would be about 20 years since he said uh we're moving into the second phase of our ministry.

And there's some things that he's been talking to me about, dealing with me about, and just the strategicness of where he's placed us.

Because we're not just another church, we're a church with a strategic purpose and vision for the city that we've been called to.

All right?

And building faith and framing worlds by the word of God, raising up a spiritual production center, producing life, city, state, nation, and world.

That's what we're strategically called to do and called to uh act on.

Now look, let's look at Acts chapter one.

Acts chapter 1 and verse 8.

Acts 1 · chapter mention

A familiar verse, but notice he says, But you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you, and you will be witnesses unto me in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and under the uttermost parts of the earth.

So, of course, in our circles, charismatic circle, Pentecostal circles, we talk about uh the infilling of the Holy Ghost and receiving power, and we should, but it's important that we receive the power of the Holy Spirit, but notice why.

Notice why it's important to be witnesses in number one, our city, Jerusalem, our state, Judea, our nation, Samaria, and then ultimately to the world.

City, state, nation, and world.

Our church, our fellowship, our ministry is a spiritual production center that builds faith and frames worlds by the word of God, producing life, city, state, nation, and world.

All right?

So God has a specific place for this church, a specific purpose and a specific place.

Let's look at Isaiah chapter 57.

Isaiah 57 · chapter mention

And I'll share this with you as I've been praying.

The Lord kept saying to me, He said, I want you to call those things out of the darkness.

I want you to call those things out of the darkness.

And then he began to say to me, I want you to call them out of the darkness into the light so they can be seen and developed.

So they can be seen and developed.

And so it's not darkness like calling things out of darkness because it's a bad thing.

It's an obscurity.

It's it's there are things that are hidden that cannot be seen that have to be called out.

They have to be brought out.

And so in Isaiah chapter 57 and verse 13, it says, When you cry, let your companies deliver you, but the wind will carry them all away.

Isaiah 57 · chapter mention

Vanity will take them.

Now notice, now he starts talking about us.

But he that putteth his trust in me shall possess the land and shall inherit my holy mountain, and will say, Cast ye up, cast ye up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling block out of the way of my people.

Hallelujah.

So we trust in the Lord, and notice we possess the land and inherit all that God has for us.

Alright?

Say it out loud.

We inherit all God has for us.

Amen.

Hallelujah.

And so I wrote in my Bible, we'll inherit all that God has for us.

He said to me one time concerning that, he said, where it has been dark, the light will shine again.

Where it has been dark, the light will shine again.

Hallelujah.

But it has to do with what God has called us here to do.

He said, Notice, and you will say, Cast up, cast up, prepare the way, take up the stumbling blocks out of the way of my people.

We're removing the stumbling blocks.

We're preparing the highway so the people in our city can find their way to our church and receive their answer.

Amen.

So they can find their way to our church and receive their answer.

The Lord has been talking to me about this because I'm not the kind of pastor that that you know, I don't when when when people come to my church from another church, I want to know why they're coming.

I I right I'm I'm just I'm that I'm that kind of person.

I don't I don't want to build my church on the back of what somebody else did, right?

But here's the thing that I want you to see.

Here's what the Lord has told me.

He said, There are people that are starving for the word and the spirit, and they're in churches where they're not being fed the word and the spirit, and they're starting to hear the call of where to come and be a part of.

And he said, You need to get the doors open because they're gonna start showing up, and they're gonna need to be, they're going to be, need to be renourished, and they're going to need to be rehydrated, and they're going to need to get their diet of the word and the spirit back in order.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

Do you see this?

And so we're moving all the stumbling blocks out of the way.

We're casting up the highway, we're preparing the way in prayer.

Amen.

We're going to receive our inheritance in the name of Jesus.

Oh, glory to God.

Look at Daniel chapter 2.

Daniel 2 · chapter mention

Daniel chapter 2.

Daniel 2 · chapter mention

Thank you, Jesus.

Daniel chapter 2 and verse 22.

Daniel 2 · chapter mention

Now, of course, remember this is this is Daniel's prophecy about the Lord.

This is Daniel's saying talking about the Lord God.

And notice what it says.

It says, He reveals the deep and secret things.

He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him.

One translation of the Bible in basic English says, He has knowledge of what is in the dark, and the light has its living place with him.

So what is in the dark is not a bad thing.

It's not a bad thing, it's unknown.

That's why God has had me calling the things in the dark into the light so they can be seen and they can be developed.

Hallelujah.

Because there's things I've just been praying in the spirit about.

And I told the Lord, I said, I don't know how to pray about this in the understanding.

So I need to pray, I need to pray in the spirit until you show me how to pray about it in the understanding.

And I would just pray in the spirit.

And every morning I would get up and I said, Now, Lord, if it's okay with you, I'm just going to pray in the spirit about this.

Because I need to know how to pray it out.

And so not too long ago I was praying in the spirit, and as I was praying in the spirit, out of my spirit came these words in English.

Call those things out of the dark into the light.

Call those things out of the dark into the light.

Hallelujah.

And so we've been calling those things into the light so they can be seen and developed.

Because there's things that are not seen.

They're in the dark.

They're not seen, they're in obscurity.

But we're calling them into the light so they can be seen and developed.

So they can be seen and developed.

There are things that God's doing in the ministry, in the city, in the people.

We can't see all of it.

But we're calling it out of the dark.

Hallelujah.

You know, one of our children that we've been praying for.

I'm telling you, I've been telling you guys this for years.

It's the time one of our children that was not serving God, that was not living for the Lord, I mean, come on, raised in church, raised on the front row, right?

Knew the Holy Spirit, but decided to do their own thing.

Got a call just the other day.

Hey, I went to church the other night, gave my life back to the Lord, right?

Thank you.

Thank you for praying for me, right?

The child that said, Don't pray for me.

Don't ever pray for me again.

Thank you for not giving up on me.

Thank you for praying for me.

I'm telling you, if you've got children that are away from the things of God, loved ones that are away, the season is upon us.

They're going to start turning to God.

Why?

The darkness can't hold them, because we're calling those things in the dark into the light.

Amen.

Cannot hold them.

Glory to God.

Amen.

And that's why the enemy fights so hard in those areas.

Right?

But we're calling them out of the darkness.

Oh, glory to God.

We're in a place of advancement.

The Lord said to me when we moved into this building, he said, this is a place of advancement.

He said, it's a place of forward movement.

Amen.

Now listen, we had we had successfully, uh, the church had grown at Markham and it was really, listen, it was great.

I mean, it was it was a good building.

It was it was it was it was good all the way around.

Uh there were some things that we didn't care for, but we were gonna be there as long as the Lord told us.

When I drove by this building and saw the sign on it, the Lord told me to call, and and I did.

And when I walked in here the first time, of course it didn't look anything like this, but he said, This is where this is your next step.

He said, This is the next step.

The next place is your own, but this is the next step.

He said, It's a place of advancement and it's a place of preparation.

Oh, hallelujah.

It's a place to get departments formed, it's a place to get departments fashioned, so that when you go into your own, you can move in and be ready to go.

Oh, hallelujah.

It's a place of advancement, it's a place of preparation.

Right now we're in the womb of preparation.

Amen.

We're in the womb of preparation.

There's a lot of things that's being prayed out.

Prayer is the womb of the Spirit.

And when you pray things out, and you're praying these things out, you're giving birth to things little bit by little bit by little bit.

Amen.

Hallelujah.

Notice in Psalm 44 and verse 3.

Glory to God.

Psalm 44 and verse 3.

For they did not get the land in possession by their own sword, neither did their own arm or their own strength save them.

But you Your right hand, meaning your strength and your arm, your power, and the light of your countenance, because you had favor unto them.

Because you had favor unto them.

That's how we reach our city.

All right.

Notice it's by his strength and the light of his countenance, of his presence, and his favor that we reach our city.

We call those things out of the darkness so they can be seen and developed.

Hallelujah.

I may have told you this, but I'll tell you again.

I told you the story of John Osteen and how, you know, in the beginning Oasis Church was in a real descript, indiscript part of Houston.

Really just a metal building.

They had started Oasis in a feed store, an old feed store.

And uh, I mean holes in the floor, and just, you know, really not a good place, but started getting packed out.

And they they they got this other building, metal building.

Now inside it was nice, seat about 2,000 people, but he was talking to the Lord about finances one day, and the Lord said to him, He said, John, he was letting him know what an issue finances weren't.

He said, If you told people that the only time they could give was between 10 p.m.

and 3 a.m.

in the morning, and they had to come in the sanctuary and climb a 10-foot-tall ladder, and you would have a basket hanging from the ceiling.

He said, I've got people that would set their clocks to get up and come give.

Amen.

All now I'm I'm saying this for a reason.

I heard this over and over and over and over again, from the time we were in the La Quinta to Markham to here.

When we were in the Lakinta, we heard from people, you know, there's people that just won't come to your church as long as you're in a hotel.

Just won't come to your church as long as you're in a hotel.

Okay.

Then we moved to Markham.

There's people just won't come to your church.

They won't come to your church as long as you're in a storefront.

They just won't come to your church.

And then we moved here, and you hear the same thing.

I was praying the other day, and the Lord said to me, He said, Philip, I've got people that are looking for the word and the spirit, and he said, they don't care what your church is housed in.

They are hungry enough that when they drive by, they're going to stop and want to be a part of what is going on.

Amen.

Hallelujah.

Because it's because of his favor.

Annette Capp said in 2023 over our church.

She was ministering in the Markham location.

She said, In Jesus' name, that which has been hidden is now revealed.

The light is shining now, and that which has occupied that space, that which has occupied that land is driven off and moved.

And whatever was on that property that's not planted by God is now moved.

It's now moved.

Amen.

The light is shining now.

Many that have been searching for a church of the Word and the Spirit are moving this way.

We'll begin to see a flow of that into the church.

Hallelujah.

I'm just saying it so when it happens, you'll know the Lord said it.

Look at Isaiah 43.

This is a verse that I consistently speak over the ministry in the city.

He said, Fear not, for I'm with you.

I'll bring your seed from the east and gather them from the west.

I will say to the north, give up, and to the south, keep not back.

Bring my sons from far and my daughters from the ends of the earth.

Those that desire the word and the spirit are coming from the north, the south, the east, and the west.

Hallelujah.

I've been declaring, I've been declaring, telling the north, the south, the east, and the west, give them up.

Give them up in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

They have to come.

And that went on further and said, even as I have established you, and I have established you in that position in that office and in that calling, so I now establish you in this geographic location.

Little Rock.

Little Rock is strategic.

Hallelujah.

So God has established us here.

God has placed us here.

He's placed us here strategically.

Amen.

Now I'm going through all this because we're entering into another season.

We're entering into another season.

And we have to be prepared.

I like to teach things like this on Wednesday nights because folks that come on Wednesday nights that are faithful on Wednesday nights, man, you want it.

Right?

You want it.

Amen.

It's like you want pizza, so you're willing to drive to the other side of town.

But here's the thing: they're moving this way.

The north, the south, the east, and the west is giving them up.

He's established us in this geographic location.

The Lord said to me, as you're faithful to cover Arkansas, every other facet of the ministry will flourish.

Every other facet of the ministry will flourish.

Hallelujah.

But he has this assignment on us to cover Arkansas.

He's been talking to me about, I was walking through the neighborhoods one day praying around the church.

And as I was walking down the sidewalk praying in the Holy Spirit, the Lord said to me, He said, The land goes to the person that will possess it.

And he said, You have to possess the land and you have to possess the airwaves.

You have to possess the land and you have to possess the airwaves.

Amen.

So that's our job.

That's our assignment, if you will.

Amen.

Now, let me say this before we move on.

And so in the beginning, especially for me, in the beginning, when we came to Little Rock, you know, Pastor Michelle was doing most of the pastoring.

Uh in La Quinta.

I may have been to a couple of special meetings at La Quinta, but she was doing most of it.

She was driving back and forth.

I was pastoring the church in DeSoto, and you've heard the story of the Lord talking to me about, you know, we needed to be in Little Rock.

And so we came.

I came.

But still, yeah, I was going back at least twice a month.

Sometimes I'd be gone a week, sometimes two weeks, because there were things that needed to be done there and this, that, and the other.

But about two years ago, I started feeling, I started feeling this anointing lifting.

Alright?

And what I mean by that is this is there was a shift that was going on in the spirit realm regarding my assignment in that location.

It was changing.

It was changing.

Pat Harris, when we were in Markham location, she was ministering, and at the end, well, towards the end of her message, she said some things in tongues over us and interpreted them.

But then she said to me, She said, You are an apostle, you are a pastor, and you're a teacher.

All right.

So those are the three main ministerial giftings in my life.

Well, when she said that, I knew it was right because it bore witness with my spirit.

But here's the thing.

When those things are said out publicly when they're putting the air, then there's now God can start operating along those lines.

And so what began to happen was the change that began to happen in that location was I begin to operate in that apostolic flow where that organization, that location is concerned, more so than the pastoral role.

All right?

God moved uh Brother Jim and Sister Carrie to DeSoto from here.

They move there from there to here to help, and then they move from here back to help.

Well, they're primarily pastoring that church now.

All right?

I mean, they're they're still obviously uh, you know, they're like the teenager.

I haven't given them all the keys yet, but they have a spare set.

All right.

This is important, right?

They don't have my keys yet, but they have a spare set.

Well, here's why.

Because God needs my focus and he needs our focus on Little Rock.

Right?

Now, that doesn't mean that I'm not going to be ministering there, but we've pared it down to once a month, and I have no intention of increasing it.

All right.

Now, this is important because of what the Lord said further on.

She went on and she said, I drive my stake into the ground here.

I have claimed and I have declared and I have said of old that this place shall give glory unto me.

This place shall be established.

For of ancient of days I have spoken over this earth and this geographic location.

So now I take the anointing upon you and upon you and I join it together.

Everything you need will come, for there are those who have aborted the move of God in this city.

There are those who have hindered the move of God, but now it rests on you.

For I will re-establish it.

I will re-establish it.

God said that twice.

Now I never try to read too much into what God says.

I just take it at face value.

But here's the thing: He is telling us that at some point the move that God had was aborted and was hindered.

And he's saying, Now it rests on you.

I will re-establish it.

I will re-establish it.

So it means it was established.

And he's going to re-establish it in this ministry.

Said, it shall come forth.

So we can see from everything God's saying, it's about the city.

God has placed us here for the city, for the state, for the nation, and for the world.

Hallelujah.

He has strategically placed us in our city for a purpose.

And that purpose is to advance the kingdom of God according to his plan for our city.

Hallelujah.

The Lord said to me just this morning, as a matter of fact, I wrote it down, but I can remember it almost for verbatim.

And he said to me, He said, When you first started pastoring in DeSoto, he said, I had little rock on my mind.

And he said, as you pastored for over 20 years there, I had little rock on my mind.

Hallelujah.

It's not because it's more important, it's not because there's a less important aspect of this.

It's God had to get us in a position strategically, right?

Let me share this with you.

We've heard Pastor Caldwell talk about what God told him about this city and and how he wasn't God's first choice.

Well, when I first heard him say that, I thought to myself, I'm glad I'm not the only one.

Because when we when when we were we were pastoring uh not too long in DeSoda, about a year.

Well, no, no, no, no, excuse me, five years.

And we were at the the uh beginning of the fifth year, and we were having a Monday evening prayer meeting.

And at that time we had a big piano, baby grand piano on the platform, and uh I was under that piano praying, and uh just laying on my face praying.

And the Lord said to me, He said, How many years were the previous two pastors at this church?

Well, I happened to know.

And I said, Five.

They were here five years.

And he said, What does the number five mean?

Well, I happen to know as well.

Grace means grace.

He said, I gave both of those pastors five years to do what I wanted them to do, and they wouldn't do it.

He said, now will you or do I have to find somebody else?

I said, Don't look any further.

I'll do it.

Right?

I'll do it.

I believe, I believe that we're in Little Rock because God needed somebody to come and reestablish some things.

Now, I don't know what they all are, but I know that the Lord said that to us.

So I'm here in Little Rock, and I'm telling you, I know he hasn't told me, I know I'm not his first choice.

I don't even know if I'm second or third.

I'm just glad to be in the mix.

Right?

Just glad that he's willing to use us.

But here's the thing: he's gonna reestablish this.

What is it?

The move of God in the city.

He said, it rests on you.

Now, when you hear it rests on you, you might hear, yeah, it rests on pastor.

No, my family, it rests on us.

It rests on the church, it rests on you personally, it rests on the church collectively, and it rests on me and my wife.

But if God has called you to this church, then it rests on you.

You it's a you're a part of it, and God wants to re-establish it.

He said through Annie Durant, I don't know if if uh how how many of you were were here when Annie made this statement, but again, this was in the early days of the Markham location because we only had uh, remember, we only had half of it at that time.

Some of y'all remember we only had half, right?

And uh uh later on we knocked the wall out and got the rest of it.

But she made the statement.

Now, if you don't know who Annie Duran is, her and her husband, Kevin, they traveled with Brother Hagin for, I don't know, 10, 15 years, part of Ray Mah Singers and Band.

They're in their obviously in their own ministry and have been for decades.

But here's the point.

She said from the pulpit, she said, I see in the spirit that there are things that have been laid down that God's called you here to pick them back up.

God's called you here to pick them back up.

Now, when God starts saying these things, I don't take them lightly.

I don't, I've never been a chess puffer.

Yeah, that's right.

That's not me.

Right?

Because I understand that I I read years ago, multiple decades ago, in the Bible, where God used a donkey and a rooster.

And that told me real quick.

He don't have to use me.

Hallelujah.

But he but he does.

So he's called us to reestablish some things, and he's placed us here strategically for a purpose, and that purpose is to advance the kingdom of God according to his plan for our city.

Hallelujah.

In uh 2021, of course, that was we were still having some issues of the pandemic, you remember that?

And uh, but we had a marriage conference of all things in DeSoto with Ken and Trudy Blunt, and Ken was here not too long ago, and uh good friends of ours, and uh in any event, they were uh ministering on marriage.

I think you went to that conference, didn't you?

And it was just a good conference.

And uh I was uh we were talking to him, and and he didn't know in the beginning that we pastored two churches, and uh when he when he found out he was he was very intrigued about it.

But uh it was uh Saturday morning, we had a Saturday morning uh session, and of course I think I I rode back with you, I think.

And uh I had to come back and minister that Sunday.

Michelle stayed there with them, but on that sun Saturday morning, the Lord gave him a word for me, for us, both of us, but specifically for me.

This is 2021.

And the Lord said, I've called you to a very unusual thing.

Pastoring two churches.

Now that's me.

I've I put that in parentheses, pastoring two churches.

It's a season that won't last forever.

Well, you see, that's 2021, and so we're in 2026, so five years we've been percolating on this, right?

It's a season that won't last forever.

He said, I appreciate that you've been willing to do what you've been called to do, because there are times it's hard, and there are times you wonder what is going to be the end result.

But I tell you, the end result will be blessing.

I'm going to use you in this unusual calling in these two places in your life.

I'm not only going to use you, I'm going to bring others alongside you.

So open your eyes to recognize them.

There will be some that you cannot trust.

Well, I found that out already.

But there are some coming that will have your heart.

And I'll show you, I'll direct you, I'll lead you to those that you'll be able to put confidence in, and they'll help take the burden.

All right, they'll help take the burden.

And of course, he showed me different ones already.

Brother Jim, Sister Carrie, different other ones.

They will help relieve some of this chapter.

Now notice.

Because this chapter will end.

This chapter will end.

Now, do you have a moment for me to share my heart with you?

You gotta understand something.

When when the Lord first said this to me, I I knew it was the Lord, but you gotta understand there's something.

You know, when you bring a child into the into the earth, right, as parents, I mean, all other children are great, but that's your child.

Right, that's your child.

And I mean, it's it's different.

Because you were there.

You helped birth that child.

When he started talking about this chapter ending, just I had to grab a hold of it because, you know, we we had to go to DeSoto and fight hell.

You know, we had to overcome religion.

I I remember we uh the the sanctuary there, it's it's about, I don't know, it's it's maybe it's a little bigger than this, but uh when we first started pastoring there, it had uh on either side, it had like 15-foot pews on either side.

And I don't know how many of them there was, but when we first started pastoring there, you know, you're the new kid in town, the new band in town, whatever it is.

And I mean, people came out of the woodwork.

It I mean, packed out every service.

Ushers putting chairs in the middle aisle.

I mean, and the Holy Ghost was just moving, moving, moving.

I mean, phenomenal, all right?

And we we had we had special events and we had people out the front door and in the in the hallway, and we we had we had people that would stand outside and look in the windows, right?

And it was great.

I mean, it was great, but you know, I I was growing in my pastoring, and I realized that those people are not gonna grow just by me preaching to them.

You know you know you understand what I mean by that?

Just proclaiming.

Right?

Because back then, nearly 30 years ago, I was a preacher, man.

I mean a preacher.

I I had to have a handkerchief with me every time I preached, and if I didn't sweat through my t-shirt, my shirt, my tie, and my jacket, well, I hadn't done you right.

Amen.

You follow me?

And I remember this.

I started preaching the word, I started preaching faith, I started ministering the word of God.

And one Wednesday or Sunday morning, Wednesday night or Sunday morning, I forget.

I think it was Wednesday night.

I ministered on the present day ministry of Jesus Christ.

And I made a statement in that message.

I said, Jesus did not do what he did on the earth as the divine Son of God.

He did it as a man anointed by God.

I didn't say it wasn't divine.

I said, that's not how he did all these things.

I said, he didn't heal because he was divine.

He healed because he was anointed.

Man.

Best selling tape ever.

Not because they wanted to hear the truth, they wanted to hear the heresy that everybody was talking about.

I preached that church down from well over 200 to 43.

I mean, in like six months, we had 43 folks.

And I thought, well, they have stuck with us so we can build on this.

Right?

So my point is, I had to fight religion.

I had to I had to go there and fight hell.

I had to fight the devil.

I had a guy that left the church.

I had to put him off the board.

Had to ask his family to leave the church.

I've only had to ask one family to leave the church in almost 30 years of pastoring, and it was them because they just wouldn't quit gossiping and causing problems.

Well, he left the church and started taking out quarter page newspaper ads about me, calling me a false prophet.

Said that we had a false prophet's outreach going on.

I mean, quarter page ad with my name, big letters, my name, and had a wolf in sheep's clothing with an offering bucket and a knife.

Deacon's rights.

He said his rights had been violated.

Amen.

He printed up t-shirts with derogatory statements about me.

People wearing t-shirts around.

DeSoto was only about 5,000 people then.

The Panasonic plant has come in now and they're growing exponentially.

God told us through Scott Webb that there was going to come advancements in technology and employment in that city.

And he said it's going to expand the reach of this city, and you're strategically placed for the influx that's coming.

And we're already seeing it.

They're seeing newcomers every service.

God never misses it.

You just got to wait on it.

So all the all the t-shirts and and all the things, and you and we just kept preaching.

We just kept declaring the word of God.

And then God told us that we needed to start reaching out to other parts of the city.

And we ended up having uh we ended up having two uh two 60 passenger buses and one 20 passenger bus and and a 15 passenger passenger van, and we bust people in from uh rehabs and homeless shelters and and there were two projects in the inner city of Kansas City, Missouri that we ministered in, and we would bust families in, and we did that for years.

And and and and then fed everybody.

We had people at the church at 6 o'clock in the morning making dinner, and then after I preached, had two services on Sunday morning, I'd preach two services, and then I'd go out and serve food, and we'd help people.

My family and I just stayed there all day.

So we had we I mean, just a phenomenal thing.

Here's what I'm trying to explain to you.

Man, we fought that.

Why did we fight that?

Because most we were the we were the we were the only interracial church in that city.

Well, Pastor, how's that why is that a big deal?

Because DeSoto was the seat of the KKK in Kansas.

If you go to the city museum, they've taken it down now, but they used to have a big display promoting the KKK.

Oh my goodness.

They threw watermelons at our bus, they made ugly noises.

It was something.

I mean, it was we were that church.

So here's why I'm telling you that.

When God started saying this chapter will end, man, I birthed that church.

Nobody wanted it there, and I had to put it on my back and say, We're I can't tell you how many times I would stand on the front row of that church and say, We're going where God told us to go.

If I gotta put you on my back, we're going.

We're going where God told us to go.

Amen.

And so when God started saying, This chapter will end, whoo, man.

It was hard.

But I'm going through all this for a reason.

We have entered into this part.

That chapter has ended.

Not, I'll never be there.

That's not my anointing there anymore.

You follow me?

This chapter, he said, will produce the plan of God I have for you to fulfill your calling on the earth.

The times cannot stop you, sickness cannot stop you, the enemy's not big enough to stop you.

I will surely strengthen you with my power and my strength to do what I've called you to do in Jesus' name.

So we've entered into the season where I'm leading and covering DeSoto from the apostolic position God has placed me in.

DeSoto will thrive and flourish.

The Lord said that.

Hallelujah.

And the anointing will increase for what we have to do in Little Rock and in Arkansas.

Hallelujah.

It's an exciting time.

Amen.

Now I went through all of this tonight because I want you to see the season that we're in.

It's an expansion.

Amen.

You're here, right, as God's getting ready to do a lot of things that He's promised He's going to do.

Hallelujah.

I uh uh just so blessed the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our student group Sunday morning.

Kids speaking in tongues, laying on the floor, slaying in the spirit.

Amen.

Moving in our children's ministry.

Amen.

God said to us, He said, the influx of the children are coming.

He said, You gotta be ready.

You gotta, you gotta be prepared because they're coming.

I was looking over my notes when I had ministered on the youth movement, and he said, There's a youth movement coming to your church.

And he said, he said, you can think of it as this.

He said, it's like the in the days of the Jesus movement, only it's gonna be with tongues, interpretation of tongues, the word, and the spirit.

And I believe that.

I believe that with all my heart.

And you are right where you need to be to be a part of what God is doing.

Hallelujah.

So we're calling those things out of the darkness into the light so that they can be seen and developed.

So they can be seen and developed.

Hallelujah.

Say it out loud.

Just close your eyes and just say it out loud.

Say, Lord, whatever my part is, I'm willing, I am available, and I'm here for your purpose and your plan.

In the name of Jesus.

Amen.

So the Lord said that there would be some that He said there would be those that He would bring alongside and uh to help.

And so part of the part of the, if I could say it, the specialness, if that's a word, of tonight, is that I had prayed about some of this a long time, and the Lord had laid on my heart, and I've talked to these people, this is not a surprise, these men, the Lord had laid on my heart uh to set a couple of uh ministers into position as associate ministers in the in the in the church.

And so we're gonna do that tonight uh in the time that we have left.

And uh uh Pastor Larry and uh Brother Eric, if y'all would come to the front, hallelujah.

We're gonna lay hands on them tonight and uh set them in this office.

Could y'all move this for me?

Hallelujah.

This is uh a holy moment.

Hallelujah.

And uh I uh I know these men.

Um both of them call me their spiritual father and uh their pastor.

And uh I uh of course I met Brother Larry when I came here and began to to minister regularly.

And uh I still remember our meeting at Texas Roadhouse.

Amen.

And uh how the Lord answered some questions for you there.

And the Lord told you there, that's that's your spiritual father.

And uh Eric, I met Eric at uh Faith Christian Fellowship meeting in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

I think they were having a comedy night that night.

Was that is that what it was?

That's right, that's right, that's right.

Well anyway, I I I met Denise and and Eric, and they were in uh Arizona at the time, is that right?

And helping out at a church in Arizona, and uh we invited them to come to Kansas and just visit with us, and while they were there, we had just started this work not too long before, and I felt like the Lord was talking to us about asking them to come help us here.

And uh we did, and they did, and then they took a little hiatus and went to Mexico for a little bit, and now they're back.

Hallelujah! So I want you to uh to be witness to this tonight, and um, of course, the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 4, verse 1.

1 Timothy 4:1

He said, Now the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their own consciousness, consciences seared with a hot iron.

They go through many things that they will do that are obviously deceitful.

But then he says, Concerning the man of God, he said, If you instruct the brethren in these things, you'll be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of good doctrine, which you have carefully followed.

But reject profane and old wives' fables, and exercise yourself towards godliness.

This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance.

For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially those who believe.

These things command and teach.

Let no one despise your youth, your length of time in the ministry, your qualifications, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

Do not neglect the gift that is in you given by the prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the elders.

Meditate on these things, give yourself entirely to them that your progress may be evident to all.

Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine.

Continue in them, for in doing this you will save yourself and those who hear you.

I'm going to ask you some questions.

And as I do, if you accept that, you can simply say, I will.

First question: Do you accept the Bible as God's inspired, infallible, anderrant, immutable, and indestructible, and indispensable word?

Do you understand the requirements, responsibilities, and realities that are about to be placed upon you by being set apart as an associate minister of the Lord Jesus Christ?

Are you ready and willing to accept and assume the responsibility to preach and practice God's word with boldness, to minister to the needs of those to whom you are sent without partiality, and to give yourself sacrificially and without reserve to the educating, edification, and equipping of the body of Christ?

Will you embrace and endeavor to be in diligent to the study of God's word, instant and faithful in prayer, an example in Christian discipline before the people and the community, in order that your life may be a worthy Christian example, and that upon your ministry the blessing of God may rest?

Recognizing the sacred responsibility of your call and aware of the responsibility, will you seek the leadership and empowerment of the Holy Spirit in order that you may be a faithful minister of Him who has called you?

Then I charge you to pursue the Word of God.

I charge you to practice the Word of God.

I charge you to preach the Word of God.

You're called to be a preacher.

Some assume the call to preach and do very little about it.

They become entangled with various professions of the world and their ministry becomes a sideline.

I believe it's proper to include in this charge that if you are called to be a preacher, then be a preacher.

You're not called to be a politician, you're not called to be a school teacher or a social worker, you are a man of God called to preach.

Paul's final instruction to Timothy was, I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at his appearing in his kingdom, preach the word.

Be instant in season and out of season, reconvince, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and teaching, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears.

They will heap to themselves teachers, and they will turn their ears away from the truth.

But you be watchful and all things endure affliction.

Do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

Father, in the name of Jesus.

The shepherd of this body.

The shepherd of these sheep.

Father, this is not a decision that we come to lightly.

It is not a decision that we have come to without prayer.

It is not a decision that we have come to without asking the Holy Spirit for his specific guidance as to who should step into these roles.

Father, I lay hands upon these men of God.

These men that refer to me as pastor and spiritual father.

I set them in the position of associate minister of this body.

And Father, with all the requirements, the responsibilities, spiritually, physically, Father, behind the pulpit in front of the people, in the community that they live in, I set them in that position and I declare over them that they are called to stand in that office.

And from this night forward, they shall be associate ministers of this body.

Now, Father, let the anointing rest upon them.

Father, that same anointing that is upon my life, when my pastor laid hands on me and set me into that position, I thank you for that anointing flowing in their lives, flowing in their spirits.

And I thank you that as you said concerning Saul when the anointing came on him, that he would be turned into another man.

And I thank you, Father, that that same tenacity, that same drive, that same unwillingness to back up, back down, back away, or back off is within them, and they shall see walls falls, doors open, and victories come as a result of it in the name of Jesus Christ.

I receive them into that position in Jesus' name.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

Thank you, Jesus.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

So Lord, we thank you.

We thank you.

Hallelujah.

Glory be to Jesus.

Glory be to God.

Thank you, Father.

Glory be to Jesus.

And so we've entered into a new season.

Amen.

Entered into a new era.

And uh as we've obeyed the Lord, the doors will open.

Hallelujah.

Thank you, Jesus.

And we can expect an increase of the anointing.

We can expect an increase of the flow of the Spirit of God.

Amen.

Hallelujah.

Thank you, Jesus.

Thank you, Jesus.

Oh, we thank you, Lord.

We praise you, Father.

We praise you, Father.

Oh, hallelujah.

Oh, hallelujah.

Oh, hallelujah.

And there are, the Lord says this that there are many that you've been sensing in your spirit.

That something, and you didn't even want to say that because it sounds so clicheic, it sounds so generic.

Something is coming.

But what you're sensing is those things that wave in the spirit realm that is upon you.

It is upon you.

And it's not just things in the sense of physical, material things.

It's those things of the spirit.

They are upon your life.

They're upon your family.

They're upon the church that you attend.

They're upon the body of Christ.

And those that have a listening ear and a hearing heart will see those things manifest.

And what you've been sensing is this season that has come, this season that is up on us.

And you watch, the Lord says, you watch the flow.

It's not that it's going to be any more in the sense that it's more than what you would normally have in your church.

You've always been a church to follow the word and the spirit.

It's going to be stronger, it's going to be deeper.

It's going to be more pronounced.

And you shall see it.

And you shall walk in it.

Hallelujah.

And many will come to the body, and many will come to the church.

And the Holy Spirit will do a work on them during the service.

And they won't need hands laid on them and they won't need prayer.

The Holy Spirit will fix it before they ever leave the building.

You shall see it, you shall be witnesses of it.

And you'll look back and say, on the 29th, that's when it began.

That's when it started.

And so, Lord, we receive it in Jesus' name.

We receive that in the name of Jesus.

Amen.

Amen.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

Glory to God.

So let's stand on our feet tonight.

Thank you.