Revival Sunday w/ Choco de Jesus

Is going to be good. Choco dejey SEUs is one of our national leaders

for the Assemblies of God. He pastored one of the largest churches in America

in Chicago. When I picked him up from the airport, I had one

question, that's all. I wanted to know. Why would he lay down

his gargantuan church to go work in the national office. I was curious.

And he shares that story with me and how God led him and guided him.

And he's going to share a little bit of his testimony this morning.

It's going to blow you away. I'm so excited for you to meet Choco.

Please welcome Venture Pastor Choco. Well, Bless the Lord. Bless the

Lord, Oh my soul and all that's within me. Bless his Holy name.

Sometimes you're gonna have to tell yourself, bless the Lord, because it's

not what you're going through that matters. Is where you're going to that matters.

What a joy to be. This is my first time here Adventure Church,

with your lovely pastor and his lovely wife and his team here Adventure Church.

Will you give it up to our pastors. They do a phenomenal job.

Thank you. I always want to get around people who want to do

something and change the world and be a part of that process. And so

it's a joy. Thank you, Pastor Brandon and Die for allowing me to

come. Hey, let me show you a quick picture of my wife,

Elizabeth, who is not able to come. E. Lizbeth and I we've

been married for thirty five years, and she was twelve years old. I

was fourteen when I asked her to be my girl girlfriend. I saw her

in church and I said, hmm, I'm going to marry this girl.

And we waited until she was seventeen. I was nineteen and eighty for five

years, and then we got married. Elizabeth and I have three beautiful children,

their adult children. Let me show you my tribe. This is my

tribe. All my three kids. I'm married. They're out of the house.

Bless the Lloyd. I'm not this Hispanic father that wants their kids to

stay with them. No, you gotta go. I want my girlfriend back.

Amen. And so on your left is my oldest daughter Alex, her

husband Anthony. They're the worship leaders back in Chicago. They leave free worship.

My youngest daughter Jacenya and her husband Andrews, my son Pete and his

wife Eden. She's part of the worship team in Chicago, and we're just

I'm living in the more of God. God has allowed me to see my

children's children worship Him. The greatest legacy I can leave on planning Earth is

not that I pastor a big church or author of books, but that my

kids love Jesus. That's the greatest legacy. Amen, let me show a

picture of my grandchildren. How many grandparents we have in the house. Any

grandparents? Come on now. I tell people, Gods should have given us

the grandchildren first, kept the kids, give us the grandchildren. I'm telling

you, it's just a whole different love, so much so that Charlie is

the oldest one, the one in the middle holding the baby. That's Charlie.

And around ten months ago she called me. She face timed me as

I was driving and Elizabeth was holding the phone. I have to say that

because some people, you know, you got to tell that. And I

was driving and she said, Papa, I have a question for you.

I said, Charlie, what's your question? She said, Papa, do

you have the mostest money out of everybody? I said, Charlie, I

don't have the mostest money out of everybody. But if you're asking me if

I have more money than your mother and father, then yes I do.

She said, good, Papa, I need some things. And three hundred

dollars later and Amazon, my oldest daughter Alex said, puppy, you can't

be doing things like that. I said, I could do whatever I want

to do with my money. Amen. So that's Charlie Grace. Next to

Charlie is Reagan. Reagan pray for me. Reagan is white with blue eyes.

I'm brown with brown eyes. And I tell my daughter just send you.

If I take Reagan to Walmart or Target, I need her birth certificate.

I don't anybody think I told this little girl. Amen. This is

James Anthony, he's the oldest of the boys. This is Donald Reagan's little

brother. And then alaas guy. She's like the joy. She hugs everybody

and the family just brings a great joy. And then my youngest grandson.

We're afraid of Noah the issues, and we're expecting our seventh in June.

Come on now, I'm just saying, we Hispanics, we come deep.

You invite me over your house. I ain't coming with two people. I'm

coming with the whole greyhound. This is how we come. Let me shure

there's another picture, because I think it's funny. This is what we grandparents

do. So we went to the restaurant a few weeks ago. I was

in Chicago and I took my grandkids. I always like to take them to

breakfast. And the waitress comes alongside the grandchildren, what would you like to

drink apple juice? What would you like to drink apple juice? Kiss to

James. James says, decaf please, And the waitress looked at me and

she said, is he serious? I said, give the man decaf.

Hey, would you stand with me for the reading of God's Word if you're

physically able to stand, I too want to invite you tonight. I have

a sermon for you of Psalms forty two, or want you to read it

before you come here tonight. You do not want to miss tonight the presence

of God. Yearning for God's presence. God's presence makes the difference. Psalms

forty two. Read that before you come here tonight. Pastor has allowed me

to bring several of my books tonight. This morning I'm gonna be preaching from

in the gap. How God taps a man or a woman to stand in

the gap. Even though you didn't create the gap, God will tap somebody

who would be willing to stand for what they believe. I've been traveling over

America telling the churches America has drifted and there's a tsunami of immorality hitting the

shores of America. And the only answer to that drift is the Church of

Jesus Christ. Because when I put that down on that, everybody's gonna say

amen. I'm gonna say that again so everybody can say amen. And the

only drift to what's happening is the Church of Jesus Christ. Regardless who sits

in the White House, the Church has a mandate, and the mandate is

to empty hell and fill Heaven. I want to remind you venture church that

we are citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. We may live here in Seattle,

Washington, but we are citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. And the

Kingdom of Heaven operates in a different economy. It's the economy of faith.

The United States may be going through a recession. There may be a global

recession. I'm talking to somebody. There may be a global recession, but

the Church will not participate in it, because we operate in the economy of

faith. Ezek your chapter twenty two, verse thirty says this, I look

for a man among them who will build up the wall and stand before me

in the one gap. The word gap in Hebrew means I'm benign him.

It means between two places. So God said, I look for a man

and eh among them who would build up the wall and stand before me in

the eye. But I am on behalf of the land, so I would

not have to destroy it. And here's what God said. I didn't find

anybody, nobody in Seattle, nobody in Chicago, anybody who would be willing

to say not on my watch. So Father, we come before you this

morning. Thank you for allowing us to come to church. Thank you for

the worship team. Thank you the Lord that you are, the God of

I am. You were here before we got here. So we pray God

that you would messes up, disturb us, cause us to do something.

We love you this morning in Jesus' name. Everybody say, man, before

you sit downturned, you never say you look better than last week. Just

tell him that. Go ahead and tell them it may not be true,

but you can repent later. Come on, America has drifted. For the

next twenty minutes, I want to share with you what God has placed in

my heart. God is looking for a few good men and women who would

stand in the gap. In twenty twenty four. In the nineteen fifties,

Eisenhower, former President of the United States, went on national TV to urge

all Americans to pray for the Geneva peace conference between the Soviets. In the

United States, that type of gesture in the nineteen fifties was common that the

President of the United States would get on national TV and urge all Americans to

pray. Today, in twenty twenty four, that gesture, it's not common,

It's unimaginable today. So how is it that we adjust from being the

culture to being a counter culture Christianity back in the days in the nineteen fifties

and sixties set with set culture. Today they look at you and I and

they say, Choko, you are a corner culture minority group. You're uncool

because of your faith. Listen to me, Venture Church. We need to

stop caring what people think about us and start caring about what God thinks of

us. We cannot allow Hollywood to define who we are. We know who

we are. We're children of the Most High. We're a community of love.

We're a community of forgiveness, offering transformation to the broken hearted. There

are gaps everywhere in our culture. The average homeless person in America is not

thirty five, he's nine years old. The girl who's being trafficed, she's

not twenty one, she's five years old. Four hundred thousand children aren't false

to care. There are gaps everywhere. You didn't create them. I didn't

create them. Two billion people on planet Earth cannot read or write. What

you and I believe is under attack. The foundation on which we stood is

being questioned. I'm just saying that every time there is a problem, every

time there's a crisis on planet Earth, God will tap a man. He'll

tap a woman to do something, say something. How are you with me

this morning? I haven't even started preaching. That's my introduction. Every time

there was trouble, God will call a woman, He will call a man

to stand in the gap, in the broken places, in chaotic situations,

to come against a system. Martin Luther King Junior stood up against the giant

Jim Crow, Corey, Tim Boom stood in the gap against fascism in Nazi

Germany. In the era of the Revivalists, there was John Wesley and the

Great Awakening. In the era of the Reformation, there was Luther and Calvin

and the Anabaptists. In the Roman era there was the polycarp and the Martyrs.

These were in the lineage of John the Baptist, the prophetic voice in

the wilderness that echoed Ezekiel in the Biblical profece. I'm just trying to tell

you vet your church that God is looking for somebody, an Ish or an

Esha, anybody willing to die for what they believe. So I passed a

church in Chicago for nineteen years, and maybe tonight says we have more time,

I'll give you more details. But I passed a church and we would

do outreaches in Chicago, and one of my outreaches was to go and give

New Testament Bibles to students in high schools. We were within our rights to

do that. We were not violating sidewalk and so forth. And as the

students came out of their car, we would give them the New Testament Bible.

Now you need to know that New Life Covenant church in Chicago. We

adopted fifteen schools, eleven feeder schools and four high schools, six two hundred

plus children. We would give them free immunization, free, hair cut free,

free everything to get them ready for school. So this is one of

the schools that we adopted, and we were passing on New Testament Bibles.

What I'm about to share with you does not come out on CNN or Fox

News. But one student grabbed the Bible and he walked into his classroom and

the professor of that classroom snatched the Bible, told the students in the classroom,

around thirty students, this Bible is garbage, and he proceeded to throw

it in the garbage. Well, what he did not know is that there

was a student that went to my church and he took out his phone and

he texted his father, buppy, you and I believe what I just saw.

The father gets the text, he texts me pasta choco, you and

I believe what I just heard. I get to text, and I did

what any man would do. I went to the school. I went to

the school. When we get to heaven, we're gonna ask God to role

play the film word. I went to the school. The principal knows me.

She says, roberend to Hasius, how you doing, I said,

not good. One of your teachers through the Bible in the garbage. Go

get him. I want to talk to him. She leaves her office.

I'm in the principal's office, y'all, and I said a prayer. It

wasn't spiritual, but I did that in Jesus' name. I said, Oh

God, I pray that what he threw in the garbage was a math book

social studies book, because if he threw the Bible in the garbage, I'm

going to kill him in Jesus' name. She comes back in the office with

a tall Anglo atheist. I extend my hand. I says, my name

is Reverend Haitius. What's your name? He gives me his name. I

says, sit down. I want to talk to you. For a moment.

For a moment, I felt like God was in heaven and the balcony

of Heaven called in all the angels check out my son. Well, do

you need to know is that when I got saved at fourteen, I'm all

in in the absence of my father, who abandoned me at the age of

eight years old at a bar. He had left my mom with six children.

I am the youngest of six. I am, like Gideon, the

youngest of my tribe. My brother was a leader one of the meaniest gangs

in Chicago. So that's where I live with no father, no Jesus,

destined for destruction until I was fourteen, and I gave my life to Jesus.

When I gave my life to Jesus, there's no ambiguity. I know

who I am. My father is no punk. You just can't do that

right. This is my mindset. He can come to sit down. I

wanna talk to you, he says, down. I said, is it

true? Is it true that you threw the Bible in the garbage? And

he looked at me venture church and he said, yes, I did.

With that attitude, my Puerto Rican blood. You need to know that God

saved me from anger because I was ten year old boy hitting walls and my

knuckles were bleeding because I was seeing kids with their parents, both of them,

and I didn't have a father. You know what I'm talking about.

Everybody has a story, and the fact that I got saved at fourteen is

not like he removed the anger. He just rerouted it. He said,

yes, I did. And I said, how dare you? For thousands

of years people have died for a page of this book. They crossed rivers

that cross jungles and mountains. You don't have no right to. I told

the faith of these kids in your classroom, what do you think you are?

And for four minutes, y'all, I'm shooting. I'm calling it scud

missiles. After like four minutes, I looked to the right to see what

the principal was doing. She was looking up the wall. She's essentially saying,

Papa, you on your own. After four minutes, I say,

you're lucky, bro, You're lucky. You're lucky. I'm a pastor in

this community, and we believe in repentance. You will repent today, you,

principal, get on the undercom and told all the teachers to respect the

Bible. And you go back in your class and take the Bible out of

the garbage and ask for forgiveness. Attention faculty, attention faculty. Walk with

him, took the Bible out of garbies, ask for forgiveness. I left

the classroom, left the school, went to my car, and then reality

settled in Choko. Are you crazy? She could have called the cops.

You got over thirty buildings in the city, That could have called every inspector

to make your life a living hell. But where is that man who stands

for what he believes? Where's that woman who's willing to flip tables and say

not on my watch? We've come to a time in our culture that plane

it's safe is over. A scared world venture church. A scared world needs

a fearless church. Let me say that again. A scared world needs a

fearless church. And first Samuel seventeen ten, there's a story of the Devil's

champion says this. He says, then the Philistine said, this day I

defy the ranks of Israel. Give me a man and let us each other.

This is Goliath coming out out of ranks and looking at the army of

Saul and says, give me a guy. We'll fight. If he beats

me, we'll serve you. If I beat him, you guys serve me.

Is there anybody look at me? What you need to know about first

Samuel is that prior to this Samuel anointed the next king, which would be

David. David meanwhile, I was killing bears and lions. He's doing it

in private. Because whatever you're doing private, one day will elevate you.

God would elevate you to do it public. This is what happened in Jesse's

house. Prophet Samuel comes to the house. He said, hey, I'm

here to anoint the next king. Where the boys and they line up the

boy there in the living room. God said he knowed it. He noted

it. He knowed it. He noted it. He knowed it, he

noted it. The prophet looked at Jessein, said, you have another kid.

Well, I got David. He's out there. He smells. He's

taking care of the sheet. Call him in. Opens the back door porch,

damn it, come in in me. Come on here. Boy comes

in. What's up, puppy, what's up? The prophet is in the

living room. And then the Lord said, that's the guy. Look at

me. God is in the business of using unusual people. The Bible is

filled with messed up people that God uses to do amazing things for him.

And the Lord said to Samuel, that's the guy. Anoints him the next

king of Israel. And he anoints the boom and then the Bible says,

and he went back out to the sheet to take care of the sheet.

Meanwhile, Saul, he's over here facing Goliath, and Goliath is like,

send me your man. For forty days, Gallia would come out and yell

at them. They will run back to their tents. Next morning, the

army will come out with their armor shield. Send me your man. If

I was in the army of Saul, if I was part of this army,

on the fifth day, I'll be raising my hand, commander. Let

me know if tomorrow we're not gonna fight, if this is a show,

I'll come out here tomorrow in my shorts because to put on the seventy five

armor and look like it. And this is what's happened in America. For

the last forty years. People have been going to church, and giants have

been growing, and we've allowed them to grow. You should know here venture

church that giants are not born giants. They're born babies. And whatever you

don't kill, your grandchildren will have to face them because you didn't have the

courage to do it. One day, Jesse says to Jesse says to David,

David, come over with meh, what's up? Dad, Hey,

I want you to check out your brother, see how they're doing in the

war, and just take them some bread and cheese. Okay, And David

takes bread and cheese. You and I know that as cheese sandwich. I

don't know why the Bible then just says cheese sandwich. Nobody asked me bread

and cheese. It's cheese sandwich. I think it happened something like this.

I'm gonna I tell people that when I get to Heaven, I want to

no doubt, I want to talk to Jesus for sure. Secondly, I

want to talk to Peter for sure. I'm gonna tell Peter. I said,

Bro, that's how we talk in Chicago. Bro, everywhere I looked

in the scripture, you were fishing. You never caught anything. Why didn't

you change your profession tax collector? Like matth to you are a loof a

doctor. And I'm gonna talk to David. How did you know? So

there's David. I think it went something like this. The army I saw

lining up and on this particular day, venture Church look at me. On

this particular day, God's champion is coming to the scene. David shows up.

He looks down the line to see where his brothers are at. Hey,

what's up man? What's up? Bro? What's up? That's it?

And you know how big brothers are. Bro, get out of here.

This is for men. We're in a battle. Don't just see go

take out of the sheet. And David's like, Bro, easy, I

come to bring a cheese sandwich. Poppy wants to know how you guys are

doing. I'm just here to bring a cheese sandwich. I get all mad

about and then Goliath step out of formation. Send me your man. David's

like, who'll be there? Hoodere, He's like, send me your man.

I defined the armies of Israel. And is it funny that God is

looking for a man in Exekiel and feet Samuel, the Devil's champion is looking

for God's man, But on this day God's champion? Is it the scene?

Send me your man? Who'll be there? Who does he think he

is? Hold the chief sandwich? How long you guys been dealing with this

foolishness? How long you been tolerating this? And David's like, who do

you think you are? Bro? I will kill you today, this day

you will die. You come against the armies of God that Saul, that's

a higher authority. This day, you he will die. Bro Let me

get a rock. Who do you think guy's thinking? Give me a rock

and he puts it in a slingshot and I'm sure when something like that and

he's like this, you know I'm gonna knock you out. And God is

in heaven, David, let it go. I'll grab it in the air

and I'll shoot it for you. I just need you to pick up something.

And God says that in twenty twenty four, I just need you to

show up. I just need you to show up. I'll give you the

words, I'll give you the courage, I'll give you the boldness. But

I do need you to pick up a rock. I do need you to

show up at city Hall. What you like? You will die today,

bro new slash Saul. He's from the tribe of Benjamin, who was an

expert, a sharp shooter, if you will in the slingshot. David comes

from the tribe of Judah. Praise the one who should have been shooting the

rock should have been Saw. Look at me. Whatever you don't kill.

In chapter fifteen, David has to face it. In chapter seventeen, Casaul

didn't have the courage to do it. Grame Emanuel I shared this in the

first service. Former mayor of the City of Chicago said that Chick fil A

was not welcome in our city when Chick fil A wanted to open up the

first restaurant in the city of Chicago. I was in Washington, d C.

With my wife and some friends, and I heard on CNN that our

mayor said that the Chick fil A was not welcome. Well, I did

what any guy would do. I picked up the phone from Washington, DC

and I call the Mayor's office and I talked to his ADMIN and I said,

tell the mayor that I said that Chick fil A is welcome in our

city and he does not represent all Chicago wins value system. I get back

from Washington DZ. I get to the City of Chicago. I called the

city councilman who presented the ordnance. I said, Alderman, this is Reverend

Haesus. I want to meet you at the park. That's how we deal

with things in the City of Chicago. We don't do offices. We do

in the park. I'm driving to the park with my wife, Elizabeth.

I get to the park, I said to her babe, stay in the

car. This is going to get ugly. I get out. Alderman,

you and I have been friends for eight years, Yes we have. I

said, I'm prepared to go to prison. What are you prepared to do?

I will bring one thousand men and we were shut down city Hall.

You're wrong, You and the mayor are wrong on this issue. You do

not represent all Chicago ins value system. I called Dan Cathy in Atlanta said

Dan, this is Choco, Hey, Choco, how you doing? I

said, Dan, I want you to know I'm pre better to go to

prison. You're welcome in our city today. The city of Chicago has three

chick fil As, through the glory of God. But where is that man?

Where is that man in your mother's roomb. God did not create you

to carry cheese sandwiches. He created you to kill giants and whatever you don't

kill, someone would have to face it in chapter seventeen because you didn't have

the audacity or the courage in twenty twenty four, let me finish you this

morning. Would you stand for a moment, Stand with me for a moment.

The Bible says that David shut that rock, Goliath fell down, He

went over Goliath took the sword, cut his head off around to the people

of israel I like the next verse. The next verse says, and the

people of God surged. Your family is waiting for you to do something.

Your church is waiting for you to do something. And the people of God

surged David at this point in time in history. First Samuel, he's not

the king, he's anointed to be the king. But he discerned something's not

right, and my God is able to take down this giant. I like

what doctor King said. Here's what doctor King said. He said courage.

Courage is an inner resolution to go forward despite obstacles. Cowardness is submissive surrender

to circumstances. Courage breeds creativity. Cowardness represses fear and its mastered by it.

Cowardness. Ask the question is it safe? Expediency, Ask the question

is a political vanity? Ask the question is it popular? But conscience,

ask the question is it right? Venture? Church? There comes a time

when we must take a position that's neither safe, nor political, nor popular,

but one must take it because it's right. That's right. Who is

willing to say I'll stand in that gap whatever it cost, If I go

to prison. I go to prison, but I cannot be in my watch.

My grandchildren are watching, My children are watching, but I cannot be

silent, with every head bound, every eye closed, all over this sanctuary.

I don't know how many of you here to sound on my voice or

say pass the choco. This sermon was for me. It provoked me.

I need to be a man and a woman who would stand in the gap.

And you're right, You're right. I wasn't born to carry cheese sandwich.

I was born to kill giants. Would you pray for me that I

could be a giant killer. If that's you, would you lift your hands.

I want to pray for your. Hands are going up all over this

place. Those that are watching online. If this sermon minister to you,

God is calling you to stand in the gap, Stand in the gap,

so Father, we come before you. Hands are being raised. Man and

women who would say, I will stand in the gap, no matter what

it cost, even it costs me my life. I pray you give them

courage. I pray you give them boldness. I pray here in Seattle,

Washington, God, you would pour your spirit upon them to speak for those

who cannot speak, stand for those who have been told to sit down.

Give them courage. Let venture Church be a church that moves forward, Be

a fearless church in the name of Yahweh. Thank you God for being our

champion. Thank you for calling us to be champions in Jesus' name.