Making It On Broken Pieces

But today we're going to be reading out of this select passage Acts 27 verse 41 and

Acts 27:41

falling into a place where two seas met they ran the ship aground and the

four part stuck fast and remained unmovable but the hinder part was broken

with the violence of the waves and the soldiers council was to kill the

prisoners lest any of them should swim out and escape but the centurion

willing to save Paul kept them from their purpose and commanded that they

should that they which could swim should cast themselves first into the sea and

get to the land and the rest some on board and some on broken pieces someone

say broken pieces let's say that again say broken pieces of the ship and so it

came to pass that they escaped all safe to land I want to preach today from this

thought making it on broken pieces because someone say in Jesus name amen

you may have your places at this time picture with me if you will the vast

expanse of the North Atlantic on the fateful night of April 1912 the air is

cold the waters are even colder the luxurious titantic which was deemed

unsinkable and has just met the unforgiving force of an iceberg and on

that dreadful and chilling night as the ship's colossal hole slipped beneath

the waves chaos and terror reigned but amidst the darkness a glimmer of hope

was found in a surprising place the survival of Charles Jocken who was the

Titanic's chief baker as the ship plunged into the icy abyss Jocken found

himself clinging to something unexpected something that would become his

lifeline a piece of the ship itself in the midst of the freezing waters Jocken

clung with everything that he had to this floating wreckage battling

hypothermia and exhaustion for hours and as the hours passed and the darkness

grew thicker and thicker desperation and fear must have gripped his heart as you

can imagine yet Jocken held on to those broken and shattered pieces of the

Titanic until help arrived this is an amazing story we know this a lot of

tragedy surrounding this this great Titanic ship that sunk but in the midst

of that we see one man holding on to the wreckage and Jocken story not only

reminds me of Paul's harrowing shipwreck up the coast of a little island

called Malta but it it also resonates something profound in me because I have

come to realize in my own faith and in my study of scripture that when trials

leave us with broken pieces God can use what's left a man somebody God can still

use what's left of our faith our desires our dreams our hopes our promises our

aspirations so today if you will allow me I want to speak for a few moments on

this thought of making it on broken pieces and show you through the word of

God how God can take whatever is left of our lives whatever is left of our

emotions of our heart I came to tell somebody today I came to prophesy and

inject this into your heart today anybody who just needs a word of

encouragement to know that you can make it on broken pieces come on and give God

a hand praise this afternoon somebody somebody say man act chapter 27 finds

Paul in route to Rome as a prisoner hoping to appeal his death before Caesar

the journey by sea is treacherous at any time of the year but this particular

time it was most perilous as their trip had been delayed to a time of the year

where the weather was unpredictable and tumultuous but Paul he even advised the

crew let's not sail at this time because he predicted that there would be

trouble but nevertheless his message of warning was ignored and they set sail to

Rome Italy anyhow and soon after their departure a violent storm proved Paul

right the storm raged for days and and days day and night they found themselves

tossed to and fro in the sea and the sea and the ship was adrift and the rolling

seas and they and they didn't know what what was going to happen until they saw

an unknown island and in the final morning on this two-week journey the

crew noticed a babe with a beach and trying to maneuver there trying to stir

the boat there as best they could fighting against the the wind and the waves

they struck a reef they struck a reef and the ship ran aground and and was

shattered into hundreds if not thousands of pieces indeed this was no

ordinary storm even the most experienced captains and crewmen would have found

this storm in particular to be like no other it was to borrow a term that you

may have heard the perfect storm it was a storm that none of them no training no

no skills no experience could have prepared them for and there are just

times in our life where all of the things that we have learned all of the

the tools that we have gained everything that we think we know is going to be

tested there's going to be times in life where you will face a new kind of storm a

new kind of trial a new kind of test and adversity that that that really pushes

you to your breaking point it pushes the limits of what you know about God and

about yourself and this was the case for Paul and all 200 plus crewmen that were

on that ship they had never seen a storm quite like this and in fact this storm

was so extraordinary that that it had a name the storm had a name we read if you

would look there in verse 14 it tells us but not long after the tempestuous

headwind arose called Euro Clyde in this storm had a name Euro Clyde in and when

I looked at this verse I saw what I think and I believe it's the first step

toward making it on broken pieces which is number one name your storm someone

say name your storm see every severe storm has a name some of you might

remember Hurricane Katrina right or or Harvey these are stores his historic

storm that have ravaged communities and cities last week when I was in San

Diego ministering there trying to get back home my flight was canceled because

of Hurricane Hillary and I thought I hope Hurricane Bill is it coming after her

I didn't know where they got this name from Hurricane Hillary you know and I

guess the practice of naming storms is something that's been going on for

decades now ever since 1953 interestingly every did you know that

every name has already been predetermined they don't just I thought maybe

they just kind of picked a name out of the hat or something you know any meaning

my name oh what name are we gonna give this but every storm already has a name

it's already been predestined and predetermined and it rotates every six

years so I got I got bad news I hate to break it to you but Hillary might be back

in 2029 God forbid any storm comes back but the point is is that every storm

already has a name and you know that every trial already has a name every

trial everything that we go through why name a storm what's the purpose of the

meteorologists and those that study the climate the winds and the waves why would

they name the storm well what are the main purposes of naming the storms is

for identification it's about putting a face and a name on an invisible enemy

it's about putting a and giving a name and identification to an enemy that

that does not have one when a faceless and nameless enemy can do enormous

damage they put a name on it and when it has a name it won't be a mistake if

it's a name for something else it won't be confused for possibly another storm

that is circling in the area and it's important that they name the storm

there's been times in history where multiple storms are raging at the same

time and so having a name to each storm helps everybody understand what it is

that we're dealing with and as it is in the natural so it is in the spiritual

important today, you understand that you've got to name your trial and name your storm.

Now I know some of you might be thinking today, well why name it?

Isn't naming it kind of empowering it?

Isn't naming it kind of giving it more importance?

Not necessarily, because you've got to understand what it is you're up against, what it is you

want to pray for, what it is you want to rebuke in your life.

Oh come on, now somebody, amen.

You've got to be able to identify it.

It's no different in the spirit world.

Whether it's not, when something is not identified, you're constantly beating against the wind.

You're fighting a losing battle.

You're throwing fists against the air.

You're shadow boxing with the enemy.

But the moment that you identify the theme, the storm, the adversity, the problem that

is coming against you or your home or your marriage or your mind, that's the moment where

you can truly size up your enemy and understand what it is that you're dealing with.

You see, part of the problem today for somebody is that you have not yet identified the storm

that you're dealing with, possibly because you're in denial that there's a storm at all.

Possibly because you won't want to admit that indeed a storm is raging in your life.

Maybe you're afraid to call it what it is.

Oh my God, and to call that sin what it is and call that trial what it is.

Don't be afraid to name whatever it is that you're dealing with in your life, whether

it's addiction, whether it's a family or a marriage crisis, whether it's an affliction

of your body, of your mind.

Don't be afraid to name what that is.

Why?

Because you know a name that is greater than that name.

Come on now, somebody, oh.

You've got a name that is above all names.

A name that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess.

You've got a name that you can come on.

Does anybody know the name that I'm talking about today?

I'm talking about the name of Jesus.

While somebody shout that name today.

Come on, somebody shout Jesus.

You've got to be able to identify what it is that's coming against your children, that's

coming against your home, that's coming against your marriage, that's coming against your

career because what you do not conquer or you cannot conquer what you do not confront.

If you're going to confront it, you've got to identify it.

Call it what it is.

Someone say call it what it is.

If it's a sin, call it what it is.

If it's a trial, call it what it is.

Don't dance around it.

No.

Call it out.

We're going to name this thing.

We're going to identify what's coming against us.

So we understand that we're in a spiritual battle.

The storm that raged against Paul's ship was called Euroclident.

Man, it even sounds like an evil villain, doesn't it?

Like in a movie or a comic.

Who's the enemy?

His name is Euroclident.

Sounds bad, huh?

Sounds bad.

This storm was like a monster of a storm.

It really was.

Nothing that they had ever seen.

It was so fierce.

You know what the captain did?

An experienced captain who was used to navigating storms.

He said, you know what?

Forget it.

He said, I'm not even going to try anymore.

He said, just let the waves take us wherever.

Have you ever got to a point where you say, you know, I am tired of fighting?

Where are my real folks at today, huh?

You ever got to a point, if you've never got to that point, then you've never been in

a battle.

You've never been in a battle that has really tested your fate.

Every once in a while, you deal with it.

You say, I am tired of fighting.

I'm tired of fighting this person.

Come on now.

I'm tired of fighting this sickness.

I'm tired of fighting this problem.

And the captain of the ship said, you know what?

I'm tired of fighting.

Forget it.

Just let what's going to happen happen.

And that's what the point that they got to.

Let this storm just sort of take its course.

Let nature take its course.

But the fact that they got to that point was a setup for what God was about to do in their

life.

But they had to name it.

And there's nothing wrong with naming it.

Sometimes a storm is named cancer.

Hmm, my God.

Sometimes it's named betrayal.

Sometimes it's named unemployment, infertility, financial hardship, mental illness, family,

or merit crisis.

Don't be afraid to name that storm or that trial that's coming against you.

Because this I know, this simple word of encouragement, I've come to deliver to you

that your storm is not bigger than God.

Somebody give the Lord some praise today.

Said, your storm is not bigger than God.

I don't care how big it is.

I don't care how nasty it is.

I don't care how ugly it is.

That storm is not bigger than God.

God is greater than cancer.

God is greater than hurt.

God is greater than betrayal.

God is greater, oh my Lord, than mental illness.

God is greater.

Come on, do I have a witness of depression?

God is greater than addiction.

I wish I had somebody.

God is greater than disease.

God is greater than AIDS.

God is greater than that tumor.

God is greater.

There is no storm that intimidates your God because God is bigger than your storm.

Somebody ought to give God some praise today.

I said somebody ought to think of how many of you in this place know what that is.

Shadow of a doubt that you serve a big God.

I said, where are the people today?

I said, how many of you know what that is?

Can you stand up on your feet for a moment?

If you believe that you serve a big God, my God is big.

Is your God big?

Is your God mighty?

Is your God wonderful?

Is your God great and mighty as his name?

Come on and give your God some praise.

Come on and magnify him.

I think your praise ought to, oh my God, I think your praise ought to be on the level

of your revelation of God.

I think you ought to praise him in accordance to how big he is in your life.

I feel the Holy Ghost in this place right now.

I feel the spirit of God in this place right now.

Some people praise little and it's because they've got a little vision of God.

But the greater you praise, the greater your vision of God is.

He inhabits the praises of his people.

I feel something in my spirit today.

I've come today.

I've come to tell the devil that he is a liar.

I've come to let the devil know that you cannot have my family.

Come on now, somebody.

I've come to tell the devil you can't have my mind.

You can't have my ministry.

You can't have my marriage.

Come on, somebody's got to get your fight back today.

Oh, you can't have it because no weapon formed against me shall be able to prosper.

Not today's storm, not tomorrow's storm, not a storm from a year from now.

I have made up in my mind that I'm going to serve him.

I'm going to worship him.

I'm going to go all the way with Jesus.

Number two, you've got to speak to your storm.

You know that not only do storms have names, they've got ears too.

You know that your storm can hear?

They've got ears.

I want to remind you that storms can hear.

How about when Jesus was with the disciples on the Sea of Galilee?

What do you think happened to that sea when Jesus said, peace, be still?

I'll tell you what happened.

The storm heard him talk and it ran for safety because something and someone greater than

it spoke it out and cleared the way.

Scripture says that there was a calm after that powerful declaration.

It heard, my God, my God, I got a priest.

Someone say, go ahead.

It heard the voice of Jesus and had to run for safety.

Your trial has ears.

So I want to ask you today, what are you telling it?

My God, I'm going to take my jacket off in just a moment.

I just feel something right now.

What are you telling your storm?

What are you saying to yourself?

What are you saying to your spouse?

What are you saying to your children?

What kind of talk is happening among your family and around the dinner table and in

your prayer closet?

What are the things that you are saying because you need to know that the life in debt are

in the power of the tongue.

Oh, come on, somebody say, man.

And what you say has eternal consequences.

And sometimes you've got to check our mouths because we're saying things that don't line

up with the Word of God.

We're saying things about ourselves that God never said.

So I've come to ask you today, what are you speaking about your storm?

The Apostle Paul gives us a pattern for what we ought to say.

He stood in the midst of the sailors on that ship in verse 22.

He says, and now I urge you to take heart.

He said, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.

For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong.

How many of you know you belong to him?

I said, how many of you know you belong to him?

And whom I serve saying, do not be afraid.

Hey, God sent me here to tell somebody this afternoon, do not be afraid.

I felt that in my spirit.

Do not be afraid.

Someone say, don't fear.

Do not be afraid, Paul, for you must be brought before Caesar.

And indeed God has granted to you all who sail with you.

Paul's optimism that day in the sea was not based on his own positive thinking.

Paul was not motivated by his own willpower or intellect.

He didn't just have good vibes about it.

He wasn't just thinking happy thoughts.

What allowed Paul to stand up in the midst of that storm and all of the chaos and the

fear on that boat and open up his mouth and clear his throat and declare what God has

said is because he had heard a word from God that everything is going to be all right.

Oh, I don't know who I've got to tell somebody today, but you need to know by the word of

the Lord that everything is going to be all right.

My God, I've come to tell you right now that everything is going to be all right.

Not because I said it, but because he said it.

Is there a witness in the house of God today?

How many of you got a feeling that everything is going to be all right?

I said how many of you got a feeling that everything is going to be all right?

Would you clap your hands or just give God about 30 seconds of glory and praise?

Come on somebody.

I feel the Holy Ghost.

Come on.

Open up your mouth.

I feel something stirring right now.

I come to tell you.

I come to tell you that you're going to make it.

I come to tell you that everything is going to be all right.

Pastor, how do you know that?

I can't tell you how it's going to happen, but I can tell you that you belong to Jesus.

Oh my God.

Your God knows every hair that's on your head and every time a hair falls off of it, he

knows the new count of the hairs on your head.

He will not let anything happen to you without him knowing it and I need you to know today

that God's got you in the palm of his head and everything is going to be all right.

I wish somebody would hear what I'm saying this afternoon.

You got to know that God is with you.

Come on somebody in the Holy Ghost just for a few moments.

Why don't you pray?

I feel something happening in the Holy Ghost.

I didn't come today just to deliver a sermon.

I came to deliver a message straight from the throne of God.

I came to tell somebody you cannot give up and you cannot quit.

Now is not the time to throw in the towel brother.

Now is not the time to give up sister.

You have come too far.

Come on now somebody better preach with me here today.

I said you've come too far to turn back now.

You've come too far to look back over where you are.

You've got to keep moving ahead and believe and declare that everything is going to be

all right.

Why?

Because God said it and if God said it that's all that I need to know.

The Lord said you're going to make it.

What does the word say?

What does the word say?

There's nothing more powerful than the word of God.

We need the word of God.

Somebody say we need His word.

We need His word.

The Lord says you're going to make it.

No matter how terrible the storm is.

Someone say I'm going to make it.

Oh come on I said somebody say I'm going to make it.

Oh somebody say I'm going to make it.

Come on say it again.

Say I'm going to make it.

You see some of you are struggling to say that because you've been talking yourself down

all week.

I'm going to need some help on the piano in a little bit.

Come on now brother.

You've been talking negative all week.

You've been listening to the doctor's report.

You've been listening to the financial forecast.

You've been listening to what your auntie and your uncle have been saying.

You've been listening to everybody else.

But God brought you into this place today so that you can hear what the saith the Lord.

You've been talking yourself down.

Say I'm never getting out of debt.

Can I preach like I really really want to somebody say go ahead.

You've been talking yourself down.

And say I'm never going to get out of debt.

I'm never going to get out of this depression.

I'm never going to get better.

My marriage isn't getting better.

My health isn't getting better.

Things are looking worse on the job.

My kids not coming back home.

My family's broken apart.

But I've come to tell you today that the devil is a liar because greater is it.

I come to tell you what the word of God says.

His word says that greater is he that is in you.

You don't believe it because you were to praise him a little bit more when I said that.

I said greater is he that is in you.

That he that is in the world.

My word says if God be for me who can be against me.

Somebody shout amen.

Come on somebody shout amen.

Somebody shout hallelujah.

Shout hallelujah.

Shout yes.

Shout yes.

You said pastor why do we got to make all this noise?

Because we got to counteract every lie you've been hearing all week.

Pastor why do we got to shout like that?

Because we got to let the devil know that we're not going to sell out.

We got to let the devil know that we're not going to die.

Let the devil know that we're ready to keep on moving in the name of Jesus.

Oh I feel faith in my spirit today.

I feel faith in my heart today.

You got to stop hanging your head low.

You got my God.

Boy your shot.

Stop dragging your chin on the floor.

Pick up your head.

Lift up your eyes.

Lift up your head and look to the.

Look to the hill for what's coming in your help.

My help somebody save my help.

I said shout my help.

Come on shout it again.

My help comes from the Lord.

It comes from the Lord.

Why don't you shout to God for about 30 seconds right now.

Come on somebody shout unto the Lord right now.

Shout unto the Lord today.

Shout unto the Lord today.

Hey.

Hey.

Hey.

Ha la ba ba ba yosham da la ba kam da la ba yah.

Oh I don't know about you but I came to have some holy ghost time.

I don't know about you but I came to see what God can do.

I came to see what God can do and the Lord send me here today and tell you that to ship

my break apart brother everything in your life might crumble.

Hey people will walk out on you.

Jobs will close on you.

Folks will turn on you.

Problems will come against you.

Everything might be falling apart but the one thing I know that if God be for you.

Hey there's no devil in hell.

I wish I had a witness.

Y'all are being too cute for me.

I wish I had a witness.

There's no devil in hell.

Come on somebody.

Come on somebody.

Come on somebody.

Come on somebody.

You gotta get back on your feet.

You gotta get your mind back today.

Get your heart back today.

Get your life back today.

No devil in hell.

Hey.

Oh I feel it now.

Hey.

Oh.

Hey.

Come on somebody with the holy ghost.

Just open up your mouth.

Hey.

Oh see you.

Hey.

I come to serve notice on the devil today.

I come to tell him that we are an imbush.

We are an unstoppable church.

Somebody say unstoppable.

We're not gonna stop.

We're not gonna quit.

Devil is that all you've got?

Give me your best shot because I guarantee that the Lord gives and the Lord takes away.

And I bless you be the name of the Lord.

Hey.

Hallelujah.

Can I preach us for a few more seconds?

Can I preach us for a few more seconds?

You know why I can shout on the mountaintop?

You know why I can praise him through every season of my life?

Brother David the devil already gave me his best shot.

Oh hallelujah.

I already been stripped of everything that I had at one point.

Hey.

Hallelujah.

I remember about 13 years ago when I lost just about everything.

I lost my house, my dream house.

I'm lived in Southern California.

I lost my home.

I lost my dream job.

They foreclose on everything.

The creditors were coming after my cars.

I had a wife and I had a two year old baby that I had to steal by diapers and formula.

You all don't know what I'm hearing.

I don't know about your shunt.

And I didn't know what I was gonna do.

I was all by myself.

I wasn't passerine.

I wasn't this.

I wasn't that.

I was just brother Jacob sitting on the front row of the church not knowing what God was

doing.

My God.

But I learned how to praise him in the midnight hour.

I learned how to lift up my.

And the devil learned that day.

No matter what I do to this boy, he's still gonna worship his God.

No matter what I do to him, he's still gonna lift up his.

Listen, listen.

Hey, here's your father.

Oh, hallelujah.

We're gonna shout right now.

Hey, come on.

Don't bring me down.

We're gonna shout.

But listen, hey, hallelujah.

I was there and there was a moment when I was kind of, I was really sad.

I said, God, what are you doing?

And then it finally hit me.

I was surrounded by broken pieces.

I'm gonna say broken pieces.

Nothing but broken pieces around me.

Just broken pieces.

I was, I couldn't even look at my wife in the eyes.

Oh, some of y'all don't even know what I'm talking about.

I, I, I, Brother David, I ran out of, I ran out of words to tell her.

I ran out of quotes and cliches and, you all don't hear what I'm saying today.

I ran out of songs to sing.

I just, oh my God, I didn't know what to say.

But then the Lord said, don't you start talking like that, Jacob.

I got some broken pieces around you.

And then the Lord showed me one of my broken pieces, brother.

He said, did I not call you to preach the word?

Ah, I tell you, there was a moment where the only thing I could cling to

was the fact that I still knew God had called me to preach.

So I grabbed a hold of that piece and I just sat there in the, in the water.

And I just said, Lord, I don't know where this is going,

but I want to go wherever it is that you lead me.

Let me tell you, let me tell you, oh, let me tell you what happened.

So I grabbed onto that piece.

Oh, yes I did.

I didn't know where I was going to preach.

I didn't know to whom I was going to preach.

I didn't know anything like that.

All I said is I still know that God has called me.

So I grabbed that piece and I hung onto it for dear life.

And that piece was just an instrument of God's grace.

And I just, hell, do it.

And then the Lord brought me back home to the Bay Area.

Some of y'all don't know this. I'm going to tell you right now.

And I say with all due respect, but I never intended on moving back to the Bay Area.

I bought a home in Southern California because I wasn't planning on leaving.

And oh, shakalabaya.

I had no plans.

When people asked me about City Light, I said, this was not a 10 year plan.

I was a dream about this all my life.

I had no intentions of it.

But then because I held onto a piece, that piece, my God.

It brought me all the way 350 miles back to the Bay Area.

Oh, hallelujah.

And then you know what happened?

I started attending East Palo Alto Apostolic Church.

And then the pastor told me, how about you start an English ministry?

I said, I never done that.

I don't know, but I know God has called me to preach.

And so how about you start with that?

And then for some of you are witnesses, right, brother Mario?

For a few years, we built up an English ministry in an entirely Spanish church.

And God blessed it and God moved.

I don't take any of the credit for it.

All I'm saying is it never would have happened if I didn't hold onto a piece and say, God,

I don't know what you're doing, but you're doing something.

Hey, my God.

And then while I was holding onto that piece and giving God my very best one Sunday afternoon,

I was driving down a highway one on one southbound and I looked over a mountain view and the Lord

said, that's it son.

Oh, y'all don't hear what I'm saying.

He said, this is why I brought you.

This is why you had to hold on.

This is why you had to hold on because you've got to plan that.

That's right.

Somebody give God some glory.

Somebody give God some praise.

And now here we are, brother Isaii.

10 years later about to celebrate 10 years next week of being a church.

And all I'm here to tell you, it's not because of me.

It's not because of how wonderful I am or who we are.

It's because when you just hold on to the broken pieces, God will shout out by your son.

Don't look for the big stuff.

Get your eyes off of the big screens and the big stages.

Get your eyes on the right stuff.

Get it on the pieces.

And God said, if you hold on to the pieces, you're going to make it.

I wonder if there's somebody right now under the sound of my voice.

God said, pieces, you need to hold on to right now.