The Plot Twist | Ps. Keith Pittman

Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast.

Thank you so much for listening today.

We hope it encourages you and inspires you.

Here's today's message.

All right.

We are we are truly so so glad that you guys are here with us uh today.

I want to shout out a couple of people.

One, I want to shout out everyone who's joining us online and who are listening to the podcast.

So, Tris, can we show some love to those who are checking us out on our digital platforms as well as those who are over in our family lounge?

We're so glad that you're here.

But we also um have someone that that we partner with um that you guys have heard us talk about, Young Lives.

So we have some of the team from Young Lives that are here with us.

So glad that you're here.

We love Young Lives, we love being along and serving alongside of them.

So we're grateful that you could be here uh with us uh today.

I want everyone to know that you're welcomed here, um, that you're loved, you're valued, and that you're prayed for.

And so we count it as an honor to be able to do this ministry thing alongside of you.

If you have your Bibles, and and I'm hopeful that you do, if you don't, it'll come up on the screen.

But if you don't have a Bible, uh let us know.

We have some Bibles that we want to make available to you.

I truly believe that the Word of God has the ability of changing our lives.

And so we want to make sure that we're a family that engages scripture.

So um, in your Bibles, I want us to turn to the Gospel of John, chapter four.

While you're turning there, I want to give us some some context of the new series that we're entering into.

Um I'm excited because we're entering into a new series called Change the Narrative.

Change the narrative.

Um, and and ultimately what changing the narrative really means is the narrative is a collection of events.

Ultimately, it's a story.

And for all of us, we all have a story.

We have a story that that has been told and it's being lived out through our decisions.

And here's what we know uh about all of our stories.

Our stories are a collection of a variety of things.

Setting.

We know that the setting sometimes determines that the life that we live is a result of where we're from, so we know that setting plays a major part in our story.

We we know that we know that we got some drama.

Can I get an amen?

Some of our stories have drama, some of our stories got some characters in it, right?

Some crazy characters that are playing a part and helping to shape our story.

Some of it is comedy because sometimes we look at our lives like this is quite laughable considering what I'm currently walking through.

We have a little bit of a comedy, some of us have some tragedy, these things that we experience, but but the one thing I think we all have in common is we want our stories to have a healthy resolve.

We all love the idea of the happily ever after or the story coming to a healthy resolve.

Here's here's the truth.

None of us, at least I'm just projecting, none of us likes a cliffhanger.

I know that if I've invested all of my energy in watching a TV show or watching a movie, and then it concludes and there's no closure, I often feel like, man, like it leaves me sitting on the edge of my seat.

I feel like something is is missing out.

We've all been to that movie or that show that we've been watching, and then we have to wait until next season in order for us to get any closure.

Well, the fact of the matter is, some of us, our everyday life feels like we don't have closure.

Our everyday life feels like we're we're waiting for that moment when when something can happen that can add to the story where we finally can come to an end of it.

What we're gonna be examining over the next couple of weeks is we're gonna be looking at varying narratives in scripture of people whose story was going one way, but they have an encounter with Jesus, and it completely changes the narrative.

It completely changes what they expected to take place, changing the narrative.

Our theme scripture is found in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 17.

2 Corinthians 5:17

You don't need to turn there, I'm gonna read it to us, but just for for a point of reference, I wanna I want just to to listen to this with our ears, but but more importantly with our spirit.

Therefore, if any person is engrafted in Christ, the Messiah, he is a new creation, a new creature altogether.

The old previous moral and spiritual condition has passed away.

Behold, a fresh and new has come.

Simply put, there's a new narrative.

The narrative has changed.

That there was one moment when I was living a life that that was leading me towards a dead end, but then Jesus shows up and he changed the narrative.

I want us to picture for a moment a scorching, hot day in the heart of Samaria, with the restless sun casting a long shadow over Jacob's well, which serves as the backdrop of the witness of many stories over generations.

Here in the midst of cultural divisions and ancient prejudices, we we find ourselves with this extraordinary story.

Jesus, when communicating with his disciples, he says, I have to go through Samaria.

And now we're about to discover why.

What we find is a Samaritan woman arriving alone at the well, and this is a part of her daily routine.

It's one that's fairly predictable, it's one that's very wearisome, and behind her routine lies a story of broken relationships, societal rejection, and has a past that leaves her looking for a better future.

But unbeknownst to her, when she's going about her regularly scheduled routine, that today she has an encounter with Jesus that changes everything.

It's so profound because we see that Jesus interrupts her regularly scheduled program and he literally changes the narrative.

Jesus is sitting at this well, and as she approaches, he engages her in a conversation and asks her for a drink of water.

This was completely unconventional.

It went against culture, considering the dynamics of him being Jewish and her being Samaritan, the racial tension was at its highest, and all the dynamics that are there.

As the conversation continues to unfold, he he he mentions this idea about living water, something that would satisfy her so that she doesn't have to keep coming to this well.

At the time, she didn't understand the spiritual nuances that Jesus was speaking from.

She thought he was talking about a natural thirst, but Jesus was speaking more about the condition of her soul, saying, You've been coming back to the same well, so to speak.

You've been doing the same things, you had this repeated behavior, and you're expecting a different outcome.

But I want to present something to you that can bring you true fulfillment and satisfaction.

It's from this place that she says, I would love to hear more about this, and I want us to look at how Jesus responds.

He says, Go and get your husband, Jesus told her.

I don't have a husband, the woman replied.

And Jesus said, You're right.

You don't have a husband.

For you have had five husbands, and you aren't even married to the man you are living with right now.

Certainly you have spoken the truth.

Jesus knows how to read our mail, doesn't he?

Like, I don't have a husband.

Like, you know what?

You're right, you had five, and the guy you with ain't your husband.

Like, I don't know why I felt like Jesus said that with attitude, but I kind of sense it that way.

So so she's kind of like, oh, snap, like he he knows everything about me, and yet he's not he's not distancing himself from me the way that the rest of society does.

So as she engages in conversation, Jesus reveals to this Samaritan woman, this woman who's had multiple husbands, this woman who is an outcast in her community, he reveals to her that he is the Messiah.

What's so significant about that is that Jesus has been very guarded with that information.

He has told very few people that he truly is the Messiah.

So, how ironic that Jesus revealed who he was to someone that would have been considered an outcast, to someone that we would have possibly viewed in society as unfit, but this is the person that he chose to reveal it to.

Skipping down to verse number 28, after the woman hears this information, the Bible says, Then the woman left her water jar beside the well, ran back to the village, telling everyone, come and see a man who told me everything I did.

Could he possibly be the Messiah?

So the people came streaming from the village to see him.

Today I want to spend some time just unpacking some very clear things in this text that I think can serve as an inspiration for every single one of us.

If you're taking notes and I hope that you are, I want you to write this message title down.

And let's get into it.

Lord, we thank you so much for your presence.

We count it as an honor to enter into your house.

We were reminded of the words of David.

I was glad when he said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord.

So Lord, as with gladness we sit and posture ourselves, and we've uh we've cultivated an atmosphere of your presence by just singing on your name, God, and believing in your power.

And so now, Lord, we want to hear from you.

So, Father, I pray that you give us open eyes that we can see you.

I pray for open ears that we can hear you, and I just pray for open hearts that we can receive everything that you have for us.

It's in Jesus' name that we pray.

Amen, amen, and amen.

I'm not sure if if any of us have ever had somebody ruin like a movie for you, but if you have, depending on the way that your personality is wired, it could render you to a place where you actually want to fist fight somebody.

I I know that there are certain movies and films that when they come out, because of just their impact and culture, that I'll literally not go on social media and I'll try to go into like a hermit status so that I won't have certain things ruined for me because I know like I am I am a movie guy.

I love storytelling, I love TV shows, I love when I can get fully immersed in something.

So when I feel like I've been on a journey of trying to understand character development and understanding the nuances and background and all these things, and then somebody in one careless sentence can ruin that, man, it brings you to a point where I almost forget that I love Jesus.

Like it it can it can push you to the edge.

I I was scarred many, many years ago by my cousin, and I want to I want to unpack this for you.

So back in the day, back before I was in ministry, I was still a young man, but one of my side hustles was I used to I used to cut hair.

And and I don't know why anyone would trust me to cut their hair.

I didn't go to school, there was no YouTube videos on it, I just got some clippers and I just tried it, and people would somehow trust me to cut their kids' hairs.

It was really reckless.

But anyway, I I remember going through this process of of cutting like the people in my neighborhood's hair, inclusive of my cousins, extended family.

And so every time I would cut hair, we would spend time, and then I had these one cousins, Mark and Michael, that they're that their mom, my aunt, and uncle would bring them by my house every other week, every other Saturday, and that would be my designated time to spend with the family, and I would cut their hair.

On this particular weekend, they came over and they had just come from.

You could tell they had been out, they were kind of dressed a little bit, like they've been out in public.

So I was like, hey, where are you guys coming from?

They're like, Oh, we just we just came from the movies.

I was like, Oh, great.

Man, what did y'all go see?

They said, Man, we went to go see um the book of Eli.

I was like, Okay, cool, man.

I wanted to see that.

I love Denzel.

Like, I want to go and engage.

Like Denzel is one of my favorite actors.

I can't wait to see it.

So I'm telling them, I'm like, okay, cool.

So he's like, Oh, you're gonna love it.

I was like, listen, don't say anything else.

Don't ruin it for me.

Like, I want to be fully in.

He's like, but but I'm like, no, listen to me, seriously.

Don't say a word.

Don't don't ruin this for me, man.

Like, just let me, I we'll talk about it after I go and see it.

Do we understand each other?

Look me in my eyes and tell me you understand.

I don't want you to say anything else.

I don't want you to mention Denzel's name.

I don't want you to say anything that starts with the letter D.

I don't want you to say anything that can remotely bring us to a place where you could possibly ruin this film for me.

Understood?

Yes, I understand.

We go on with the rest of the haircut, and as he's about to leave, I'm like, okay, man, I'll see you guys in a couple of weeks.

He's like, man, let me know when you how you feel, and then he reveals the major moment at the movie.

Now, if you haven't seen the film, I'm not gonna do what Michael did, I'm not gonna ruin it for you.

But if you have seen the film, there's a moment where there's a major plot twist that we didn't see coming.

And if you've seen the movie, that metaphor, pun is intended.

You just didn't see that this was about to happen.

So, and I see this and I hear him say these words, and I'm like, What have you done?

He's like, What?

I said, Is that common knowledge in a film?

He was like, No, they say it at the end.

I'm like, you literally just ruined the movie for me.

The next time he came over, I accidentally cut his hair and I had to cut it ball.

But it was just my way, it was just my way of payback because for me, I I didn't want that moment robbed for me.

It's it's called the plot twist.

That moment when you see the story going a certain direction, and then something happens that's completely unexpected that you never would have imagined could have happened.

For me, that plot twist moment is like that aha moment, and for me, it's like a competition.

Whenever I'm watching a movie, I like to try to figure it out, and if I don't figure it out, I'll re-watch the movie to ask myself, why didn't I figure it out?

Like I it's an immersive experience for me, and that was robbed from me because the way that a plot twist has an ability to be an anchor in your mind, it can change everything.

When I think about the varying stories and the varying uh platforms that stories are told, I can't think of a better plot twist than the person of Jesus Christ.

Let me let me back up and give you some context as to what I mean by that.

Imagine a world that is dealing with the consequences of sin.

We know the story of Adam and Eve, and they choose, they made the choice to partake of the tree of knowledge and good and evil, meaning they wanted to define what was right and wrong on their own terms.

And as a consequence of that, sin is now invading the world.

Sickness and poverty and brokenness and divisiveness has now become the reality of the world we live in.

And there's a momentum and a narrative that is being built that ultimately communicates that life is hopeless, that we're on this journey, bad things happen, and nothing good will ever come of it.

But then over 2,000 years ago, in a in a town of obscurity named Bethlehem, uh a baby is born to a teenage immigrant mother and a father that's not even his biological dad.

Imagine this this child that there was nothing special about him.

He was so insignificant in the eyes of the community, and his family has such low notoriety that they wouldn't even let him to come inside to be born inside.

So he was born outside and in manger.

This child didn't have anything that marked him as being significant.

He gets to the age of 12 when we see him next, and we see that he's in the temple asking the priest some questions about the things of God, but other than that, we know nothing else about him.

Fast forward, we don't hear from again until he's 30 years old.

And there's a moment where he's at this party and and they're wearing out a wine and they say, Jesus, we need you to, we need you to get involved.

His mother knew something was on the inside of him, even though the rest of society thought he was normal.

This party looked like it was gonna, it looked like it was not gonna turn into a good party, but plot twist, Jesus got involved and the party continued.

That activated the ministry of Jesus.

From that moment forward, everywhere Jesus went, he's interacting with people whose narrative was going one way and he had an ability to change it and establishing a plot twist.

I find myself thinking about the woman with the issue of blood.

Her condition meant that she was going to be on the outskirts of society until she was healed, and she had this condition for 12 years, so there was no sign to ever indicate that she was ever going to get healed.

Society would have shunned her, but there was a moment where she made a decision that if I can just get close enough to Jesus, I know that my story or my narrative can change.

So in one moment with Jesus, when it looked as if she was going towards a dead end, plot twist, she was now healed and was able to go back and live a filthy life.

I find myself thinking uh about Lazarus, who was in the tomb for four days, and the family was grieving and they thought that was the end of the story.

But Jesus is notified and he shows up, he says, Remove the gravestone, he calls Lazarus out, and plot twist, what was once dead, is now alive.

It's amazing how we get a chance to see these moments where Jesus interrupts people's regular lives with a plot twist that turns it all around.

I think about the woman who was caught in the act of adultery.

And the Bible tells us, according to Jewish law, the fact that she was caught in the act of adultery, the consequence meant that she should have been stoned to death in front of everyone to send an example of what happens when you violate God's law.

Question, why wasn't the guy there?

Because it takes two.

But then the other part, but the other part, they wanted to make an example of her.

They brought her to Jesus to see how he was going to respond with an expectation that because of the sins of her past, because of her mistakes, that she was now invaluable and that she didn't have a future.

But plot twist, Jesus had a different calling and purpose on his life, and he said that you are forgiven, go and sin no more.

I'm talking to somebody in here that maybe someone has spoken a dead end over your life.

Maybe you got some baggage and some things that you've walked through.

But plot twist, when Jesus gets involved, he can change your narrative and he can turn you from going the one way and going the other way.

Plot twist.

One of my favorite stories is the story of the widowed woman who who her husband was already dead, and now she was burying her only son.

And what the Bible says is that as they were on their way to bury their son, that means that he was already dead, that they already accepted his death, and she was already at the point of trying to move on with her grief that Jesus shows up and raised her son back to life.

What we see with Jesus is that no matter what state of decay you may find yourself in, all you have to do is pause and let him speak a word to it and plot to as he can bring it back to life.

What are the things that have been spoken over your life that you felt that they will never get any better than this?

What are the things that you have begun to believe and embody where you just begin that this is my narrative and this is the end of the story?

But I'm here to give you some good news.

And the good news is that Jesus is on the throne, the gospel is available for you, and he wants to give you the ultimate plot twist if you're willing to pause and listen.

Plot twist.

I I even I gotta go a little bit more.

I gotta even talk about the moment when the enemy had begun to recognize how Jesus was cultivating hope amongst the Middle Eastern community.

So now the religious structure, the political structure knew that Jesus was a detriment to the way that they wanted to operate.

So they said, we need to silence his voice.

And so what they said is that they killed him on the cross.

It's the thing that we celebrate every year, Resurrection Sunday.

But when they took his life and he was placed inside of the tomb, I can only imagine the Prince of Darkness celebrating because now people don't have hope.

The disciples went back to doing what they used to do because what do you do when it seems as if what you were believing God for doesn't work?

We tend to go back to doing things that we used to do.

But plot twist on the third day, the tomb was empty.

Plot twist, because the tomb was empty, that means that Jesus was raised.

Plot twist, because Jesus was raised, that means I can raise up from any situation I may find myself in.

Plot twist, that means that the Spirit of God now lives on the inside of me.

Plot twist, my best days are still ahead of me.

Plot twist, I am the head and not the tail.

Plot twist, I am more than a conqueror.

Plot twist, when Jesus gets involved, the story is not over.

It's an incredible plot twist.

So when we look at this woman who is in this village, in this community, she she is on the outskirts, she she doesn't fit in, she's she's got some baggage that she has to navigate through, but I believe it's through her life we can look at some practical things that can hopefully bring us to a place of inspiration.

The first thing I want us to write down whenever we have this radical encounter with Jesus is these words.

Leave the old script behind.

Leave the old script behind.

All of us have a script that we've been looking at, all of us have a life that we've been living, we all have a narrative that we have been walking through, but when we have this encounter with God, it requires us to leave the old script behind.

Let me explain it to us.

The Bible says that when she has this encounter with Jesus, she left her water jar beside the well and ran back into town.

The water jar.

That was symbolic of the structure that she was using to bring her satisfaction, but it never could fulfill it.

Because the truth of the matter is, sin will never fulfill its promise.

It will never make us feel satisfied, it will never help us to feel fulfillment, it will never activate purpose, it will never make us feel complete.

But nonetheless, we can find ourselves going back to the same well over and over again, expecting different results.

But on this day, she has an encounter with Jesus and she decides to leave the past behind.

See, when we encounter God, there's a responsibility and an opportunity for us, I would say, for us to acknowledge what is happening and for us to let go what has happened.

The narrative for this woman was she had five husbands.

According to Jewish law, her max should have been three.

So she went too past that, and then she was living with a guy that's not.

So in that community, she she would have been shunned.

In that community, she would have been someone who's not fit.

In that community, she would have been the one that the parents would have said, stay away from her, she's a bad influence on my kids.

She would have been the one that everyone distanced themselves from.

This would have been the narrative that she was living in.

This would have been the reality.

We don't know what led her to a point that she had that many husbands.

We don't know the backstory, but all we know is how people would have responded to her, which is why she went to get water from the well at noon.

That was the hottest time of the day, and no one went and got water at noon unless you were trying to avoid being around other people.

So the shame had led her to a place where she was going at the most uncomfortable time, just so that she could avoid being dealt with shame and ridicule from the people in her community.

It's amazing how when we find ourselves in these broken conditions, the extremes that we go through in order to find Just a little bit of satisfaction.

For some of us, that narrative may sound a little bit familiar.

For some of us, maybe there are people that look at us and they're distancing themselves from us as a result of decisions we've made or things that have happened to us or through us.

But what we have to do is we have to make a decision, is I'm no longer going to lean into the structures that supports my dysfunction.

See, the bucket contains a structure that basically ultimately undergirds a dysfunction in her life.

And I believe all of us have a way that we can create rhythms and patterns in our lives that allow us to function within our dysfunction.

I think about how blind Bartimaeus, he had a whole system of how he would ask for money because he was blind.

I'm a blind man, so I have to have a system that allows me to function even though I have this dysfunction.

He had a rhythm in the way that he would ask for things because I need support for where I'm at.

But what if the system is the problem?

What if the thing that you're going to is the thing that's preventing you from getting the breakthrough that God has for you?

When we have these moments where we have an encounter with God, it requires us to evaluate the people in our lives, the rhythms in our lives, the systems in our lives, and say, I need to leave this behind if I'm ever going to go and grab a hold of what's in front of me.

Some of us have a narrative that says that we are losers, but you have to have a new narrative that says that I am more than a conqueror.

Some of us have a narrative that says that you are sick, but we have to now begin to have this new narrative that says, no, I am healed.

We have to have one narrative that says that you are broken, but you have another one that says that I am restored.

We have to be willing to embrace the new narrative that God has for our lives with this new profound plot twist that He's made available for us.

We have to memorize the new script.

The other thing that we have to do is we have to embrace the new direction.

Now that we have this encounter with God and we've made a decision that I'm going to leave some things at the altar, that the things that I used to do, the people that I used to be around, those systems and rhythms, I'm no longer going to grab a hold of those, but I'm going to now embrace this new reality that God has brought me into.

We have to be willing to embrace the new direction.

This woman who went to the well so that she could be unnoticed was now going back to the city so that all could see.

No longer living in the shadow of shame, she boldly is walking in the light.

It's a powerful reminder that when we have an interaction with Jesus and He begins to change our narrative, it requires us to go back to some old places but with a new spirit.

It requires us to go into some old environments but with a new perspective.

Paul reminds us in Philippians 3, my brothers and sisters, I consider myself not to have taken a hold of it all.

But I forget those things which are behind and I'm straying toward what is ahead.

I press toward the goal to win the prize, which is God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Ultimately, what Paul is saying is that we all have a past story.

We all have a backstory.

We all have a narrative that is filled with twists and turns, bad decisions and mistakes and brokenness that may have brought us to the point that we're at.

But when God gets involved, we have to be willing to embrace that new calling on our lives and move forward with confidence and boldness.

It's a plot twist.

We have to make sure that we fully embrace what God is calling us to do today.

What I understand is that a lot of times when we have our encounters with God, we're doing our best to understand how to, what parts of the old me do I keep, and what parts of me do I allow to be redefined in the things of God.

And that tension can sometimes have us being at a place of what James calls us as double-minded, where we're trying to still be how we used to be so we can still be relatable, but we're trying to accept God for what He's trying to do in us now.

But what we see in this narrative is there is a moment where we have to ultimately walk away completely from that past pain and baggage and fully press forward to what God is ultimately calling us to do.

It's a plot twist moment, that moment where we have to embrace the reality that God is calling me to do something different.

But here's the problem that woman had a reputation.

She had a reputation in the neighborhood.

People knew some things about her.

So how can she move forward with confidence, knowing that people may see her differently?

They don't know she had an encounter with God.

It's almost as if she was typecast.

You guys ever seen a movie with an actor, and all you can see him as is that actor that you've seen him?

You've seen him in enough of those films, it's like, I can't see you as anything else.

Like, as far as I'm concerned, Robert Downey Jr.

is always going to be Iron Man.

He will never be anything other than Iron Man.

I know he's had films before that, films after that, great actor, but when he was in Oppenheimer, he was Iron Man in Oppenheimer.

Like it's always, it's the same guy.

Like sometimes we see, we see some actors, and it's like, I can't see you as anything except what I seen you.

That's what they call typecast.

I I watched a movie last night with Jason Statham, like, you know, action guy, just a fighter.

Like, just this is what he does.

Imagine for a moment, Jason Statham goes to his his agent and says, Hey man, you know what?

I don't want to do any action movies anymore.

I want to do um dramas.

I want to have like a romantic story, um, a little bit of conflict, we'll resolve it, and then we'll come back and we'll live happily ever after.

I'm not going to see that movie.

I just need Jason to punch somebody in the face and tell me that it's gonna be okay.

Like that's that's what I expect from him.

Like, I expect him to play his part because he's been typecast.

Some of us have been typecast.

Where people see us only for what we've done, they see us for only where we've been.

They only can see us for the baggage and the residue and the mistakes we've made.

So a lot of times when we're trying to step into something new, they want to keep us in the old role.

But the reality of it is we are under a new season with a new director.

And he's the one that defines my identity, and he's the one that opens up doors for me, and he's the one that's giving me a new script that I'm gonna walk into, and I don't need to be validated by you, you, or anybody else.

I recognize that I had an encounter with Jesus.

Plot twist, I'm moving in a new direction because I'm a new character at Christ Jesus, but we gotta be willing to embrace it.

Here's the the third and final point.

Then we have to tell our story.

You have to be willing to tell your story.

Many times when we find our place at a ourselves at a place of deliverance or we we begin to move forward, we can sometimes be ashamed of our story.

We we want to distance ourselves from it without realizing that our stories are what makes us one relatable and it makes God accessible.

But we gotta be willing to tell our story.

The scripture says that she goes back into the town and she tells everyone, yo, you gotta come meet this guy who said everything that I've ever done, this could be the Messiah.

Let me let me paraphrase that.

I gotta introduce you to this guy that knows everything about me, but yet he still values me.

I gotta introduce you to him.

I gotta introduce you to this guy that that looked at me and was fully aware of my brokenness, but still spoke words of life over me.

I gotta introduce you to him.

Even though this town had basically excommunicated her, she still felt the responsibility of telling her story and helping other people to experience the living water that Jesus has spoken so powerfully over her.

Plot twist.

This woman who was once the outsider in the community, now became the neighborhood evangelist, now became the one that came back and told everyone about Jesus.

Revelation chapter 12 says that, and they overcame him, him being the enemy, by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.

Revelation 12 · chapter mention

The word of their testimony.

They were able to overcome because of what Jesus did on the cross and by talking about what Jesus has done in their lives.

That's the gospel.

How do we overcome?

Because Jesus did it for us and we talk about it.

It's telling our story.

Our stories have the ability to serve as a candle in the midst of darkness that helps people to have an anchor of hope.

For the first half of my life, I I lived life on my own terms.

Here's a fraction of my story.

I I wouldn't say that I was like a bad person.

I just wasn't walking in fellowship with God.

I was raised in a Christian household.

I was raised to honor and respect elders, those values that my mom had taught me, but but I was living life on my own terms, and I was good at it.

I was enjoying it.

And as I'm living life on my own terms, I still remember the day that I got a phone call.

That phone call was my cousin Jerry, the one who taught me how to cut hair, that he got killed in a car accident.

Heartbroken and borderline despair.

I remember coming to this point of embracing and reflecting on my own mortality, which was the first time I'd ever done that.

I'm like 24 years old.

You think you're invincible, you don't think you're ever gonna die, but that moment hit me.

And I recall going to the funeral.

The funeral was powerful, it was a great message, but everyone is just heartbroken.

My cousin was was so young, and and I went over to my aunt and uncle's house after the funeral was over.

While I'm there, I'm seeing my aunt and uncle, they're walking around and they're they're they're comforting everybody, and they've lost their son.

And so for me, I couldn't, I couldn't wrap my mind around it.

I didn't understand why they had such peace.

Yes, they were grieving, but there was there was something different in their grief that I just couldn't identify with.

So I I asked, I asked Jerry's brother, my other cousin, I said, hey man, like, are your parents okay?

Like, I didn't have enough knowledge then, but I'm like, are they in denial?

Are they medicated?

Like, how are they able to function and they've just lost their son?

And he's like, No, I think they're excited because because Jerry had given his life to Christ.

And I was like, Are you serious?

I I didn't know this because what I knew of my cousin is that he he he was a little rough around the edges.

He had just gotten out of jail, he's he's he's lived a rough life.

So so when I hear that he responded to the gospel message, I even though I didn't understand, I'm like, oh, okay, that he responded to it, then he'll he'll go to heaven.

Great.

They was like, oh no, but do you did you do you want to see it?

They they recorded the service.

I was like, well, yeah, why not?

So they put the service in, they they turn the TV on and they put the they put the tape in.

For those of us that are unfamiliar with this timeline of events, it was a VHS VCR.

This is a device that basically think of YouTube, but they record it and they put it inside of a device.

It's in the Smithsonian.

Go check it out if you go to DC.

But they they took the VHS tape, they put it inside of the VCR, and I'm watching a service similar to this.

It was about 50 people there, and I'm watching a pastor preach.

And and and to give you guys some context, just so you can understand the spiritual nuance that I came up in.

We were raised in a holiness, Pentecostal, apostolic environment.

This is very much like a spiritual gifts environment.

This is where prophecy takes place.

Like the gifts of the Spirit was something that was cultivated in this environment.

Different churches have different assignments.

That was the assignment on that church.

So while we're there, the pastor is up there preaching, and he's in the middle of like his flow, and then he stops and he looks at my cousin, and he looks at him and he says, I'm sorry, I can't go any further.

And he looks at my cousin in his eyes, he's like, Brother Jerry, the Spirit of God just told me that you've been running from him your entire life, and this is your last chance to repent, because in seven days you'll be standing in his presence.

Aren't y'all glad I don't do that to y'all?

Starting next week, prophecy services.

Get ready.

Buckle up.

When I saw this on screen, I'm like, are you kidding me?

My cousin breaks down in tears.

He he gets up, he goes to the altar, he gives his life to Christ.

Like, I'm watching all of this stuff, and I'm just like, yo, this is crazy.

This is a plot twist moment.

Right after that happened, he leaves and he calls my brother who's living in Atlanta.

He says, Hey man, um, listen, I gotta make some changes.

I I gotta leave this bucket at the well because it's not satisfying me.

If I stay here, I'm just gonna get right back into the same stuff I've been in.

I'm gonna go to jail.

Like, this is not a good environment for me.

Bro, can I can I come down there and stay with you until I can figure some things out?

My brother's like, yeah, of course.

My brother tells him the address.

Jerry packs up his car, and while he's driving to Atlanta, he gets killed in a car accident.

I I remember watching all of these things come together, and my perspective was God chose to interrupt a regular service and to make a last call to my cousin because he loves him that much.

That he interrupted the flow of service to specifically call him out and saying, This is your moment, it's time for you to get right.

I don't know what would have happened if the pastor didn't do it, but what I truly believe is that my cousin's time was up.

And God interrupted it and gave him a plot twist moment to which he responded to.

So I'm believing that I'm going to rejoice with him in heaven.

Fast forward, Megan and I, we go to church that next Sunday.

Because at this point I'm thinking of my own mortality.

24-year-old thought I was invincible, but I need to figure some things out.

So I go to a church service and I'm sitting in a back row.

Shout out to those who are in the back row.

Um, I'm sitting in a back row, and and and I can't even remember what the pastor was preaching on, but I remember there was something stirring on the inside of me the entire time.

I've been in church services, I've had the goosebumps before, I've raised my hand before, but this time was different.

When the alt when the pastor called for an altar call, I just remember getting up and making a beeline to the altar.

Here's what you got to understand about my personality.

I'm not that kind of guy.

Like I'm I can be expressive and demonstrative up here, but my typical personality is I could slip a hand up, God knows my heart, he sees me where I'm at.

I know you guys, I identify with you.

Y'all are my people.

But something that day said that I needed to get up and take a step, and I met God at the altar.

As I was at this altar, someone had laid their hands on me, and I felt the presence of God in such a significant way, it was tangible.

It was literally like stuff you see on TV.

I fell on the ground, I'm crying, like I just I didn't understand what was going on.

And I remember coming out of what I call this this Holy Spirit fog, and I look over at the other end of the altar, and there I see my my my baby mama slash girlfriend, which is Megan, by the way, like we got married.

It got it all got worked out.

Just want to bring that, I want to close the loop on that.

Um it worked out.

Um, but at the time, we weren't married.

I look over and I see that she's having the exact same experience completely unprompted.

So when I when I see her, I feel the Spirit of God say to me, This is the woman that I'm calling you to.

Your main responsibility is to steward that relationship.

And as you steward that relationship, I will call you to do great things.

He made it clear to me that my calling was first to my marriage, and then through my marriage, that would activate my ministry.

Didn't even fully understood what that meant.

We got home, and immediately as we looked at each other, I'm like, we we gotta make some changes.

We're living together at this time.

Instantly, I'm sleeping on the couch, I'm trying to stay at my parents' house, I'm trying to stay at different places because I had this encounter with God and I knew it would be impossible for me to truly embrace my God-given destiny while still going back to the old well and living like I used to live.

So I said, I need to learn to honor God even with our bodies.

And so I am going to sleep on the couch, I'm gonna stay in other environments because I know what God, I had an encounter with God, and I don't want anything to dilute it.

It only went three weeks.

We had a quick wedding, real quick, real quick.

Real quick.

Like, hey, what are you doing in two weeks?

Let's lock this thing down.

Two spaces out of two.

We gotta keep this thing going.

Anyway, let's keep going.

I'm sorry.

I'm sorry.

I'm a truth teller.

That's what I do.

So, so we we get married, we we begin serving in ministry, we we get involved in our church, and and step by step, I began to recognize how God was using varying aspects of our story to help and inspire others, and it's just this beautiful, cyclical but messy thing.

We didn't always have it figured out, but we made a decision that, hey, I'm going to live my life, God's way, and this is gonna be our story.

There's power and the ability to recognize that God will use all of our stories in a unique way, but it requires us to come to a conclusion that now that I had an encounter with Jesus, what am I going to do with it?

Am I going to continue to bring the same buckets to the old wells and thinking that they're going to satisfy me?

No.

Because if I'm honest with myself and if I really were to take deep inventory of where I'm at, they're not working.

I don't feel satisfied.

I don't feel peace.

I don't have joy.

I don't have this breakthrough that I know is available for me.

So we made a decision that I'm going to leave some other things behind so I can grab a hold of what God has next for us.

When we made that decision, I had gotten really good at being a sinner.

I was making music.

I had a great community of friends, and many of them I'm still cool with, but the dynamics had to shift.

So as I'm moving forward in the newness of my life, I still had to make sure that I only responded to what God was calling me.

I find myself empathizing a little bit more with Jacob because people knew him as a swindler.

But when he wrestled with God, he changed his name and said, No, you're Israel, for you're a champion of God.

And he would go into old environments and be like, Hey man, what's good, Jacob?

That's not my name anymore.

I'm going by Israel now.

That happens spiritually for all of us.

That we may go back into old environments with a new identity, and we got to continue to only answer to what God has called.

You're right.

I used to be Jacob.

That's my old story.

But I had a plot twist moment with God.

And now I'm Israel.

I have a new identity in Christ Jesus.

Plot twist.

Yes, I was going down a dead end road, but plot twist, Jesus turned me around and put me on a path of light.

Yes, I was dealing with brokenness, but plot twist, Jesus got involved and said, I can use that brokenness and turn it into beauty.

Yes, I was dealing with a place of abandonment, but plot twist, Jesus showed up and said, Here's a friend that sticks closer to you than a brother.

There's moments in my life where I felt that this is as good as it's ever going to get, but plot twist, when I've invited Jesus in and I live my life his way, he has taken me further, faster than I ever could have done in my own strength.

I'm not going to the old wells anymore.

They don't satisfy, they don't fulfill, and they're not ultimately going to help me to walk in my calling and purpose.

Every one of us has a story to tell.

Every one of us is on a journey.

And it's just in these moments that we have a chance to say, Is this really satisfying me?

Am I really fulfilled?

Do I really feel valued?

Do I really feel as if I can keep doing this forever?

Is this really producing the fruit that I would want my children to replicate?

Is this really the life that I want to live?

Watch this.

Would I want my daughter to marry someone like me?

When you begin to look at your life and ask questions about do I exhibit the character that I would want my kids to either emulate or be drawn to?

The answer often tells us the areas of adjustments we need to make.

With every head bowed and with every eye closed, I believe that all of us are on a journey.

I believe that all of us are a work in progress.

I believe all of us have aspects of our story that Jesus works on.

Because the beautiful thing is the story is still being written.

But I believe that this could be a plot twist moment for every single one of us.

A moment where this is how it used to be, but Jesus got involved and this is how it is.

So if you're in here with me right now and there's an aspect of your story, there's a storyline right now that you need a plot twist in.

Maybe there's a brokenness, maybe there's a struggle, maybe there's an addiction, there's a burden, there's a relational dynamic, but there's a story that you are walking through right now, and you just want that story to change.

I believe that we have raised our hands before, we've come to the altar before, but I believe that today Jesus is here in the same way.

The woman went to the well every day, but on that day, Jesus met her and it changed everything.

Jesus is with us now.

So if that's you, and you know that I need Jesus to change this story in my life, I would love for you to boldly lift your hands up so I can pray for you where you are.

One, two, three.

Amen.

Amen.

God bless you.

Hands are up everywhere.

Amen.

I want to pray for you in just a moment.

You can go ahead and put your hands down.

I want to speak to another group of people really quick.

And I want to speak specifically for the folks that are away from God right now.

Even if you're joining us online, this is for you as well.

That that you know that the life that you live, Jesus is not the director of it.

That that Jesus is not the voice that you're listening to, that you're living life on your own terms.

And you know that after hearing this message, and and maybe just as of the prompting of God, that you know that I'm I'm due for a plot twist, that I'm I'm tired of living life on my own terms.

And I believe that that God is stirring me now to respond to his voice.

Sometimes it's done in dramatic fashion, sometimes it's done in a small whisper, but nonetheless, God is speaking.

If that's you and you're ready to respond to the invitation of Jesus, the greatest plot twist ever is that Jesus came, he died as you so that you can live as him.

That's the plot twist.

Salvation.

You don't have to stay where you are, you just have to respond.

So if you're ready to say yes to Jesus, either returning to him or coming to him for the first time, it starts with just signifying it in your heart and lifting a hand so we can pray with you.

On account of three.

I'm coming back home or I'm coming home for the first time.

One, two, three.

Amen.

God bless you.

Amen.

I see those hands in the back.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

God bless you.

See the hand on the right.

See the hand in the middle.

God bless you guys.

Amen.

Amen.

Give it a couple more seconds.

Amen.

Amen.

Okay, you can put those hands down.

Church, can we put our hands together and celebrate with everyone that's making the decision to come home?

Here's what we're gonna do.

We're gonna go into a worship song that's entitled Make Room.

And a lot of us know that whenever something requires us to make room, it requires us to let go of some things so that we can make room for the new things that are coming.

And I believe that the same is to be true whenever we're talking about inviting God into our lives.

It requires us to do some significant just redecoration, making room for God and giving him permission into every access of our lives so we can begin to orient our lives around him instead of the other way around.

Let us all stand to our feet.

And I want to lead us in a moment of prayer.

And what I really want is this entire sanctuary to serve as an altar.

But I realize that for some of us, our response in this moment may look a little bit different.

There are times where I'll I'll compel everyone to come down to the altar, and there's other times I just will tell you that the altar is open.

It's open.

And if you feel like your next step is to come and just kneel in the presence of God, it's open.

Some team would love to come and just touch and agree with you, but it's open.

I don't want to compel you, I don't want to convince you, but but if you feel like your next step is just to get along with God, what better way to signify that moment than stepping out of your seat and just coming down to the altar because it's open?

Others of us will stay in our seats, we'll lift our hands up, but what all of us need to have in this moment is some measure of a response, engaging this.

Because I believe that Jesus is constantly tapping us on the shoulder for these plot twist moments.

But what made it so significant was how she responded to it.

We all have a responsibility to respond to these interruptions that Jesus brings into our lives.

With every hand lifted, let me pray for us.

Lord, we thank you.

We thank you for these plot twist moments, these moments where you interrupt our everyday life and our everyday routine, and today is different.

Father, you saw the hands that were lifted up for everyone that is living a nightmare narrative right now, a narrative where they're looking at the storyline and they just don't understand how they got here.

They're just trying to figure out how to get out of here, and it doesn't seem if they have any direction, any clarity, and they're struggling.

Father, I can feel the pain in this room.

Father, I pray that these words can be an anchor of hope for somebody.

People that just feel like giving up or giving in, and they don't feel like there's any way out of this.

But Lord, we believe that you are able to bring light in the midst of the deepest darkness.

That Father, you're able to redeem even the most broken situations, that you're able to resurrect even the most dead and decaying things, Lord.

That is what we believe in.

God, we are in need of a plot twist moment, an encounter with your grace, an encounter with your power.

So, Father, I pray for every one of my family members, God, that are struggling through their current narratives.

And I'm praying and believing by the power of God and the unction of the Holy Spirit that some chains are gonna be broken and some new narratives are being created right now in the name of Jesus.

It's gonna require us to renew our mind, it's gonna require us to change direction, it's gonna require us to tell our story.

But Father, whatever it is we need to do, I pray that we can leave the past at the well, that we can move forward, anchoring ourselves in the truth of who you are and who we are, and we can walk victoriously and being more than conquerors.

God, that is my prayer over this community.

I command for every chain to be broken, Father.

I pray for restoration of relationships, God.

I pray for finances to be restored, God.

I pray for all kinds of dynamics, I pray for healing, Father.

This is not the end of your story.

This is just a plot twist moment that God is going to get the glory from.

And Father, I pray for everyone that is responding to the gospel message.

Lord, I pray that you stir their hearts the way that you stirred Megan and minds, God.

I pray that we could create proper boundaries and live lives that are honoring to you, God.

We need a move of your spirit.

We can't do it without you.

Give us the strength to lay it down and pick up what you've called us to do.

Speak to us.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Come on, family, let's worship together.

Let's lean into this moment with an expectation that God is going to do something new in us.

Thanks again for listening.

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