That's Only Part of the Story | Dr. Jerry Mason

Well, let's give the Lord a good hand clap of praise and

Thanksgiving tonight. He alone is worthy.

Amen. If you have your Bibles, turn

with me to the book of Hebrews, Chapter 11, verse #32.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

While you are turning there, give honor to our Bishop this

evening, Amen. Did he preach a word of the Lord

this morning? Amen.

Thank you Bishop. As we were reminiscing over

generations, I couldn't help but appreciate how many of those he

was in lead of and involved in preaching to us and keeping us

on the straight and narrow. I know that's a little harder

for some of us than others. Appreciate his faithfulness and

consistency. Amen.

Our pastor. I know he's not here, but I want

to give him honor tonight. Appreciate him.

He is a preacher's preacher. Amen.

And man, I just love and appreciate him and Sister McGee

and their family. To our youth pastor, Brother

Alex, Sister Grace, love them and appreciate what they are

doing. Pastoring of any capacity,

whether you are the lead pastor or whatever, there's many

different facets that that ministry can branch off into.

And any, any facet of that has its own set of challenges.

You know, sometimes in a carnal perspective, we can look at that

and say, oh, what's the, what's the big deal?

That's the problem is we often have a carnal perspective for a

spiritual issue. The weight is spiritual.

The weight, the weight isn't, yeah, people can be difficult,

but the weight in and of itself isn't carnal.

The weight is spiritual because we fight spiritual battles.

Amen. And I'd love and appreciate him

for for who he is. My wife, I give her honor

tonight. She puts up with me when I'm at

my worst, which sometimes seems like that's more than whenever

I'm at my best. And I appreciate and love her

for that. Not just for that, but I do love

her for that, Amen. The book of Hebrews, Chapter 11.

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

Thank you for being in the House of the Lord tonight.

And if you're joining us online this evening, thank you for

being with us and being part of our worship.

And we ask you to join into the word of the Lord tonight.

Hebrews 11 and 32 says, and what shall I more say, for the time

would fail me to tell of Gideon and of Barack and of Samson, of

Jephthahi. I had to look that guy up.

It just didn't ring any bells for me.

So I'll just share it with you since I had to look it up as

well. But we often refer to it in the

English as Jephta in the Old Testament.

He's the son of Gilead, who was empowered by the Spirit of God

to lead Israel out of the hand of the Ammonites.

So he's an important dude. Just his name just doesn't

settle well. God bless him.

Of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets who through

faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained

promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of

fire, escaped the edge of the sword out of weakness, were made

strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of

the aliens for a few moments. Tonight, with the help of the

Lord, I want to minister this subject.

That's only part of the story. That is only part of the story.

God bless you. You may be seated.

Hebrews Chapter 11. It's full of people who did

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

mighty works for God. These people had great faith, so

much so that when we refer to this chapter in God's Word, we

often call it the Hall of Faith, the Hall of Faith chapter.

These are people who the Bible tells us, subdued kingdoms.

They wrought righteousness. They obtained promises, they

stopped the mouths of lions. That's that's a fun one right

there. Quenched the violence of fire,

escaped the edge of the sword. Their weaknesses were made

strong and they waxed valiant in their fight.

We esteem them as spiritual heroes, icons of faith,

champions of righteousness who we stand in all of, and we put

upon a pedestal of greatness as men and women of God.

And while this is right and it's in order and it's it's all right

to do that, we must also remember that these very same

people were also human. They were imperfectly flawed and

there were times they, like us, missed God's purpose and God's

design for their situation. Yes, they made it into the hall

of faith, but their defects and their mistakes were well

documented. It can be difficult to

understand the list of who's who that made it into Hebrews

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

Chapter 11. This list is of the upper

echelon of greatness, yet it also had a dark side or a side

that was so bad that you and I would never consider that if we

had done those very same things that we would make it on to this

list. Noah is on this list.

Noah talked to God, He listened to God.

He received the dimensions for building the ark from God.

He preached and built an ark at the same time for a span of 120

years. Yet by our modern standards,

most people would say that he was a better builder than he was

a preacher because in 120 years of preaching, his ministry only

saved 7 souls. Come on Noah, surely you can do

better than that. You can read about Noah.

He did all these great things. He obeyed God by completing the

ark. He obeyed God by taking care of

the animals on the ark. He had faith in God's promise to

never destroy the earth by water again.

Yet he also got so drunk that the writers of scripture thought

it should be mentioned and written about.

Sarah is in the hall of faith. She was a faithful wife to

Abraham. She was the mother of a great

nation. She was used of God.

She played a pivotal role in preserving the well-being of her

family. Her family was richer when they

came out of Egypt than they were when they went in.

She was faithful, yet she mocked the promises of God.

She laughed in God's face. She did not believe that God

could do what He said He could do.

And then when God finally did it, she heartlessly and

callously sent Hagar and Ishmael into the desert to die.

This was a woman of God. Jacob is mentioned in Hebrews

11. A man whose very name means

deceiver. A con man.

A man who would throw his own flesh and blood under the bus

just to get ahead. He would feed his fleshly

desires. He would lie, he would cheat,

and he would swindle. Yeah, he also happens to be in

the trilogy when we describe God and say that he is the God of

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He went on to have his name

changed to Israel and his descendants were to become God's

promised nation. The liar, That's who I'm talking

about. The liar, the deceiver, the

stealer of birthrights, went on to become the chief of the

descendants of the nation of God's promised people.

Moses is listed there in Hebrews 11.

His life was spared as a baby because of his mother's faith.

He was raised to be a great leader under Pharaoh who would

eventually lead God's people out of over 430 years of Egyptian

bondage. Moses would speak to God out of

a burning Bush. God spoke to Moses face to face.

Moses would stand in awe as God stood over his shoulder and

wrote the 10 commandments in stone and gave him the plans for

the Tabernacle. Moses would lift his rod to

heaven and the Red Sea would split in half.

And Moses had a temper. Moses could lose at zero to 60

in the batting of an eye. So much so that one afternoon he

got so mad he killed an Egyptian, buried the body and

ran like a fugitive. Moses Pastor Pastor Moses Rahab

was a prostitute. I'm pausing for dramatic effect

right there. I want that to sink in.

Color the picture. However you want to make sure

you just grab it correctly. She was a prostitute, yet she is

in Hebrews Chapter 11. She was the owner operator of a

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

House of ill repute. She was the lady, ladies, that

if you saw your husband talking to her even in daylight, I would

not want to be at your dinner table that day.

Words might be exchanged, questions could be asked.

Yet she helped God's people escape Jericho.

This resulted in Rahab ending up in the lineage of Jesus Christ,

David. We can't talk about this without

talking about David. He took food to the battlefield

for his brothers. He endured false accusations for

his motives. He slayed Goliath, he slew a

lion and a bear. He was promoted from the sheep

fields to the King's palace to play the heart.

He was a musician, singer-songwriter and worship

team of one. He's the only person noted in

God's Holy Writ as being a man after God's own heart.

But he decided not to go to battle one day where he should

have been. This put him in the wrong place

at the wrong time. He saw the beautiful Bathsheba

bathing. He lusted after her.

He abused his leadership authority as king and sent for

her. He had an affair with her.

He got her pregnant. Then as if that wasn't enough,

he then had her husband brought home to be with his with his

wife so the pregnancy could be declared his and all would be

covered up. But Uriah would not go into his

wife or he knew his place was on the battlefield.

As a final effort to cover up his sins.

David then David the the shepherd, David the giant

Slayer, David the songwriter and worshipper then decides to send

Uriah back out to battle and give strict instructions to

military leaders. Put him on the front line, tell

everybody else to back up. Make him the bullseye.

I want him dead, was the message.

And lo and behold, Uriah is killed on the battlefield at the

hands of the instructions of David.

The man after God's own heart was also an adulterer and

murderer. You can read on in Hebrews

Hebrews 11 · chapter mention

Chapter 11. It tells us about people who

were overthrow kingdoms, rule with justice, shut the mouths of

lions, quench the flames of fire.

Yet it admits in God's Word that they all had weaknesses and they

all had flaws, and despite those imperfections and despite those

flaws, and in the face of their humanity, Hebrews 11/16

emphatically states wherefore God is not ashamed to be called

their God. They were great people, they

were messed up, they did wrong, they sinned, and by our

judgmental standards, they send big.

But regardless of their failures and despite all of their

shortcomings, God was not ashamed to be called their God.

Ladies and gentlemen, that ought to give you hope today.

God knows you're not perfect. God knows you don't always get

it right. God knows when you mess up and

you try again and again, you might mess up every day, but

just keep on trying. By faith, my weakness can be

turned to strength. My humanity might make me weak,

but by faith His Spirit makes me strong.

My imperfections may cause me to fail, but His righteousness

makes me an overcomer. For the Bible declares it's not

by might nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord.

Somebody shout Hallelujah. When we read the 11th chapter of

Hebrews, we see the writer using the term by faith, Noah by

faith, Sarah by faith, Jacob by faith, by faith, by faith.

We see this about 19 times in this chapter alone.

And when you see that, it is important for us to understand

that the Scripture is emphasizing information about a

people who had come to terms with their human limitations.

Their human frailty was very present with them, and they had

to learn to have faith in and trust in and dependence on

Almighty God. Because at the end of the day,

we are an imperfect people depending on a perfect God, much

like the people that I am talking about in God's Word.

There is little difference that separates us from them.

If we are honest with one another tonight, and if you will

be honest with yourself, we're just a little messed up.

We've got our own set of problems.

We have our own set of frailties.

We have our own set of insecurities.

We have our own sets of issues that cause some of us might have

problems in our mind, some of us might have temper issues, some

of us might go zero to 60 in the blink of an eye.

We've all got our set of issues. But there's one thing about the

sheer fact that God is not looking for my perfection.

God is looking for your availability.

And when we bring our imperfections, perfections to

him and say God, do with this what you will do.

God will take your imperfections and he will make your

availability his will. Because at the end of the day,

we are not perfect. We never will be.

We will be striving till the day that He comes, striving to make

it, striving to be better, striving to make today better

than yesterday. Well, Brother Mason, you don't

know what I did yesterday. I know I don't and I don't want

to know. And, and perhaps in the Spirit

of God and with all the love and kindness that's in me, I don't

need to know. But what I do know is this.

I may have messed up yesterday, you may have messed up

yesterday. But when we get in the House of

God and we get in the presence of an Almighty God, He is well

able to forgive. He is well able to draw us

closer to Him. He is able to make those

imperfect things the opportunities of a lifetime so

that we can have a representation of Hebrews 11 in

our life, that by faith, God, by faith God is able.

We know by the Word of God that salvation comes through grace,

but it comes through grace by faith.

The nation of Israel, the place where God established himself

for His people throughout the Word of God, teetered constantly

between godliness and godlessness.

They would be serving God one minute, and a chapter or two

later we find them totally abandoning Him.

They would be upholding His laws and His statues today and then

doing what's right in their own eyes tomorrow, worshipping and

sacrificing to Jehovah in one moment and then dancing naked

around idols and Pagan gods the next.

They would be celebrating their history in one season and then

forgetting about their history in the next season.

They fight and win great battles with the Spirit of the Lord

going before them in the morning, and then by nightfall

they for abandoned God, the very God who helped them with the

victory against their enemy To begin with.

Solomon, another flawed man, wrote in Proverbs 3.

Five trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto

thine own understanding. It is important today, ladies

and gentlemen, that we remember in the presence of God that our

trust must be placed in him, our hope must be placed in Him.

I get myself in trouble every time.

I lean on my own logic, when I lean on my own understanding,

when I rationalize my situation on my own, and I don't allow God

to steer my steps and I don't allow God to order my future, I

get myself in trouble every time.

But if I can somehow submit to God and declare by faith, by

faith, by faith, God is well able to deliver and help me

through my struggle, Somebody shout Hallelujah.

David, the flawed man after God's own heart, wrote Psalms 56

and three. What time I am afraid I will

trust in thee. There's no one else to go to.

There is no one else to lean on. We are.

This isn't in my notes. Just bear with me here for a

moment, but we are in error if we come to the House of God and

the only decor declaration from our heart we can muster is

simple gratitude for how good we are.

I, I, I, I didn't come to make any enemies tonight and I didn't

come to make anybody mad. But you're not that good.

I'll I'll be the first to tell you, brother Fred, I'm not that

good. We are not so good that we are

better than the only man from cover to cover of God's living

word that was ever written to be declared a man after God's

heart. There's only one man that ever

received that moniker and that's David.

And yeah, I love David. I love him a lot.

I can relate to him in certain ways, especially on the music

and the the worship side. And his heart for worship, his

heart for devotion to God. I love all that there is about

David, his upbringing and his stories.

And we get the, the privilege of seeing the end of the story and

not having to live it with him. We're kind of walking along

beside it already knowing how the story ends.

So that kind of helps when you can read the last page a bit.

It keeps your attention in the book.

And we're, it's a page Turner. David, David's growing, David's

a shepherd. He's the, he's the ignored son

that that no one wants to pay any attention to.

He's the, he's the boy that can't even shave yet.

And yet he's standing there, he's delivering food to his

brothers. And, and they're, they're,

they're mocking him and they're questioning his motives for

coming to the battlefield, all because they were a bunch of

chickens that were standing on the battlefield because King

Saul told them they had to, but they was too scared to do

anything about Goliath. David, the same boy that that

slew a giant as a teenager. David, the same boy that as a

teenager was anointed to be the second king of Israel, but

wouldn't see that anointing come to fruition until he was 30

years old. Let me tell somebody something

tonight. When God promises you something,

you hang on. When God promises you something,

you hang on to the promise of God.

You hang on to the prophecy of God.

You hang on to the work. When God speaks a word into your

life by the words of his page or by the words of a man with a

crooked finger and a microphone, you better make some.

You better give some attention to that, and you better

understand that God promised it. God's going to render it to

pass. It may not come as quick as you

want it to, but God's going to deliver it to you.

But I'm afraid what happens is we get tired of waiting on God.

So we start rationalizing with our own mind.

We start making our own decisions.

I don't know who I'm talking to tonight.

This is not in my notes. But hear the word of the Lord

tonight. We start rationalizing on our

own what we're going to do and what's important for our life.

And we ignore the prophetic word of God that He has spoken.

And then we start finding ourselves walking away from God.

We're not as close to Him as we used to.

We're not as in step with Him as we used to be.

We're not listening to Him. Somebody hear me tonight.

We're not listening to him the way we used to listen.

But let me tell you today that what you are in right now is

only part of the story. God can deliver you and God can

still make it come to pass. You know, Mojo satala, biendo lo

mojo sataya. I feel my help coming now.

I am standing before you today, a flawed man.

It seems that every time I get it right, I mess it up again.

Now, lest you set there and think, oh what did he do?

Know that I am speaking on your behalf as well.

We are flawed humanity worshipping before a perfect

God. We are in the presence of a king

that we do not deserve to be in his presence.

We are here by grace and we sustain by mercy.

For the Apostle Paul himself reads writes in Romans 721.

I find in a law that when I would do good, evil is present

with me. It seems like Brother Mason,

every time I try, I mess up. That's all right.

Keep trying. Because what your enemy wants to

do is he wants to wear you out on your failure, He wants to

wear you down on your mistakes, and he wants to beat you up

every time you trip and fall. And if he can wear you out on

your failure, he will pull you into not caring anymore.

But listen to me tonight. My failure is only part of the

story. My delay is only part of the

story. My struggle is only part of the

story. My setbacks are only part of the

story. My God has the rest of the

story. God, Jesus Christ himself, the

author and the finisher of our faith, the author.

We'll make sure you grab this, I said.

He's the author. What's What's what's that?

What's that? What's that mean?

The author's the one that writes the story.

The author's the one that when he's got the pen in his hand,

he's the one that is leading the page, the words on the page.

He's guiding the direction of the narrative.

He is the one that predicts where the protagonist is going

to end up. Because every story has a

protagonist and an antagonist. Or most stories do.

At least good stories do. The antagonist, or the enemy of

our soul wants to make us think that he has control over our

life. The enemy of your soul wants to

make you think that he is helping you determine your

defeat. But he is not the author of my

story. He is a simple character.

Follow me now. The devil is not the author of

your story. The devil doesn't have a pen to

write with. He doesn't have a pen to write

with. He doesn't have a page to write

on. He doesn't even have a desk to

sit at. He don't even have a home of his

own. He was kicked out of glory

because he coveted the throne of God.

I'm telling somebody tonight that the devil is not the author

of your story. He's a simplified character in a

story that Almighty God has control of.

My life's not going right. That's all right.

Talk to the author. I've made a mistake.

Talk to the author. I keep messing up.

Talk to the author. I've got sickness in my body.

Talk to the author. I don't have strength to run.

Let him walk and talk to the author.

Because I find a law that when I would do good, evil is present

with me. But every day I step, that evil

is next to me. I've got Jesus inside of me, and

the greater is he that is in me than He that is in the world.

Sit down, you're wearing me out. Acts 17 and 27 says that they

should seek the Lord if haply they might feel after Him.

I imagine this scripture and worship.

I know there's other scriptures that tell us to lift our hands,

but I also envision for myself just feeling after Him.

Can can I? Can I find him?

Can I reach to where I can feel Him, find him, though he be not

far from every one of us, for in him we live and move and have

our be. Let me tell you tonight, this is

not a deep revelation and it's not anything you haven't heard

before. So let me remind you that the

very reason why David was so great despite his sin, the very

reason David was so great despite his sin, was that he

never stopped worshipping. That's good preaching, brother.

You want to know the importance and value of worship.

I know we talk about it. I know we say it.

I know we teach it. I know we preach it and I don't

think we can preach it or teach it enough Worship.

We're saved. Acts 238 the basis of our

salvation by the Holy Word of God.

We repent, we're baptized in Jesus name for the remission of

the sins. Receive the baptism of the Holy

Ghost. Evidence speaking in other

tongues as the Spirit of God give the utterance that does not

punch your ticket for heaven. If you stop your walk with God

after that experience, you have stopped short of God's victory

and God's will and purpose for your life.

Your tickets not punched yet when the train leaves the

station. If you're not worshipping,

you're not on the train. The reason God continued to

bless David despite his failures was because David never forgot

that God was worth God was worth everything he could give him.

The reason why some of us stop in our failure is because while

we're failing, we forget to worship.

When you mess up, let let me let me just be real with you

tonight. You're going to mess up.

I'm I'm sorry to clip the angels wings of some of you because

please forgive me, but you're going to mess up.

You're not that good. And when I say you, I'm saying

me. So we're in this together.

We're not that good. No angels wings here just yet,

other than the angelic host that's here with us.

But the we've got a serious problem in our walk with God

when we fail and then we get up and we refuse to repent and we

refuse to worship. Well, I never said no.

There's a difference between your words and your actions.

You don't have to tell God no. Sit there with your arms

crossed. You're telling him no.

The reason why I feel like David succeeded, Bishop, the reason

why I have succeeded in my walk with God despite my stupidity,

is because of getting in the House of God worship.

Not because of your failure, not a show of your failure, but

despite your failure. Oh well, I want to be real and I

don't want to be a show. And I don't think I'm worthy.

Let me tell you something, it doesn't matter how perfect you

are, you will never, never, never, never be worthy enough.

So just check that buck box off your list and stop worrying

about earning worth and stop worrying about getting to a

place that you are worth worshipping.

God wants worship from the sincere heart.

You don't have to be worth it. He does.

He's the one who's worth it. I don't have to be worth

anything, Somebody said. Well, that's a good thing,

because you're not. You're probably right, but he

is. And when I fail, that's only

part of my story. And if I fail and I set up a

post box office, post office box number downtown Central failure.

And I decide that I'm just going to stay there and wallow in it

because woe is me, I messed up and I made a mistake.

And I let my arrogance and ego get the best of me and I refuse

to get into a worship atmosphere with God, then I am going to

mess up my life. I am going to walk the wrong

path. I'm going to go the wrong Rd.

But ladies and gentlemen, if after your failure you can put

an E thought on spiritually and get into the presence of God,

and every pay stop and worship and every pay stop and worship,

God is going to bless you because that's only part of the

story. Somebody shout Hallelujah.

Seek the Lord if haply you might find Him.

I have preached and I have talked about avoiding the

comparison trap. It is true we need to avoid it.

Some of you need to stop comparing yourself to Bishop.

I'm sorry that's not in my notes.

I got tons of things tonight's not in my in my notes.

I'm just trying to feel after the Lord.

You need to stop comparing yourself to Pastor.

You need to stop comparing yourself to the people that you

have believed. Don't make mistakes.

That's a mistake. I got to get down here for this.

Next thing I'm going to say I can't be behind that sacred desk

lightning a strike. I don't want to cause anybody

here or online. God bless you.

I don't cause anybody to lose faith in Bishop or pastor.

I'm going to tell you something. They're human and as far as I

know I'm son-in-law. I've been in the family for

almost 40 years. Thank you Jesus, you might as

well embrace it because it don't get any better and as far as I

know Bishop when he gets dressed he don't stand his pants up and

run and Superman hop in them. It's one legged time like all

the rest of us guys. He's human and as, as a minister

in this assembly, I will tell you pay the highest honor that

you can pay as son-in-law. I'm going to tell you he's a

flawed man. Now don't get cold on me just

because I said that. I'm just trying to illustrate a

point to you that he's human. Pastor's human.

I love you Pastor human. Stop comparing yourself to

people that you have put on a pedestal and you have convinced

yourself that I if I don't achieve this, then why should I

even try? If my life can't follow this

pattern and if I can't read 5 chapters a day, why should I

even try? If I can't pray, I'm talking to

somebody tonight. If I can't pray an hour, why

should I even try? Let me tell you why you should

try. Because you, not them.

You've got a story between you and the author.

Your story's unique. Let God bless your story.

Let God bless your life. Let God anoint your steps.

God bless your people with holy confidence.

We need to rebuke the spirit of intimidation that says I don't

measure up, so why should I try? You might be intimidated today,

but that's only part of your story.

There's a tomorrow coming and I pray God baptizes this

congregation with the holy confidence.

Walk in the Spirit of God, but walk in the Spirit of God the

way God anointed you to do it. Not the way Bishop does, not the

way Pastor does. God forbid, not the way I do.

We look in the Word of God. We find some people to be too

good for us to relate to. That's why I went through this

exhaustive list tonight in my opening, because everybody on

that list, maybe with exception to Rahab, that was kind of

obvious. But everybody else on that list,

if I just talk to you about how good they are, we'd a man run

and shout and say, yeah, that's right.

They were. They were great, Father Abraham,

Sarah, great, great, wonderful. And we could gloss over and

forget about the fact and just how simply human and evil they

could be. That's right.

A man. That's true.

True. They were just as human and just

as flawed and just as misguided as us, and perhaps to some

degree by man's judgement, more so because as I scanned the

congregation tonight, at least those of you that are in house,

I don't see anybody that has murdered anyone.

And I know there's storied pasts in this congregation, and to be

honest with you, I thank God for that.

There should be storied past in an Apostolic Church because

that's how good God's grace is. But I'm not looking at a

congregation tonight that yet that I see a murderer yet.

If I were to poll you tonight, we could do it anonymously.

But if we were to take a poll tonight, I'm fairly certain,

Bishop, that if we were to poll this congregation about

comparing yourself to King David, he would be here and we

would be here. Because all the enemy wants you

to focus on on them is their good.

And all he wants you to focus on on you is your bad.

So there will always be a divide.

And I've come to tell somebody tonight that that's only part of

the story. David made his mistakes.

Jacob made his mistakes. I'm not suggesting we glorify

their mistakes. No, no, no.

But what we need to stop doing is glorifying them, period.

Appreciate them, respect them, Revere them for how God used

them, but understand they're not God.

And if God could use them in the measures of how He used them did

not declare a question to you tonight, ladies and gentlemen.

How and why should God not use you if you're no different?

And if, by some measure of man's judgement, you're not even as

bad, how and why can God not use you?

Because where you're at today is only part of the story.

In all of their mistakes, the mistake was only part of the

story. We see both sides.

We have the pleasure of reading both sides.

You may not have the pleasure of reading your outcome today

because the author is still writing it with you, but we have

a say so in where he takes it because this pastor often says

God is a gentleman. He's not going to force himself

on you. We are the only measure of God's

creation that he gave a conscious choice and ability to

be able to decide for ourselves. I'm coming to a close if the

musicians will come. Musicians, singers, whoever.

In Manhattan's Diamond District, jeweler stores are positioned

side by side. In Memphis, car dealerships line

Covington Pike and restaurants are put in clusters in every

major city. Why?

Studies have shown that when similar or complementary

business groups together, each one can see a 10 to 25% greater

success than if they were isolated.

Now, there's an economic reason for that that I won't get into,

but my point tonight is one of the biggest mistakes you can

ever try ever make is trying to succeed in isolation.

You were not meant to be isolated in your walk with God.

Isolation will cause you to believe only half of the story.

Isolation will shield you from knowing the truth.

Isolation will allow you to always believe you are better

than you really are because you'll judge yourself against

yourself. Isolation will allow you to

believe you don't need anyone else.

Come to remind someone tonight, don't fall for just half of the

story. Did you mess up?

Did you make a mistake? Did you do what you valued?

Never do again? If so, you're in good company.

And the moral of my message tonight is not go sin.

It's not. It's OK to make a mistake.

It's God's word is full of people just like you.

You're in company that God likes to keep.

Would you stand with me tonight? You're in company that God likes

to keep. And he's not ashamed to be their

God. I'm glad tonight that he's not

ashamed to be my God. We are made in the image of a

perfect God, fearfully and wonderfully made.

He's never given up on you. He will never give up on you,

and only He knows the whole story.

This altar is open tonight. Would you just lift your hands

and begin to call on the name of the Lord together right now?

There's only part of the story that your enemy knows.

Don't let him convince you to write it differently.

Stay in step with your author tonight.

Stay in tune with your author tonight, because only he knows

where the story can go.