Failing Up

A righteous man falls down seven times, but each time gets back up again.

How many people are stuck right now in the swampy sameness?

They're stuck and God wants to move you.

God wants to promote you.

But you're afraid because you're afraid of failing.

Be emboldened.

Be thou unstuck.

Get back up again.

Dare to believe again.

Welcome to the City Light Church podcast.

Thanks for joining us today as we look into God's Word and discover the hope and truth that He has for us.

If you want to connect with City Light Church, feel free to visit us at CityLightNYC.com.

That's CityLightNYC.com.

Pastor Boyan Jancic and his team believe that the power of the Holy Spirit is already working in our hearts and minds.

As you listen to today's teaching, remember that you are deeply loved by God, that you are surrounded by His grace, and that He has a real hope and a future for you.

I feel wonderfully unusual this morning.

Huh.

I was praying for people.

I really didn't know second service had started.

I was completely, I had gone up.

And then when I prayed for the last person, I looked and second service had started.

And it's a wonderful feeling.

It shouldn't be unusual.

I guess that's me confessing my sins.

But the unusual part is I just felt like I was disappearing and disappearing.

And the Lord was appearing.

And I pray that.

Lord, you increase, I decrease.

Lord, flow through me.

But it's a wonderful thing when you step back and you decrease and you see the Lord moving.

And so I just want to say something that could be misinterpreted as self-serving, but it will help you.

It really will.

But I don't say it often.

Probably a couple of times a year.

Because it often sounds self-serving.

And this is what I want to say.

That I'm either your pastor or your preacher.

There's a third option.

I'm just a guy.

If I'm a preacher to you or just a guy...

you're not gonna get that much from me.

And maybe your mentality is, well, I don't really want anything from you.

I want God, I wanna get God.

Why are you here then?

Like in your mind, you're gonna get directly from God, right?

You're like Moses, you're gonna go to the mountaintop and get the, I have a news flash for you.

God flows through people.

And he set it up a certain way.

And the way you receive from a person is through honor.

Now here's what I mean.

This is where people think of it self-serving.

He wants me to hold doors open for him.

He wants me to like really acknowledge him as he walks by.

I'm not even talking about that.

When I honor a man of God, it means I expect to receive from them.

When I honor my pastor, I expect God to flow through them.

I dishonor them when I just don't expect anything.

That's scriptural.

You look at Mark chapter 6, they didn't honor Jesus.

Mark 6 · chapter mention

He could do their no mighty work.

Not that he would do their no mighty work, he could not.

Because the anointing of God flows through that door called honor.

You see, the moment I mention honor, anybody with an authority issue, anybody with hurts and pain, they immediately recoil.

I don't need men, I just need God.

You ever seen anybody blessed who says, I don't need man, I just need God?

They're always like the most miserable people.

They're always, their life's upside down.

They hop around from church to church.

They can't get along with anybody.

But their mantra is, I just need God.

Well, you're not obviously getting him.

He's not active in your life because you keep disqualifying his servants.

Because you've got so much pain and inner hurts.

And now...

You're like a walking wound.

And you immediately disqualify anyone that the Lord wants to bring into your life to be a blessing to you.

It's really simple.

The word minister means servant.

I'm to serve.

And I can be, if you choose so, I can be a portal of blessing to you.

If you acknowledge me and receive me that way.

That's only if I'm actually your pastor.

If I'm that preacher guy, you get the reward of a preacher guy.

Not that much.

If I'm a guy, you get, I mean, there's guys everywhere.

Look, there's a pizzeria across the street, bunch of guys behind the counter.

Hallelujah.

Because I feel in my spirit, the Lord wants to do something.

And when you actually yield and believe and then receive, he'll get something to you.

And my joy and the fulfillment of my calling is I get to be a part of it.

I get to fade and back and just, wow, look what you're doing, Lord, this is so awesome.

You say, what do you want?

That, that is everything.

That is awesome.

Hallelujah.

When I got saved, I got saved in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn,

at an apostolic holiness church, and that church felt like victory.

Which by the way, just on that note, it felt like victory because the pastor, Bishop Wilbur Jones, walked in victory.

I mean, he walked into a room, the whole place lit up.

His face shined like the noonday sun.

And when you choose a church,

You have to, this is what people, man, the Lord keeps bringing me back to this.

I didn't even say this in the first service.

You have to connect with the pastor.

That doesn't mean you're having lunch with him twice a week.

But it means, like Bishop Jones, I never had lunch with him.

But the moment I saw it, that's my pastor.

I connected with him.

And you will always have the flavor of the pastor.

Right?

And if you go to a church and you're not connected to the pastor, I love you.

I've got to tell you the truth.

You're wasting your time.

And you will take on the flavor of the pastor.

So if the pastor doesn't believe in the move of the Holy Spirit, you're really not going to have much activity of the Holy Spirit in your life.

If the pastor doesn't believe in revival, you're not going to have revival in your life.

If the pastor's religious, you're going to have a spirit of religion in your life.

If the pastor's all subdued and bound up...

You're going to need Holy Ghost psyllium husks to unbind you up.

So the name of the church, this is so different than the first service, but somebody's got to hear this.

The name of the church was Beulah, which means married.

And that felt like victory.

But I was 16 when I got saved, then I went off to college, then I attended various churches.

And they didn't feel like victory.

Probably because a bunch of them were in Suffolk County.

And we all know Suffolk County.

It could be really depressing.

And they just, no, really.

Like the worship team looked like they needed Prozac.

Everybody looked like they were just beaten up.

And then the pastor was okay.

But all the associates, they were just like, oh.

And finally, I ended up going to Bible school in Tampa, Florida with Dr. Rodney Howard Brown.

And what really attracted me, of course, the move of God and the anointing.

My life got changed.

But for the first time ever, really, I was like, this man and this ministry is winning.

And Christianity shouldn't be losing.

And it shouldn't look depressing.

He is winning.

Like, the guy doesn't miss.

And I like that.

Finally.

I get to look at victory.

I can walk in someone's footsteps who's experiencing victory.

And everybody was joyous.

And it was like he would come out and I could hear the song in the background.

All I do is win, win, win, no matter what.

I'm like, yeah.

And then I got on staff.

And then I realized very quickly, hey, there are a lot of losses here.

A lot.

But he doesn't process them like a normal guy.

Like when there is a loss, a lot of people take it so personally.

When they fail, when they fall, when something doesn't work out.

Like he might do an outreach or an event.

And in the natural, it'd be a flop.

And he'll just go, next.

And I'm like, huh.

He is, you know, like before Trump was Trump, he was the Holy Ghost version of Trump.

And some of you need to relax right away.

I say Trump and you're... Just chill.

Here's what I mean by that.

You know, Trump is like the least self-aware person on planet Earth.

Like, I mean, he's the man who actually said, like, if they asked, would you ask God for forgiveness?

I don't know if you remember in 2016.

And he said, for what?

You know?

Like, how would I need to ask for forgiveness?

Like, you know, he could fail whatever Trump University or his stakes or whatever.

And he's just like, you know, he talks about them like they're epic successes.

Well, in the Holy Ghost format, that's my pastor.

In the right format.

Like, he can have a failure and he's just like, next, with joy.

And that joy was contagious.

I remember when City Lights, some of you know the story, within several months of the church plant, it had fallen down to three people.

They stayed away by the hundreds, by the thousands.

And I called him up and I got him in a real relaxed mood.

And when he's relaxed, it's funny, when you carry a heavy mantle, whatever emotional state you're in, it's actually amplified.

When you, like if he's upset, you don't wanna, it's amplified a hundred times.

If he's loving, it's amplified.

You're just like, uh.

And he was relaxed.

So I'm talking to him, and it's like one mellow fellow.

But my life is on the line.

I have three people in the church.

And I'm thinking, is this a sign?

Is this God saying, wrap it up?

You tried and you failed.

I'll never forget what he said.

This is my pastor, and I want wisdom.

And he goes, you know, ministry.

And I realize this is going online.

Forever.

It'll be online forever.

Until the aliens come.

Those of you freaking out, no, I believe in the second coming of the aliens.

Just relax.

He goes, you know, ministry is a lot like playing golf.

Some days, you know, you're just doing real well.

And other days, you're not.

But then you pick up the clubs the next day.

Yeah, but I'm like, that's it?

Like, I'm wondering if I should even meet next Sunday.

It costs $550 a Sunday.

That was a lot of money back then.

But that stuck with me all those years.

Because his attitude was, so you got three people.

Next week, you'll probably have more.

And I did.

And then the next week, there was more.

And I really want to preach a message.

I want to encourage you, because I was going to preach another message.

If you're turning online, I think the title is something like, What in the World is Happening to Me?

That's not that message.

I had that message in my spirit, and then the Lord turned it around.

I've been up since 3.30 a.m., and I feel like I got 15 hours of sleep.

I didn't.

I got like four.

Four.

And the message is different.

Because there's people here who have experienced failure and you have been crippled as a result.

You are so hard on yourself.

You've been knocked down and you stay down.

You see failing as like the end.

And you forget that you learned how to ride a bike by failing.

Failing is not bad.

Failing is wonderful.

As long as you keep getting back up.

But there are people here, your faith has been wounded because of several failures.

Wounded faith is very dangerous.

When you have wounded faith, you're not quick to believe.

You're not quick to expect great and good things from God.

You're skeptical, bordering on cynical.

You're cautious.

You're suspicious.

Essentially, you're locked and bound up.

Your expector isn't up.

Your faith isn't flowing.

You're in a rut.

You're stuck.

And then you're in the swampy sameness of life.

Nothing is changing.

There's people who get stuck.

I've met.

I'm going to say ladies because I haven't met met like this.

Just a random example.

But I have met ladies in their late 20s.

Never ever dated.

And they'll say, I had this really bad experience in high school.

He broke my heart.

How long is that going to keep you in bondage?

You're stuck now.

What that knucklehead did, what he said, whatever.

I mean, he gets one year.

That's it.

You're going to give him your whole life?

You're going to be stuck now?

I'm sure I could get the men too.

It's just not coming to me.

No, but this one came quickly because I started, you know...

You become a pattern recognizer in ministry.

I started hearing the same story, the same story.

And then eventually, you know, I'm talking to somebody in their early 30s, and they're like, well, I've never, ever dated, never, ever had a boyfriend.

And I'm going, okay, what happened to you in high school?

Oh, I had it.

He broke my heart.

Well, and then you just made an inner vow, a decision.

No one ever is going to have my heart again.

I'll never trust again.

And now you're stuck.

We, vacation in the Outer Banks, we pass by Kitty Hawk Airport.

That's where the Wright brothers invented flight.

They actually, if you read their letters and notes, they got a field.

It's now known as Kitty Hawk Airport.

They got a field to practice failing in.

And if you watch the footage of these flying machines, some of them were ridiculous, preposterous, six wings.

They would go up 20 feet, crash down.

But they got really, really good at failing and trying again.

Really good at failing and trying again.

The Bible says a righteous man falls down seven times, but each time gets back up again.

How many people, under the sound of my voice, are stuck right now in the swampy sameness?

They're stuck, and God wants to move you.

God wants to promote you.

But you're afraid, because you're afraid of failing.

Be emboldened.

Be thou unstuck.

Get back up again.

Dare to believe again.

Dare to dream again.

Do it again.

Oh, it didn't work last time.

Do it again.

Hallelujah.

How many of you like KFC?

That has nothing to do with my sermon.

I'm just wondering because I'm hungry right now.

Colonel Sanders, when KFC took off, was old.

Old.

Everybody, because, you know, on the cover of Inc. magazine or the people we celebrate, they're always some young buck in a hoodie, 23 years old, and he's the CEO and took his whole company public by 25.

That's actually very few.

Most entrepreneurs only hit it at 40-plus.

Colonel Sanders was already ancient, already had the white beard and all that when KFC took off.

Think how good at failing.

How many of you like Kenneth Hagin?

Kenneth Hagin taught the world faith.

If you don't know his ministry, you should get acquainted with his ministry.

I'm randomly in Prague, Czech Republic.

Meet a woman.

that's baptized in the Holy Spirit.

And I said, how are you baptized in the Holy Spirit?

She said, I found in a tram in Prague a crumbled up pamphlet.

It's those same pamphlets we give out.

By the way, people have asked me, how come you don't write a mini book on the baptism?

I could.

But why, like, the thing is good.

Like, I could.

I could have my name up there all these years.

I could knock it out in 30 minutes and have, you know, Dr. Bo Jancic.

You've received ye the Holy Ghost.

But I don't want to redo something that's already complete.

I mean, the guy's ministry has been all over the world.

Do you know when he was in his 50s still, he was in an old Buick with his whole family behind him, just a back hills preacher driving through Texas and Oklahoma mainly?

And then in a matter of years, God said, you've been faithful.

And that ministry went around the world so many times that his disciples and the disciples of the disciples and the disciples of the disciples of the disciples are still smacking it out of the park today.

So what happened to you?

That you should remain stuck, that you should be bruised?

God uses failures.

I like the book of Joshua, mainly because there's not too many failures in it.

But there's still plenty in there.

Just less than some of the other books.

There's a lot of victories, put it that way.

But you read the book of Joshua, and there's still epic failures that Joshua and his crew learn from, the children of Israel learn from.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

I want to read a few scriptures to you.

Colossians 1.23.

How many of you know God led Jesus all the time?

Jesus himself said, I don't do anything unless I see the Father do it first.

I don't say anything unless I hear the Father say it first.

That means Jesus didn't miss the will of God.

He was perfectly aligned with the Father's will.

Yet, he had a healing crusade that can be called a failure.

Why would you call it a failure?

Because the Bible says he could do their no mighty work.

Read about it in Mark chapter 6.

Mark 6 · chapter mention

So a dud of a crusade.

Yet God the Father led him to what appeared to be a failure.

I wonder if Jesus went away depressed, you know, I don't know.

Is there a short circuit in the anointing?

I don't...

He just said, next!

I don't think he had to go to therapy.

Peter, John, James, come.

It's been a rough day, you don't know.

I really wanted him to get healed.

They could have, but they kept talking about me being James' cousin.

Paul, he wanted to do some missions work, and he says, but Satan hindered us.

Some of you are about to get unstuck and get up again.

Go at it again.

Hallelujah.

Colossians 1.23 If indeed you continue in the faith, Christianity is about perseverance.

It's about continuing.

Never giving up.

The New Testament is letters and letters of encouragement.

You know why?

Because you're going to be discouraged many times.

Because life has a way of coming and smacking you.

Nobody ever told me that.

They did me a terrible disservice.

And then, of course, a lot of preachers, because it's popular, only present victory, victory, victory.

And I believe in victory.

Jesus paid for your ultimate victory with his blood.

He paid for your emotional victory with his blood.

Your financial victory with his blood.

The whole of your person, he paid for you to have victory.

But there will be times when it doesn't seem like it.

You will be tested.

You will see the opposite of what you believe.

You will get discouraged.

That's why the New Testament message is one of encouragement.

And if, that conditional if, if indeed you continue in the faith.

Everybody's going to eventually get to the fork in the road where they wonder, should I continue?

You don't believe that?

I've had that several times while pastoring.

And you think you're, oh, I won't be tired.

No, I love me a Lord like this.

It'll happen.

That's what life does.

It whacks you over and over and over again.

You got to keep getting back up.

If indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.

Hallelujah.

Now I want to show you several verses in the book of Revelation.

Each one is Jesus speaking.

When you see Jesus, especially in risen form,

Saying something over and over again, pay attention.

When he's establishing a theme, pay attention.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

To him who, what's that next word?

Say it real loud.

To him who overcomes.

You know why he keeps talking about overcoming?

He's prophesying to you that you're going to have some crap to overcome.

That's the word.

Everybody wants a prophetic word.

Here's one.

Crap is coming your way and grace to overcome it.

That's a prophetic word that works all the time with everyone.

Oh, he said crap.

You don't even read your Bible.

If you did, you'd be upset at Paul for saying, I consider it all but dung.

I feel like dung is even worse.

Something dungy about it.

Anyway.

He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

To him who overcomes, I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.

Revelation 2.11.

He who has an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.

2.17.

He who has an ear to hear.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

To him who, real loud.

To him.

You catching the theme?

You catching what Jesus is pitching?

To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna to eat.

And I will give him a white stone.

And on the stone, a new name written, which no one knows except him who receives it.

I don't know exactly what that is, but it sounds so good.

Next verse, Revelation 2.26.

And he who?

Overcomes.

So you failed.

Get up.

Overcome.

He'll be with you.

My wife and I, the kids are grandmas.

So yesterday late afternoon was movie night at the Jan 6th.

And she took my hand and she said, babe, you picked the best movies.

And last night I picked The Last Samurai.

Hot, right?

You can't go wrong.

Tom Cruise, early 2000s, you can't miss.

And there's this scene, which is why the Japanese didn't kill him and why they respected him.

all alone there's like 12 samurai around him and he's still wanting to fight and then he gets knocked down he gets back up another one comes and knocks him down he gets back up he's laying there like he's done they're walking away and you see but you know he calls up the blood he's getting back up he will not tap out and that's that overcoming and that's sometimes what you may look like what you feel like

There have been times when my whole body ached.

My emotions were all over the place screaming.

And I hear the Lord, just get up.

Get up anyhow.

One foot in.

Lord, I can't.

I already got up the last 10 times you said get up.

Get up again.

I'm with you.

And you get up again.

And now I'm so glad I did.

Now, life is like heaven on earth.

But let me tell you what they never told me, and I wish they did.

You're going to have to swim through a lot of crap.

There's that word again.

A lot to get to your heaven.

You just will.

I've yet to meet the person who's just gotten to heaven in their life nonstop.

There's always a healthy side platter of you know what.

And you got to learn...

to deal with it, shun it aside, and go for that good buffet.

Hallelujah.

And he who overcomes and keeps my works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations.

Chapter 3, verse 5.

He who overcomes.

shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.

Revelation 3.12.

He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God.

Shout, overcomes!

And he shall go out no more.

I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from my God.

And I will write on him my new name.

Finally, 321.

To him who shouted.

He's calling you to be an overcomer.

In the book of Hebrews, he says, now that you've run, I pray that you have endurance.

Make a decision now.

You won't be a fly by night.

You won't be a flash in the pan.

You're not just a consumer Christian.

There are now more than ever consumer Christians.

They just want to consume.

They marry Jesus for his money.

And the moment he stops delivering, they're looking for a divorce and the next best thing.

There's nothing better.

But there's people who just have this transactional mentality.

It's like, oh, it's not working anymore.

Peace, I'm out.

What?

Commit for life.

Oh, you're being tested?

Join the club.

You're not unique.

Yet people who have it, they always think they're unique.

Because I do this for a living.

I hear.

I know.

And I know me when I was in my 20s going through it.

20s, by the way, if you're in your 20s, I have a word for you.

Your 20s suck.

They're hard.

Oh, you're loving your 20s?

But still, they suck.

because you're still building, you're still proving yourself.

It's hard, it's gut-wrenching.

20s are wonderful, they're awesome because how you spend your 20s will pretty much determine your 30s, 40s and 50s.

So you gotta be close to the Lord and position yourself right in your 20s.

But it's challenging.

I have no idea where I was going with that.

I had a thought.

I'm thinking of the Apple store.

I wanna pray for you, Jude.

Can you just stand right here?

I'm reminded of the Apple Store.

In 2002, the first Apple Store opened up in Soho, and it opened up in the Station A post office.

And if you watch the movie Ghost,

she actually calls up and calls 911 and said, I'm right across the street from Station A post office.

Did you know that?

And it was the first Apple store in New York, one of the first in the country.

And I had already in early, late 2001, decided that the church was going to run on Macs, which was considered crazy back in 2001, going into 2002.

But I had gotten a Mac, and they were remarkable.

This is all just a long story, but I see you when I'm...

Because Macs didn't crash.

And during that time, if you had a PC, they would just randomly crash.

Like you had to make sure if you were doing something important, remember that?

You had to save every five minutes because you could just randomly crash.

You lose all your stuff.

How many sermons did you lose just because of random crash, right?

But Macs didn't crash, and they were so intuitive.

And then in early 2002, they came out with this thing, and they said, it's the size of a deck of cards, a thousand songs in your pocket.

Something called an iPod.

Yeah.

And they were huge back then, but they were so small in 2002.

All that to say, all right, let me get to the word.

They were a remarkable company.

And this isn't to gas you up, but the Lord has made you remarkable.

The Lord has laid his hand upon you.

And there's just two things I want to lovingly speak over you and caution you about.

Two things.

One is when the Lord makes you remarkable, you know it.

And I know you know it.

That's good.

Lean into that.

Embrace that.

But keep a humble heart before the Lord.

He's going to do wonderful, great things through you.

Also, when the Lord makes you remarkable, you're apt.

man it can get lonely because by definition if you're remarkable you stick out like a sore thumb and envy and jealousy is a real thing and being misunderstood and all that stuff but the lord puts his grace upon you flows over you lines up your steps you

satisfies your mouth with good things.

What's your mouth?

It's your innermost desire, what's necessary for you.

And he goes before you and leads you in the decisions you'll be making in the next few years.

He multiplies your efforts.

And he will be your bread, even if you experience lonely times, misunderstood times.

I see you like SpaceX, like a rocket ship.

I thank you, Lord.

And I don't normally give cautionary words publicly, but I'm just saying the hand of the Lord is on you so much.

You really want to give all the glory to God.

I hope that makes sense.

Amen.

Amen.

Hallelujah.

Sometimes somebody is going to get such good things, you don't want to be a wet blanket, but you want to also lovingly speak a few cautionary things.

I'm saying it's going to get so good, you want to make sure you don't get a fat head.

That's the non-pastoral way.

That's what I'm saying.

In case you didn't know what I was saying.

The Lord has given you so much, make sure you don't.

You know what I'm saying.

It's God, not me.

That should be your drumbeat.

Hallelujah.

Thank you, Lord.

Hallelujah.

There's a great story in 2 Samuel chapter 9.

2 Samuel 9 · chapter mention

about a guy named Mephibosheth.

That story really ministered to me.

The entire story is pretty much contained in one chapter.

David is now king, and he went through a lot.

You talk about, you know, Shawshank Redemption.

I talked about that movie a few weeks ago, how he had to crawl through the sewer line.

That sewage water, he's throwing up, he's going in his mouth, but he's crawling through like a mile and a half of that just to get to freedom.

It will feel like that at times.

And it was that way for David, wasn't it?

You ever put yourself in David's shoes?

Samuel comes, I'm going to anoint the next king.

And he goes through all the brothers and it lands on David.

And of course we all know the next day he was crowned king.

He wasn't, you biblically illiterate non-laughers.

Read your Bible.

He wasn't.

It was terrible.

Like the exact opposite stuff happened.

How long?

For a week?

A month?

For years.

He gets an internship with King Saul.

King Saul's a maniac and is envious and seeks to kill him.

Imagine your boss is throwing spears at you.

That's what was happening.

You think you have an abusive boss?

David's boss is like, hey, play the harp over me because when you do, demons leave me.

Keep playing.

They're like, that's abusive.

And then if you don't play hard enough, I'm chucking a spear at you and missing you by a hair.

And then he's pursued all over.

Then he gets a team going.

The Bible is gentle here.

It says, all those who were disenfranchised, all those who were in debt, all those, it means bums.

400 bums is who joined David.

He's going through all that living in caves.

At one point, they all take up rocks to stone him.

Eventually, in case you're trying to make sense of some of the bad things that have happened to you in your life, he doesn't quit.

He perseveres.

He fails too.

Everybody loves David.

Why?

Because he's got so many failures in his life.

He makes it to the palace.

And now he's pacing the palace.

He's finally arrived.

And he's going, isn't there anyone of the house of Saul that I could show covenant kindness to?

And one of the guys says, you know what?

There is a fella by the name of Mephibosheth.

Because even though Saul was a maniac and Saul fell, yet David had something called honor.

And he was anointed.

He said, I won't even talk against the Lord's anointed.

I'm still going to honor him.

So he goes, find me that Mephibosheth.

Now Mephibosheth, the Bible says, as David was seizing power, they ran away thinking David was going to kill anyone from Saul's line.

And Mephibosheth was a little baby and the wet nurse tripped and fell as she was fleeing.

Mephibosheth hit the ground and both his ankles got broken.

So he was lame.

Not in like the vernacular, oh, he's so lame.

Like, lame.

Guy can't walk.

And that wasn't a good thing, biblically speaking, back then.

In that culture, you were ostracized.

You didn't want to associate with you.

It was a real stigma.

Stigma.

So the Bible over and over again says that Mephibosheth was lame in both his feet.

He was lame in both his feet.

And David, who's really representing Christ, says, I got to show him covenant kindness.

See, God will do wonderful things for you.

Not because you're not lame.

We all know you're so lame.

But he does these things not because you're good.

He does them because he's good.

And David's going, I've got to show him covenant and kindness.

And they go, oh, he's lame on both his feet.

Doesn't matter.

Mephibosheth is living his whole life in fear.

When is David going to come and kill me?

He hears the chariots, the king's soldiers are coming.

He thinks, this is it.

I've been dreading this day.

It's finally here.

They're going to take me away and execute me.

The soldiers come and says, David wants to talk to you.

He's probably thinking he's just postponing the inevitable.

He wants to give me a Hollywood one-liner before he takes the neck off.

David welcomes him as a son and says, all of your land is going to be restored from your house.

All your finances are going to be restored.

And you will sit and eat at my table continually.

And that chapter ends with, and Mephibosheth was lame in both his feet.

A failure in that way.

It's a beautiful story that shows you.

Even when you think you're an epic failure.

God will still redeem.

He will restore.

And he will give you what you don't deserve.

Hallelujah.

By the way.

I do so many things either to bless people, and sometimes I feel like I chase people away as quickly as the Lord brings them.

Because I share stories about being depressed and checking into the mental hospital.

I share stories about getting divorced.

I share all of my epic failures with you.

Do you think it's because I enjoy that?

Like I don't have friends and I just need to just talk to you?

Like, oh, let me tell you what happened in my life.

And most pastors don't talk about that.

They're constantly presenting their best face, their best foot forward, only the successes.

You know, the name of the game is let me just present myself as an aspirational figure with positives only.

That'll draw the crowds, baby.

You gotta sell it, baby.

I tell you these things.

I tell you these things.

So maybe you would be encouraged and go, what an epic failure.

And yet look how God is blessing him.

And look how God is good to him.

And man, if he can just fail so spectacularly, not just once, man, the guy's like good at failing.

Yet the Lord keeps outdoing himself.

Hopefully that you're going to catch on.

Amen.

I hope you do catch on.

If you just continue and endure and overcome.

Hallelujah.

Don't quit.

Don't remember how you learned how to ride a bike.

You got a few bruises, right?

I bet you got a story of some good scrapes.

Keep on getting back up.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

Thank you, Jesus.

Hallelujah, Jude, your iPhone moment is coming.

You're in about 2002, you're just getting traction.

People are taking notice.

Time Magazine cover.

It was in 2002.

Is Apple back?

Steve Jobs, CEO again.

Five years later, iPhone.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

Lemon.

Lemon.

Lemon.

Lemon.

Lemon.

Lemon.

Lemon.

Lemon.

Lemon.

Lemon.

Lemon.

Lemon.

Lemon.

Lemon.

Lemon.

Lemon.

Lemon.

Lemon.

Lemon.

Lemon.

Lemon.

Lemon.

Lemon.

Lemon.

Lemon.

Lemon.

Lemon.

Some of you are looking at me like you're trying to understand what I'm saying.

Look at Jesus and speak in tongues yourself.

Hallelujah.

Y'all, we need to have more extended meetings, some of you.

Seriously.

You could be having such a better time if you weren't so bound up.

Like God is here, walking up and down the aisles.

He wants to give you stuff.

He wants to bless you.

He wants to lay his hand upon you.

Fresh life coming on you.

Hallelujah.

Sean, would you sing of all things, God, you are my God.

Let's go back to 1988.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

Hey, Lizzie, it's your song.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

You just looked at me like, you don't know, I hate to be called Lizzie.

Oh, may the Lord heal your heart.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

Hey, some of you may have not heard, God is in a good mood.

Yeah.

I don't know why you're not, but God is in a good mood.

And newsflash, God likes you.

I can tell you may not like you, but God really likes you.

Be like God and like you too.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

Hallelujah.

May the Lord come and set captives free that they would believe in a tomorrow again.

Hallelujah.

It gets better.

As my pastor used to say, there's a light.

Woo!

At the end of the tunnel.

And it's not a freight train.

That's the good news.

It's not a freight train.

It's the Lord.

Good things.

Hallelujah.

This is the City Light Church podcast.

If you've missed any part of today's message, or if you would like to find out more about Pastor Boyan Jancic and City Light Church, visit us at citylightnyc.com.

That's citylightnyc.com.

Feel free to visit us online or in person anytime.

We would love to connect with you.

We pray that you have been encouraged today, that you have been reminded how much God loves you, and that you are surrounded by grace.

Thank you for listening.

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