Dream Again: He Is Able - Pastor Denny Rodney Duron

I love I love announcements, but honestly, I'd like to change the word from announcements to opportunities.

Everyone say opportunities.

Everything we say up here is an opportunity for you to be involved in community.

It's an opportunity for you to be involved in the church of Jesus Christ.

And I love that because we have a great mission.

And I want you to say that mission with me right now.

Come on.

Love God well.

We're here to exalt the name of Jesus.

If you love Jesus, get on your feet right now and put your hands together for Jesus.

Come on, let's hear.

Let's exalt the name of Jesus if you love him.

Thank you, Jesus.

Come on, somebody.

Thank you, Lord.

Well, you can remain standing for the reading of God's Word.

How many of you love God's Word?

Just washes over us.

You can turn with me if you have your Bibles to Ephesians 3 and 20.

Ephesians 3 and 20.

This is what the Bible says.

These famous words by Paul.

Here we go.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.

To him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations, forever and ever and everybody said.

Amen.

Bow your head with me.

God, we love you.

We praise your name.

Thank you for every person in this room.

God, thank you for Shreveport Community Church, the generations of blessings that have gone before us, and we speak it that the best is yet to come.

God, allow your word to wash over us.

God, thank you for the needs that are represented in this room.

And God, we want to have big faith that anything is possible with you.

In Jesus' name we pray.

Come on, and everybody said.

Amen and amen.

Hey, tell a couple people good morning, give them a high five, and you can be seated.

How many of you in this place, you have a dream for your life?

You have a dream for your life, you have some bigger dreams.

How many of you, God has answered all your dreams?

It's his dreams.

It's it's crazy because as we get older, our dreams kind of change.

Um, when you're younger, your dream is like I'm gonna be an astronaut and I'm gonna walk on the moon.

I'm gonna be the president of the United States of America.

I'm gonna be a pro-athlete.

I'm going to be a ballerina, I'm gonna do something big.

No seven-year-old is saying, my dream is that I could have a great interest rate on my mortgage, right?

That's like that's like not what's happening.

But we get older and things change.

When you're younger, your dream car was like a Lamborghini, right?

A Maserati, a Ferrari, a Boxster, like all these different things.

Now I I hate to say it, I'm changing.

Like I drive down the road, I see a minivan, it has electric doors on the sides.

Like, it's really cool.

Like, I like that a lot.

I'm changing, right?

And then it's like you're young, I'm gonna change the world.

I'm gonna change the world.

But now we're older, and it's like, dear God, if you could just give me 45 minutes of peace and quiet from these crazy kids.

That's all the dream I have.

It's like we don't we don't stop dreaming, our dreams change based on our circumstances, what we think is possible with Almighty God.

And we start lowering the bar of what the possibilities could be.

And I'm here to tell you today that we got to believe for great things.

So, Paul, he writes these words that we just read.

Paul's in prison, Paul's chained up, and yet Paul writes these famous words of Ephesians 3.20.

He says, Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.

To him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.

Amen.

I encourage you, go read the other translations because it gets better and better.

This is what the message version says.

He is able to do far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams.

That's what our God can do.

The amplified version, it says it this way He is able to carry out His purpose and do superabundantly more than all we dare ask.

I want somebody to dare to ask God for something big and think infinitely beyond our greatest prayers, our hopes, and our dreams.

God can do more than you can ever imagine.

What you can see is not the limit of what God can do.

So I'm here to tell you today: dream again.

Everybody say, dream again.

We got to dream again.

And over the next few weeks, we're in this new series.

We're in dream again because I believe the dreaming is saying the best is yet to come.

On November 8th, we are receiving our dream again offering, our vision offering.

And I believe it's gonna be a miracle day because I believe God's not done with this church.

Can I get an amen?

I believe God's not done with you.

I believe God's not done with me.

The best is yet to come.

And God has not called us just to barely survive.

God has called us to thrive.

He's called us to live a life bigger than ourselves.

But I want to talk to somebody that maybe you're you're in a time of just barely surviving.

And I want to, I just want to say maybe you've you've lost a loved one and you're you're in mourning right now, or a loved one's been deployed, and times at home are tough, and you can barely make ends meet, and you're saying, Denny, all I can do is survive right now.

Can I tell you that's okay?

But surviving is just a season, it's not our destination.

Because the Bible says this weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning.

The Bible says God is our refuge and our strength.

He's a very present help in trouble.

So we cannot lose hope.

God is not finished with our story.

But here's the challenge.

We can get so caught up in surviving and living and our circumstances.

Well, we can start losing faith, losing belief until we're not dreaming at all.

Do not let where you are limit what you believe your God can do.

Because dreaming is simply having faith that God can do more.

Say it with me.

Come on.

The best is yet to come.

That's dreaming again.

So here's the first thing today.

He is able.

Can I get an amen?

Paul says this while he's in prison.

He says he is able to do more than what I could ever dream or imagine.

And I love looking around this room because I see a lot of people that live that way, and you know what this means.

Some of what we're experiencing as a church today, it used to be just a thought, a dream, an idea.

But so many of you stepped up, you prayed, you gave sacrificially, and what was a dream is now a reality because of Jesus Christ.

Thank you for investing in the dream.

I want you to put your hands together for the person next to you right now.

Come on, let's hear it for the body of Christ.

Thank you, Jesus.

And if you're here for the very first time and you're here and you're new to this, welcome.

You're part of our family.

Now you're part of this story.

Um, how many of y'all love King David in the Bible?

Anybody like David?

I just love reading his stories.

He's probably my favorite in the Bible.

But he said, um, in 2 Samuel 7, David is sitting in his house, and it's this cedar house.

It's really nice, and God has blessed him.

And he looks at the prophet Nathan, and this is what David says to the prophet.

He says, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwells in a tent.

So God starts moving on his heart.

He's saying, God's blessed me.

I have peace with all my adversaries, I got everything I would ever want.

And it doesn't make the blessing does not make him comfortable, the blessing makes him grateful.

And out of gratitude, gratitude, it births God dreams.

So gratitude, it builds a God dream.

So right here with with David, he has a God dream, and his God dream is this God, I want to build you a house.

In other words, God, my house is nicer than your house.

That can't happen.

I want to build you a nice house.

And God turns it around and says, No, David, I'm gonna build you a house.

He says, I want to bless your family, I want to bless the generations after you, I'm gonna bless the kingdom of God through you.

David had a dream.

God's dream was far bigger and a lot better than what David had in mind.

And I want to tell you this: do not limit God in what he wants to do in your life and what you think is possible.

We see that with Jesus feeding the thousands of people in the Bible in John 6.

So Jesus is out there and he preaches, and everyone's out there, and Jesus is like, they're hungry, we need to feed them.

Jesus knows what he's gonna do, he knows he's gonna do a miracle, but he wants to test the ones that are with him.

So he turns to Philip and says, Philip, how are we gonna get all these people bread, these thousands of people?

Philip goes into management executive mode.

Okay, Jesus, um, we have this amount of money and we can feed this amount of people.

It's gonna be impossible to do all of this, plus all of our resources is gonna take too much time.

Send them to Cain's God, let them get some Chick-fil-A, and then come right back later.

It's gonna be easier.

He's literally standing there talking to the Son of God, telling the Son of God what is possible and what is not possible, putting limits on Jesus.

Because here's the thing Jesus knew what he was gonna do.

He's gonna take five loaves and two fish, multiply it, feed everybody, and have 12 baskets left over.

What Philip thought was impossible was never possible, was never impossible for Jesus.

Don't let what you see limit what you believe God can do.

And Paul is living this out.

Paul's literally probably in chains while all this is being pinned, and he's saying, My God is able to do more than I could ever dream.

So here's what I want to ask you.

When was the last time you prayed a prayer that required faith and believing?

Meaning, God, I don't see how this is impossible.

I got to have you come through for me.

It was last time because the Bible says this in Hebrews 11 without faith, it's impossible to please Almighty God.

Go throughout the Bible.

All the great characters, it was by faith that God moved.

By faith, the ark was built before a drop of rain fell.

By faith, Abraham stepped out into a God dream before he could see anything.

By faith, the Israelites walked across the Red Sea on dry ground.

It's by faith.

And here's the thing: God's not impressed by your little polite prayers, okay?

God's not impressed by saying, God, if you could do it, like if you got enough time, you think if you have it in you, no, God can do it, and God will do it greater than what you could ever imagine.

So when I say dream, this is what I mean.

I mean faith.

So dreaming is operating in faith, believing God for more than what you currently see.

So maybe it looks like this in your life.

Maybe you're gonna believe, God, I want to get out of debt.

And you might say that's impossible.

We serve the God that is able.

I want God to put my family back together.

It seems impossible.

No, He is able.

Maybe for a young person or someone in this room, it looks like stepping out and trying that thing that's fear has been holding you back, going to that job interview or going towards that dream.

God is able, and He's able to do more than what you could ever imagine.

Because here's the thing: I do not want to be the generation that's a managing generation.

Oh, we're managing all these big miracles and all the faith of the generations that have gone before us.

I want to be the generation that dreams again.

I want to dream the generation that sees God do miracles, that God comes up and does great things because He is able to do more than we could ever imagine.

And when I say more, it doesn't always mean more money or more things.

It means purpose and more growth and more of what God has called us to become.

Because faith doesn't just see where we are, it believes God for what can be.

And I love the Bible says this.

It says, walk by faith and not by sight.

Walk by what God can do, not what you think is possible.

And I'm so happy that I can look back on my life and I see where God was able to do things even in a greater way than I thought.

I used to have prayers.

I prayed, God, I want a family.

God, I want purpose.

And now I look back on my life, and I'm so happy, God, God has given me the love of my life.

And Pastor Sarah, and we get to do ministry together.

And I just think it's the most amazing thing.

And Sarah, I honor you today.

Put your hands together for Pastor Sarah right now.

We love you so much.

God gave me kids.

Thank you, God.

Not one, but five kids.

Hallelujah.

One all the way to 17.

Pray for some grace for your pastor.

Come on.

And then God, God is, God's given me purpose.

Ever dream that I'll be able to be here with a congregation as great as you and people as amazing as you.

God has blessed me.

I am so thankful, but I'm not comfortable.

Because here's the thing I want to dream again that the best is still yet to come.

That God is still doing miracles.

That God wants to do great things.

And honestly, I look at our church and some of what we're celebrating today, it was once just a prayer.

And I'm so grateful that last year I stood right here on the stage and I gave you the 2026 Vision Spending Report.

And I want to report to you right now.

God has almost done every single thing we set out to do, and the year's not even done yet.

Come on, let me just report to you.

Put it up on the screen.

This is what God's done.

This year, you have given over 300,000 to missions, to Evangel Christian Academy, and to world missions.

God has done amazing things in our benevolence fund, being able to help people around us.

And that bottom one right there, Rodney Duron Chapel, and needed some updates.

That wasn't even on the list, but look what God has done.

Look what you have done.

And this is honestly one of my favorite things.

It's the gym.

The gym and the classroom renovation.

This year, we were able to redo the gymnasium.

And the first day that the kids walked in there, the kids were just enamored, just ooing and awing.

So proud of their new gym.

And yesterday, I um I helped Andy hang our eagle banner.

And guys, we went all the way up to the very top of the gym.

My knees were shaking so bad.

I was freaking out.

But it was the sweetest thing because it was in the middle of lunch and all the kids were there.

And as we unveiled this eagle, all the kids started chanting Eagles, Eagles, Eagles.

I'm telling you, it's making a difference.

And God is doing great things.

Someone gave, someone invested, someone prayed.

And I want to say thank you.

But everyone say more.

God wants to take us to the next.

The best is yet to come.

God is able.

And here's what's next, and what I want to tell you.

We need God's power.

Everyone say power.

We gotta have God's power.

Um Paul said this, and he's in prison.

Remember, tough circumstance.

He says, according to his power that is at work within us.

In other words, God has this incredible way of doing what only God can do.

And we have the privilege, God literally wants to use us, he chooses to use us.

And that's where David's story gets interesting.

So David has this dream.

God, I want to build you a house, but God says, No, you're not gonna build it.

Your son Solomon is gonna build the temple.

And that could have been discouraging for David.

And here's the question: what do you do when your God dream changes and your role in it is different than what you thought?

And I've seen this all throughout my life because I've seen situations where I was like, I don't understand that, but years later, God, your power was in the midst of it.

And it's amazing what you've done.

One of the greatest examples is my dad, Pastor Denny, and six years ago, the football team was down to like 25 kids, and the football team lost every single game that year.

And my dad became the head coach, and my dad could travel around the world, but he was giving all of his time, all of his resources, he was pouring into these 25 kids every morning, Bible studies, just lifting them up.

At that point, when it happened, it's like I'm dad, you could be doing so many other things.

What is why are you spending your time there?

Six years later, I see God's power work.

Because it's not 25 kids anymore from elementary up to the high school, there's hundreds of kids coming out to the football team.

Now, Evangel Christian Academy, well, it's thriving under the leadership of Pastor Denny.

Every single Wednesday, they have chapel, and God's power falls like you can't believe.

And then on top of it, well, this is the fifth year of God, family, and football, a reality TV show that's gone around literally the world.

We'll have people show up to our home games.

We had a family drive from 10 hours away just to see the stadium, just to meet the coach, just to see the players.

What is that?

Well, I couldn't have seen it, but doing what God wants us to do, his power is exceeding abundantly more than what we could ever dream.

And I want you to put your hands together for Pastor Denny right now.

Come on.

Put your hands together for Evangel.

God's doing a mighty work in Evangel, and through Pastor Denny.

So David, it changed.

His dream changed.

He could have said, Well, if they're if they're building it, they can pay for it.

So you just go ahead and and do it, Solomon.

No, no, David said, I'm gonna cover my son Solomon.

He said, I'm gonna get rid of the obstacles.

And then the Bible says this in 1 Chronicles.

So David provided materials in great quantity before his death.

David did not stop pursuing the dream just because his role in the dream changed.

God was setting something up greater than what he could ever imagine.

So just because it does not look like what you thought.

What you can figure out.

Don't stop in the God dream.

Some of you in this place, you don't need a brand new dream.

You need to dream again in the same dream that God already gave you.

Some of y'all dreamed for a business.

God gave you that business.

Oh, it doesn't look like a thought.

Dream again in that business.

How it would look with the power of God at the center of it to impact people.

How to pray for a family.

The family doesn't look like a thought.

Well, dream again.

Surrendering your family and all of your resources and the generations to see what God will do through your family.

If you dream for, you know, I want to be financially free.

Well, maybe God did it, but maybe God wasn't doing it just for you.

Maybe God was doing it to impact the people that are around you.

We got to dream again with the power of Almighty God.

And this is interrelevant.

And that is what happened with David.

His role change.

But his dream, it literally gets bigger.

So don't throw away the dream just because it looks different.

Dream again.

Everyone say dream again.

Dream again.

And we gotta have power.

And that's what I keep going back to before.

All this changes on the outside.

Something's gotta change on the inside of us with God's power.

Before we have all these external things, we gotta long for the very presence of Almighty God.

And that's why we're having harvest night.

Tomorrow night, we start harvest night the first two nights, Monday and Tuesday, right here at MC Church.

And then on Wednesday at North Point Community Church, Johannes Amritzer is a missionary.

He was here a couple months ago.

He'll literally stand at these festivals and speak to a hundred thousand people at one time, and God's presence and glory falls.

Friends, we have them all week long so that we have the presence of God.

Put your hands together for Johannes right now.

It's gonna be great.

We gotta be expectant.

That's what I'm asking.

It's not like, oh man, we got extra meetings.

No, we have an opportunity.

We have an opportunity for God to transform our hearts.

We have an opportunity for God to meet us.

We have an opportunity for God's power to transform us in every way before we see He is able to do things beyond what we could dream.

Make time.

I just I urge you make it priority for you and your family to be here at least at one of these nights, and every one of them would be amazing.

Everyone's in power.

His glory reaches generations.

Think about how far you go beyond what you could ever imagine.

Something magnificent.

She established Evangel Christian Academy, countless lives, countless family stuff.

But I'm telling you about my Grammy.

She is she's over 90 now.

She looks absolutely beautiful.

Can I get an amen?

She's just gorgeous.

My goodness.

This is what she does.

She's still our pastoral pastor, meaning she's going to nursing homes and hospitals.

She has a prayer line.

She's taking care of people.

Why?

Because every step of her life, it's a yes to the God dream.

And there's no telling.

It's not thousands, it's millions upon millions, the ripple effect of this one woman's yes.

And that's the power of God for the generations that have come after us.

Grammy, I want to say thank you.

Thank you for your yes.

Put your hands together for Grammy right now if you love her.

Come on, we can do better now.

Let's hear it.

Let's hear it for our matriarch right now.

Grammy, we thank you.

We thank you.

Your yes is impacted all of us.

And that's what it is.

No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind can fathom.

How far is surrendered yes to Jesus Christ and go.

And that's David.

So David.

David gives the materials, but then he doesn't say, All right, I've done enough.

David gathers the people and they take a huge offering for the temple.

And I'm closing, and then you can come up here.

And this is what he did.

He does.

The Bible says that David gave gold and David gave silver.

They say this his offering, his personal offering was over a billion dollars in our day and age, personally.

And then others gave and the leaders gave, but the Bible says this.

Then they rejoiced because they gave willingly to the dream that God had put in their heart.

And David, well, he says this, and it's so powerful in 1 Chronicles 29.

He says, Everything comes from you, and we give you only what comes from your hand.

Saying, God, my life is yours.

God, everything that I have is yours.

So what I give back is it's just me being a great steward of what you've given me anyway.

And I want to tell you this that this is the dream and the vision spending for 2027.

I believe God has more for our church.

And I'm so excited to show you this.

And you can put it up on the screen.

Here's the vision spending for 2027.

So we're believing in the name of Jesus this next year, we're gonna invest in missions local and global around the world.

Can I get a big amen?

Thank you, Jesus.

We want to invest in our ministry partners local and globally, and benevolence, meaning when someone's in need, our church meets that need.

We want to put more money towards that and allocate towards the meat needs, which is amazing.

And then 50,000 to cameras and Sunday stream upgrades.

That's just honestly the start.

But I believe God wants to take what we're trying to do here, the light of Jesus, and broadcast it even further to do greater things through our media.

But the thing that I'm very, very excited about is, you know, I talked about the gymnasium, and actually, we have the gymnasium open today so that y'all can go over and see it for yourselves.

It's it's all finished and there's a little bouncy for kids.

We have some refreshments.

We want you to see it.

And it excites me that it's for the kids.

The thing that I'm so pumped about is the next gen upgrades.

And that says$25,000, it's actually$100,000 for this.

So for the for the arcade and the kids' city party room and the cafe, I believe this.

If we can upgrade these things, more families, more parties, more impact for the kingdom of Almighty God.

Say, when has when has like Pac-Man or like a game transformed anyone's life?

When has an arcade done anything?

It's not about the thing, it's about the person.

Someone comes in to get a coffee, they find their community in Jesus Christ.

Someone comes over here for a party and they're invited to a community group.

Somebody has I Love West Shreveport given to them a meal, their arms, our arms wrapped around them.

It's the arms and the feet of Jesus Christ.

It's about the people.

Can I tell you I have way bigger dreams than this?

I got bigger dreams than that.

I dream one day this whole place, this will be Evangel Christian Academy, this whole building.

I believe one day we'll have a brand new facility on this campus where thousands of people will come to worship Almighty God.

I believe God's gonna give us that land across the street that God's gonna do a miracle right there.

Yeah, I said SC Market years ago.

That's still a dream that's been on the back burner in my heart.

God can do it.

I believe for athletic facilities, I believe for athletic fields and dreams.

You say, Denny, you're trying to spend like$20,000 for this thing.

That's impossible.

No, friend.

I serve the God that is able to do exceeding abundantly what I think or what I can imagine, and I'm thinking it God's gonna do more.

Come on, we gotta get our hopes up that the best is really yet to come and dream big.

We gotta dream big because David had no idea what God was sitting at setting up.

David had no idea.

David had a God dream, and he said, God, I just I want to build you a temple.

And God said, No, I'm about to build the kingdom of God through you.

David said, Okay, I'll I'll surrender and set up my son Solomon.

And God said, No, David, you're about to prepare the way for my son.

He said, I just want to help this next generation.

And God said, No, you're actually gonna help every generation that ever comes after you.

He said, God, I just want to build you a house.

I just want to build you a house, and God said, No, from the house of David, the son of David, the son of Almighty God, the king of the world that will rule and reign forever, will come from your lineage.

And thousands of years later, in Shreveport, Louisiana, they'll still be talking about the God dream that was put in your heart.

Come on, everyone, say immeasurably more.

God can do more than what you ever imagined.

We gotta get our hopes up, and we gotta start dreaming.

I want you to stand and we have we have cards actually on this side of the row, and I want you to take those cards.

You're gonna have to bend down.

I probably should have got you to get it before I got you to stand up.

I'm sorry.

You're gonna have to bend down.

There's buckets, everyone on this side of the row.

So you can bend down and get that bucket, and if you can just pass it down to everybody.

So bend down.

I'm so sorry.

You're like, I ain't bending down, I ain't getting that.

So it's on this side.

Pick it up and pass it down the row.

Everyone say, everyone say November 8th.

November 8th is our dream again offering.

If everyone could stand to your feet right now, I'm closing.

I'm gonna pray for us in just a second.

If you just stand to your feet.

November 8th is our dream again offering.

It's our vision offering.

And I'm believing for a miracle in the dreams God wants to do.

I want you to get this card.

And the first thing I want you to do, I don't want anyone filling this out right now.

I want you to take it home.

I want you to pray over it and really ask God what God would have you do in it.

But the first thing I want you to do is write down what you're thankful for.

It says, I am thankful for.

Write down what God has done in your life.

Write down the God dreams that God has already answered.

Because here's the thing out of gratitude, God births God dreams.

So we've got to be grateful.

Write it down.

And that's the next thing I want you to do.

Write down your God dream.

And I want you to dream big.

Maybe it's the same dream that you're dreaming again.

I want you to write it down.

And you say, I don't understand this dream thing still.

Everyone has a need in this place.

Write down your needs right here.

Because when we bring this next week, we're gonna turn these in.

We're gonna pray for every single card as a staff.

And in the name of Jesus, I pray over you right now.

God, drop some God dreams.

God, give us God ideas.

God, give us God moments right now.

Help us to dream big, to further our house and the house of Almighty God for your glory.

And then here's the last thing on it.

At the top, there's a number.

November 8th.

I want you to start praying for this, but I want you to pray, God, what would you have me give?

Pray with your spouse.

Say, everybody.

I want everybody to participate.

Even if you're a student, hey, give what you would usually give to Cain's.

That's your offering.

Do something, but pray with your spouse.

Pray with God, what would you have me give?

And here's what I'm asking.

Ask God, God, if you can get it to me in three weeks, you can get it through me for the glory of Almighty God.

Write something where you're believing God to do something great.

Now turn it over and let's say this loud and proud.

We've been talking about this all day long.

You know what this means.

Come on, let's speak it out.

But don't just say it, let's say it over your life too.

Come on, say it with me.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.

To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever.

Amen.

Come on, give God some praise right now if you believe it.

Here's the thing: I don't think God's done with you yet.

I don't think God's done with your business.

I don't think God's done with your family, and I don't think God's done with our church.

God has placed us here to take the city.

Can I get a big amen?

God can do things beyond what we ever dreamed.

And the Bible says this Jesus said, the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Some of y'all feel like the enemy's coming against you, but I'm telling you this, we're gonna keep dreaming again, and the best is yet to come for your life.

Come on, give God some praise right now if you believe it.

God's gonna bless you.

God's gonna bless you.

And some of y'all are going through things and you're just surviving.

Like, why do I have to dream?

Like Denny, I'm getting by.

Like, why do I have to have more?

Well, because God wants you to live in the best is yet to come.

He wants you to.

There's great things for you.

We gotta lift the lid of what you think is possible.

And for those of you that it's just it's tough, and you're going through a tough season, God sees you and he loves you.

And for those of you that feel great, you still need the power of Almighty God in your life.

His power at work within us.

We've got to be hungry for God's power.

How many of you want the power of Almighty God in your life?

You want God's power in your situation?

You want him to fill you with his love and his strength.

Come on, we gotta have God's power.

What I'm gonna ask today is, and that's the first step.

Before anything else changes outside, we gotta ask God, transform us on the inside.

God, I want your presence and I want your strength.

If you if you just raised your hand and you said, I want God's power, I'm gonna ask that you come down and let's fill these altars right now.

Just come down out of your seat and let's fill these altars.

And you say, Why do we gotta get out of our seat?

I think it's a beautiful physical step to represent the spiritual step that God is doing, declaring the best is yet to come.

Great things are on the way.

And as you come down, I want you to be expectant.

I want you to be thinking about what God is doing in your life.

He is able to do more than what you could ever think.

And if you're still in your seats, if you're standing there, you can still, God can still meet you right where you are.

So I want everybody to lift your hands like this.

Just lift them.

And I want you to close your eyes.

You say, Why do we have to do this?

Well, you don't have to, but I like to do it because I close my eyes and I think about Jesus.

And I lift my hands because I'm in surrender, saying, God, I surrender my life to you.

I'm not standing firm in my own strength.

God, I need you.

We need a hunger, we need a longing for Almighty God.

I feel like right now we're paving the way for this week.

Right now, we're getting ready for harvest week.

God's gonna do mighty works in all of our lives.

We don't have to wait for tomorrow.

God can make a move right now.

Shut yourself away with God, meaning focus on Almighty God right now.

He wants to meet you with his power.

Let me pray for you.

God, we love you.

We thank you for your presence.

We thank you for your grace.

God, thank you for every man, woman, and child in this place.

God, I pray that I pray that we will love you more than ever.

God, thank you that the power that you have for us, God, it's just as simple as saying, God, give it to me.

I need you.

I want you.

Everybody say, I want your power, I want your strength.

Say, I can't do it alone.

Say, I need you, Jesus.

Say, I surrender everything.

Just for a moment, let's just be reverent before God.

If you would just shut yourselves away with the Lord just for a second.

I want you to think about what happened today because what happened today was incredibly significant.

I um I just burst into tears when Drod got to a certain part of his message, and here's why.

I want you to hear this.

When he began to talk about the facility, and he said, I have a dream that this is going to be the school because we'll have another building.

There's only been one other man that I heard say that, and that's the man who built this house.

It was like hearing my dad talk because he never stopped saying that.

And then he said this, I want athletic facilities.

My dad would pass by that field in the back, and he would put his hand out.

He'd say, Oh God, you know what we want to do for kids.

Everything that he talked about here during that litany of things that he described, it was my dad.

And what I can tell you is that once again we are seeing a resurfacing of a vision that comes straight from God.

You know, we're on the west side, and there are a lot of people on the west side that have just kind of given up, but we are here to redeem this part of town.

And there are gonna be people that are gonna come from South Shreeport and North Shreeport and East and West Shreep that are gonna come alongside us to redeem this part of town.

And then we are going to see other sites all over this area that will begin to be great community churches.

Let me just say this to you.

I'm awakened in my vision today.

Because today I saw a fresh well, an old well that became a fresh well of vision and of life and of destiny.

This is going to be a glorious season, but hear me, hear me, hear me.

This is what our pastor is doing.

You know, I appreciate the fact that he and Sarah prepared themselves for this job.

When they took over, I'll never forget them coming to me and saying, Dad, we're gonna uh stop our pursuit of our doctorates in ministry because we feel it's just gonna be too much.

And I said, No, I said, you're not going to do that.

Because what happens when you begin to get busy pastoring a church is the one thing that suffers is your scholarship and your study of the word.

And I said, I've seen it happen too many times.

I said, No, you're gonna continue.

And while they took on the fresh burden of being our senior pastors, they labored and pushed through.

To get their doctor's degree in ministry just so that they would be prepared for you.

We have never had anybody more prepared to stand before our congregation than these two young, powerful preachers of the gospel.

And now I watch as they make a move to move us closer into our being able to hear with fresh ears.

God is going to change your vision, and we are going to have a vision like our young pastor who stood here before us and reopened that well of his grandfather.

And I'll tell you, I didn't do it.

I didn't have the faith for it.

I said, This building's good enough.

But it was never good enough for my dad because he had a better vision and a bigger vision.

And now this grandson of his has picked up where he left off.

Just blows my mind, really.

Right now, what we're gonna do is I'm gonna bless you.

We're gonna go out of here before I give any more confusing information.

I want you to turn to the person beside you and tell them you love them.

Will you do it?

And turn to the person on the other side and say, you better love me.

Alright?

Now I want you to give one last great uh applause for this amazing message we heard today.

And now I'm gonna bless you out of here.

You ready?

Here we go.

May the God of Jacob protect you from all harm.

May the Lord answer you when you're in distress.

May He send you up from the sanctuary, grant you support from Zion.

May He remember all your best sacrifices, accept all your best offerings.

May He give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.

And yes, we will shout for joy over your victory and lift our banners in the name of our God.

Come on, let's shout it together.

May the Lord answer all your prayers.

God bless you.

Thank you for connecting with us today.

The first step to a new life in Christ is receiving the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ.

If you have never received Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior, repeat this prayer after me.

Jesus, I believe you died on a cross and rose again for me.

I ask that you come into my heart and be the Lord of my life.

In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

Whether you committed your life to Jesus for the first time today or are already on your journey of faith, we would love to stay connected with you.

Please visit SCchurch.com and follow SC Church on all social media platforms.

And remember, the best is yet to come.