May 20, 2025 • 46 mins
In this POWERFUL word, Pastor Joey Miranda—Apostle Mike Signorelli’s former youth pastor—delivers a word that will challenge and inspire you to live a life of eternal impact. Preaching from John 15:16, Pastor Joey reminds us that we were chosen and appointed to bear fruit that will last—the kind of fruit that doesn’t expire, that impacts generations, and that glorifies God even after we’re gone.
Through passionate storytelling, biblical insight, and prophetic encouragement, Pastor Joey teaches:
🔹 Why abiding in Christ is the only path to lasting fruit
🔹 How struggles prepare us to carry weighty callings
🔹 What it means to build a legacy of faith in your family and community
🔹 The danger of premature elevation and the beauty of God’s timing
🔹 Why growth happens in the dark before it’s seen in the light
This message is a key part of our ongoing series, “The Power of the Pause,” and will stir your spirit to evaluate what you're sowing today—and who will be fed by it tomorrow.
📲 Share this episode with someone who needs to be reminded of their calling and purpose!
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🖥️ Watch the full message on YouTube: youtube.com/v1church
💬 Connect with us at www.v1.church
💸 Support this ministry: https://donate.overflow.co/v1
Mentioned in this episode:
BREAKERS CONFERENCE
BREAKERS CONFERENCE is a movement of warriors contending for revival to come to our cities, freedom to break out in our circles, and salvation to sweep through our regions. Throughout history we’ve seen God move mightily when believers come together and we are lifting up our voices to the Lord to ask "Do It Again". Will you answer the call to stand in a seat and ask God to break open the heavens?
Partner with V1 - Join the movement and give!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:06):
I got a word for y' all.
Someone said, man, I came down.
I came to be to.
To pull on heaven.
Amen.
Come on, give God a praise.
God's good.
Amen.
Good morning.
The one Amen.
Y' all may be seated.
Praise the Lord.
(00:27):
Y' all make a brother want togo back to praising again.
Man, I want to just givethanks to Pastor Mike and his lovely
wife for giving me thisopportunity to come.
Thank you.
Thank you.
(00:48):
And man, I'm excited.
It's so.
This is a dream come true.
I'm serious.
It's a dream to be here withyou all.
Amen.
Really quick, for those thatdon't know me, my name is Joey.
I'm from Hammond, Indiana.
(01:09):
I pastor a wonderful churchcalled Northgate.
I'm so blessed.
Amen.
I've been married for 30 years.
I'm going to be 31 on August 18th.
God is good.
That's my best friend.
She's back at home.
She couldn't come with me, butman, that's everything for me.
(01:30):
That's my cheerleader, my rideor die.
Before I come here, I had tohear her voice.
She was praying over me and Isaid, baby, man, that's all I need.
Thank you.
She's a gift.
Amen.
She's my treasure box.
I'm trying to get brownie points.
Amen.
(01:56):
She is really my best friend.
I have four amazing sons.
They all love Jesus.
Amen.
And I got three wonderfuldaughter in laws.
They too love Jesus.
Man, I could keep goingbecause I'm talking about lasting
fruit.
Amen.
And I got nine grandchildren.
(02:16):
That's why I got white hair.
They're amazing.
And it's awesome to be agrandfa, a grandpa, you know, I'm
papa, you know, at home.
And it's definitely an amazing gift.
Amen.
And I have my son Julian with me.
Would you all applaud my son?
He came out here to hang outwith me.
(02:38):
Amen.
And man, I'm honored becausey' all don't know Mike the way I
know Mike.
Pastor Mike, that man, I wasat his house yesterday and, man,
did we start reminiscing.
And when I saw Pastor Sandra,man, he says that I make him feel
(03:02):
young, but when I saw PastorSandra, she was making me feel young
because we go way back.
I walked in and all I did was like.
And just.
Man, I was wrecked.
You know, we go back, back,and I remember Mike being.
He ain't lying.
We were in the hood.
I'm going to tell you, heain't lying in that Same hood.
(03:28):
I was stabbed in that same hood.
I was shot at in that hood.
I got jumped by 10 guys, gotmy head smashed.
I mean, you talk about thehood, but Jesus did something.
And he says, not today, Satan.
I'm saving this one for me.
Amen.
(03:51):
Mike came on board.
You know, he was one of my youth.
And, you know, one thing thatI don't tell much, folks, and I was
just sharing that with SisterSandra in the green room.
I said, you know, one thingthat I don't tell too many folk about
Brother Mike, he had an anger issue.
Yeah.
(04:11):
The life that, you know, thathe went through, you know, And I
say this to say this.
God will put you in placeswhere folks can love that thing right
out of you.
And he became my youth.
And that's all I did.
When Mike came into my youth,I said, oh, man, I see Jesus all
(04:33):
over him.
And he be.
You know, I said, no, that's okay.
We gonna love you.
And sure enough, you know, we.
Man, when Mike went to mychurch, and, man, I didn't even think
about this, to be honest withyou, but he went to my church and
he said, Pastor Joe was myyouth pastor.
And, boy, he did nothing.
(04:56):
No fun to the youth.
It was straight boot camp with him.
I said, oh, man.
And I was in the back and I shrunk.
And I told my wife I sucked asa leader.
Good God, you know, becausehonestly, I tell everyone I was riding
on a wave of my first love,and I wanted all my youth that I
(05:17):
led to experience that love.
I made these youth.
Now, mind you, 14, 15 years ofage, I was making these youths fast.
And I'm not talking this craziness.
Well, I'm going to fast fromYouTube and I'm going to fast from
TV.
No, we didn't even have that.
All we had was water.
I said, y' all going to befasting, and we're going to just
(05:37):
drink water at 6 in the morning.
We're going to rise up and wegoing to praise the Lord.
Now, the adults weren't evendoing this, man.
All of a sudden, we were inthe lower part of our church and
the youth started to grow.
I had a meeting with my dad.
(05:58):
I said, hey, Dad, y' all ain'tgot a lot of adults.
I need that sanctuary.
So they had to go down to thelittle room, and I filled half that
sanctuary up with youth.
Amen.
Come on, let's give God a praise.
Amen.
God was doing something.
All right, Pastor Mike.
(06:19):
And then I had all thefamilies drop off all their youth
in the morning.
On a Saturday morning.
Come on.
There's no youth that don'tlike coming to church at no Saturday
morning at no.
7, 8.
But I met man, they came andthey were ready.
They said, what are we doing today?
I said, we're going to walkaround these blocks and this hood.
(06:40):
Yeah, this hood.
We're going to walk aroundher, and we're going to walk around
her like Jericho.
We're going to declaresalvation for the lives of every
person here.
Big old person like me, andthen a whole bunch of little people
back at me.
We're over there preaching andworshiping and praying in Jesus name.
(07:00):
I said, all right, Mike, yourturn now.
He get up in there.
In Jesus name we declare.
He go praying.
And after we finished thatone, he tapped the next one.
All right, Robert, your turn.
In Jesus name we declare.
And everyone in the back justsaid, yes.
Amen.
Hallelujah.
Yeah, let's go.
Let's go.
(07:20):
Ain't nobody doing none of that.
But, man, we had a vision.
We saw people coming to Christ.
And the more we were doingthese radical things, the more the
youth grew.
That's why today we want totalk about the topic of fruit that
remains.
(07:41):
Amen.
That's why I entitled today'smessage, fruit that outlives you.
Someone say, man, fruit thatoutlives me is for me.
Amen.
Now, that kind of fruit, ittakes one for you to have that kind
of fruit, it's going torequire you to abide.
(08:06):
That's when we have to takeoff the watches, because, you know,
the apple watch, you know,it's a distraction.
You know, it's when you getyour phone and say, you know what?
I got to put this away becauseI'm going to dwell.
I'm going to abide.
I don't want no distraction.
Let me take off the time.
I don't want to know about the time.
God, it's me and you.
I want fruit that's going to last.
(08:30):
Is anyone out there watchingme say fruit that lasts?
And here is the truth, like Iwas saying earlier, in Christ, when
we remain in Christ, it doesnot remove the struggle.
It gives us strength for the struggle.
Amen.
(08:51):
Just because I am abidingdoesn't mean that he is going to
remove the problem.
No, he gives me the strengthto endure the problem.
Come on.
There's a story about a younglittle boy that saw a cocoon.
I don't know if y' all everheard about this story.
And he saw this cocoon and hesaw this butterfly was trying to
break out of it and he said,you know what, I'm going to help
(09:12):
this little guy out.
And so he opened it a littlebit so that it would make the job
easier for this butterfly toget out when the butterfly came out,
because he made it easy for him.
The butterfly came out, but hecouldn't fly.
Why couldn't he fly?
He said to himself, whycouldn't this?
(09:33):
I made it easy for you to getout, why didn't you fly?
I'm going to tell you something.
While he was in that cocoonand was wrestling and struggling
to get out, it wasstrengthening his wings.
But because somebody made iteasy, he came out premature.
(09:57):
And when it was time to fly,he fell.
There's some people you'vebeen asking God, let me get out,
let me get out.
God said, be quiet becausewhen you get out, you're going to
be able to sustain.
Who am I talking to?
You're going to be able tostand on your own two feet.
You're going to know how topray for yourself.
(10:18):
You're going to know how toencourage others because you know
what it took to stay in and tofinally break out.
And nobody can get creditother than God.
Tell your neighbor, leave me alone.
When my time is my time, I'll.
(10:40):
I ain't trying to die prematurely.
Don't send someone.
Just look at your Pastor Mikeand say, don't send me out too early.
Uh huh, uh oh Pastor.
All this time I thought, nowthey ain't going to tell you nothing
no more.
(11:01):
I gotta fly man.
Y' all make.
Remaining in Jesus, Amen willturn tears into testimonies.
If I just stay connected, mywaiting will turn into a refining.
(11:23):
If I could just stay abiding alittle longer, my pain will turn
into purpose.
If I could just stayconnected, there will be grace for
my race.
I can't be in your lanebecause there's no grace for me.
But let me stay in my lane andwatch me fly because there's only
(11:44):
grace for my race.
I can't preach like you, Ican't sing like you.
And that's okay.
But I got grace for my.
Someone said, man, forgive mefor looking at you, let me get back
in my lane.
(12:05):
Jesus said to John, but if youremain in me and my words in you,
you can ask anything.
Someone say anything and itwill be given notice what he says.
Anything comes when you learnto abide.
Every time.
I'm going to say that again.
See, we want everything, butwe don't Want to abide every time.
(12:31):
We want everything.
Yeah, give me the car, give methe ministry, give me the microphone,
give me the light.
And God said, but you won'tgive me a minute.
You want me to open up thecocoon only so that you can die prematurely.
I'm going to let you sit inthere a little longer until you stop
(12:52):
complaining and start praising.
I'm going to let you stay alittle longer until you learn to
give me praise and you stopyour complaining.
You know what complainingdoes, right?
Complain means to remain.
(13:13):
That's why Israel never gotout of their mess, because they kept
on complaining.
And complain means to remain.
But praise means that Godmakes a way.
Why?
Because he inhabits in thepraises of his people.
My, my, my.
I want to pitch my tent here,though, in John 15:16, this is where
(13:39):
we're going to pitch our tent.
You did not choose me, but I,the Lord chose you.
Someone said, when he picksyou, he doesn't make a mistake.
He don't make mistakes.
We got to.
Unbelievable.
That's got to be your reality.
(14:00):
Because if that's not yourreality, every time he calls you
to something, you're alwaysgoing to doubt it.
He don't make mistakes.
If he called you to it, thatmeans there is grace for it.
That means that you don't haveto rely on your strength anymore.
There is grace to get you to it.
Amen.
(14:22):
My, my.
He says, you did not chooseme, but I chose you.
And here it is.
I love the words I was sayingthis morning.
When you read the verse, yougot to know how to read it.
When he says he chose me, Isit there for a minute, I pitch a
tent, and just on that, Idon't even go any further until I
understand that, okay, hechose me.
(14:42):
The God of heaven and earth,the Creator of heaven and earth,
the helper of all my Amen.
He chose me.
He chose you when you were broken.
He chose you when you didn'tthink you were enough.
He said, yeah, it's you that I want.
(15:05):
I'm into broken goods.
He chose you.
And then he said, and Iappointed you.
Which means there was a selection.
There was a purpose for himchoosing you.
He didn't just choose you tosteal oxygen.
He didn't tell you to.
He didn't choose you so youcan suck up or steal somebody's chair.
No, there was a purpose.
And there's a reason why youdo what you do.
(15:27):
Because you have been assignedto do that.
That's why no one can move you.
That's why?
They can dog you and talkabout you, but they cannot move you
because they never put you there.
When God is before you, whocan be against you?
If he appointed me, that meansyou can't move me.
(15:50):
You can talk about me, butyou're going to have to sit there
and watch me be blessed.
Come on.
You can join me and we can beblessed together, or you can complain
and remain.
And he says, I appointed youfor this reason because there's always
(16:11):
a reason why he appoints us.
Amen.
He doesn't just appoint you,just pick you.
Amen.
He says, so that you may go.
We got to stop there.
Amen.
We got to highlight that.
So where am I going?
Because if I'm goingsomewhere, then when am I supposed
to be going?
Don't give me direction andjust say, you know, hey, just go.
(16:32):
There's no TikTok in here.
Amen.
What are you supposed to dowhen I'm here?
What people do when they here?
No, no, no, no.
God, he's telling us.
He says that you may go.
I appointed you.
I put you here in New York sothat you may go.
(16:56):
I assigned you at a church sothat you may go.
So here we go.
Let's talk about it a little bit.
You know, go is a word.
It's an action.
It's moving with purpose.
Amen.
He said, I want you to go.
(17:18):
And here's the thing.
God knows that you were notcreated to be stagnant.
Can I tell you this?
That stagnant water, we allknow it stinks.
It becomes a breeding groundfor bacteria and parasites.
(17:40):
When water is not moving, whenGod says, I want you to bear fruit,
but you got to first learn to abide.
Because when you abide, thenyou're empowered to go.
When you're empowered to go,then you can grow.
Amen.
He's telling you, don't be stagnant.
(18:01):
Because we know what stagnant does.
It stinks.
And no one wants to be aroundstinky things.
And the enemy knows that if hecan have you focus on the wrong thing,
you'll be like water.
You won't gravitate.
No one will be gravitated toanything that stinks unless they're
(18:22):
stinky, too.
But someone that knows that itsmells, they avoid it.
So you only attract what stinks.
And God says, I want you to go.
I chose you.
(18:43):
I appointed you.
I selected you.
There's a purpose now.
I want you to go.
I want you to move with purpose.
And he says this, and I wantyou to bear Fruit, comma, Fruit that
will last.
Now, see, you look at a comma,but you may not look at it the way
(19:05):
I look at it.
Because comma, means there'san ongoing sentence.
A period means that it stops here.
And he didn't put a period onthe first fruit.
If you put a comma, it'sbecause he wants you to understand
this is not where it stops.
I want you to bear fruit, but,comma, I want it to be fruit that
(19:29):
will last.
Fruit that will last.
Then when he said last, thenthere was a period.
See, he knows that the worldwill allow you to bear fruit.
But the fruit that the worldgives comes with an expiration date.
Come on.
(19:49):
That fruit will spoil at theend of the week.
And sometimes he'll try totrick you long enough to make you
think that you got the rightfruit by making it last for a month,
only to discover that in thatmonth, it's going to die.
So in order for me to go, Ineed to be connected.
(20:09):
Because in order for me togrow, I need to be connected.
Everything has to do with connection.
Pastor Mike is connected tothe vine.
In fact, you are the reasonyou are here.
Because he never stopped being connected.
Amen.
It started in the hood.
(20:32):
Come on.
So don't look at the hood wrong.
Amen.
Good things happen in the hood.
In fact, Jesus came out of the hood.
Y' all didn't want to talkabout it, though.
(20:52):
What good could come out of Nazareth?
What good could come out the hood?
Jesus says, peekaboo.
Here I am.
Let's go.
Where you at now?
Where you at now?
Our Savior came out.
See, some of us, if it wasn'tfor the hood, you wouldn't be as
tough as you are, right?
(21:20):
Come on.
Y' all know what I'm talking about.
You were chosen.
Church.
You were chosen.
You were chosen.
I came to convince somebodythat was hanging on a string.
(21:41):
You were chosen.
God.
Abba.
Dad.
I pick you.
To bear fruit that will last.
They're not here by accident,I said earlier.
But God initiated the relationship.
(22:04):
Aren't you glad he initiated it?
Amen.
When fear paralyzed you, heinitiated it.
When you didn't think you were enough.
He initiated it.
His relentless pursuit.
I'm here because of hisrelentless pursuit.
I'm glad he was running after me.
(22:27):
Come on.
It was by his goodness.
Doesn't the Bible say Hisgoodness that caused me to repent?
His goodness.
Man, he was so good.
I couldn't help it no more.
I couldn't turn away from him.
He kept telling me he Loved me.
Okay, I love you back.
(22:51):
I'm ugly, though.
God says I love every piece of it.
I died for it.
I know your background.
I know what you're struggling,and I still pick you.
My, my, my.
(23:13):
This is so good.
It's like this church.
Abraham had to leave hiscountry so that he can gain.
See, first of all, whereAbraham had to leave.
He had to leave his countrybecause it was familiar.
(23:36):
And he had to leave what wasfamiliar to gain what was unfamiliar.
What was unfamiliar.
Having children.
The disciples had to leavetheir net so they can become real
fishermen of men.
There's fruit that God wantsyou to have, and it's called lasting
(23:58):
fruit.
I said earlier, people aroundyou should not be hungry because
you should be fruitful.
If there's anyone that'shungry, they should want to come
around.
You say every time Joey comesaround, every time Pastor Mike come
around, every time Billy orSally come around, they got fruit
(24:20):
all the time.
Every time they come, I feel better.
No one around you should behungry because you always have fruit.
You have fruit that don't expire.
Come on, church, you got fruitthat don't expire.
(24:48):
Going means this church.
Reaching others with the gospel.
Going means this serving in love.
Going means making disciples.
You know, Can I tell you this?
Disciples don't mean that Iget to see you at church once a month
or once a week.
(25:09):
Disciple is doing life.
It's calling each other, man.
My son Julian, he's heretoday, and, man, does he know how
to.
Man, he just.
Every time I come around him,he got folk around him, and I'm not
like, choo choo, how do you doit, Papi, you got a baby at the house.
(25:29):
And now, mind you, my littleevergreen, she's beautiful.
And my little teddy.
But he has a vision.
And people will always comearound you because they know that
you got something to eat.
When people come to you andsay, man, this happened to me, don't
dismiss them.
(25:52):
They are hungry and they knowyou have something to give them.
Well, I don't understand whyeverybody tells me their problems.
That's because you always givethem fruit.
(27:15):
When was the last time youheard of someone dying of starvation
locked up in a grocery store?
Right?
I'm being serious.
Right?
(27:37):
My question to you all today,what are you planting that your children,
your church and your communitywill harvest later when you're long
and gone?
What will your childrenharvest once you are gone?
I said earlier today, willyour community miss you when you
(27:59):
are long and gone?
Will your children say, man, Iremember how dad got out of this
circumstance.
I remember him praying,seeking the face of God.
And God showed up and showedout, made a way where there was no
way, man, I'm telling you.
I one time had this neighborthat came to my.
(28:22):
I have parking in front of myhouse and this man in my neighborhood.
I am the pastor of everybodyin that block.
Everyone knows me.
They say, oh, there's Pastor Joe.
Oh, that's Pastor Joe.
Hey, Pastor Joe.
Hey, guys.
How y' all doing, man?
Yeah, I'm their pastor now.
They don't none of them go tochurch, but they get to see the church.
(28:45):
Come on.
Amen.
And just because they don't goto church yet, don't mean that I
need to stop being the church.
That ain't discouragement.
Amen.
That's what happens in the hood.
You don't get discouraged, man.
You go through some hell inhigh waters.
Amen.
And one time, I was parking mycar and my neighbor comes out.
He knocks on my window.
He says, joey, his wife wasnamed Chris.
(29:10):
Christina, we called her Chris.
And Marty says, jo, come to myhouse and pray for Chris.
She can't walk.
It's been already a week.
She's going on her secondweek, she can't walk.
She sits on a sofa and she'shungover and she can't bend back
and she can't get up.
I said, well, yeah, let's godo this.
You can't turn those moments down.
(29:31):
That's fruit.
Someone was hungry.
Someone needed some fruit, andboy, I had it.
I said, let's go, Marty.
And there were elderly people.
So I go in there and sureenough, I see Chris and she's hungover.
And I said, chris, what'sgoing on?
She said, I can't bend up.
I can't stand up.
My back hurts.
(29:51):
And immediately I hear theLord say, she's going to walk today,
Joe.
But as soon as that word came,the other voice spoke, said, joey,
if you hurt her, you're goingto get sued.
Come on now, let's be real.
But she's hungry.
She got fruit.
She wants fruit.
(30:12):
I got to make a decision.
The devil's a liar, so we knowwe ain't got it.
Amen.
When you get into your word,you know that.
So you know how tocounterattack this devil, this dog
face gremlin, right?
I said, okay, you know what?
This is what we're going to do.
Ms.
Chris, I'm going to need youto get up.
(30:34):
She says, what?
I said, I'm going to pray foryou, but you're going to have to
get up.
She says, joey, if I get up,I'm not going to be able to stand
up, and it's going to be painful.
I said, that's all right.
We're going to pray.
And when I say praise, when Isay amen, I need you to stand up.
I got to praying, praying.
(30:56):
God, you are awesome.
You can do anything by your stripes.
We are healed.
And you said, if I lay handson the sick, they shall recover.
I'm going in.
I said, okay, Chris, Amen.
She looked at me.
I said, then, marty, over here.
Joe, don't hurt my wife.
Marty, go sit over there.
Marty, go sit over there.
(31:18):
Don't mess with me right now.
I'm focused on.
I don't need no doubt.
I ain't trying to get sued.
I grabbed that lady's arms.
I said, all right, Chris,let's go.
She stood up.
She says, joe, I said, amen.
Now I need you to walk.
Now.
She never walked without her cane.
(31:39):
She forgot she had it that day.
She said, like this.
Look at me, Marty.
I'm walking.
Marty.
Marty.
And Marty still can't.
Chris, look at your cane.
I said, man, throw that caneout the way, man.
Come on.
Come on, Chris.
Come on, man.
(32:01):
I made the call.
I cut my phone.
I said, lethal.
You need to come next door.
What was I doing?
I needed my son to witness this.
Because fruit's got to grow somebody.
Are you hearing what I'm saying?
This is what you do when thedevil says, you're going to get soothed.
And this is what you do whenGod says, the devil is a liar.
(32:24):
Rise up and walk.
I prayed for that woman.
That woman got up, she started moving.
Leto looked at what happened.
She couldn't move for a weekor something, Leto.
And God healed her.
He stood in the maze and Martysaid, I don't know how he did it,
Lito.
(32:44):
He did it, Lito.
She walking.
Lido neither will never forget that.
He'll never forget that.
But isn't that what Jesus was doing?
Do you know what Jesus did?
(33:05):
Because he's all about fruit,you know, lasting fruit.
I don't know about y' all, butI think about what.
Jesus took a group of people,not just a group, about 5,000 men,
not including the women and children.
He purposely, purposely leadsthem to a remote place on purpose.
(33:32):
Who leads people to a remote place?
And then, you know, they'regoing to get hungry.
Who does that?
If it were me back then, mycrazy butt, I would have went downtown
and said, you can pick anyrestaurant you want.
But Jesus is about lasting fruit.
(33:53):
He says, all right, I'm goingto show you what the kingdom is all
about.
I got 15 minutes, right?
Amen.
I just want to be respectful.
Yeah, Amen.
Jesus is sitting down and hetells his boys, like I told my boy,
first the disciples come andthey say, jesus, the people are hungry.
(34:17):
I think it's that time.
Send them away.
So they go get something to eat.
Because we're in a remote place.
Jesus said, I know we're in aremote place.
I led you here.
Of course we're in a remote place.
It is by purpose and design.
(34:38):
It is the canvas.
I created the atmosphere sothat you would see what heaven looks
like.
He says, go and find out ifthere is any food out there.
Jesus knew there was food.
Why would he tell him that?
(34:59):
Brothers, come over there andchicken nuggets and burgers or whatever,
bring them all over here.
Filet, fish sandwich.
That's where McDonald got it from.
Bunch of cheaters.
They stole that.
Jesus came up with that.
(35:21):
He said, bring them over.
And Jesus, of course, we knowthe story.
Jesus grabs the food, heblesses it and breaks it.
And he says to the disciples,now go feed.
Go feed.
What was he saying?
The same thing he's stillsaying today.
(35:43):
You're made of fruit.
You got fruit.
Stop telling Pastor.
Stop telling the neighbors.
People in New York are hungry.
Then feed them.
(36:49):
You got what they need.
You got what they want.
Give them Jesus.
Let them eat.
There's a crowd around you,and they're hungry.
And you have what they need.
(37:12):
I want to share this illustration.
If my son can come up.
Where's my son?
He's probably already makinghis way here.
There's a story about aChinese bamboo tree.
(37:33):
When you plant its seed andyou water it and you care for it,
and you fertilize the groundfor five years, you will not see
nothing on the surface.
A bamboo tree.
There's a seed you put intothe ground and you can water it,
(37:56):
but nothing will happen forfive years.
Some of us, we give up in a week.
Some of us look at our spouseand say, God will never change them.
And it's only been a month.
But something about thisbamboo tree, that when you plant
it for five years, it givesother people an impression that you
(38:20):
are only watering soil.
But they don't know that thereis a seed that is breaking ground
in the dark.
So even though you can't seethe growth, it's still growing.
When you're telling yourfriends about Jesus you may not see
the signs of growth yet, butI'm here to remind you that growth
(38:43):
happens in the dark.
Don't stop watering becauseyou can't see nothing.
Don't stop sharing the love.
Don't stop serving in love.
Don't stop doing what God hascalled you to do because you can't
see nothing.
I'm here to remind you growthhappens in the dark.
(39:04):
The thing about this seed, ittakes five years to grow a foundation
in order to sustain the weightof what it's about to produce.
Your prayers are so big youforget how much root it has to grow
(39:27):
to sustain that which you'rebelieving God for.
You're complaining, but Godsays I need the foundation to be
perfect.
Because what you're believing,what you have underneath cannot sustain.
And if I help and let you getout prematurely, you'll only die.
(39:49):
You'll collapse under the weight.
You'll collapse under the pressure.
And God says, I love you too much.
So I'll let you complain anddo all that murmuring.
And during all that, you'regoing to know that I've been there.
I never left you.
I was always there.
I saw your tears.
I was cheering you on.
And you thought that you gotto pray.
(40:11):
Point A to point B by yourself.
No, honey, I picked you up.
That was when you were at your lowest.
That's when you just.
You wanted to give in.
But I didn't let you.
Because I kept reminding youthrough my spirit that dwells on
the inside of you, thenreminding you of why you even started
the race, that you're.
(40:32):
I know what I'm doing.
I know that you can't see whatyou've been promising.
I promised you so.
But it's not ready.
And you need to stop feelingsorry for yourself because everybody
else is doing whatever you'renot, whatever I've called you for
(40:57):
greatness.
And greatness needs time.
You're not a microwave gimmick.
You're not yesterday's project.
You're not a five minute meal.
There's lasting fruit in you.
(41:19):
And I need you to stay connected.
I need you to stay connected.
I know it hurts, but stay connected.
It doesn't make sense, but itwill soon.
(41:41):
Stay connected.
Stay connected.
Abide.
Dwell with me.
Can you sit at my feet likeMary did?
(42:04):
Like Mary did?
Can you move all the distraction?
Can you look at me?
See, daughter, see, son, Ilove you.
(42:26):
I haven't forgotten about you.
But I just can't open it andmake it easy.
You got so many places to fly to.
There's so many things youneed to accomplish, and you need
(42:49):
that strength.
So don't complain.
Don't complain.
I'm working, says the Lord.
I'm working.
I hear the Lord keep tellingme, I'm working, baby, I'm working.
(43:10):
It may not look like it.
Something about this bamboo, though.
Let me tell you about thisbamboo tree.
On the fifth year, it willsprout up, but it only takes a couple
of weeks to grow up to 90ft.
(43:32):
A couple of weeks.
That's when you know thatyou've stood and you waited.
See, your waiting is not awaste of time.
It is an important investing time.
God says, I know what I wantto do, and it takes time because
(43:54):
I love you too much for you todie prematurely.
You've never seen a mannequinhalf dressed.
And neither will you see mydaughter or son in that manner.
When I put him on the frontline, you're going to know that it
was me.
That's why you can never judgeanybody's praise or worship because
you don't know their story.
(44:16):
The crazier their praise.
It's probably where God savedthem from some crazy stuff.
Just look at your neighbors.
Don't judge my praise if youdon't know my story.
Those two right here.
Can you all come to the front?
(44:36):
Yes, you, sir.
Is this your wife?
Yes.
I knew it.
Come to the front.
Just lift up your hands.
I see you.
(44:58):
This is what I hear.
The Lord said, I not only seeyou, but I chose you.
It's not a mistake.
I don't make mistakes, saysthe Lord.
When I said I chose you, Ichose you.
I'm not fit.
The devil is a liar.
(45:21):
I equip those I appoint.
This is your year.
It has been hard, but God saysthere's a reason.
There's a reason.
I could have opened up thecocoon a long time ago, but if I
(45:43):
would have did that, I wouldhave did you a disservice.
But God says it's time to fly.
Come on, let's give God a praise.
Come on and give God a praise.
It's time to fly.
(46:27):
Sam.
I got a word for y' all.
Someone said, man, I came down.
I came to be to.
To pull on heaven.
Amen.
Come on, give God a praise.
God's good.
Amen.
Good morning.
The one Amen.
Y' all may be seated.
Praise the Lord.
(00:27):
Y' all make a brother want togo back to praising again.
Man, I want to just givethanks to Pastor Mike and his lovely
wife for giving me thisopportunity to come.
Thank you.
Thank you.
(00:48):
And man, I'm excited.
It's so.
This is a dream come true.
I'm serious.
It's a dream to be here withyou all.
Amen.
Really quick, for those thatdon't know me, my name is Joey.
I'm from Hammond, Indiana.
(01:09):
I pastor a wonderful churchcalled Northgate.
I'm so blessed.
Amen.
I've been married for 30 years.
I'm going to be 31 on August 18th.
God is good.
That's my best friend.
She's back at home.
She couldn't come with me, butman, that's everything for me.
(01:30):
That's my cheerleader, my rideor die.
Before I come here, I had tohear her voice.
She was praying over me and Isaid, baby, man, that's all I need.
Thank you.
She's a gift.
Amen.
She's my treasure box.
I'm trying to get brownie points.
Amen.
(01:56):
She is really my best friend.
I have four amazing sons.
They all love Jesus.
Amen.
And I got three wonderfuldaughter in laws.
They too love Jesus.
Man, I could keep goingbecause I'm talking about lasting
fruit.
Amen.
And I got nine grandchildren.
(02:16):
That's why I got white hair.
They're amazing.
And it's awesome to be agrandfa, a grandpa, you know, I'm
papa, you know, at home.
And it's definitely an amazing gift.
Amen.
And I have my son Julian with me.
Would you all applaud my son?
He came out here to hang outwith me.
(02:38):
Amen.
And man, I'm honored becausey' all don't know Mike the way I
know Mike.
Pastor Mike, that man, I wasat his house yesterday and, man,
did we start reminiscing.
And when I saw Pastor Sandra,man, he says that I make him feel
(03:02):
young, but when I saw PastorSandra, she was making me feel young
because we go way back.
I walked in and all I did was like.
And just.
Man, I was wrecked.
You know, we go back, back,and I remember Mike being.
He ain't lying.
We were in the hood.
I'm going to tell you, heain't lying in that Same hood.
(03:28):
I was stabbed in that same hood.
I was shot at in that hood.
I got jumped by 10 guys, gotmy head smashed.
I mean, you talk about thehood, but Jesus did something.
And he says, not today, Satan.
I'm saving this one for me.
Amen.
(03:51):
Mike came on board.
You know, he was one of my youth.
And, you know, one thing thatI don't tell much, folks, and I was
just sharing that with SisterSandra in the green room.
I said, you know, one thingthat I don't tell too many folk about
Brother Mike, he had an anger issue.
Yeah.
(04:11):
The life that, you know, thathe went through, you know, And I
say this to say this.
God will put you in placeswhere folks can love that thing right
out of you.
And he became my youth.
And that's all I did.
When Mike came into my youth,I said, oh, man, I see Jesus all
(04:33):
over him.
And he be.
You know, I said, no, that's okay.
We gonna love you.
And sure enough, you know, we.
Man, when Mike went to mychurch, and, man, I didn't even think
about this, to be honest withyou, but he went to my church and
he said, Pastor Joe was myyouth pastor.
And, boy, he did nothing.
(04:56):
No fun to the youth.
It was straight boot camp with him.
I said, oh, man.
And I was in the back and I shrunk.
And I told my wife I sucked asa leader.
Good God, you know, becausehonestly, I tell everyone I was riding
on a wave of my first love,and I wanted all my youth that I
(05:17):
led to experience that love.
I made these youth.
Now, mind you, 14, 15 years ofage, I was making these youths fast.
And I'm not talking this craziness.
Well, I'm going to fast fromYouTube and I'm going to fast from
TV.
No, we didn't even have that.
All we had was water.
I said, y' all going to befasting, and we're going to just
(05:37):
drink water at 6 in the morning.
We're going to rise up and wegoing to praise the Lord.
Now, the adults weren't evendoing this, man.
All of a sudden, we were inthe lower part of our church and
the youth started to grow.
I had a meeting with my dad.
(05:58):
I said, hey, Dad, y' all ain'tgot a lot of adults.
I need that sanctuary.
So they had to go down to thelittle room, and I filled half that
sanctuary up with youth.
Amen.
Come on, let's give God a praise.
Amen.
God was doing something.
All right, Pastor Mike.
(06:19):
And then I had all thefamilies drop off all their youth
in the morning.
On a Saturday morning.
Come on.
There's no youth that don'tlike coming to church at no Saturday
morning at no.
7, 8.
But I met man, they came andthey were ready.
They said, what are we doing today?
I said, we're going to walkaround these blocks and this hood.
(06:40):
Yeah, this hood.
We're going to walk aroundher, and we're going to walk around
her like Jericho.
We're going to declaresalvation for the lives of every
person here.
Big old person like me, andthen a whole bunch of little people
back at me.
We're over there preaching andworshiping and praying in Jesus name.
(07:00):
I said, all right, Mike, yourturn now.
He get up in there.
In Jesus name we declare.
He go praying.
And after we finished thatone, he tapped the next one.
All right, Robert, your turn.
In Jesus name we declare.
And everyone in the back justsaid, yes.
Amen.
Hallelujah.
Yeah, let's go.
Let's go.
(07:20):
Ain't nobody doing none of that.
But, man, we had a vision.
We saw people coming to Christ.
And the more we were doingthese radical things, the more the
youth grew.
That's why today we want totalk about the topic of fruit that
remains.
(07:41):
Amen.
That's why I entitled today'smessage, fruit that outlives you.
Someone say, man, fruit thatoutlives me is for me.
Amen.
Now, that kind of fruit, ittakes one for you to have that kind
of fruit, it's going torequire you to abide.
(08:06):
That's when we have to takeoff the watches, because, you know,
the apple watch, you know,it's a distraction.
You know, it's when you getyour phone and say, you know what?
I got to put this away becauseI'm going to dwell.
I'm going to abide.
I don't want no distraction.
Let me take off the time.
I don't want to know about the time.
God, it's me and you.
I want fruit that's going to last.
(08:30):
Is anyone out there watchingme say fruit that lasts?
And here is the truth, like Iwas saying earlier, in Christ, when
we remain in Christ, it doesnot remove the struggle.
It gives us strength for the struggle.
Amen.
(08:51):
Just because I am abidingdoesn't mean that he is going to
remove the problem.
No, he gives me the strengthto endure the problem.
Come on.
There's a story about a younglittle boy that saw a cocoon.
I don't know if y' all everheard about this story.
And he saw this cocoon and hesaw this butterfly was trying to
break out of it and he said,you know what, I'm going to help
(09:12):
this little guy out.
And so he opened it a littlebit so that it would make the job
easier for this butterfly toget out when the butterfly came out,
because he made it easy for him.
The butterfly came out, but hecouldn't fly.
Why couldn't he fly?
He said to himself, whycouldn't this?
(09:33):
I made it easy for you to getout, why didn't you fly?
I'm going to tell you something.
While he was in that cocoonand was wrestling and struggling
to get out, it wasstrengthening his wings.
But because somebody made iteasy, he came out premature.
(09:57):
And when it was time to fly,he fell.
There's some people you'vebeen asking God, let me get out,
let me get out.
God said, be quiet becausewhen you get out, you're going to
be able to sustain.
Who am I talking to?
You're going to be able tostand on your own two feet.
You're going to know how topray for yourself.
(10:18):
You're going to know how toencourage others because you know
what it took to stay in and tofinally break out.
And nobody can get creditother than God.
Tell your neighbor, leave me alone.
When my time is my time, I'll.
(10:40):
I ain't trying to die prematurely.
Don't send someone.
Just look at your Pastor Mikeand say, don't send me out too early.
Uh huh, uh oh Pastor.
All this time I thought, nowthey ain't going to tell you nothing
no more.
(11:01):
I gotta fly man.
Y' all make.
Remaining in Jesus, Amen willturn tears into testimonies.
If I just stay connected, mywaiting will turn into a refining.
(11:23):
If I could just stay abiding alittle longer, my pain will turn
into purpose.
If I could just stayconnected, there will be grace for
my race.
I can't be in your lanebecause there's no grace for me.
But let me stay in my lane andwatch me fly because there's only
(11:44):
grace for my race.
I can't preach like you, Ican't sing like you.
And that's okay.
But I got grace for my.
Someone said, man, forgive mefor looking at you, let me get back
in my lane.
(12:05):
Jesus said to John, but if youremain in me and my words in you,
you can ask anything.
Someone say anything and itwill be given notice what he says.
Anything comes when you learnto abide.
Every time.
I'm going to say that again.
See, we want everything, butwe don't Want to abide every time.
(12:31):
We want everything.
Yeah, give me the car, give methe ministry, give me the microphone,
give me the light.
And God said, but you won'tgive me a minute.
You want me to open up thecocoon only so that you can die prematurely.
I'm going to let you sit inthere a little longer until you stop
(12:52):
complaining and start praising.
I'm going to let you stay alittle longer until you learn to
give me praise and you stopyour complaining.
You know what complainingdoes, right?
Complain means to remain.
(13:13):
That's why Israel never gotout of their mess, because they kept
on complaining.
And complain means to remain.
But praise means that Godmakes a way.
Why?
Because he inhabits in thepraises of his people.
My, my, my.
I want to pitch my tent here,though, in John 15:16, this is where
(13:39):
we're going to pitch our tent.
You did not choose me, but I,the Lord chose you.
Someone said, when he picksyou, he doesn't make a mistake.
He don't make mistakes.
We got to.
Unbelievable.
That's got to be your reality.
(14:00):
Because if that's not yourreality, every time he calls you
to something, you're alwaysgoing to doubt it.
He don't make mistakes.
If he called you to it, thatmeans there is grace for it.
That means that you don't haveto rely on your strength anymore.
There is grace to get you to it.
Amen.
(14:22):
My, my.
He says, you did not chooseme, but I chose you.
And here it is.
I love the words I was sayingthis morning.
When you read the verse, yougot to know how to read it.
When he says he chose me, Isit there for a minute, I pitch a
tent, and just on that, Idon't even go any further until I
understand that, okay, hechose me.
(14:42):
The God of heaven and earth,the Creator of heaven and earth,
the helper of all my Amen.
He chose me.
He chose you when you were broken.
He chose you when you didn'tthink you were enough.
He said, yeah, it's you that I want.
(15:05):
I'm into broken goods.
He chose you.
And then he said, and Iappointed you.
Which means there was a selection.
There was a purpose for himchoosing you.
He didn't just choose you tosteal oxygen.
He didn't tell you to.
He didn't choose you so youcan suck up or steal somebody's chair.
No, there was a purpose.
And there's a reason why youdo what you do.
(15:27):
Because you have been assignedto do that.
That's why no one can move you.
That's why?
They can dog you and talkabout you, but they cannot move you
because they never put you there.
When God is before you, whocan be against you?
If he appointed me, that meansyou can't move me.
(15:50):
You can talk about me, butyou're going to have to sit there
and watch me be blessed.
Come on.
You can join me and we can beblessed together, or you can complain
and remain.
And he says, I appointed youfor this reason because there's always
(16:11):
a reason why he appoints us.
Amen.
He doesn't just appoint you,just pick you.
Amen.
He says, so that you may go.
We got to stop there.
Amen.
We got to highlight that.
So where am I going?
Because if I'm goingsomewhere, then when am I supposed
to be going?
Don't give me direction andjust say, you know, hey, just go.
(16:32):
There's no TikTok in here.
Amen.
What are you supposed to dowhen I'm here?
What people do when they here?
No, no, no, no.
God, he's telling us.
He says that you may go.
I appointed you.
I put you here in New York sothat you may go.
(16:56):
I assigned you at a church sothat you may go.
So here we go.
Let's talk about it a little bit.
You know, go is a word.
It's an action.
It's moving with purpose.
Amen.
He said, I want you to go.
(17:18):
And here's the thing.
God knows that you were notcreated to be stagnant.
Can I tell you this?
That stagnant water, we allknow it stinks.
It becomes a breeding groundfor bacteria and parasites.
(17:40):
When water is not moving, whenGod says, I want you to bear fruit,
but you got to first learn to abide.
Because when you abide, thenyou're empowered to go.
When you're empowered to go,then you can grow.
Amen.
He's telling you, don't be stagnant.
(18:01):
Because we know what stagnant does.
It stinks.
And no one wants to be aroundstinky things.
And the enemy knows that if hecan have you focus on the wrong thing,
you'll be like water.
You won't gravitate.
No one will be gravitated toanything that stinks unless they're
(18:22):
stinky, too.
But someone that knows that itsmells, they avoid it.
So you only attract what stinks.
And God says, I want you to go.
I chose you.
(18:43):
I appointed you.
I selected you.
There's a purpose now.
I want you to go.
I want you to move with purpose.
And he says this, and I wantyou to bear Fruit, comma, Fruit that
will last.
Now, see, you look at a comma,but you may not look at it the way
(19:05):
I look at it.
Because comma, means there'san ongoing sentence.
A period means that it stops here.
And he didn't put a period onthe first fruit.
If you put a comma, it'sbecause he wants you to understand
this is not where it stops.
I want you to bear fruit, but,comma, I want it to be fruit that
(19:29):
will last.
Fruit that will last.
Then when he said last, thenthere was a period.
See, he knows that the worldwill allow you to bear fruit.
But the fruit that the worldgives comes with an expiration date.
Come on.
(19:49):
That fruit will spoil at theend of the week.
And sometimes he'll try totrick you long enough to make you
think that you got the rightfruit by making it last for a month,
only to discover that in thatmonth, it's going to die.
So in order for me to go, Ineed to be connected.
(20:09):
Because in order for me togrow, I need to be connected.
Everything has to do with connection.
Pastor Mike is connected tothe vine.
In fact, you are the reasonyou are here.
Because he never stopped being connected.
Amen.
It started in the hood.
(20:32):
Come on.
So don't look at the hood wrong.
Amen.
Good things happen in the hood.
In fact, Jesus came out of the hood.
Y' all didn't want to talkabout it, though.
(20:52):
What good could come out of Nazareth?
What good could come out the hood?
Jesus says, peekaboo.
Here I am.
Let's go.
Where you at now?
Where you at now?
Our Savior came out.
See, some of us, if it wasn'tfor the hood, you wouldn't be as
tough as you are, right?
(21:20):
Come on.
Y' all know what I'm talking about.
You were chosen.
Church.
You were chosen.
You were chosen.
I came to convince somebodythat was hanging on a string.
(21:41):
You were chosen.
God.
Abba.
Dad.
I pick you.
To bear fruit that will last.
They're not here by accident,I said earlier.
But God initiated the relationship.
(22:04):
Aren't you glad he initiated it?
Amen.
When fear paralyzed you, heinitiated it.
When you didn't think you were enough.
He initiated it.
His relentless pursuit.
I'm here because of hisrelentless pursuit.
I'm glad he was running after me.
(22:27):
Come on.
It was by his goodness.
Doesn't the Bible say Hisgoodness that caused me to repent?
His goodness.
Man, he was so good.
I couldn't help it no more.
I couldn't turn away from him.
He kept telling me he Loved me.
Okay, I love you back.
(22:51):
I'm ugly, though.
God says I love every piece of it.
I died for it.
I know your background.
I know what you're struggling,and I still pick you.
My, my, my.
(23:13):
This is so good.
It's like this church.
Abraham had to leave hiscountry so that he can gain.
See, first of all, whereAbraham had to leave.
He had to leave his countrybecause it was familiar.
(23:36):
And he had to leave what wasfamiliar to gain what was unfamiliar.
What was unfamiliar.
Having children.
The disciples had to leavetheir net so they can become real
fishermen of men.
There's fruit that God wantsyou to have, and it's called lasting
(23:58):
fruit.
I said earlier, people aroundyou should not be hungry because
you should be fruitful.
If there's anyone that'shungry, they should want to come
around.
You say every time Joey comesaround, every time Pastor Mike come
around, every time Billy orSally come around, they got fruit
(24:20):
all the time.
Every time they come, I feel better.
No one around you should behungry because you always have fruit.
You have fruit that don't expire.
Come on, church, you got fruitthat don't expire.
(24:48):
Going means this church.
Reaching others with the gospel.
Going means this serving in love.
Going means making disciples.
You know, Can I tell you this?
Disciples don't mean that Iget to see you at church once a month
or once a week.
(25:09):
Disciple is doing life.
It's calling each other, man.
My son Julian, he's heretoday, and, man, does he know how
to.
Man, he just.
Every time I come around him,he got folk around him, and I'm not
like, choo choo, how do you doit, Papi, you got a baby at the house.
(25:29):
And now, mind you, my littleevergreen, she's beautiful.
And my little teddy.
But he has a vision.
And people will always comearound you because they know that
you got something to eat.
When people come to you andsay, man, this happened to me, don't
dismiss them.
(25:52):
They are hungry and they knowyou have something to give them.
Well, I don't understand whyeverybody tells me their problems.
That's because you always givethem fruit.
(27:15):
When was the last time youheard of someone dying of starvation
locked up in a grocery store?
Right?
I'm being serious.
Right?
(27:37):
My question to you all today,what are you planting that your children,
your church and your communitywill harvest later when you're long
and gone?
What will your childrenharvest once you are gone?
I said earlier today, willyour community miss you when you
(27:59):
are long and gone?
Will your children say, man, Iremember how dad got out of this
circumstance.
I remember him praying,seeking the face of God.
And God showed up and showedout, made a way where there was no
way, man, I'm telling you.
I one time had this neighborthat came to my.
(28:22):
I have parking in front of myhouse and this man in my neighborhood.
I am the pastor of everybodyin that block.
Everyone knows me.
They say, oh, there's Pastor Joe.
Oh, that's Pastor Joe.
Hey, Pastor Joe.
Hey, guys.
How y' all doing, man?
Yeah, I'm their pastor now.
They don't none of them go tochurch, but they get to see the church.
(28:45):
Come on.
Amen.
And just because they don't goto church yet, don't mean that I
need to stop being the church.
That ain't discouragement.
Amen.
That's what happens in the hood.
You don't get discouraged, man.
You go through some hell inhigh waters.
Amen.
And one time, I was parking mycar and my neighbor comes out.
He knocks on my window.
He says, joey, his wife wasnamed Chris.
(29:10):
Christina, we called her Chris.
And Marty says, jo, come to myhouse and pray for Chris.
She can't walk.
It's been already a week.
She's going on her secondweek, she can't walk.
She sits on a sofa and she'shungover and she can't bend back
and she can't get up.
I said, well, yeah, let's godo this.
You can't turn those moments down.
(29:31):
That's fruit.
Someone was hungry.
Someone needed some fruit, andboy, I had it.
I said, let's go, Marty.
And there were elderly people.
So I go in there and sureenough, I see Chris and she's hungover.
And I said, chris, what'sgoing on?
She said, I can't bend up.
I can't stand up.
My back hurts.
(29:51):
And immediately I hear theLord say, she's going to walk today,
Joe.
But as soon as that word came,the other voice spoke, said, joey,
if you hurt her, you're goingto get sued.
Come on now, let's be real.
But she's hungry.
She got fruit.
She wants fruit.
(30:12):
I got to make a decision.
The devil's a liar, so we knowwe ain't got it.
Amen.
When you get into your word,you know that.
So you know how tocounterattack this devil, this dog
face gremlin, right?
I said, okay, you know what?
This is what we're going to do.
Ms.
Chris, I'm going to need youto get up.
(30:34):
She says, what?
I said, I'm going to pray foryou, but you're going to have to
get up.
She says, joey, if I get up,I'm not going to be able to stand
up, and it's going to be painful.
I said, that's all right.
We're going to pray.
And when I say praise, when Isay amen, I need you to stand up.
I got to praying, praying.
(30:56):
God, you are awesome.
You can do anything by your stripes.
We are healed.
And you said, if I lay handson the sick, they shall recover.
I'm going in.
I said, okay, Chris, Amen.
She looked at me.
I said, then, marty, over here.
Joe, don't hurt my wife.
Marty, go sit over there.
Marty, go sit over there.
(31:18):
Don't mess with me right now.
I'm focused on.
I don't need no doubt.
I ain't trying to get sued.
I grabbed that lady's arms.
I said, all right, Chris,let's go.
She stood up.
She says, joe, I said, amen.
Now I need you to walk.
Now.
She never walked without her cane.
(31:39):
She forgot she had it that day.
She said, like this.
Look at me, Marty.
I'm walking.
Marty.
Marty.
And Marty still can't.
Chris, look at your cane.
I said, man, throw that caneout the way, man.
Come on.
Come on, Chris.
Come on, man.
(32:01):
I made the call.
I cut my phone.
I said, lethal.
You need to come next door.
What was I doing?
I needed my son to witness this.
Because fruit's got to grow somebody.
Are you hearing what I'm saying?
This is what you do when thedevil says, you're going to get soothed.
And this is what you do whenGod says, the devil is a liar.
(32:24):
Rise up and walk.
I prayed for that woman.
That woman got up, she started moving.
Leto looked at what happened.
She couldn't move for a weekor something, Leto.
And God healed her.
He stood in the maze and Martysaid, I don't know how he did it,
Lito.
(32:44):
He did it, Lito.
She walking.
Lido neither will never forget that.
He'll never forget that.
But isn't that what Jesus was doing?
Do you know what Jesus did?
(33:05):
Because he's all about fruit,you know, lasting fruit.
I don't know about y' all, butI think about what.
Jesus took a group of people,not just a group, about 5,000 men,
not including the women and children.
He purposely, purposely leadsthem to a remote place on purpose.
(33:32):
Who leads people to a remote place?
And then, you know, they'regoing to get hungry.
Who does that?
If it were me back then, mycrazy butt, I would have went downtown
and said, you can pick anyrestaurant you want.
But Jesus is about lasting fruit.
(33:53):
He says, all right, I'm goingto show you what the kingdom is all
about.
I got 15 minutes, right?
Amen.
I just want to be respectful.
Yeah, Amen.
Jesus is sitting down and hetells his boys, like I told my boy,
first the disciples come andthey say, jesus, the people are hungry.
(34:17):
I think it's that time.
Send them away.
So they go get something to eat.
Because we're in a remote place.
Jesus said, I know we're in aremote place.
I led you here.
Of course we're in a remote place.
It is by purpose and design.
(34:38):
It is the canvas.
I created the atmosphere sothat you would see what heaven looks
like.
He says, go and find out ifthere is any food out there.
Jesus knew there was food.
Why would he tell him that?
(34:59):
Brothers, come over there andchicken nuggets and burgers or whatever,
bring them all over here.
Filet, fish sandwich.
That's where McDonald got it from.
Bunch of cheaters.
They stole that.
Jesus came up with that.
(35:21):
He said, bring them over.
And Jesus, of course, we knowthe story.
Jesus grabs the food, heblesses it and breaks it.
And he says to the disciples,now go feed.
Go feed.
What was he saying?
The same thing he's stillsaying today.
(35:43):
You're made of fruit.
You got fruit.
Stop telling Pastor.
Stop telling the neighbors.
People in New York are hungry.
Then feed them.
(36:49):
You got what they need.
You got what they want.
Give them Jesus.
Let them eat.
There's a crowd around you,and they're hungry.
And you have what they need.
(37:12):
I want to share this illustration.
If my son can come up.
Where's my son?
He's probably already makinghis way here.
There's a story about aChinese bamboo tree.
(37:33):
When you plant its seed andyou water it and you care for it,
and you fertilize the groundfor five years, you will not see
nothing on the surface.
A bamboo tree.
There's a seed you put intothe ground and you can water it,
(37:56):
but nothing will happen forfive years.
Some of us, we give up in a week.
Some of us look at our spouseand say, God will never change them.
And it's only been a month.
But something about thisbamboo tree, that when you plant
it for five years, it givesother people an impression that you
(38:20):
are only watering soil.
But they don't know that thereis a seed that is breaking ground
in the dark.
So even though you can't seethe growth, it's still growing.
When you're telling yourfriends about Jesus you may not see
the signs of growth yet, butI'm here to remind you that growth
(38:43):
happens in the dark.
Don't stop watering becauseyou can't see nothing.
Don't stop sharing the love.
Don't stop serving in love.
Don't stop doing what God hascalled you to do because you can't
see nothing.
I'm here to remind you growthhappens in the dark.
(39:04):
The thing about this seed, ittakes five years to grow a foundation
in order to sustain the weightof what it's about to produce.
Your prayers are so big youforget how much root it has to grow
(39:27):
to sustain that which you'rebelieving God for.
You're complaining, but Godsays I need the foundation to be
perfect.
Because what you're believing,what you have underneath cannot sustain.
And if I help and let you getout prematurely, you'll only die.
(39:49):
You'll collapse under the weight.
You'll collapse under the pressure.
And God says, I love you too much.
So I'll let you complain anddo all that murmuring.
And during all that, you'regoing to know that I've been there.
I never left you.
I was always there.
I saw your tears.
I was cheering you on.
And you thought that you gotto pray.
(40:11):
Point A to point B by yourself.
No, honey, I picked you up.
That was when you were at your lowest.
That's when you just.
You wanted to give in.
But I didn't let you.
Because I kept reminding youthrough my spirit that dwells on
the inside of you, thenreminding you of why you even started
the race, that you're.
(40:32):
I know what I'm doing.
I know that you can't see whatyou've been promising.
I promised you so.
But it's not ready.
And you need to stop feelingsorry for yourself because everybody
else is doing whatever you'renot, whatever I've called you for
(40:57):
greatness.
And greatness needs time.
You're not a microwave gimmick.
You're not yesterday's project.
You're not a five minute meal.
There's lasting fruit in you.
(41:19):
And I need you to stay connected.
I need you to stay connected.
I know it hurts, but stay connected.
It doesn't make sense, but itwill soon.
(41:41):
Stay connected.
Stay connected.
Abide.
Dwell with me.
Can you sit at my feet likeMary did?
(42:04):
Like Mary did?
Can you move all the distraction?
Can you look at me?
See, daughter, see, son, Ilove you.
(42:26):
I haven't forgotten about you.
But I just can't open it andmake it easy.
You got so many places to fly to.
There's so many things youneed to accomplish, and you need
(42:49):
that strength.
So don't complain.
Don't complain.
I'm working, says the Lord.
I'm working.
I hear the Lord keep tellingme, I'm working, baby, I'm working.
(43:10):
It may not look like it.
Something about this bamboo, though.
Let me tell you about thisbamboo tree.
On the fifth year, it willsprout up, but it only takes a couple
of weeks to grow up to 90ft.
(43:32):
A couple of weeks.
That's when you know thatyou've stood and you waited.
See, your waiting is not awaste of time.
It is an important investing time.
God says, I know what I wantto do, and it takes time because
(43:54):
I love you too much for you todie prematurely.
You've never seen a mannequinhalf dressed.
And neither will you see mydaughter or son in that manner.
When I put him on the frontline, you're going to know that it
was me.
That's why you can never judgeanybody's praise or worship because
you don't know their story.
(44:16):
The crazier their praise.
It's probably where God savedthem from some crazy stuff.
Just look at your neighbors.
Don't judge my praise if youdon't know my story.
Those two right here.
Can you all come to the front?
(44:36):
Yes, you, sir.
Is this your wife?
Yes.
I knew it.
Come to the front.
Just lift up your hands.
I see you.
(44:58):
This is what I hear.
The Lord said, I not only seeyou, but I chose you.
It's not a mistake.
I don't make mistakes, saysthe Lord.
When I said I chose you, Ichose you.
I'm not fit.
The devil is a liar.
(45:21):
I equip those I appoint.
This is your year.
It has been hard, but God saysthere's a reason.
There's a reason.
I could have opened up thecocoon a long time ago, but if I
(45:43):
would have did that, I wouldhave did you a disservice.
But God says it's time to fly.
Come on, let's give God a praise.
Come on and give God a praise.
It's time to fly.
(46:27):
Sam.
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