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00:00:00 Are you ready for the Word of God today?
00:00:02 Oh, I'm gonna ask that again.
00:00:04 Are you ready for the Word today?
00:00:08 Y'all feel like hearing it like I feel like preaching this is gonna be good.
00:00:10 I had revival in my living room yesterday preaching this Word to myself.
00:00:15 We've been in a series called How to Love.
00:00:19 How to Love.
00:00:20 It's our series on relationships and we have just decided that we're gonna do relationships
00:00:24 God's way.
00:00:26 I think the one who is love personified should be the one that we go to to learn how to love
00:00:31 and how to do relationships and not the way the culture is telling us to do relationships.
00:00:35 And so we're gonna add another layer to this series today.
00:00:38 But before we do that, we do it every single Sunday.
00:00:42 We are unshakable this year and we have a verse of the year and it's in Hebrews chapter
00:00:49 12.
00:00:50 We're gonna read it for the first time at two locations at the same time.
00:00:53 Y'all ready to read our verse of the year Hebrews chapter 12?
00:00:57 Come on, read it like you were caffeinated and had some Red Bull or something this morning.
00:01:01 Here we go.
00:01:02 Let's read it together.
00:01:03 It says, "Do you see what we've got?
00:01:06 An unshakable kingdom.
00:01:09 And do you see how thankful we must be?
00:01:12 Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God.
00:01:18 For God is not an indifferent bystander.
00:01:21 He is actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn and he won't quit until
00:01:28 it's all cleansed.
00:01:30 God himself is fire."
00:01:32 Oh, y'all sound good.
00:01:34 Y'all sound good in here.
00:01:37 Echo, you sound good.
00:01:40 And now we're gonna look at our text for today.
00:01:43 Go with me to the gospel of John.
00:01:46 John chapter number 15.
00:01:48 I wanna look at verses one through five.
00:01:51 John chapter 15, starting at verse number one, while you're looking for it on your paper
00:01:56 Bible if you're super saved, or your smart device, whether you're just gonna look at
00:02:02 the screen, it's all good.
00:02:04 How many of you, it's your first time, first time ever to social?
00:02:07 Can I see your hand here and at Echo, first time?
00:02:10 Incredible.
00:02:11 On the front row.
00:02:14 Amazing.
00:02:15 So glad that you're here.
00:02:16 John chapter 15, starting at verse number one, and these are the words of Jesus.
00:02:23 He says, "I am the true vine and my father is the gardener.
00:02:30 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit.
00:02:35 While every branch that does bear fruit, he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
00:02:42 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.
00:02:46 Remain in me as I also remain in you.
00:02:50 No branch can bear fruit by itself.
00:02:54 It must remain in the vine.
00:02:57 Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
00:03:01 I am the vine.
00:03:03 You are the branches.
00:03:05 If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.
00:03:11 But from me, you can do nothing.
00:03:14 Can you say amen?
00:03:18 I want to look at John chapter 16.
00:03:21 Before I read John chapter 16, let me just tell you that the chapter numbers and the
00:03:25 verse numbers came later after the original manuscript.
00:03:29 So I want you to think whenever you're reading your Bible that just because the chapter ended,
00:03:33 that's where the conversation ended.
00:03:35 Jesus is talking to his disciples.
00:03:37 In John 14, 15, and 16, he's talking to his closest circle.
00:03:43 And so I want you to imagine what you just heard in chapter number 15, him saying, "Abide
00:03:48 in me.
00:03:49 Stay close to me.
00:03:51 Let's stay connected."
00:03:52 And then on the surface, it seems like we got schizophrenic Jesus.
00:03:58 Because look at John chapter 16.
00:04:00 After all that abiding and staying and remaining, look at what he says in verse four.
00:04:05 "I did not say these things to you from the beginning because I was with you, but now
00:04:10 I am going to him who sent me.
00:04:13 And none of you ask me where you are going.
00:04:16 Where are you going?
00:04:17 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.
00:04:21 Nevertheless, I'll tell you the truth.
00:04:23 It is to your advantage that I go away.
00:04:29 For if I do not go away, the helper will not come to you.
00:04:36 But if I go, if I go, if I peace out, I will send him to you.
00:04:49 Something can't happen unless I leave."
00:04:53 Jesus is saying to the disciples, "It ain't you.
00:04:56 It's me."
00:04:57 I thought Whitney started that wonderful song, "I Will Always Love You," but it looks like
00:05:01 Jesus started right here.
00:05:03 "If I should stay, I would only be in your way."
00:05:15 Look at John, you ain't saved.
00:05:19 He literally is telling them, "I have to leave.
00:05:24 I want to preach today using this as a title, 'Necessary Endings.'"
00:05:34 Necessary Endings.
00:05:37 I want you to look at your neighbor in this room and at Echo, get in their face, get in
00:05:41 their personal space and say, "Neighbor, come on, don't be afraid to talk to your neighbor.
00:05:46 Say, 'Neighbor, some endings aren't optional.
00:05:51 They are necessary.'"
00:05:52 "Come on, find your other neighbor, and I'm really sad for you if this is one that you
00:05:57 got to break up with.
00:05:58 Come on, find your other neighbor."
00:05:59 Say, "Other neighbor, I'm telling you, some endings aren't optional.
00:06:09 They are necessary."
00:06:11 If you believe God can speak at Toyota and at the Echo, would you make some noise in
00:06:15 this place?
00:06:16 Father, I have your way.
00:06:19 In Jesus' name, amen.
00:06:22 You may be seated in the presence of the Lord.
00:06:29 Necessary Endings.
00:06:35 Sermonic disclaimer.
00:06:37 If you don't like the sermon today, would you do me a favor and come back next week?
00:06:45 Come back next week because we'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming.
00:06:49 We will be at Fair Park at 9, 1130 and at Echo at 1030.
00:06:52 Come back next week.
00:06:53 I promise next week will be much better.
00:06:55 It'll be much better for a couple of reasons because I am going to be tag-teaming with
00:07:00 my bride, my love, my confidant, the mother of all my children, Taylor Medu.
00:07:07 We're going to be tag-team preaching.
00:07:09 Ooh, y'all clapping.
00:07:10 You need to be praying.
00:07:12 You really need to intercede because let me tell you something.
00:07:15 Praying will put your marriage to the test.
00:07:19 Like trying to prepare a message together and communicate that message together.
00:07:25 I mean, just think of it.
00:07:26 It's hard enough trying to communicate in the same household, let alone trying to communicate
00:07:31 on stage together.
00:07:32 So we warrant and solicit your prayers for us this week.
00:07:38 And part of the tension, part of the issue of communicating together is the reality that
00:07:46 we are so different.
00:07:47 Y'all, we are different.
00:07:49 I'm talking about completely different.
00:07:52 I'm not just talking about the obvious difference of gender and melanin.
00:07:56 I'm talking about our personalities are different.
00:08:01 Our preferences are different.
00:08:03 The way we process things are completely, not even just different, on opposite ends
00:08:09 of the pendulum.
00:08:10 I'll never forget we were talking with a therapist.
00:08:13 Yes, y'all pastors, go to a therapist.
00:08:16 You should thank God for that.
00:08:17 And I'll never forget this therapist having us do some testing.
00:08:21 He said, "I want y'all both to take this test."
00:08:23 And it was this personality test.
00:08:24 It was all these questions we had to fill out.
00:08:27 And then we finished the test.
00:08:28 And it's one of those tests that you can't trick the test by the questions it asks.
00:08:32 And then when it finishes the test, it gives you like a little graph with these lines that
00:08:36 go like this, you know, depending on how you answered it.
00:08:39 And I'll never forget the therapist coming and bringing my test and Pastor Taylor's test.
00:08:43 And he said, "Before I explain the data," he said, "Do you notice anything here?"
00:08:48 And I looked at those two tests and every place the line went up for me, it went down
00:08:52 for her.
00:08:53 Every place the line was down for her, it was up for me.
00:08:57 We are completely different.
00:08:59 I'm an introvert.
00:09:00 She's an extrovert.
00:09:01 Come on.
00:09:02 I mean, I love going out.
00:09:04 Let's go to the new restaurant in the city.
00:09:06 She is a homebody.
00:09:08 I love the city.
00:09:09 She loves the country.
00:09:11 We are completely opposite.
00:09:13 But there is one difference that I've never told y'all as a church family that I'm going
00:09:17 to tell you today.
00:09:19 And this one has caused some heated and colorful conversations in our home.
00:09:24 I am a mild, emphasis on mild, hoarder.
00:09:32 I'm not like TV show bad, but I'm a mild hoarder.
00:09:37 She is an OCD organizer.
00:09:40 I'm a mild hoarder.
00:09:41 And let me tell you why.
00:09:42 I don't know what is wrong with me.
00:09:43 We hadn't processed this in therapy.
00:09:46 But for me, there's documents and papers that I just have to keep.
00:09:50 I don't know why.
00:09:51 I just keep stuff.
00:09:52 And then later it's going to exonerate me from something.
00:09:54 I can pull out this receipt from Chipotle and say, "Uh-uh.
00:09:57 I didn't do it.
00:09:58 Look at her."
00:09:59 I just keep papers and all kinds of stuff.
00:10:01 She is different.
00:10:02 She is an OCD.
00:10:03 I'm talking about crazy, wonderful, beautiful organizer.
00:10:10 Everything has to be in its place.
00:10:12 Everything has to be set a certain way.
00:10:14 So imagine the joy that came to her heart last year when this closet organizing company
00:10:19 came to Pastor Taylor and they said, "Hey, we're a new closet organizing company and
00:10:24 we're moving our headquarters here to Dallas from California."
00:10:28 They said, "We want to offer you our services for free.
00:10:31 We're going to organize your entire closet."
00:10:33 She started shouting like we won the lottery.
00:10:36 And I'll never forget these closet organizers.
00:10:38 They came in the house and they were there the entire day.
00:10:41 They only came out to go to the container store.
00:10:43 And I remember them, I heard all kinds of noises in there and things were moving.
00:10:47 And then finally, like an episode of HGTV, her and the closet organizers came up to me
00:10:51 and said, "Are you ready to see it?"
00:10:53 I said, "Let's see it."
00:10:56 And I walked in there, expected to not even be impressed.
00:10:59 And y'all, when I walked up in that closet, it took my breath away.
00:11:04 It was immaculate.
00:11:06 All the hangers matched.
00:11:08 I think they had organized it to where there was the same amount of space between each
00:11:12 one.
00:11:13 The sneakers were with the sneakers and the boots were with the boots.
00:11:16 It was incredible.
00:11:17 It smelled like pine soil in there.
00:11:18 It was unbelievable.
00:11:21 Everything was color coordinated.
00:11:22 I had tears in my eyes.
00:11:23 I said, "Thank you so much.
00:11:24 This is beautiful."
00:11:25 And then I walked out of the bedroom, but then I noticed something in my peripheral
00:11:32 vision.
00:11:33 I saw like a pile of clothes in the corner of the bedroom to which I said to Pastor Taylor,
00:11:39 I said, "Uh-uh, what's that pile of clothes right there in the corner?"
00:11:43 She stepped in front of the pile and said, "Huh?"
00:11:47 I said, "What is that pile of clothes over there in the corner?"
00:11:53 She said, "Well, babe, I told the closet organizers that you don't really wear those clothes.
00:12:01 So they don't have to put those clothes back into the closet.
00:12:05 So we decided that you should get rid of those."
00:12:09 I said, "Really?"
00:12:10 I said, "Can I look at my clothes that y'all decided to get rid of?"
00:12:17 She's like, "Babe, let me see."
00:12:18 So I go over to it.
00:12:19 Y'all think like preacher's make-up stories.
00:12:21 This is for real.
00:12:22 This is for real.
00:12:23 I'm just going to show you some of the items that were in the pile, okay?
00:12:26 Some of the items that were in the pile that they were about to throw away, y'all.
00:12:30 Get rid of.
00:12:31 This was one of the items that was in the pile right here.
00:12:33 This right here was in the pile.
00:12:37 Now, come on, y'all.
00:12:39 This is a great pair of pants.
00:12:41 This was a jam not too long ago for me.
00:12:44 Now, you know how fashion is cyclical right now?
00:12:46 It's the baggy jeans.
00:12:47 What if they bring the skinny jeans back?
00:12:50 I don't know if I'm going to need these again.
00:12:51 I see you shaking your head.
00:12:52 No, you don't know what I might need these for, okay?
00:12:56 We're a creative church.
00:12:57 We might have to do a Michael Jackson bad spoof, and I could be like, "Don't worry about
00:13:00 the costume.
00:13:01 I already got the pants."
00:13:02 Right here, this was in the pile.
00:13:03 That made me mad.
00:13:04 Another thing that was in the pile was this right here.
00:13:10 Y'all, she put my college t-shirt in the pile.
00:13:15 This is my alma mater, Southwestern Assemblies of God University.
00:13:19 She was going to get rid of it, and watch this, benefits of being a mild hoarder.
00:13:23 I just found out last week they changed the name of my university to Nelson University.
00:13:29 This is a collector's item they're about to throw away.
00:13:33 Throwing away my Under Armour, Sagu shirt.
00:13:37 But the last one, woo, still sensitive about it.
00:13:41 This one, I can't believe this was in the pile.
00:13:46 Y'all, they tried to get rid of my Harlem Globetrotters jersey.
00:13:56 Now, this is about to take some of y'all out.
00:13:59 This ain't just a Harlem Globetrotters jersey.
00:14:03 You need to know what brand made this Harlem Globetrotters jersey.
00:14:07 If you're young, you ain't going to know what we're talking about.
00:14:10 But those of you who are older, you're going to know exactly how old and how long I've
00:14:14 had this jersey.
00:14:15 Y'all, this ain't just a Harlem Globetrotters jersey.
00:14:17 Y'all, this is a platinum FUBU.
00:14:22 Young people don't know what I'm talking about.
00:14:24 This is a platinum FUBU Harlem Globetrotters jersey.
00:14:32 And the old folks that know FUBU know how long this has been in my closet and shall
00:14:39 remain in my closet.
00:14:44 That is the question that we have to ask.
00:14:46 There's a method to my madness.
00:14:49 Why in the world are these items still in my closet, taking up valuable space for other
00:15:01 items?
00:15:03 These items are still in my closet because I have not come to the realization that it
00:15:10 is time for a necessary ending.
00:15:16 The reason they're still in my closet is because I, like some of you, have this human tendency
00:15:23 to hold onto things longer than I should.
00:15:28 And it's funny when you're talking about a FUBU jersey.
00:15:31 We can laugh about it.
00:15:33 It's not so funny when it's a toxic relationship that needs to end.
00:15:38 It's not so funny when it is a job that you know, your employees know, and your direct
00:15:44 report knows your season at that place of employment has come to an end.
00:15:49 We know you hate your job.
00:15:51 We know you're over it.
00:15:52 But because you are scared of the unknown, you will stay in a job that you do not like,
00:15:58 that you have outgrown because you'd rather have the comfort of being in that job than
00:16:03 to step out and start with the necessary ending.
00:16:08 Oh, it's funny when you're talking about clothes.
00:16:11 It's not so funny when you're talking about a family member that you have helped, but
00:16:16 now you're realizing that the help is hurting them because you are no longer helping.
00:16:20 You are now enabling a behavior that has gone on for years after years after years.
00:16:28 All of us have a tendency to hold onto things much longer than we should.
00:16:36 And I came to tell you today, endings are necessary.
00:16:41 Would you look at the person next to you in this room at the echo location and say, "Oh
00:16:45 Lord, I hope you know that endings are necessary."
00:16:51 Ladies and gentlemen, my assignment is very clear and I dare say even simple today because
00:16:56 today in this message, I want to normalize necessary endings.
00:17:03 That's what I want to normalize today, necessary endings.
00:17:05 In fact, let me do like we do.
00:17:06 Can we normalize necessary endings?
00:17:12 Can we do that today?
00:17:13 In a culture that is trying to normalize things that are actually not biblical, can I stand
00:17:18 on this pulpit today and tell you that necessary endings are biblical, that necessary endings
00:17:25 are a part of life and that God is not just the God of new beginnings, he is also a God
00:17:32 of necessary endings.
00:17:35 See the reason why some of y'all are just clapping with that little cute golf clap and
00:17:38 you don't know whether you can say amen to that is because we love a God of new beginnings.
00:17:43 We love every January, "Oh, this is my year.
00:17:46 I'm telling you I'm about to step into the new."
00:17:48 Oh, we love the God that'll start something fresh and we're like, "Oh God, do what you
00:17:53 do and do it new."
00:17:55 We love the God of new beginnings, not realizing that new beginnings are often preceded by
00:18:01 necessary endings.
00:18:03 You can't step into the new beginning until you first have a necessary ending.
00:18:09 And could it be possible that the reason you haven't stepped into your new beginning is
00:18:15 because you haven't had the courage to make some necessary endings?
00:18:20 See necessary endings are often hard to fathom or comprehend because they actually are contrary
00:18:25 to some virtues that are necessary in life.
00:18:28 I'm talking about virtues like perseverance.
00:18:31 Let me know if you're going to receive some things, you just got to persevere.
00:18:34 I can't stand people that as soon as it gets difficult, they're like, "Oh, I'm out.
00:18:37 I can't do it."
00:18:38 No, no, no.
00:18:39 You're going to have to have some perseverance if you're ever going to take hold of what
00:18:41 God has for you.
00:18:43 That is a great virtue to stick to it.
00:18:46 Perseverance is great.
00:18:47 I'm talking about virtues like hope.
00:18:48 Don't you love hopeful people that no matter what's going down, they're like, "Oh, it's
00:18:51 all right.
00:18:52 It's going to get better.
00:18:53 I mean, it could be raining.
00:18:54 It's all right.
00:18:55 You know, I've been trying to moisturize anyway."
00:18:57 Just people that are hopeful, that's a great virtue.
00:19:00 Virtues like commitment and sticking to it, all those virtues are great, but when you
00:19:04 have those virtues and it comes to something that needs to end, it's hard for you to realize,
00:19:10 "This is something that I need to let go of.
00:19:13 This is actually something that I need to give up on."
00:19:17 And yet there is a time for a necessary ending.
00:19:21 I don't know about that, Robert.
00:19:22 Okay, well, let me ask you something.
00:19:24 How many of you, a little survey here to echo, how many of you are still BFF with your BFF
00:19:32 from kindergarten?
00:19:33 Can I see your hand, you're still BFF?
00:19:34 Okay, I see like a few, but shout out to y'all.
00:19:39 Okay, here's a better one.
00:19:42 How many of you are married to the person that you went on your first date with?
00:19:48 Can I see your hand here and an echo?
00:19:51 Married?
00:19:52 Oh, see, I lost hands.
00:19:53 I lost a whole lot of hands right there.
00:19:56 How many of you want to give a praise break that you are not married or dating the person
00:20:00 that you...
00:20:04 That's what Facebook is for.
00:20:06 Oh, thank God.
00:20:09 That's what Instagram is for.
00:20:11 Oh, thank you, Jesus.
00:20:14 I didn't see it then, but I see it now.
00:20:20 So you understood that was a necessary ending.
00:20:25 Necessary endings are a part of life.
00:20:28 See, part of us, the pain is you don't have a framework for necessary endings.
00:20:33 You think every relationship is supposed to last forever, and that's why you get disappointed.
00:20:37 So if nothing happens at this message day other than you understanding the framework
00:20:41 that life has seasons and life has cycles, that'll help you with the pain of a relationship
00:20:47 that needs to end.
00:20:48 I'll never forget when I was 16 years old, I went to a pastors and leadership conference,
00:20:54 and they had a session for senior pastors only, and Bishop T.D.
00:20:57 Jakes was speaking at the session.
00:20:59 And I snuck in.
00:21:00 I wasn't even a senior pastor.
00:21:01 I'm like 16 years old in a long Steve Harvey pseudo.
00:21:04 And I remember sitting in that session, and I'll never forget there was a Q&A segment
00:21:09 in the session.
00:21:10 There was a Q&A segment.
00:21:11 I'll never forget this pastor coming up, and his voice was shaking, and tears were coming
00:21:18 down his face.
00:21:19 And he was asking Bishop Jakes, "How do you handle the pain of people that were on your
00:21:25 staff or on your team, and now they left, and the relationship is over?"
00:21:31 And the way he said it, you could hear the pain in his voice, and you could hear other
00:21:35 pastors in the room.
00:21:36 I'll never forget it.
00:21:37 I could hear the pain that was palpable in that room.
00:21:41 I'll never forget what Bishop said.
00:21:43 He said, "Pastoring is like being a bus driver."
00:21:47 He said, "When you're driving a bus at every stop, people will get on, and people will
00:21:54 get off.
00:21:55 But don't let who got on or who got off stop you from driving the route that God told you
00:22:01 to drive."
00:22:02 I'll never forget that right there.
00:22:03 I didn't know at 16 I was going to need that a little bit later.
00:22:10 But he was trying to get him to understand that, yes, the pain is real, but necessary
00:22:16 endings are a part of life.
00:22:19 If you don't want to take my word for it, look at Ecclesiastes chapter 3.
00:22:23 These are words from the wisest man who has ever walked the face of this earth.
00:22:29 His name is Solomon.
00:22:30 And look at what Solomon in his wisdom is telling us.
00:22:34 There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under the heavens.
00:22:42 Now he's about to go on a long list of beginnings and necessary endings.
00:22:48 Can we turn Sunday morning into Bible class?
00:22:51 I'm going to read the beginning, and I want you here in Toyota and Echo, I want you to
00:22:56 read the ending, okay?
00:22:57 Y'all ready?
00:22:58 I need participation, 100% participation.
00:22:59 Here we go.
00:23:00 Look at what Solomon says.
00:23:01 He says, "A time to be born and a time to die.
00:23:04 A time to plant and a time to grow.
00:23:07 A time to kill and a time to kill.
00:23:10 A time to tear down and a time to build.
00:23:13 A time to weep and a time to weep.
00:23:16 A time to mourn and a time to mourn.
00:23:19 A time to scatter stones and a time to scatter stones.
00:23:23 A time to embrace and a time to embrace.
00:23:26 A time to search and a time to keep up.
00:23:32 A time to keep and a time to tear and a time to be silent and pause."
00:23:41 Some of y'all would just help your relationship right there.
00:23:45 If you just knew when to shut up and when to say something.
00:23:50 I heard one person say, "You can tell a good marriage by how many teeth marks the couples
00:23:55 have on their tongue."
00:23:56 Some of you get that tomorrow.
00:24:00 That's couples that have learned to shut up that you don't have to say it.
00:24:04 Anyway, I digress.
00:24:05 "A time to love and a time to be.
00:24:09 A time for war and a time for peace.
00:24:13 A time for the chiefs to win a Super Bowl and a time for peace."
00:24:18 Hey, that's what Solomon said.
00:24:20 That's what Solomon...
00:24:21 I love watching y'all's faces.
00:24:26 Some of y'all are like, "Uh-uh, I ain't reading that."
00:24:27 And some of y'all are like, "Is that in the Bible?
00:24:28 I didn't know."
00:24:29 I love our church.
00:24:35 I love that Solomon gives us this wisdom of beginnings and necessary endings.
00:24:42 But here's my beef with Solomon.
00:24:44 He doesn't tell us when.
00:24:47 I wish Solomon would have gave us another chapter and say, "Hey, here's when you shut
00:24:52 up and here's when you say something.
00:24:55 Here's when you do this and here's when you don't do this."
00:24:58 Solomon, could you at least give us another chapter on the when?
00:25:01 Because I feel like I could win, W-I-N, if I knew the when I was supposed to do it.
00:25:07 Don't let me be tearing something up when I'm supposed to be mending it.
00:25:10 Don't let me start uprooting something when I'm supposed to be planning it.
00:25:13 I wish you would have given me a when, but then I realized Solomon's job was not to give
00:25:18 us the when because the wisdom is understanding that God has a system of seasons and he wants
00:25:24 you to rely on him and listen to the Holy Spirit to know this is my season to plan and
00:25:29 this is my season to uproot and this is my season to fight and this is my season to stand
00:25:34 back and let the Lord fight my battle.
00:25:36 This is my season to be a defender and this is my season to let God defend me.
00:25:40 He says, "I want you to trust the Holy Spirit to know the when," but it starts with a framework
00:25:47 of understanding that God does everything in seasons.
00:25:52 There are beginnings and there are necessary endings, beginnings and necessary endings,
00:25:58 and you know you're getting healthy when you have an expectation of an expiration date.
00:26:05 You're getting healthy when you have a healthy expectation of an expiration date.
00:26:10 Come on, you know how it is when you get that milk.
00:26:13 There's two types of people.
00:26:16 That milk, you see the date, it's five days past the date, you just go straight to the
00:26:21 trash and throw that thing away.
00:26:23 Then there's y'all's other crazy people.
00:26:26 Five days past the date.
00:26:30 They don't know it.
00:26:31 Oh my God.
00:26:32 What you got to smell it for?
00:26:35 They already printed it on there.
00:26:38 Because many of us need real proof that it is expired.
00:26:44 We don't want to trust the sign that's right in our face.
00:26:49 We got to wait until it starts smelling bad.
00:26:52 We got to wait until we see more and more childhood issues in the relationship.
00:26:58 We don't trust when there's an expiration to it.
00:27:04 There's a time, there's a season for beginnings and for endings.
00:27:11 God is the alpha and the omega.
00:27:16 He's the beginning and the end.
00:27:19 He's the first and the last.
00:27:22 If I'm going to trust him being the beginning, I must also trust when he's letting me know
00:27:29 that this relationship has come to an end.
00:27:33 It's interesting because I've always looked at the book of Genesis as a book of beginnings,
00:27:37 which it is, but I'm studying this week and I realized that even within the beginning,
00:27:43 there were endings.
00:27:45 Even in the beginning, God was setting a framework for necessary endings.
00:27:51 Prove it.
00:27:52 Let there be light.
00:27:54 Light shows up.
00:27:56 He then does what?
00:27:58 Creates the light from the darkness, creates the sun so there is day and there is night.
00:28:04 What is that?
00:28:05 A necessary ending.
00:28:06 Can you imagine if it was daylight all day, every day?
00:28:10 But God says, "No, there must be a necessary ending," and he did it in the beginning.
00:28:15 He starts separating the vault of the sky from the vault beneath.
00:28:19 He starts separating the water from the land.
00:28:22 I am thankful that there is a separation between the water and the land.
00:28:27 That's when it gets scary.
00:28:28 If that water ever crosses over the separation and the boundary that God set up, that's when
00:28:35 we get nervous and that's when we get panicked because God understands there has to be a
00:28:40 necessary ending.
00:28:42 He did it in creation.
00:28:43 When you get to the crib, read Genesis chapter one, verse number 11.
00:28:47 Even in vegetation, he starts creating the trees that are going to be in the land, but
00:28:52 notice what he says.
00:28:53 He says, "I'm going to create trees that are seed bearing and fruit that is seed bearing."
00:28:58 In other words, God says, "I'm creating a tree and I'm going to speak it into existence,
00:29:04 but I ain't going to keep coming down here and saying, 'Let there be a tree' every day.
00:29:08 I am creating within the tree and the fruit a system of beginning and end."
00:29:16 Beginning and end.
00:29:17 He does it with Adam and Eve.
00:29:20 Notice this, God, the first wedding coordinator, sets them up in the most beautiful venue,
00:29:28 the Garden of Eden.
00:29:29 He does the first wedding ceremony with Adam and with Eve.
00:29:34 I love it because as soon as Adam saw Eve, after God took that rib from him in his sleep,
00:29:39 he says, "Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh."
00:29:43 The Hebrew is actually a song.
00:29:44 Homeboy starts singing when he saw her.
00:29:47 That's how you know you're really in love.
00:29:48 When that girl makes you sing, he said, "Bone, bone, bone, bone, bone."
00:29:53 That's when he just started singing.
00:29:55 I'm taking all y'all back today.
00:29:57 Again, the young people are, "Huh?"
00:30:00 Google all of it after service, okay?
00:30:02 Fubu, bone, thugs, and harming.
00:30:06 Anyway, but here's what blows my mind.
00:30:10 God is joining man and woman together.
00:30:14 You ever notice verse 24 of Genesis chapter 2?
00:30:18 Look at what it says.
00:30:21 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become
00:30:30 one flesh.
00:30:32 Huh?
00:30:33 This is Adam and Eve.
00:30:36 What you talking about?
00:30:38 Leaving a father and a mother?
00:30:41 Adam ain't got no father.
00:30:44 They ain't got no mother.
00:30:48 God, that's you.
00:30:49 It seemed like you should have said that for later on when there was more in creation.
00:30:55 But no, he's establishing not only the context of marriage between a man and a woman, he's
00:31:01 also establishing that before the two can become one flesh, there must be a ending before
00:31:06 there is a new beginning.
00:31:09 The ending is that you have to leave your mother and your father and their systems and
00:31:17 their way of doing things and their family culture, and you are now joined to somebody
00:31:22 else, and the two of you becoming one is a new beginning that must be preceded by a necessary
00:31:30 ending.
00:31:31 See, the reason why some marriages are struggling and can't have a new beginning is because
00:31:36 there was never ... And so your mother-in-law still has an opinion.
00:31:42 "Let me tell you what he needs to do."
00:31:46 And you wonder why there can't be a new beginning.
00:31:48 There wasn't a ending there.
00:31:52 But every new beginning is preceded by a necessary ending.
00:31:58 I feel like I'm preaching better than y'all are talking in here today.
00:32:02 And I realize in a message like this that interpretations are going crazy in here today.
00:32:08 Oh, I can tell, especially in a culture where the divorce rate is 50%.
00:32:12 I can see some of y'all going, "Necessary ending?
00:32:15 Say less.
00:32:16 I'm about to file today, pastor."
00:32:25 And maybe, maybe that needs to happen.
00:32:30 It's tragic when that happens.
00:32:34 But can I tell you, sometimes it's not the relationship that needs to end.
00:32:40 It is the behavior of the people in the relationship that needs a necessary ending.
00:32:47 You told me to say it.
00:32:48 I knew they weren't going to say amen.
00:32:49 I knew they weren't going to say amen.
00:32:52 It's much easier to end the relationship so it seems than to end the behavior that is
00:32:58 causing problems and toxicity within the relationship.
00:33:03 And more often than not, we would rather just end the relationship than allow the Holy Spirit
00:33:08 to do the work on us so you can have a new person in the relationship.
00:33:15 But that takes work.
00:33:17 So I'll let you make the interpretation.
00:33:19 I'm not saying that maybe the relationship should end, but I'm wondering if it's just
00:33:23 the behavior in the relationship that needs to end.
00:33:27 I'm talking about a necessary ending on avoiding issues.
00:33:33 A necessary ending on fighting unfair and attacking the person instead of attacking
00:33:40 the issue.
00:33:41 You always, you always, instead of attacking the actual issue.
00:33:47 I'm talking about a necessary ending to gaslighting.
00:33:54 A necessary ending to not owning where you were the problem in the relationship.
00:34:01 A necessary ending to narcissism.
00:34:07 Because you had the nerve to get in the relationship and think that that relationship was there
00:34:10 to serve you.
00:34:12 And boo-boo, life is not about you.
00:34:15 Any good relationship, any great marriage are two people who are fighting to serve the
00:34:20 other one better.
00:34:23 I love those six claps.
00:34:25 I love it.
00:34:26 You're like, "What?
00:34:27 What about my needs?
00:34:28 What about my feelings?
00:34:29 Serve him.
00:34:30 Serve her."
00:34:31 It goes contrary to everything that we feel.
00:34:35 Necessary endings sometimes need to happen in the behavior within the relationship.
00:34:41 And that's hard to do because that takes work.
00:34:46 It takes work.
00:34:47 Work.
00:34:48 It reminds me of the children of Israel.
00:34:50 Remember the children of Israel?
00:34:52 They were in a toxic relationship with Egypt.
00:34:54 You know, it was toxic.
00:34:56 I would call slavery toxic.
00:35:01 And God sets them free by his power, splits water for them to get the victory.
00:35:08 And here they are set free from that dysfunctional abuse and that relationship.
00:35:16 And here they are walking en route to the promise.
00:35:19 And they had the nerve to do like some of us, "Oh, wasn't it better back then?"
00:35:25 They wanted to go back.
00:35:26 I'm going to give you some homework.
00:35:29 This title is actually the title of a book by Dr. Henry Clout called Necessary Endings.
00:35:35 It's a business book.
00:35:36 And he says, "One of the biggest reasons that people don't know how to do necessary endings
00:35:40 in business is because of the fear of the unknown, the fear of what's ahead."
00:35:45 They were afraid.
00:35:46 They didn't know where Moses was leading them.
00:35:49 So they said, "Maybe it was easier in Egypt."
00:35:52 They start romanticizing.
00:35:53 "Well, he wasn't that bad.
00:35:58 She wasn't that crazy.
00:35:59 I mean, no, she didn't damage the whole car.
00:36:03 She just busted out the windows.
00:36:06 She's just passionate."
00:36:07 They start romanticizing the past.
00:36:14 And here's what I love about God is God is trying to get them healthy and get them whole
00:36:19 in the wilderness.
00:36:20 And do you remember how he did it?
00:36:21 He had several ways.
00:36:22 One of the ways he did it is he would let manna, Panera Bread, fell from the sky every
00:36:31 single day to sustain them in the wilderness for 40 years.
00:36:37 All they had to do, grab that manna and eat, and they were sustained for 40 years until
00:36:45 one day, Joshua chapter 5, look at what happens.
00:36:50 After 40 years of an ongoing miracle of just getting the bread and eating it, it says the
00:36:56 day after the Passover, that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land, unleavened
00:37:02 bread and roasted grain.
00:37:04 The manna stopped.
00:37:06 The day after they ate this food from the land, there was no longer any manna for the
00:37:11 Israelites.
00:37:12 But that year, they ate the produce of Canaan.
00:37:16 Forty years, take the bread, eat it.
00:37:21 God didn't even give an announcement, "Hey, you better get a whole lot of that bread today.
00:37:24 It's about to change tomorrow."
00:37:25 No.
00:37:28 Necessary ending.
00:37:29 Why?
00:37:30 You're about to leave the wilderness and step into promise.
00:37:36 And as you step into promise, that is a necessary ending of collecting bread.
00:37:43 Now you've got to do the work of cultivating the land that I gave you.
00:37:48 You want the blessing of the land without understanding the work it is going to take
00:37:53 to cultivate the land that I'm giving you.
00:37:57 You want the houses that you didn't build, not knowing you're going to have to pay property
00:38:01 tax on the house that is given to you.
00:38:05 And I wish we could get a revelation that every great relationship takes work.
00:38:10 If you don't want to work, don't be in a relationship.
00:38:13 It's going to take work.
00:38:15 It will not fall from the sky.
00:38:17 You're going to have to cultivate it.
00:38:19 You're going to have to tend it.
00:38:20 You're going to have to watch some things.
00:38:22 You're going to have to pull up some things.
00:38:24 He's teaching them that the manna has to end for you to step into what I have for you.
00:38:32 I could go through the whole Bible.
00:38:35 One of my favorites is with Abraham and Lot.
00:38:39 Remember Father Abraham had many sons?
00:38:42 Many sons has Father Abraham?
00:38:44 God gave him a word to step out in faith and Abraham goes, but he brought somebody he shouldn't
00:38:51 have brought.
00:38:52 His little big headed nephew, Lot.
00:38:55 Read when you get to the decree of Genesis chapter 13.
00:39:00 Here's Lot and Abraham getting in fights, family, in conflict, and the land couldn't
00:39:08 sustain them.
00:39:10 And Abraham has to have the courage to look at Lot and say, "Hey, we need a necessary
00:39:18 ending."
00:39:21 Sometimes you have to let go of what is killing you, even if it kills you to let it go.
00:39:27 He says, "Lot, we need a necessary ending."
00:39:34 Look at the blues clues.
00:39:36 The fighting is showing it.
00:39:37 And I love it because not only does he have the courage to have the necessary ending,
00:39:43 he has the humility to say, "You pick.
00:39:47 You go to the left, I'll go to the right.
00:39:49 You go to the right, I'll go to the left.
00:39:50 We just got to end this thing.
00:39:52 If it was me, I'd be like, 'Hold up.
00:39:54 God called me, not you.
00:39:55 I'm going this way.'"
00:39:57 You figure out where you're going to go.
00:40:00 And watch what happens after Lot leaves.
00:40:03 Can we look at it real quick?
00:40:07 Genesis 13 says, "The Lord said to Abraham, 'When?'
00:40:11 'After.'
00:40:12 'When?'
00:40:13 'After.'
00:40:14 'When?'
00:40:15 'After.'
00:40:16 'After Lot had parted from him.
00:40:19 Look around from where you are to the north and the south, to the east and the west.
00:40:24 All the land that you see, I will give to you and your offspring forever.
00:40:29 I will make your offspring like the dust of the earth so that if anyone could count the
00:40:34 dust, then your offspring could be counted.
00:40:36 Go walk through the length and the breadth of the land for I am giving it to you.'"
00:40:42 That song that you sang in Sunday school about Father Abraham having many sons and him having
00:40:48 descendants like that came after a necessary ending.
00:40:53 God didn't give that until Lot left.
00:40:56 I'm wondering what promise you haven't stepped into because you haven't had a necessary ending.
00:41:02 And I'm praying that you would leave this service today and have the courage to tell
00:41:08 somebody or tell something, "This has got to end."
00:41:16 Every new beginning is preceded by a necessary ending.
00:41:22 I hear some of y'all saying, "Well, pastor, that's the Old Testament.
00:41:25 You got anything in the New Testament?"
00:41:27 "Oh, the scripture I read."
00:41:31 Jesus is with his disciples.
00:41:35 This is the last moments he will have with them.
00:41:39 You got to read it when you get to the crib.
00:41:41 John chapter 14, 15, 17, these are his last moments with his disciples, his inner crew.
00:41:50 He takes them to an upper room to do a last teaching.
00:41:54 He prepares the table so they can have a last supper.
00:41:59 Why is it the last?
00:42:01 Because it's a necessary ending.
00:42:04 He was there with them for three years.
00:42:10 And it's so funny because he had been dropping hints the whole time saying, "Hey, this ain't
00:42:15 going to last forever.
00:42:17 I'm going to leave."
00:42:19 But now is the climactic moment where it's becoming a reality.
00:42:22 He says, "I got to go.
00:42:26 I have to depart."
00:42:29 And it's interesting to me because in your last moments, you talk about the things that
00:42:34 are most important.
00:42:36 And what does Jesus choose to talk about in the last moments of his life?
00:42:41 Relationships.
00:42:43 He talks about relationships.
00:42:45 In John 15, verses 1 through 11, he talks about how they relate to him.
00:42:50 In verses 12 through 17, he talks about how they relate to other believers, each other.
00:42:57 And then in verses 18 through 27, he talks about how as disciples, they relate to the
00:43:02 world.
00:43:04 Don't miss that order.
00:43:06 First how you as believers relate to me, then how you relate to each other, and then how
00:43:11 you relate to the world.
00:43:14 That order is strategic.
00:43:17 Maybe the reason we don't know how to relate to the world is because we as believers don't
00:43:22 even know how to relate to each other.
00:43:25 And the reason that we can't relate to each other is because we have skipped the first
00:43:28 relationship is our relationship with him.
00:43:32 And look at how he defines this beautiful relationship.
00:43:36 He says, "I am the true vine.
00:43:39 You are the branches."
00:43:42 Those of you who read your Bible know that this is the seventh I am statement of Jesus
00:43:47 disclosing who he is.
00:43:50 He said, "I'm the bread."
00:43:52 He said, "I'm the light of the world."
00:43:55 He said, "I am the door.
00:43:56 I am the good shepherd."
00:43:57 He said, "I am the resurrection and the life."
00:44:00 He says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life."
00:44:05 And now he's saying, "I am the true vine."
00:44:10 That must have made their minds go crazy because Israel had always been pictured as the vine.
00:44:16 But Jesus is saying, "No, no, no.
00:44:18 I'm the true vine.
00:44:20 I'm the real one."
00:44:21 And then he says, "You are the branches.
00:44:27 I'm the vine.
00:44:30 You are the branches.
00:44:32 This is you.
00:44:34 This is me."
00:44:35 I got this today because I'll do anything to illustrate a point.
00:44:41 And so because I disconnected it, this was a necessary ending for this branch.
00:44:50 But I want you to see this branch so that you can have a visual picture of you.
00:44:57 I am the vine.
00:45:00 You are the branch.
00:45:03 The problem with this vine, I'm sorry, this branch, it's not connected.
00:45:11 It's been disconnected from its source.
00:45:13 How many know this branch can have high hopes to produce fruit?
00:45:18 Ain't gonna happen.
00:45:21 This branch could come to every social service that we have, it's not gonna produce fruit.
00:45:27 This branch could hear every sermon from the greatest preachers and the greatest orators,
00:45:32 it's not gonna produce fruit.
00:45:34 This branch could go to all kinds of discipleship classes, have a deliverance class, it's not
00:45:40 gonna produce fruit.
00:45:42 You're gonna get it in a minute.
00:45:43 This branch could be around other branches that are still connected to the vine and that
00:45:47 are actually producing fruit.
00:45:49 It's still not gonna produce fruit.
00:45:50 You know why?
00:45:51 Because it's been disconnected from its source.
00:45:54 The only way it can produce fruit is if it stays connected to its source.
00:45:59 Hear me, I'm all for discipleship classes.
00:46:01 I want our church to grow and have all kinds of breakout sessions and classes and things
00:46:06 you can download, but none of that will ever take the place of you staying connected to
00:46:11 the vine.
00:46:12 That is our primary objective.
00:46:14 And Jesus in the last moments of his life says, "Whatever you do, don't let anybody
00:46:18 break your connection.
00:46:20 Stay connected to me.
00:46:22 Stay plugged into me, because if you stay plugged into me, you will naturally produce
00:46:27 fruit.
00:46:28 It's just gonna happen organically.
00:46:29 You gotta stay connected, because when you're disconnected, it is impossible to bear fruit."
00:46:36 And I wonder how many people this is your life and you think if you can just get around
00:46:40 other people who are bearing fruit and other people who are connected, that it's gonna
00:46:43 transfer onto you.
00:46:44 But I came to tell you nothing can take the place of you connecting with God, of you spending
00:46:50 time with him alone, not just on Sunday, but Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
00:46:56 and Saturday.
00:46:57 You gotta stay connected.
00:47:03 I'm sorry, because I hear so many people saying, "Well, why is it not working?
00:47:08 Why can't the church do more?"
00:47:09 Yeah, we can do more, but none of this is gonna take the place of you not being connected.
00:47:15 You gotta stay connected.
00:47:16 This thing can't produce fruit.
00:47:18 The only way this thing can produce fruit is if I was to take some fruit and some clear
00:47:23 tape and tape it on there.
00:47:26 I almost did it.
00:47:27 Y'all know I'm crazy.
00:47:28 I almost was gonna set y'all up for this sermon, and I was gonna tape some little fruit to
00:47:33 this clear tape, and I was gonna position it on my Instagram page just in the perfect
00:47:38 way, and I was gonna post prior to this message, "Ooh, got my first fruit on my tree."
00:47:44 And then I was gonna reveal to y'all in service that it wasn't real.
00:47:48 It was fake fruit that was just put on, and I wanted to trick you into thinking it was
00:47:53 real fruit on the 'gram.
00:47:54 Oh, ain't that a picture of a lot of people today?
00:47:57 We got a lot of folks who have curated social media to make it look like they got fruit,
00:48:02 but baby, you can't fake fruit.
00:48:03 Either you got it or you don't, and the only way you can get real fruit is to stay connected
00:48:10 to the vine.
00:48:11 I refuse to use all kinds of filters to fake fruit.
00:48:12 I wanna be so connected to them that it's real, and my kids see the fruit, and my wife
00:48:21 sees the fruit.
00:48:22 Oh, not because I'm good, but because I'm connected to the vine.
00:48:30 Just stay connected.
00:48:33 You can't fake fruit.
00:48:35 Stay connected.
00:48:37 Stay connected.
00:48:38 That's the only way you can have fruit in your life is to stay connected.
00:48:41 Watch this.
00:48:42 Even when you start producing fruit, don't get it twisted.
00:48:46 It's the vine that produces the fruit.
00:48:51 Branches just bear fruit.
00:48:54 Vines produce the fruit.
00:48:56 Don't ever get it twisted and think that just because you're bearing it, you produced it.
00:49:00 It's the energy that's coming from the vine that makes me bear it.
00:49:05 That's why you gotta stay humble when God starts blessing you and God starts opening
00:49:09 doors.
00:49:10 It ain't just because you're bearing the fruit that you produce the fruit.
00:49:11 That's why you better give all glory and honor and praise to the true vine.
00:49:12 Oh, if I wasn't connected to him, I would've lost my mind.
00:49:13 If I wasn't connected to him, I wouldn't know how to be a husband.
00:49:14 I wouldn't know how to be a father.
00:49:15 It ain't my energy.
00:49:16 It is the energy from the vine.
00:49:36 People start bearing fruit, then they start bragging.
00:49:41 You thought it was your intellect.
00:49:42 You thought it was your degrees.
00:49:43 You thought it was your hard work and your effort.
00:49:47 Don't ever get it twisted, boo-boo.
00:49:50 Branches just bear fruit.
00:49:52 They don't produce it.
00:49:56 Look at what Jesus says.
00:49:58 I am the true vine.
00:50:02 You're the branch.
00:50:04 My life flowing to you will make you bear fruit.
00:50:11 You're bearing it, but you didn't produce it.
00:50:13 But then he says something else that breaks my heart.
00:50:17 He says, "My father is the gardener."
00:50:24 It's the only one of the seven self-disclosing I am statements where he now introduces the
00:50:31 father into the metaphor.
00:50:34 He says, "I'm the true vine.
00:50:35 You are the branches, but my father is the gardener, and the gardener has a job of creating
00:50:45 necessary endings."
00:50:49 If it's not bearing fruit, it gets cut.
00:50:55 If it is bearing fruit, it gets cut.
00:51:04 Why?
00:51:06 So it can bear even more fruit.
00:51:10 Either way, the job of the gardener is to know which part of the branch needs a necessary
00:51:26 ending.
00:51:27 Oh, I don't know who I'm preaching to today, but maybe you're in a season where God is
00:51:32 cutting away things you didn't need, or maybe you're a season of bearing fruit and right
00:51:38 in the beauty of bearing the fruit.
00:51:40 You're going through the most painful betrayals.
00:51:42 You're going through the most painful cutting, and you're looking at God going, "If you loved
00:51:47 me, why in the world would you let me go through this?"
00:51:50 I came to tell you he's a good, good father, and he's a good, good gardener.
00:51:54 He knows what needs to be cut.
00:51:56 I wouldn't trust the knife in anybody else's hand, but I can trust it in the hands of my
00:52:01 good, good father.
00:52:02 Whatever he needs to cut, if it's a necessary ending, that means I didn't need it.
00:52:07 He wouldn't have cut it if I needed it, so I've got to trust him in the cutting.
00:52:17 You've got to trust him when he's cutting the things that you thought you needed.
00:52:24 You've got to trust him when he is, through his sovereignty, bringing necessary endings
00:52:31 to things that you thought you couldn't live without.
00:52:35 Here's what I've learned about God.
00:52:38 Sometimes in his sovereignty, he will just cut it, and that is painful.
00:52:44 Then there are other times where he will not do it, but he will hand you the knife.
00:52:50 He will say, "I need you to end this so that you can step into the new beginning that I
00:52:59 have for you."
00:53:02 Whether he does the cutting, whether like Abraham, he hands you the knife to do it,
00:53:08 can you trust him in the cutting?
00:53:12 Can you trust him, believe it, that if I needed it, he wouldn't have cut it in the first place?
00:53:21 The beauty of the gardener is that he only cuts because he has a vision of what that
00:53:29 tree is going to be.
00:53:32 It looks like a cut now, but he's cutting so you can bear more fruit.
00:53:38 Oh, I know you don't like that cutting, but guess what?
00:53:40 It's producing fruit in your life.
00:53:43 It's producing fruit in that relationship.
00:53:45 What fruit you talking about?
00:53:47 Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control?
00:53:58 See the reason you're going through the cutting is because that's the fruit he wants to produce
00:54:03 more of in your life.
00:54:06 Before you start getting ready to send this message to somebody else, don't forget the
00:54:14 purpose of fruit.
00:54:17 Fruit is never for a tree to eat it.
00:54:24 Fruit is always for somebody else to take a bite out of.
00:54:30 If the fruit is eating itself, it's rotting, but whenever you're producing fruit, be ready
00:54:35 for people to take a bite out of you, but when you're connected to the vine, you say,
00:54:39 "Go ahead.
00:54:41 Take a bite.
00:54:42 Take a bite.
00:54:43 Do what you need to do.
00:54:44 You know what?
00:54:45 I got a source.
00:54:46 The reason I can forgive you when I know you talked about me is because I got a source.
00:54:49 Oh, the reason I can show grace is because I got a source.
00:54:53 The reason I can show patience is because I got a source I'm connected to.
00:54:57 The fruit's not for me.
00:54:58 It's for somebody else."
00:55:05 It starts with the necessary ending.
00:55:08 I'm going to ask right here in this room at Echo Location, everybody that can, would you
00:55:12 stand to your feet?
00:55:13 I'm going to ask every head be bowed and eyes be closed.
00:55:21 Jesus says, "It's better for you that I go away."
00:55:26 Why?
00:55:27 "So I can send the helper."
00:55:34 How many of you are thankful for the Holy Spirit who is the helper?
00:55:40 When there are things that I don't want to cut myself or things that have been cut from
00:55:46 me, I am not without power.
00:55:50 I have the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit could not come unless there was a necessary
00:55:58 ending.
00:56:01 Jesus says, "I can't stay here on earth doing all the miracles.
00:56:05 It's time for me to do them through you."
00:56:09 He had a necessary ending on the cross and got up from the grave.
00:56:17 But understand that day that he died, the disciples weren't shouting like we shout at
00:56:22 Easter.
00:56:23 They thought it was over.
00:56:26 They thought it was done.
00:56:29 Look at Jesus keeping his word coming back three days later.
00:56:36 I'm so sure that their hearts were reengaged with hope saying, "We thought we lost you.
00:56:41 Now you're back."
00:56:42 Then what does he do?
00:56:45 He leaves again.
00:56:47 Another necessary ending.
00:56:50 Why?
00:56:52 Because you cannot step into your tomorrow until there is a necessary ending in your
00:56:56 today.
00:56:57 Anytime there's a necessary ending, it is always so you can bear more fruit.
00:57:04 He will never take it away to do less.
00:57:06 It's always for more.
00:57:08 And now that gospel and the miracles and the signs and wonders that were only done through
00:57:13 his physical body, guess what?
00:57:15 It was done through the disciples, through the apostles, through everyone who would believe
00:57:19 in his name.
00:57:20 The Holy Spirit could work through them and still working today.
00:57:27 Heads are still bowed.
00:57:28 Eyes are still closed.
00:57:29 I couldn't help but think about the necessary ending that preceded us planning this church.
00:57:40 I was so comfortable.
00:57:42 I had been traveling, preaching to churches all over the world.
00:57:49 God started pulling on my heart, saying, "I want you to plan a church."
00:57:54 I gave him every reason why I should not.
00:57:59 I said, "No, Lord.
00:58:02 At least when I preach at churches on the road, I can leave and go home.
00:58:05 I don't want the weight of what it is to carry a church."
00:58:11 It was a necessary ending.
00:58:14 But hear me, as I obeyed, look at the beautiful beginning.
00:58:19 You are sitting and standing, rather, in a beginning that was preceded by a necessary
00:58:27 ending.
00:58:28 Oh, let me tell you, I did not know when I said yes that we would ever have a Sunday
00:58:32 where we would be in Toyota Music Factory and the Echo location.
00:58:36 You don't know what's on the other side of that necessary ending.
00:58:39 I know it seems painful.
00:58:41 I know tears are going to come down your face, but I'm telling you, God has so much more
00:58:45 in store for you that is greater on the other side.
00:58:51 You've got to trust him with the ending.
00:58:53 So with heads bowed and eyes closed, in this room at Echo location, I believe the Holy
00:59:01 Spirit will speak in the hearts today.
00:59:06 Hear me about some things that need to end.
00:59:11 Maybe there's already been a necessary ending and you were on the other side of it and you
00:59:17 didn't have a choice and your heart's still broken.
00:59:20 God says today he wants to give you the strength to know there's greater on the other side
00:59:26 of it.
00:59:28 Maybe he's speaking to you about something that you need to end.
00:59:33 Hear me, he wants to give you the courage, the power, and the help for the necessary
00:59:40 ending.
00:59:43 With heads bowed and eyes closed in this room at Echo, if you know what that thing is that
00:59:49 needs to end today, it could be a mindset, it could be an actual relationship.
00:59:57 I hear you speaking.
01:00:00 The cut has got to be drastic.
01:00:04 I'm talking to somebody that you've been trying to wean yourself away from the toxic relationship
01:00:11 and you still are checking in on them and you still hang out.
01:00:15 God says, "No, no, no, no.
01:00:18 This pruning must be instant and it must be sharp.
01:00:23 Otherwise, you cannot step into the new."
01:00:29 If you know what that thing is that needs to end today so you can step into your beginning,
01:00:33 would you just lift up your hand as a sign to say, "God, I know what it is and I'm giving
01:00:37 it to you.
01:00:38 Thank you, Jesus.
01:00:39 Thank you, God.
01:00:40 Thank you, Lord.
01:00:41 Thank you, God."
01:00:42 Hands are going up.
01:00:44 In this room, even at Echo, here's what I want us to do.
01:00:53 I just think there's something powerful about leaving where you are and taking a step to
01:01:01 a new place.
01:01:02 If you lifted up your hand or you should have lifted up your hand, I'm going to ask you
01:01:06 to do something so bold and so brave in this room at Echo.
01:01:09 When I count to three, I just want you to come up here to the front and get as close
01:01:13 to this altar as you can.
01:01:15 I truly believe God wants to do supernatural surgery today.
01:01:19 I'm talking to some of you that have been bound by toxic relationships and soul ties.
01:01:25 Today is the day.
01:01:27 God wants to give you the strength to cut it.
01:01:30 Some people are already moving.
01:01:31 Come on, right there, even at Echo.
01:01:32 Just come to the front.
01:01:33 Come to the front.
01:01:34 Come on.
01:01:35 Today's your day.
01:01:36 Today's your day.
01:01:37 It's a necessary ending.
01:01:38 It's a necessary ending.
01:01:39 It's a necessary ending.
01:01:40 Come on.
01:01:41 Come on.
01:01:42 Come on.
01:01:43 Come on.
01:01:44 I don't care if you're in the top.
01:01:45 I don't care if you're in the balcony section of Echo.
01:01:46 Just come right up there to the front.
01:01:47 Come on.
01:01:48 Today's your day.
01:01:49 Come on.
01:01:50 Today's the day.
01:01:51 We say, "God, I give you permission to cut whatever needs to cut."
01:01:55 Come on.
01:01:56 Come on.
01:01:57 Just get as close to this altar as you can.
01:01:58 Echo, get as close to the front as you can.
01:02:02 Thank you, Jesus.
01:02:03 Thank you, God.
01:02:04 Thank you, God.
01:02:05 Thank you, Jesus.
01:02:06 Thank you, God.
01:02:07 Come on.
01:02:08 Get as close as you can.
01:02:09 Get as close as you can.
01:02:10 Thank you, Jesus.
01:02:11 Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
01:02:12 Thank you, God.
01:02:13 God, I'm ready for my new beginning.
01:02:14 I'm ready for my new beginning.
01:02:15 I'm ready for my new beginning.
01:02:16 I'm ready for my new beginning.
01:02:17 I'm ready for my new beginning.
01:02:18 I'm ready for my new beginning.
01:02:19 But my new beginning can't start until there's a necessary ending, a necessary ending.
01:02:25 Come on.
01:02:26 I want you to just begin to worship.
01:02:28 As the worship team leads us, I believe God's going to start the surgery before anybody
01:02:32 prays with you.
01:02:33 So come on, just with your hands raised, would you just begin to lift up your heart to Him?
01:02:37 Say, "God, I give it to you today."
01:02:41 Thank you, Jesus.
01:02:45 Thank you, God.
01:02:49 Thank you, Father.
01:02:50 It's a necessary ending for a new beginning.
01:02:51 Come on.
01:02:52 He's a good gardener.
01:02:53 He knows where to cut you.
01:02:54 He knows how to heal you after the cut.
01:02:55 The cut is not for now.
01:02:56 The cut is for your future.
01:02:57 Come on.
01:02:58 We call it "The Ending."
01:02:59 We call it "The Ending."
01:03:00 We call it "The Ending."
01:03:01 We call it "The Ending."
01:03:02 We call it "The Ending."
01:03:03 We call it "The Ending."
01:03:04 We call it "The Ending."
01:03:05 We call it "The Ending."
01:03:06 We call it "The Ending."
01:03:07 We call it "The Ending."
01:03:08 We call it "The Ending."
01:03:09 We call it "The Ending."
01:03:10 We call it "The Ending."
01:03:11 We call it "The Ending."
01:03:18 We call it "The Ending."
01:03:27 We call it "The Ending."
01:03:33 We call it "The Ending."
01:03:39 We call it "The Ending."
01:03:45 We call it "The Ending."
01:03:51 We call it "The Ending."
01:03:57 We call it "The Ending."
01:04:03 We call it "The Ending."
01:04:09 We call it "The Ending."
01:04:15 We call it "The Ending."
01:04:21 We call it "The Ending."
01:04:27 We call it "The Ending."
01:04:33 Jesus, God, we stand in your presence, trusting you even in the cutting.
01:04:49 Father, we trust you.
01:04:56 God, I come against every lie of the enemy that would make us think that whatever you've
01:05:02 cut is going to make us less.
01:05:04 But God, I thank you that you're always doing the cutting so that there will be more fruit
01:05:09 in our lives.
01:05:13 So God, we trust you in the cutting.
01:05:16 Father, thank you that you are near, you are close.
01:05:22 So Lord, I pray over my brothers, over my sisters today, that they would sense a nearness
01:05:30 like never before.
01:05:32 Oh God, that they would sense your presence, Lord, in their car, at home, Lord, as they
01:05:39 abide in you.
01:05:40 Thank you, God, that in the abiding we have the strength that we need so we can trust
01:05:48 you even in the cutting.
01:05:50 Father, I thank you for these moments in your presence, but Lord, I'm praying for the strength
01:06:00 that is needed after this moment, for the phone call that needs to happen that says,
01:06:08 "It's over.
01:06:09 It's done.
01:06:10 I'm not taking this anymore."
01:06:12 For the strength that is needed, God, to step out into the unknown.
01:06:17 God, thank you that perfect love casts out all fear.
01:06:20 So God, we lean into your love.
01:06:23 We lean into your love and we say, "We're not afraid."
01:06:29 We feel the fear, but Lord, we would rather fear you than fear man.
01:06:38 We reverence you.
01:06:39 We honor your presence.
01:06:41 God, I thank you for opening up our eyes to see the fruit that is coming because we trusted
01:06:51 you in the cutting.
01:06:53 In Jesus' name.
01:06:56 In Jesus' name.
01:06:57 I want to do one more thing as heads are bowed and eyes are closed.
01:07:03 I want to be very specific, if you have never surrendered your life to Jesus, hear me, that
01:07:10 is the first step.
01:07:14 As you walk with God and abide in him, there will always be things that he will prune and
01:07:18 always be things that he will cut, but the first step is to say, "God, I am yours."
01:07:26 He says, "I'm the true vine," because he knows there are so many other vines that we try
01:07:30 to attach ourselves to that never bring life.
01:07:36 He's the true vine.
01:07:38 In this room at Echo, at home, I want to give somebody an opportunity to take the first
01:07:43 step, which is just to say, "Jesus, I give you everything.
01:07:47 I give you my life.
01:07:48 I give you my life."
01:07:49 So, with heads bowed and eyes closed, if that's you, and you say, "Pastor Robert, I need to
01:07:53 surrender my life to this Savior who gave his life for me."
01:07:59 If that's you, would you just lift up your hand, whether you're at the front or in your
01:08:02 seat at Echo?
01:08:04 Even if you're at home and you don't know why you can't turn off your phone or turn
01:08:07 off the TV, it's because God's presence is there with you.
01:08:11 Can I see that hand?
01:08:13 Thank you, Jesus.
01:08:14 Thank you, God.
01:08:15 I want us to pray this prayer as one big family, but especially those of you who responded,
01:08:20 saying, "I need to give him my life."
01:08:23 Would you pray this?
01:08:24 In fact, could we all just lift up our hands?
01:08:26 I love it, because he's divine.
01:08:27 We're the branches, and as we lift up our hands, it's as if we are branches surrendered.
01:08:32 Would you just pray this prayer?
01:08:34 Say, "Jesus, I surrender.
01:08:39 I give you everything.
01:08:40 Lord, I know that you are the true vine.
01:08:46 You are my life.
01:08:48 Jesus, thank you for living the life that I was supposed to live, for dying the death
01:08:57 that I was supposed to die.
01:09:01 You took my place.
01:09:03 So, Jesus, my response is to surrender.
01:09:10 Forgive me of my sin.
01:09:12 Make me brand new.
01:09:15 From this moment forward, I'm staying connected.
01:09:19 I'm abiding in your presence, in your word.
01:09:25 Lord, I thank you that my life will bear fruit as I stay connected to you.
01:09:36 In Jesus' name, amen.
01:09:39 ♪ Man, man, man ♪