We're truly glad you're here.
The joy of the Lord is our strength. We're not a depressed people,
we're a happy people. We've been saved by the amazing
grace of God and we've never got over it.
Whatever happened to the Apostle Paul on the Damascus Road, he
never got over. Many times those of us who are
called Five Corners or Grace People or Predestination People
were seen as the frozen chosen. But I'll tell you this, not here. We are appalled and amazed at
the grace of God. James read the scripture from
Exodus where the Lord said to Moses, he said, behold, what
does behold mean, church? Look, behold, I make a covenant
before all thy people. I will do marvels such as have not been done in
all the earth. I wonder, How many in here believe
that? I do. That God's able to do new
marvels that's never been seen. I have seen them in 2014. Not been seen in all the earth.
This is Exodus 34, 10. And all the people among whom
thou art shall see the work of the Lord. I like that. People can't figure this place
out. Former pimps, prostitutes, bank presidents, people of all
walks of life who've been saved by the grace of God driving over
to Pontiac in an inner city church. First of all, how'd they get
that building? They have no money, but our God does. And this is our witness. People
point to this place and say, God has done great things for
them. And you know what we echo back? God has done great things
for us, whereof we're glad, like the Psalmist. And then God said
to Moses, it's going to be awe-inspiring. What God does should be this
way. Ah, ah. You ever have any ah experiences
with God? where you're amazed and the people
around you are amazed. You're a miracle of the grace
of God. Once I was lost, now I'm found. Once I was blind, but now I see. And I think that's what we've
lost in our churches. And I think we've lost that even
in our churches where supposedly grace is being proclaimed. Oh,
what a wonder! that Jesus found me. Out in the
darkness no light could I see. He put his great arm under, and
wonder of wonders, he saved even me. That's something to shout
about. You know, shouting ought to take place more than on business
meeting at a Baptist church. Some of you didn't get that because
you're not Baptist. Glory to God. We're not ashamed to raise
our hands here. And we're not ashamed to give
him glory and praise. He's a wonder-working God. And
really, that ought to be normal. Boy, it's been months since we
had that kind of meeting. That shouldn't be. It ought to
be like, I was glad when they said, let us go up to the house
of the Lord. And we come expecting great things. You see, I came expecting great
things today. Some of you guys way back there
in the back, Some of you gals sending as far back as you can
to stay away from the heat. You know, our God is such a great
God in his irresistible grace and in his effectual drawing.
He'll go back there and get you. He will work on your water. Well, I'm not interested. You
better hope he makes you interested and causes you to be interested. See, God won't save you against
your will. He'll make you willing in the day of His power, and
you'll come running to Jesus Christ. I'm going to be all over
the place today, but I usually am. So how did 2014 go for you? As a Christian, let me ask you
this. As a Christian, what awe-inspiring
things did God do with you? Now, I'm going to say this to
you. If you don't have some kind of awe in your heart in 2014, that's
not right for you. Amen. I can tell you, seeing
Mary here is an awe for me because the last I heard she wasn't going
to be here for quite a while. Awe experience, getting this
building given to us at a cost of a half a million dollars.
That was an awe experience in 2014. Every day, as a child of God,
we ought to walk in praise. Listen, if you can put your hand
there and feel your pulse, praise God. Some of you were delivered from
addiction in 2014. Did you see the testimony this
morning? And those of you who were not,
why not? Some of you are living in depression, even as a Christian.
How come? You know there's hope. Those
of us who've experienced depression in our life, it's like a black
hole. Do you know 30,000 Americans
died of suicide this year? That's a whole lot of folks.
Sounds like depression is normal, and I'm gonna tell you this too.
Depression is normal with church people, with Christian people,
but it doesn't have to be normal. Because God is sovereign, and
God is big, and God is able. Amen. And around here, we don't believe
in holding the fort, we believe in taking it. And when I prepare
to preach to you the gospel of Jesus Christ, I know there's
all kinds of folks sitting here. There are people who are addicted
here to all kinds of things. There are people here who have
totally lost their life. There are people who are depressed,
who are nice suburbanite folks. But living in depression, there
is no joy in the suburbs for them. So that shouldn't be normal
with us. There ought to be a change, right?
And so what I'm hoping is this, and I believe this can happen,
if you're depressed in 2015, this is your year. Through the gospel of the power
of God. If crack has you cornered, this
is your year. You're going to break out. Because
greater is He that's in you than he that's in the world. You know, grace is not just theology
with me. It's the truth of the Word of
God. It's grace that puts you in the way, leads you along the
way, takes you all the way. It's all by God's unmerited favor. Some of you are under such false
guilt. There's not a person in here
that doesn't have a past. And secretly, your past isn't
pretty. Not just your past in what you've
done, but what you've thought. All of us have thought enough
this morning to go to hell. I mean, if it were not by the
grace of God. And there are many in here that
you don't know who you are. You really don't know who you
are. And I tell you this, as a young man growing up among
independent Baptists, I was like the, and it was my own fault,
but I was like the young Billy Graham. I was traveling all over
the country preaching. And actually, I began to be formed
by the people I hung out with. Whatever they said, I kind of
became, although I knew that was not really me. When Miss
Pam and I were dating, she shouldn't have married me, because I was
telling her secrets. Like, I don't know who I am. She should have
saw the depression coming then. I totally lost myself. You know,
I know this today. I am what I am by the grace of
God today. I know that. I went through years of depression.
didn't know who I was, really, in Christ. And I was preaching
grace, but that practical application that I was something special,
that I was something special to God, that He actually chose
me, not because I was somebody, but by His sovereign grace, He
chose me, that I had been redeemed. I'm costly. You know I'm expensive. I've been redeemed by the precious
blood of Jesus Christ. That makes me special. When you can get to a place where
you know you are unique, you are God's unique handiwork. Yeah, you are unique space. You
are, buddy. You know, I want you to know who you are
in Christ. When I was a young guy preaching, I used to preach
at Bible conferences. Now, I'm so weird, nobody asks
me to preach anymore at Bible conferences. But I used to, and
people used to say to me something like this, you know that last
night's message, Kent, I'm telling you, last night, he hit it out
of the park. That guy hit a home run. You know, you're up in the
morning, you're gonna have to go a long ways to beat that. I'd go, hey, We're on the same
team. I'm not trying to out-preach
anybody. Somebody said, you ever get fearful
that somebody's going to come in and boot you out? You can't
replace me. You really can't, because God
made me to be me. Amen. Getting to know who you
are. in Christ Jesus. That's so important. And I hope that this year is
that year. You know, Satan is a booger bear.
He's an accuser of the brethren. He doesn't want you to know you're
accepted in Jesus Christ. He doesn't want you to know that.
Some of you have false guilt and you live under this condemnation
of what you did 20 years ago. Don't you know? Gone, gone, gone. Yes, my sins are gone. Buried
in the deepest sea, that's good enough for me. I shall praise
God eternally. My sins are gone. They'll be
searched for and not found. That's what the scripture says.
I was thinking last night about, I think about it all the time,
about God's grace. Do you know grace is pursuing you? Grace
is pursuing you. You say, I don't understand that. And I didn't either for years.
But I really believe that grace pursues us. Think about this,
the grace that pursued us, the grace that found us, the grace
that saved us, do you think that grace is gonna desert us? Why
aren't we ecstatic? Oh, the wonderful grace of Jesus.
And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Savior's love? Died he for me who caused his
pain? Has grace as a Christian left
you to live in misery and mess? 2015, let it be a hallelujah
year. Let it be a praise God year. Count your many blessings. Know this, he that hath begun
a good work in you will complete it. He will. Isn't that good news? Even when
you quit, he doesn't. He'll restart you. There'll be a fire burning in
your bones. You know why you don't quit? Because you can't. I want you to be thinking this
way. Not about suicide. Ms. Pam was telling me more people
kill themselves on January 12th. Now, please don't anybody do
that here because I said that today. But she was telling me
this morning more people kill themselves on January 12th. Christmas
is over. The new year's begun and things
didn't get any better. I want to tell you, child of
God, things are going to get better. There's no reason why
things can't get better. What awaits you out there this
year is truly this, there's no reason, no matter what, if you
have cancer, if things aren't going right, victory's yours.
I know that because I know whom he foreknew, he predestinated,
and the end of that scripture is, them he also glorified. You
win. You're more than a conqueror.
There's no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus. It's
true. Victory's yours, joy's yours,
success is yours. You say, well, Pastor, that kind
of sounds like the healthy, wealthy, wise gospel. No, I'm talking
about the gospel of God's unmerited favor, that you're saved, that
you've been regenerated, that God came to you when you would
not come to Him, that God found you. You didn't find God. God
wasn't lost. And He saved you, and now He
carries you. And He works in you both to will
and to do of His good pleasure. And good things will come out
of you because God puts them in you. He works in you both
to will and to do. Listen, those of us who know
the grace of God ought to be screaming to the high heavens,
I am in Christ Jesus. I am. And there ought to be a
smile on our face. You say, well, you know all that's
going to come to pass. Why are you asking that? It's true because
God promised it. And God doesn't break his promises.
This could be a long service, I thought last night, if I permit
it to be, but I'm going to kind of tell you the story about Abraham
and Sarah and the blessings and promises of God. And I'll go
through it quickly. You catch on as we move along
here. Abraham had been a heathen all
of his life. And when he was 75 years of age,
I'd like to read that, when he was 75. Hey, I haven't even reached 75
yet. And God began with Abraham at 75 years of age. God called
him out of Erechaldes. You know what? That gave me a
lot of hope last night when I just read that he's 75. Because people
are always asking, when are you going to retire? When are you
going to slow down? When are you going to quit? When are you going to do?
Well, I haven't even reached 75 yet. So I figure the big blessings
are yet to come, right? And in Genesis 12, one through
four, God made unconditional promises to him. Unconditional
promises to him. He said he's going to, I'm going
to bless you. Let's go to Genesis 12, one through
four, and I'll just read these. And now those of you who are
not King James, I'm gonna just read it so some of our folks
who are not King James can understand what it says. And I just made
somebody mad probably then, but anyway, here's what it says.
God told Abraham, God told Abraham, leave your country, your family,
and your father's home for a land that I will show you. And here are the promises. I'll
make you a great nation and bless you and yours. I'll make you
famous. Kind of a loose translation there. You'll be a blessing. I'll bless
those that bless you. How about that? That's a good
one, isn't it? Everybody that blesses you, I'm
gonna bless them. You talk about drawing a crowd.
When people find out they get blessed by being with you and
for you, that's why God promised Abraham. And I'm gonna curse
all those who curse you. That's good too. Everybody who says poo-poo to
you, God's gonna put poo-poo on them. All the families of the earth
will be blessed through you. I'm going to bless everybody
through you. Wow. And you notice there is
no ifs, ands, or buts. I will. I will. I will. I love the fact that God's sovereign.
I don't fight with that. I love that. I embrace that,
that he's an all-powerful, sovereign God, that none can stay his hand
nor say unto him, what doest thou? He said to Moses, behold,
look at this. That's what he said in Exodus
to Moses. That's what I'm saying to you
today in this illustration of Abraham. Behold, look at this. God has made unconditional promises
to bless you and not curse you. He has said that you should live
in freedom and not slavery. Amen. That you are to have abundant
life, not a skimped by life that sucks. That you're to have a life. I
am calm that you might have life and have it more abundantly. He is the God who's able. That's
our problem. I think even those of us who
preach this message of grace, somehow or another, we don't
enter into it, that our God is able. Is anything too hard for
God? He's able to do abundantly, not
skimily, but abundantly above. All that you ask or think. There's even the possibility
of you being filled with the fullness of God. I don't know
exactly what that means, but that verse has always been a
part of me since I was a young minister. I always pray, God,
I want to be filled with your fullness. One of the old Puritans
said, it's like taking a wine bottle that's empty, taking it
down to the ocean, filling it with ocean water, corking it,
and then throwing the bottle out into the ocean. Now you have
the ocean in the bottle and the bottle in the ocean. Well, I
don't know how close that comes to being filled with the fullness
of God, but I'd like to experience that, wouldn't you? Are you thinking
God is able? I mean, are you thinking it this
morning? Are you right now downcast or are you listening? Being filled
with the fullness to have joy. What about this? What are you
going to do with this? Joy unspeakable and full of glory. Full of glory. He is the God
who has said, I know the plans I have for you. They're good,
not evil. Isn't that a great thing? God
has a plan for you. You are not an accident. You're
on purpose for a purpose. I will do marvels. Not ordinary
things. I don't think Christians ought
to live ordinary lives. And I don't mean that in the sense that maybe
many religious people believe that, but I think we ought to
live lives and should and will as we enter into this. This glorious
truth of the grace of God. I will do extraordinary things.
Such has not been done in all the earth. Would you like to
have something, God, to do something that had never happened on the
earth before? I mean, are you there yet where you can actually
believe that God can take little old you, little old nobody, little
old past prostitute or crack addict or self-righteous... See, I've quit preaching, gone
to meddling now, haven't I? Self-righteous... you know, churchite, that God can do something that'll
blow your mind in you, and everybody see it. You know, everywhere
I go, two things now people say to me, everywhere I go, happened
all this week, are you the pastor whose wife
died and came back to life? And the other thing is, are you
the pastor who now preaches in a former bar? That's me. See, those are things that don't
ordinarily happen. People aren't dead 15 minutes
and then within two months back at work. I've always been slow. I failed
the fifth grade. So those of you who failed a
grade, I failed it in reading. Greatest blessing ever happened.
I became such a functional reader because I was held back. I got
extra special classes. And by the time I was in high
school, I was devouring books. God can take those things that
are in your life and use those for your good and his glory,
and do extraordinary things. I will do marvels. That's what
he said, I will do marvels. I want you to start looking for
a marvel in 2015. Don't think about January 12th,
blowing your brains out. That would be a bad testimony. All the people among whom, this
is what he said to Moses there in Exodus. All the people among
whom thou art shall see the work of the Lord. Huh? You mean, have you ever had anybody
go like this to you? I believe some of you have. What
happened to you? I know something's happened to
you. Brother Barnard, kind of my mentor,
used to tell the story about a banker, and that banker had
had the same secretary for 35 years. Brother Barnard was in
a city in Texas holding a meeting, and the banker, God born him
again. His secretary one day was in
his office at work taking dictation from this banker. And the banker
looked up and big tears was running down Mary's face. And he stood
up from behind his desk and he said, Mary, what's wrong? And she said, actually, there's
nothing wrong. I just want to know what has
happened to you. The cat and the dog ought to
know when you get saved. Amen. Because if any man be in
Christ, he's a new creation. You're not frowning near as much.
You're not kicking the dog nearly as much. You got a smile on your
face. And you know, there's something
about this thing of just believing God. Now, I bet some of you are
right here now, now let's see, let's examine the pastor and
see if what he's preaching is according to the five points
of Calvinism. You know, theologians don't make
good church members. Well, say it like this, well. Yeah, I want you to think about
that. Genesis 15 6 it says Abraham got all these unconditional promises
and Abraham believed God and you know what when I read that
a few days ago and I was thinking about this message in Genesis
15 6 it says Abraham believed God and I thought most of the
time why are you looking at me that
way you believe God all the time If you did, you'd already be
up shouting here, right? Wow! 2015, I'm expecting God's
going to do great things. I've already told you that God
is a God of grace and mercy and a God of hope and unconditional
promises. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Church ought to be the most exciting
place in the world. I'm not talking about just emotionalism.
I'm talking about it's real. I've told you this story a few
times. My dad pastored Grace Baptist
Church in Warren for 27 years. And we had a lady there named
Miss Austin. And Miss Austin was pretty wealthy. And I can remember as a kid,
she wore her mink to church in the winter. And she sat about
three or four rows back. And very, what would I say, sophisticated. Well, one Sunday morning, I'll
never forget this. My dad was, I think, filled with
the Spirit. He's certainly preaching the
gospel of God's grace. And the Spirit of God, I think,
just gave Ms. Austin all she could handle.
Sitting there in her mink, she went like this, whoo! And then
it was like she was paralyzed. Like, what just happened? You know, this is a place when
God fills you. If you want to say woo, or you
want to say hallelujah or glory to God, just don't try to take
over the service, I'll do the preaching. But if you ever get
filled enough where you're so happy you can't stand it, you
know, really, that's the way it all, I couldn't help it. You
ever been that happy? I mean a spiritual happiness.
He said, well, what do you mean Abraham believed God most of
the time? Well, Abraham was like you and I. I was thinking about this. I read
two things about Abraham and Sarah. You remember God promised
Abraham and Sarah a baby? Abraham was 90 years old. God appeared to Abraham and said,
this time next year, I'm going to come back and you're going
to have a son, you and Sarah. Well, Sarah was eavesdropping. She was in the tent. And Abraham
went in the tent, real excited, and said, God's here. And you remember
there was three men appeared. And Abraham said, we got to fix
him something to eat. And Sarah said to him, I heard
what that guy said. And she laughed. She laughed. You're a 90-year-old
guy. And by the time this baby's supposed
to come, you're going to be even older. And we're going to have
a baby boy named Isaac. A promised child. Yep. And this is why I say Abraham
and Sarah believed God most of the time. Sarah goes, you know
what, that's not gonna happen. And some of you are sitting right
here thinking this. Nope, won't be miracles for me in 2015. Bah
humbug. Not for me. You really don't
believe God can take you out of whatever you're in, that God
can bring you out of that black hole, do you? Well, why don't
you just step out? Ask God to increase your faith. There's nothing too big for God.
But anyway, so Sarah says, you ever come up with plans to substitute
for God? Sarah says, you know what? Here's
what we should do. We should help God. Now let me
tell you this. God doesn't need your help. When
God makes a promise, he's going to keep it. So if he says he's
going to do marvelous things, awe things for you, believe it. Believe it. I wish I could go
back kind of many years when I was growing up as a young preacher
and I could, and God would give me more faith. Right now, as
a 70-year-old pastor, this is one thing I, give me more faith.
Right now, I really don't care what people say. I've already
passed that point of what people say and you know, I'm already
past that. I've been through all the fusses
and church fights and splits and you know, I've been through
all of that. I want to trust God now. I want
to believe God and see the miraculous. I want to go out of here with
my boots on. I want to go out of here singing. I want to go
out of here praising God because God is good and able. Anyway, it says after he and
Sarah had this little talk, and Sarah laughed, that he came out
of his tent. Actually, when God was making
the promises, some of you are going to have to come out of
your tent, because you still don't believe that God can do
what He said He'd do. So God called Abraham out of
his tent and said, Now I just made you some promises, non-conditional
promises, and I know you don't believe them, so look up. And
I want you to count all the stars. That's how I'm gonna bless you.
See, sometime when you're in the tent, you don't see the stars. Are you getting my point here?
Sometime when you're in the tent, you come up with these schemes
to help God. Now, you take my bondmaid, Hagar,
and Abraham, you go in and sleep with her. And it seems like Abraham
was cooperating pretty good. He thought that might be a pretty
good idea. And they produced an Ishmaelite, who to this day
is still a problem. Anyway, get out of the tent. Get out
of the tent. It may be your theological tent.
It may be your little churchy tent, where same old, same old,
nothing different can happen. You're going through a routine.
You know what's going to happen when you get there. Wouldn't
it be good to have a God interruption, a Holy Spirit interruption? I
mean, that was truly of God. Wouldn't it be good if John got
saved this morning, way back there in the back? Heroin user,
crack addict, prostitute. Wouldn't that be something? Did
you come here believing that God might do something like that
this morning? that he's able to do. Did you
come looking and believing for a miracle this morning? Or did
you come expecting same old, same old? Well, anyway, Abraham
got out of the tent, and Sarah denied laughing, you know. And
here's the way it went. She laughed, the Bible says,
she laughed within herself. And God said, Sarah's laughing
in the tent. So somehow, I don't know exactly
how it happened, but she was confronted about her laughing.
She said, I wasn't laughing. You know how you do. You're sitting
there right now. Yeah, I believe in miracles. I believe God's
able. I'm a grace person. I'm a five-pointer. I'm a... Do you really? Do you believe in 2015's God
could do something for you that'd blow your mind? I believe God
can do that. Abraham, you're going to have
a big family. You can have a great 2015. I'm
planning on it. I talk to God that way. I'm expecting
God to do great things. I'm out of the tent. You know, there's things you
can do when you get 70 you can't do when you're 20. I'm talking
about with churches and pastoring and things. When you get old,
you know, you can almost say what you want to say. That's what I'm doing. I'm saying
what I want to say. I don't care what Deacon Jones
said. Let me tell you this. November
to December, $1.3 million. Somebody asked me back a few
days ago, I don't think we're going to make it. I said, oh,
we're going to make it. You know, I expected it. I'm
hilariously happy about it, but I expected it to come in because
God's able. Say, well, where'd it come from?
I don't know, all over the place. $70,000 came in Friday. Say, well, that's,
you know, Guess what? Don't try to take
my joy away from me. That was a God thing happening. And you know what? That's just
beans and potatoes. Now that's the way I'm thinking.
So 1.3. You know, 29 years ago, our budget was a little over
$400,000 across the street. This coming year, our budget's
going to be nearly $10 million. with the new daycare, the new
women and children's shelter, 90 university renovated, the
rest of this renovation going on here downstairs in the basement.
So where's that gonna come from? We live by faith and not by sight
and believe our God is able. I want you to believe he's able.
And not just for Grace Centers and Grace Gospel Fellowship,
but for you as an individual. I want you to live that way because
we're supposed to live that way. And you know what? It even gets
gooder. You know, he's coming back again.
If I go away, I will come again and receive you unto myself,
that where I am, there you may be also. I love it when God shows up.
And it kind of, scripture jump out to you sometimes. God kept
saying, he said it twice, this time next year, you're going
to have a baby boy, Sarah. We'll have to help God if that
happens. I'm coming back next year and
you're gonna have a baby boy and guess what? Next year, when
he came back, little Isaac, promised child. Don't laugh at God, believe God. Be used of God. I said to myself, I say this
a lot, why don't you believe God? I say that to myself when
I start to worry, my acid reflux acts up, my stomach hurts. And let's encourage one another
to believe God. Not, I don't think we're going
to make it. Oh, we're going to make it. Now, in closing, let
me tell you this too, because I know some of you are probably
thinking this. Nothing can stop God from blessing
you. Not even you. I know your theology is so balled
up that you don't see how it's possible for God to bless you,
because you're still thinking legalistically. You're thinking
if you're good, God blesses. If you're bad, he doesn't. If
you're depressed, God can't bless you. Blessings have nothing to
do with how good or bad you are. Blessings are unconditional,
really. Now I would say this, you walk
in the light, he gives you more light. I would say this, as you
do it God's way, great things happen because God's your creator.
He knows how you should do it and you do it that way. He does
it for your peace and joy. When you do it his way, I guarantee
it's gonna work out. We live by faith and not by sight.
Some of you think you've gone too far in your past. I am so
tired of hearing about your past. Please don't come to me. Please
don't talk to me this way. Pastor, I just want to tell you,
you're not going to believe what I've done. Well, when did you
do it? 40 years ago. You've been carrying
that 40 years? No wonder you have wrinkles.
No wonder you can't smile. There's nowhere in the Bible
that the Lord says you're supposed to carry that. I don't know who's
accusing you, but it's not God. God doesn't accuse you. God is
not an abuser of his children. I don't care what you've done.
Sarah laughed. Abraham committed adultery in
league with Sarah. They were a mess. God takes messes and does great
things. Maybe you think you've gone too
deep. Maybe you're here and wrestling
with homosexuality. Is anything too hard for God? God can change that. And if he
saves you, he will. Amen. Come on now. I said, is
there anything too hard for God? Can God's grace reach a person
who's been sexually abused? Half this congregation has been
sexually abused. I'm not telling on you. I'm not
going to call your name. But, you know, we need to get
out of the tent, folks. People have problems. You take
a little girl that's been abused at 8, 9, 10 years old, or a young
guy that's been abused for 4 or 5 years, and then think all of
a sudden you get saved and all the problems go away? Oh no! Takes abundant grace, but God
has it. Takes the power of God, but God
has it. There's hope for you. Somebody ought to say amen in
here and mean it. There is hope for you in Christ
Jesus. Grace is pursuing you. You know,
it was grace before your conversion. You didn't stumble into grace.
Grace was watching over you all the time when you were in the
hood. down there wandering around,
being shot at. You could have OD'd a thousand
times, but God's grace was there. Prevenient grace. Grace before
grace. I think it was Daryl that took
the bus up here. He'd never been to Pontiac Rescue
Mission, never been to Pontiac. Somebody gave him a few bucks
to take a bus. He thought, how am I going to
find Pontiac Rescue Mission when I get there? Guess what? The
bus stopped right out in front of 35 East Huron Street. Now he's up there playing the
saxophone. And grace is abounding to you,
toward you. Where sin piled up, grace piled
up higher. Grace endures, grace conquers,
grace wins. Grace is victorious. There is
no reason for you and I not to see miracles. I think we've let
maybe some of the charismatic folks scare us out of it. People
ask me almost every week, do you believe in miracles? I is
one. You're looking at a miracle. Amen. Stand up space and turn
around. Look at that. Now, if that's
not a miracle. Here's what I'm asking you to
do as a child. Get your Bible, start to read
it. and see that your God who has saved you, who has delivered
you, is working in you. And he's gonna take you all the
way. He won't fail. He redeemed a
number of people that no man can number, and all of them are
gonna be in heaven. He bought and paid your sin debt. as a child of God. And now here
you live down here on this earth. And I mean, just between us girls,
aren't we a mess? Aren't we a mess? What is so amazing to me is God
takes us mess-ups and does great things. He does great things. So here's the way I want you
to think. And I'm a little self-centered in this, because if we have 400
people here today, which we probably do, I want this balcony filled. You
know how it's gonna be filled? Others see the wonder of Jesus
Christ in you. You know how many addicts there
are out there? All around us. I bet every former addict in
here, by the way, if the sun sets you free, you're free indeed,
right? Every former addict in here, I bet you know 20 people
who are still struggling. Why don't you invite them? Why
don't you invite them to come to God's house? Why don't we
fill this place? Why don't we go to two services
or three services? Our youth program, we're just
beginning to rehab that basement here this year down there. It
has its own stage. And I was telling our staff last
week, I want this building used every single day. I want it to
be a beehive of activity. You know how many children here
in Pontiac are abused and homeless. You know, in the city of Detroit,
nearly 5,000 kids without an address. You know, it's only
about 15 miles away. Who's gonna go? We are. Some of you, I began to tell
you 29 years ago, I wanna see God turn Pontiac upside down.
Some of you didn't think it was going to happen 12 years ago
when we got raided by the local police department. But you know what God did? We
were wondering how we were going to change our name from Pontiac
Rescue Mission to Grace Centers Hope and our name get out there.
So God sent the Pontiac police over. let them raid the place. And then the headlines of the
papers, Detroit News, Free Press, Oakland Press, was homeless shelter
raided. We hold the distinction of being
the first homeless shelter in the United States ever to be
raided by a local police department. And guess what this guy named
George Bush called. Wanted to know if he could be
of any assistance. We made the headlines, we were
on talk shows and radio shows, and you know what? Pontiac went
bankrupt. Grace Centers of Hope stood strong
right over there at 35 East Huron Street. And now we have a mayor that
loves us, a city council, one of our own, Don Woodward is a
city council member, one of our own graduates. Look what God's doing. Maybe someone here will be superintendent
of schools here in Pontiac. Maybe you'll be a senator. God has saved you for a purpose.
Now let's find out what that is. And in 2015, let's experience
the wonder of God in our lives. The wonder of God, what does
he have for you? He didn't save you for you just
to wander around. I want you to look at this coming
year and begin to think this way. God saved me, God found
me. You heard the testimony this
morning, right? You saw the video. If you haven't,
go online and look at it again. Look at those videos that we're
putting up there of people who were totally lost. I love the story. You know where
God found most of us on the dung hill? How many of you have a little
Southern blood in you? Raise your hand a little bit. You know
what a tumble bug is? A tumble bug is a bug that gets
in the manure piles of horses and cows and rolls it up. Just rolls it up. When I was
a kid, I used to watch those tumble bugs. Check on them every
once in a while. All day long, all they do is
roll dung. I don't want my life to be that
way. God found me on the dung hill, but he took me off the
dung hill. Right? I'm heaven bound. All right. Well, I hope you got something
out of it. I wandered a bit, but I hope you're leaving here
with hope. No matter how bound up you are,
no matter how depressed you are, no matter what's going on in
your life, 2015 is going to be the day, the year that God is
going to deliver me, and he's able to do that, and put me in
his service, and I'm gonna serve other people. One of the great
joys is watch God save you, and then use you, like he did Youngin.
That was worth it all this morning, just for me to stand here and
watch him make announcements. God pulling him out. God pulling
him out. Someone this week, one of our
residents, and I don't say this to embarrass, but one of our
graduates made a large donation to our daycare. A monetary donation. You wouldn't have expected that
at all to come. That way. But see, God is saving
folks here. And God is working in folks here.
And God's doing a great thing here. And He's gonna take you.
You're not here by accident. Get out of the tent! Look up! Look at the stars. When the air
pollution moves away, look at the stars. That's how many blessings God
has for you. Let's stand together and praise our God.