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If you're new to social, we have a word for every year. Our word this year is planted. And it comes straight out of Psalms 92, verses 13 through 15. It's our verse of the year. We read this every single Sunday. And how many thankful you gonna have it memorized before this year is over? Come on, somebody. But let's read it together as one big family with uplifted voices. Y'all ready? Y'all ready? Here we go. 1, 2, 3. Those who are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still bear fruit in old age. They shall be fresh and flourishing to declare that the Lord is upright. He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him. You sound good, Social fam. Sound good. 1245.
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Oh.
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Remain standing because you are in for a treat today. How many you have been a part of our series, SOS Relationships Need Help. Been a phenomenal series. We still got, like two weeks left. I'm adding another week. I just feel like we needed one more week. But today, today, what I love about this series is that it's straight out of the book of Song of Songs, which is written by Solomon. But 53% of this song gives voice to a Shulamite woman. So in other words, Solomon said, I'm writing this, but I gotta give voice to the lady. I gotta give voice to the woman. So it got me thinking, we can't have this series and not from the finest woman on the planet. My wife, my bride. I said, PT can you bring the word? She said, babe, I sure can. Would you welcome my baby girl as she brings the word? My beloved.
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Can we give it up for Jesus? Is he worthy? Is he your everything? God, we thank you. I'm so grateful to be in the house of God. I just saw on social media a clip of currently right now, Christians in Syria being persecuted because of the gospel. What an honor and what a privilege it is to come into the house of God freely, to lift up his name. The name above every name. His name is Jesus, and he's worthy of it all. I don't know what you came in carrying today, but whatever it is, lay it at the feet of Jesus. The cross was. Was enough. I'm not a relationship expert. I've been loving this series, but I am no relationship expert. But one thing I do know is that even despite my imperfections, being born and raised in El Dorado, Arkansas, and coming from a divorced family and addiction runs in my family, and I got pregnant at 17 out of wedlock. And yet the same God that is in this room today was the same God that pulled me out of the pit and turned my moral into dancing, my sorrow into joy. It's not something I just say casually. It's something that lives inside of me. Because I know who I once was and I know who I am today because the finished work of the cross Calvary was enough. Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me I once was lost but now I'm found Was blind but now I see. Is there anyone in the room today that has been saved by grace, through faith, not by our works, but by the sovereignty of God? His presence is in this room today. And I'm excited, expectant and confident. Confident. It is not through me. It is not through Robert Madu. It is through the Holy Spirit that is breathing across this room. And right now, you're feeling a little something. It's the Holy Spirit. He has such a beautiful, intentional way of meeting us right where we are. You're not too far gone. You're in the right space. We've all fallen short. And we're in this thing together. And I believe I got a word. I had 17 pages yesterday. I had to bring it down. I spent 12 hours to bring it down to 11. So I believe that God has given me a word. And I've never been more excited to actually teach a word. I can honestly say that. So I pray that your hearts you've come open. The Bible talks about our hearts in the soil, the type of ground. I believe that through the presence of God and the worship team, that is just truly the best worship team ever, they've softened our hearts to receive the seed that will be sown today. Taylor Madu. Decrease so that Holy Spirit, King Jesus, you may increase. God. I thank you that you know every single person in this room. Some are even trying to slip in and slip out. But you see them and the power of your spirit is that you can meet that person right where they are. You can meet them in their car. You can meet them across the globe. Wow. Social, global. You have the power to meet us right where we are. And so we come, flaws and all. And we believe that you're going to have your way in this place today. In Jesus name, Amen. You can be seated. Thank you so much. Worship team. For real. Just love y'all so much. Incredible. I love this relationship series. I love that I have been married to Pastor Robert Madu for 13 years in August. Yes. Something to celebrate if you're married. If you know, you know, it's a big deal. The last two years, we've actually gone to a local clinic called Cooper Clinic to actually get a health exam. So it's like a full body health exam. And they test your vision, they test your hearing, they test. They put you on a treadmill and they do this stress test and hook all these things up to you, right? On the treadmill. They test your stress. And then they recently did. They handed me a piece of metal and they did a grip strength test. I had never heard of that before, but, you know, I gave it everything that I had. And so at the end of the day, you go in to meet with a doctor and they begin to give you your results of everything. And they usually compare the previous year to this year. And I can honestly say, super happy to announce it, that I am healthier than I've ever been. Thank you, Jesus. We're grateful for that. But the doctor began to tell me, you know what? Your grip strength is actually above average. And I was like, wow. She was like, congratulations. And I'm like, okay, congratulations. But what are we actually celebrating, right? Cause it's like, okay, I get that my grip strength is powerful. Wow. But what exactly does my grip strength have to do with anything? And she began to tell me and unpack the benefits of grip strength. She says it improves overall strength. I'm like, amazing. She said, it reduces risk of injury, it enhances endurance, it increases lifting capacity, it increases life. Who knew? And it is an indicator of overall health directly connected to strength of the heart. So I'm like, okay, I'm amazed right now, right? Because I'm clearly doing great. My level of grip strength directly affects the health of my heart and the longevity of my life. This is crazy. So it set me on this path of just wanting to know more. So I started researching and I came across this incredible 80 something year old woman. And she was hanging. Do you know that as I research, that is the thing that strengthens your grip? Hanging. So I'm like, okay, hanging. I'm inspired, clearly. I used to crush the monkey bars. And so what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna go in my garage right now and I'm gonna start this whole journey and continue to strengthen my grip in Jesus name. So I go to my garage and this is actual footage of me attempting to hang for. Hurry up, I'm cold. Y'all are laughing. I'm laughing. That is funny to me. That is so funny to me because I swear to You. I used to crush the monkey bars on the playground, and then I just try to do that. How many of you have tried to hang before? Can you give me a hand? A little bit? How hard is it? Are you kidding me? It is so hard. So the first time I did about 10 seconds, I think it was the not tonight robe that PR was talking about last week or my slippers. It was a little heavy, and so I was struggling, you know. But now, ladies and gentlemen, I am at one minute and four seconds, two weeks in, okay? But I'm blown away by this, because this one consistent, minimalist, what seems to be pointless thing, ridiculous thing. Can we just say that has major, lifelong impact? This tells me that just because something seems pointless doesn't mean it's not valuable. The small thing always leads to the big thing. Such as consistent flossing prevents heart disease. What? Flossing, Heart disease. Writing down what you're grateful for boosts your immune system. Do you know that? But it also, we must be aware that it goes both ways, good or bad. One night lack of sleep increases stress and weakens your immune system. Another one, one Adderall, can lead to addiction. This very principle, doing any one thing, good or bad, consistently leads to great impact. And this actually translates into all of areas of our lives, including marriages. We often downplay the bad and we undervalue the good. I didn't know that grip strength could add longevity to my life. But there is power in doing the thing you don't feel like doing in order to give your body what it needs. At the same time, there is power in doing the thing you don't feel like doing in order to give your spouse what your spouse needs. So I want to ask you today, to the man, where my men at? Okay, I'm coming for the men, but I'm also coming for the women and myself included. If you're single and you checked out, I need you to check back in because this is for you as well. Okay? So to the man, do you truly know what your wife needs? Maybe right now you're thinking, I need to tell her that she's beautiful a little bit more. Maybe I need to hug her a little bit more. That's great. That's amazing. We appreciate it. But also a need. Let's put our laundry in the laundry bin. And the women said, amen. To the woman, where my lady's at? My social girls, who's ready for Saturday? Most likely you're like, what's next? Do you know what your husband needs? Do you Know what a man needs? Most likely right now you're thinking more sex, more intimacy. That's cool. That's great. Probably he'd be super happy about it, right? Sex is great. Uh huh. Yes, Lord. Wow. Period. But. But do you respect your husband? Maybe you're giving him more sex, but maybe you don't respect him. How does that work? It happens every day. Do you honor him with your words? Do you allow him to lead your family? Or do you control everything? We have a hard time with that, ladies. We are control freaks. But it's okay. Today I want to do two things. I want to answer two questions. What does a woman need? What does a man need? Understanding this and taking action will change your marriage. And I say understanding this and taking action because often we understand it, we just don't want to do it. So it's important to understand it, but also apply it to your life. The consistent affirmation, the one small date night once a week. The one small kiss on the cheek before you go to work. Not just kissing your kids, but acknowledging your spouse too. It's not just hanging. It's not just flossing. It's not just fill in the blank. It's the small things done consistently that lead to great impact. One thing that I have learned on my hanging journey is that hanging is hard. Hanging looks ridiculous. It kind of is ridiculous. Seems pointless. Call me crazy, but actually there's benefits to it, right? Reminds me a lot of marriage. A lot of things you have to do that seem pointless, that don't make sense, but you do it because you know that it's going to create longevity, right? Hanging is hard. You know what else is hard? Studying and preaching from Song of Solomon. When pastor was like, hey, I need you to take a week and preach from Song of. I said, wait, I don't like Song of Songs. I get offended by Solomon whenever I read the text. And so I don't know if I can preach from it. But then the Holy Spirit and his grace and sovereignty began to speak to me and reveal the power within this book. Throughout the book, we see both the woman and Solomon affirming and celebrating what they love about the other. And since she kicks us off, I want to first unpack what a woman needs. So go ahead and write that down. What a woman needs. There's four things. Affection, communication, leadership and safety. Affection, communication, leadership and safety. Song of Songs, chapter one, verse two. She begins to sing. Kiss me and kiss me again. For your love is sweeter than wine. How pleasing is your fragrance. She's celebrating, number one, one of our favorite things. What a woman needs affection. Affection is a broad term that can actually be expressed in multiple ways. And this is important to know that maybe the way I spell affection is not the way that you spell affection. What I do know is what affection is not. Affection is not. I'm going to hug her more so I can get more. Pure affection equals affection without expectation. So there's nothing like giving someone a gift with a motive to get something in return. That always confuses me and annoys me. If you want to give me a gift, then you expect something back. It's like going to a birthday party, someone's birthday, right? You bring them a birthday gift, and all of a sudden you're like, wait, where's my birthday gift? But it's not your birthday. It doesn't make any sense, right? Sometimes it's just simply giving affection without expectation because she's worthy of love, because she's worthy of affection, because she's worthy to be honored and celebrated. Pure affection. Affection without expectation. Affection just because. But what. What is affection? It looks differently. Kind words and compliments. PR After 13 years, soon to be of marriage, still tells me that I'm fine. Fine. I don't ever tell him that I need to be told that, but when I tell you, it really blesses my life. You know, I'm acting like, mm, thank you. But inside, I'm, like, screaming. And it feels so good because, you know, I got wrinkles and things aren't the way they used to be. You know What I mean? 37 years old. And so for him to still be so attracted to me means a lot to me. How do you speak to your wife? Do you affirm her? Do you celebrate her? Do you thank her for serving? Do you thank her for doing the laundry? Do you thank her for holding it down at home and taking care of the kids? It's crazy to me because often we highlight the things we don't like, and then we just disregard the things that are good. You know what I'm talking about? How many of you are review people? You write reviews. Bless the Lord. Look, some of y'all are like, should I raise my hand or should I not? Have you ever noticed that when you got off the plane, American Airlines flight, you didn't go write a review and say, I landed safely, Right? You didn't go have a steak and say, dang, maybe you did. Maybe that steak was amazing. But often it's the negative things that we highlight and we talk about and we go write a review about. But the good things we. It's just the way that it is. How about we start normalizing and celebrating the good in our spouses? Right? Let's stop highlighting and being naggy and negative and actually celebrate the goodness of our spouses. Yeah, you can clap. Also acts of service, like helping with chores. Dun da da, na na na na na na na na na. Chores? You think that's just a little thing? I promise you. Go home, unload the dishwasher, go home, take out the trash, go home, fold a load of laundry, and watch what happens in your marriage. I'm just gonna give it to you. I know it seems practical, and I know it seems maybe ridiculous to you. I promise you, whenever a woman's love language is cleaning up the house, it will transform your marriage. Okay? Promise that. Quality time. Prioritize date night. You know, one of the things with PR And I is that we work together, so it feels like we're always together, but working together is not the. Is not the same as date night. So I think that's a trick of the enemy to actually. We're always working together, so we're always around each other. Prioritize date night. It's not the same thing. I recently heard of a story of a man that he celebrated 52 date nights because he prioritized date night once a week. Anything important, you put it on the calendar. So I have chosen. Let me give you a little hack. I actually, in my notes section, have created a section where I am journaling date nights, because by the end of this year, I want to have 52 date nights on the calendar. Why? Because my marriage means the world to me. Because it matters. So quality time. Who wants to work towards 52 date nights? Yeah. Yeah. Mm. Wow. Y'all are coming with some mm energy. I need you to get more excited about 52 date nights. Okay? Yeah. Mm. So learn the love language of your spouse, House. It's important. And for anyone else in the room, maybe that's not married. Learn the love language of your friend. Learn the love language of your children. Learn the love language of your parents. Learning the love language is necessary for relationships. There's actually a book called the Five Love Languages. I highly recommend it. It's amazing. Number two. Communication. As PR mentioned earlier, she speaks. The woman speaks 53% and Solomon speaks about 34%. So this answers everything. Ladies, we want to talk. We want to talk about it, right? I think it's important to understand, though, how we communicate is extremely, extremely important. So there's three things I want to give you. Number one, speak kindly. Number two, express clearly. And number three, celebrate what you want repeated. Speak kindly. I can say the same thing but have two different tones and communicate two different things. So would you mind taking out the trash? Would you mind taking out the trash? Same words, two different tones, right? I would love a date night with you. I would love a date night with you. I don't know why I have to use my neck so much, but it just makes sense, you know? Tone matters. Number two, express clearly. I always say, help me help you. If I don't know, I can't help. If I don't know, I can't change. If I don't know, I can't meet the need. Often we get frustrated at our spouses or other people and our friend groups and whoever else. We get frustrated and we've never communicated anything. We just have this expectation in our head. We expect them to know it, and now we're mad at it or offended because they didn't do what we needed them to do. Express clearly. Let's grow up and let's learn how to communicate what we need in Jesus name. Number three, celebrate what you want repeated. That's like a life skill. From social Dallas staff to social Dallas service, to parenting to my marriage to everything. If I want them to do it again, we always celebrate it. This lets them know, oh, this means a lot to them. PR the other day, folded a few quilts, and I was like, hey, thank you so much for folding the quilts. He thought I was being sarcastic. I'm like, no, no, no, truly, please, please, please. I love that you did that because I want him to repeat it. In Jesus name number three, Women need leadership. Chapter two, verse four. She says, he escorts me to the banquet hall. It's obvious how much he loves me. He escorts me to the bank. He leads me to the banquet hall. It's obvious how much he loves me. When a man leads his family, he loves his family. When a man controls his family, he doesn't love his family, he loves himself. So there's a difference in leadership versus control. Okay? When a man controls, that leads to a fearful wife, a resentful wife, or and a rebellious wife. We see in 1st Corinthians 11:3, God's design. But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ and the head of the woman is man. This is God's order. The head of the woman is man, but only when the head of the man is Christ. So I Want to ring the alarm and just say it out loud? Do not follow any man who does not have Christ at the head of his life. And that's important because often, you know, we want to see the best. So we're dragging these boyfriends or we're dragging these people into church trying to change them. If they're not leading you in your relationship while you're dating, they're not going to lead you while you're married. And if they do lead you anyway, it's going to be astray. So be aware. Do you hear me? So let's talk about what leadership is. It's love. It's humility and sacrifice. It's serving, not dominating. It's getting a job and providing for your family. I know some men hold it down at home and take care of the kids. That's incredible. Some people can't work. But let me tell you, leadership is not lazy. That's what I'm trying to communicate. Going to the house of God, that's important. You should be getting up and getting your kids and your wife. Let's go to the house of God. That's what leadership is. Leadership is also not sleeping together before marriage. Honoring her body and your body. That's leadership. It's unfortunate if you're sleeping together before marriage. I fell into that. I fell into that trap whenever I was a teenager, but it's alive in me. It's out of God's order, and God's hand and blessing will never be on that. Leadership is also not living together before marriage. Do you know how many people conviction is in the room? They're gonna have to go and figure out where they're gonna move to and where their rent's gonna come from. I'm telling you, God is gonna provide. It is out of God's order. Often I have people come up to me and they're asking me, they're trying to, you know, they need advice and they need wisdom. Like, hey, I have this guy or I have this girl, and I'm trying to figure out how to make. And, you know, our kids are this and my partner this. And I'm like, I hear all of that and I want to help you. My heart is to help you. Absolutely. But my first question is, are you married? Because you're living together and you have kids, but you're not married, but you're expecting the blessing of God, but you're out of order. So if God blesses that, that means he's a liar. And God is not a God. That should Lie. He's not going to honor anything out of his order. And the reason he creates order is because there's boundaries. And boundaries are love. And so God has so much for you. So much for you. And this is not to beat you up, because some people don't know. Some people just don't know. They grew up maybe with fatherless or motherless, and they don't know. This is not to beat you. Upside of the head. This is because PR&I, social Dallas, we love you so much that we're willing to tell you the truth. You deserve better. And I can't wait to see what God does whenever you align yourself with his perfect will. The truth of God, the word of God, that is what we live by. Okay, number four. Safety. Women desire safety. Chapter two, verse six. His left arm is under my head and his right arm embraces me. She continues to say this throughout the whole book. Safety builds trust. When I feel safe, I can trust. But what exactly is safety? Colossians 3. 19. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Your wife shouldn't be afraid of you. To the woman, you shouldn't be afraid of your husband. You should feel safe. And when she's safe, she will submit. Have you created a healthy, safe environment for her to feel safe? PR and myself, we have these certain things that we do because it creates a safe environment for our home. And it works both ways. I'm not just talking to the men, I'm talking to the women. PR And I have each other's social media login information. It holds us accountable, and it's important. That creates safety. We also share location. I always know where he is. He always knows where I am. That creates safety. You know what else creates safety? Is being faithful and committed to one person. This Shulamite Woman mentions twice. 2, 16, and 7, 10. My beloved is mine, and I am his. I belong to my beloved. And his desire is for me. His desire is for us. No, his desire is for me. I am his and he is mine. One man, one woman. One man, one woman. This is important. I had a hard time with this book, like I told y'all, super hard. I started to get mad because Solomon had all these women, wives, concubines. I'm just not understanding what's happening, you know, it's confusing to me. And so how is Solomon the wisest man? He's known as the wisest man. Okay, what? And also, this book is supposed to be an example of true love. So I'm supposed to study this and he has wives and concubines. It's just not adding up for me. But the Holy Spirit in his kindness. Keep studying. Keep reading. Two lessons that I learned from Solomon. Number one, you're never too smart, too rich, too important, too godly to fall. Be aware of the open door. Number two, be cautious of culture's truth. Culture always tries to distort God's truth. And because culture does it and it's trendy, we think, we believe the lie. We partner with it. And we live out our lives because culture's saying no. Be aware of what culture says is true. In this time, culture normalized multiple wives for political reasons and other reasons. And every single time, I want you to pay attention. It led to chaos and downfall. We see it with Abraham, Hagar and Sarah a mess. We see Jacob, Leah and Rachel. Jealousy and rivalry. We see David and all the family chaos. Moses in Deuteronomy, he brought warning to Kings. In Deuteronomy 17, he must not take many wives or his heart will be led astray. And now we see it with Solomon. 1 Kings 11:4. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods. And this was the downfall of Solomon. God will always gift you warnings preceding the downfall. I'm telling you, today is a warning. The Holy Spirit has aligned you to be in the room, has aligned me to have the microphone, and I'm giving you a warning. Someone needs to shut your social media down because there's a DM waiting that's going to destroy your marriage. Someone needs to switch jobs because there's a co worker that keeps showing up. If you keep showing up, you keep growing up. That works both ways. Someone needs to slow their schedule down. You're taking another job opportunity and you're making all this money because culture says, stay busy. I'm on my grind. And yet you're losing your family and your kids. This is an alarm. It's not just a look. It's not just a text. It's not just one more thing added to your calendar. The small thing always leads to the big thing. Song of songs 2:15 talks about the little foxes. Catch all the foxes, those little foxes before they ruin the vineyard of love. Those little foxes. I have a dog. PR's talked about him before. He's my baby. He's a year old. His name is Bruno. I think we have a picture of my brew boy. Isn't he the cutest thing? He's £130. He's been on a diet, now he's 120 so that's great. And it blows my mind because Bruno, ever since he was little, when I trained him, I would shake this and give him a little treat treat. And he does whatever I say. And so whenever we get him out of his crate to go outside, it always blows my mind because as I mentioned, he's 120 pounds massive. He will take me out in half a second. And I get this. I shake it and I get this little tiny treat treat. And I take it outside and he runs to his dog run and I throw it in. And as soon as he runs in to get this tiny little treat, I lock him in the dog run. I was thinking, wow, this 120 pound dog with this tiny piece of temptation and satisfaction, he goes into the dog run, I lock him in, and now all of a sudden, he's trapped. This little treat treat, this little fox, this is what the enemy is doing to some of you. You're getting a little taste of satisfaction. It's tiny, but yet it's gonna destroy your life. And the enemy is treat, treat, treat, treat, treat, treat. And you're running because it's so satisfying. And then you get in the cage and the enemy shuts the door, and now you're trapped. Be aware of the little foxes. Be aware. Sin. It takes you further than you want to go. It keeps you longer than you want to stay, and it costs you more than you want to pay. Be aware. Worship team, join me now. Who's ready for what a man needs? I know the men are like, please, oh Lord Jesus. A man needs, number one, respect. A man needs respect, friendship and intimacy. Respect fuels love, and love fuels respect. Three things that we can do as wives, as women, even to our fathers, to our sons. I'm currently reading right now a book called Mother and the Respect Effect. And it often it talks about how we never question a dad being affectionate with his daughter. But we've never thought as women to respect our sons, like, whoa. But if my husband needs it, then my son needs it. And so, respect. I want to break down what that looks like. Number one, let him lead. Appreciate his hard work and use honoring words. This is so important that we do this, ladies. Ephesians 5:33 says, however, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. It's not the wife. Should the wife maybe should. The wife must respect her husband. We must honor our men. I'll follow PR anywhere. It's not the submission that I'm trapped. No, I'll follow him anywhere. You know why? Because he creates safety for me. He respects me and honors me. Some of you are trying to get your husband to do whatever or your wife to do whatever. Just love them and honor them as God said to do, and they'll naturally come under and submit. I don't always agree with PR that's important. You can honor and disagree. You know, I'll be in one room and my husband will be in the other room. And the kids will go ask him. And he says, and then they'll come ask me. And I say yes. And they're like, well, Daddy said no. And I'm like, okay, well then we're gonna do what Daddy said. And they're like, you're an adult too. Why do we always have to do what daddy says? But what I'm doing is I'm teaching them we honor Daddy. And some of you have some friends that are immature on a child level. And they're sitting there telling you, girl, you ain't gotta do what he says. Honestly, I would get new friends. That's dangerous. Any friends that are encouraging to dishonor your husband, you better be careful. That's a little fox as well. God has called us to honor our men, respect our men. Number two, friendship. Men need our friendship. You know, there's actually men not paying for prostitutes. They're paying for a friend just to come hang out with them because they're lonely. They just want a friend. They pay money for just a friend. Men actually really desire friendship. He already has a mom, your husband. He doesn't need another mama. He has a mama. That's hard because I know we like to tell men what to do. The men are like, amen. We do. We love it. He doesn't need another mama. He needs a friend. Some of you have built your relationship on sex instead of friendship. But you got married and or you're dating more and realizing there's a lot more to marriage than sex. And now you drive each other crazy because you were never compatible. You were just sexual. Make sure you are friends. Fight for your friendship. And number three, intimacy. And this is a big one because I think often we dismiss the need because we're busy or we're tired or we're taking care of the kids and we're holding it down. I know that's something that I experienced in 13 years of marriage. I remember I was had a 2 year old, I had a 1 year old, and I had an newborn and PR was traveling the world. There was one day where he was gone. Or was it three weeks? I'm exhausted. Then he comes in and he's been, like, traveling the world, and it's like, ah, whatever. Do that. I'm, like, dying, you know? And he comes back and it's like, okay, let's have sex. And I'm like, I don't have anything more to give. But how often do we find ourselves so exhausted, running on empty, that we neglect the very thing that our husband needs? And it's a lie that I believed. And that's so dangerous. I am the only woman on the planet that can satisfy him in that way. The only one. I better be the only one. Do you hear me? No, I truly better be the only one. Or I will be on Dallas, Texas, tv, Instagram. The pastor's wife of social Dallas set the husband's house on fire. That's crazy. Promise. Y'all think I'm joking, but it's real. I kind of get mad when I think about it. It's kind of weird. I'm, like, really hot right now, but it's fine. Amen. Huh? Like, are we just gonna let that simmer real quick? I'm the only woman. What an honor and what a privilege. I want you to understand that this is not to beat y'all upside of the head. We're hoping and believing that there's gonna be so many testimonies that come out from this day. Very practical, very simple, but very freeing. You may stand to your feet. I'm about to close. Last year, I bought some trees. You know, springtime, I started wanting to garden and all the things, and so I went to the nursery and I bought trees, came home and planted them. They're doing great. I'm waiting to see, like, my plums and my apples and my fig tree. I mean, I got everything. And here comes winter, and now the leaves are gone, and the winter, you know. You know, Dallas weather is crazy. So it's like, winter, then it's spring, and then it's winter again. And I'm just like, I don't know if my trees survived the winter season. And so I've been waiting and watching, and I've been looking at them, and they just look dead. They look dead. And then yesterday, as I was thinking about, I was like, I want to go check my trees just to see if there's any sort of life that I can see to let me know that they're going to be okay. So I go out, you see the tree, put it to the next slide. All of a sudden, what Looked dead is now giving a little bit of life. And I've come on this Sunday to tell whoever in the room needs to hear this that your marriage may look like it's dead. And the enemy would love for you to believe the lie that your marriage is over. But yet, if you stay planted, if you keep showing up, if you continue to align yourself with God's word and his blessing, there is life waiting. Spring is coming. So hang in there. That's the title of my message. I'm giving it to you at the end. Hang in there. Hang in there. Let me tell you, if there's been infidelity in your marriage, God can restore it. If you repent and you turn from your wicked ways, God can restore and repair your marriage. Some of you are bringing your trauma into the marriage. What your daddy did, you're mad at your husband for it. What your mama did, you're mad at your wife for it. God is here to heal that trauma. It didn't. Maybe it broke you for a season. But let me tell you, like I said earlier, it's payback season. I want some of you to rise up, get a little bit of a righteous anger, and make the enemy regret that he ever came for you. I know that's my message. I want the enemy to regret that he ever came for Taylor Benut. Yeah, you tried to take me out. Yeah, you tried to shake my faith. Yeah, you tried. But I'm still standing. I'm still here. And let me tell you, according to me, and if I have anything to do with it, I'm telling you, I will live the best the rest of my life, making people feel less broken, bringing the hope of Jesus telling you that your marriage can be restored, that your mind can be healed, that your heart can be healed. You're looking at what you think is dead, but there is. And so I want to invite the prayer team. This is the only service. We've been able to do it because we didn't rush out. But I truly believe that God is going to heal marriages in this room. You're going to have to forgive. You're going to have to stop bringing up the same thing. Stop bringing up the thing that he did or she did over and over again. Make the decision today to say I forgive. Let's move forward. Make the decision to shut it down. Someone's going to have to confess some things today to your spouse. But I'm telling you, where there's confession, God will heal and cover. Some of you are gonna have to move out. You're gonna have to figure out, okay, we're living together. I feel convicted, but I want to be in God's order because I'm a leader. I'm a man, and I'm gonna lead this relationship. So someone's gonna have to make some changes today. But let me tell you, I am so proud of you. But better yet, who cares what I think? God is proud of you. He sees your heart. He sees your sacrifice. He sees your desire to please him. And I promise you, he will bless you. Don't believe the lie that culture says. Open marriage, Live together before marriage. All the things. No. God's word is truth. Covenant, one man, one woman. Save yourself from marriage. Let God work. Marriage has not been perfect for PR And I. I know y'all think that because we're pastors. It's perfect. It's not true. We had to fight to be where we are today. There's been seasons where I took off my wedding ring and threw it across the living room. And then I'm like, oh, shoot, where'd it go? Yeah. The enemy hates marriages. He hates relationships. It's been his same trick from day one. Look back at Genesis. What did he do? He attacked the family. You're under attack. You're mad at your spouse, and he's not the enemy. She's not the enemy. The enemy is the enemy. So rise up and get your courage. Take courage. The Bible says, take courage. Take your courage. Take your healing. Take what belongs to you. The blood of Jesus washes us white as snow. I'm going to have the team sing what I've been singing all week. And I felt God's presence. The blood, the blood, the blood. Oh, the wonderful blood that washes us white as snow. God is going to heal your marriage today. God's going to heal some relationships today. God's going to heal your heart today. God's going to heal your mind today. As we lift up his name, the cross. You know one thing that I'll never forget. The Lord spoke to me. I couldn't get over the fact that I was pregnant out of wedlock. I didn't deserve PR and all of a sudden, God said. I was just so full of shame. He said, taylor, do you believe in the cross? I'm like, of course I believe in the cross. Finish work. Of course you did. Said, whenever you carry shame, you're saying the cross wasn't enough. I'm here to tell you, was the cross enough? The cross was enough. So now I don't have to live in shame. You don't have to. To live in shame. There's mercy everlasting. There's grace that is sufficient. There's strength for your weakness. There's mourning. There's dancing for your mourning. So I want to invite. If you need healing in your marriage, if you need help in your marriage, hey, we all need help. If you need just. You're single, but you need some things. And God's working out some things. This is an atmosphere of healing and restoration. I'm spitting everywhere because I'm passionate about it. But I'm thankful for the grace of God. I'm thankful for the presence of God that transforms us. I'm thankful that his presence, he renews our minds and he gives us a new day. He's the God that makes all things new. So let's just lift our hands and let's begin to sing and remind the devil that the blood of Jesus was enough. The blood of Jesus was enough. The blood, the blood, the blood. All the wonderful blood.
- [44:34]
A
Thank you, Jesus. Anybody thankful for the blood of Jesus? Anybody thankful that we can be forgiven? Come on. No matter what we've done, we're gonna leave these altars open. Please don't leave. If you desire personal prayer, we'll stay here to. The last person is here. But felt the need to remind you of the rules for this series. Remember I told you there was some rules? Rule number one was listen for yourself, not for somebody else. I believe God was speaking to hearts today as PT Was preaching, saying, hey, that's for you. That's for you. So you got some action steps following this service. And then the other one was, don't look back, look ahead. The enemy's favorite weapon is shame. To tell you, man, it's too late. You've already messed up. No, no, no. From this day forward, you can say, God, I'm moving forward with you. The past is behind me. I'm in Christ. I'm a brand new creature. Don't look back, look ahead and hear me. One day you will stand as a living, breathing testimony to somebody else that if God resc. Promise you, he can rescue you. If God did it for me, he can do it for you too. Don't get it twisted. Me and PT Are a living, breathing testimony that God can rescue a marriage, that God can bring healing, that God can bring forgiveness where there needs to be forgiveness. So you need to ask yourself, what do I need to do to respond? As a matter of fact, I want to do this. This one thing. Would you just for a moment, bow your Head. Close your eyes. Just right where you are. There's some of you that haven't even surrendered your life to Jesus. And that's the first step. You can give a lot of love away when you have received it from an unlimited source. And our first step, the first relationship, is to surrender to this beautiful Savior. Hear me, who loved you so much he already paid the price with his blood to be in relationship with you. Don't let the enemy lie to you. You don't have to clean yourself up to come to him. You come to him just as you are. So with heads bowed and eyes closed, even if it's just one person, I want to give somebody an opportunity today to respond and surrender your life to this beautiful Savior. If that's you, would you just lift up your hand high enough and long enough to where I can see it to say, I need to give him my life? You have.
- [47:05]
B
Yeah.
- [47:06]
A
Maybe you had a bad experience in church and you've been on the run, but even now you feel the presence of God calling you home. We say all the time here at social, you can always come home. You're God's child. Doesn't matter where you've been, you can always come home. Always. I see those hands. Anybody else? Thank you, Jesus. I'm gonna lead you in this prayer, but I just want you to say it from your heart. If you lifted up your hand, would you say this? Say, Jesus. Come on, let's all declare and say Jesus. Thank you for your love, Lord. Thank you for loving me enough that you lived the life that I was supposed to live and you died the death that I was supposed to die. Lord, you took my place on the cross. So, Jesus, today I respond to your love. Forgive me of my sin. Make me brand new from this moment forward. I'm not walking in shame. I'm walking with you. Thank you, Lord, for your love that transforms me in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Amen. If you meant what you prayed, can you give God praise today? Come on, you can do better than that.
- [48:38]
B
Thank you, Jesus.