← The Potter's House Podcast
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- [00:00]
Progressive Insurance Announcer
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- [00:27]
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Pastor Don
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- [00:39]
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- [00:42]
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- [01:21]
Pastor Don
Foreign
- [01:23]
Podcast Host/Moderator
you're tuned into the Potter's House podcast where we are encouraged by powerful testimonies and life changing truth. Let's go.
- [01:35]
Pastor Don
God Still Cares first of all, welcome, welcome, welcome Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony Pastor Don God Still Cares. Powerful message. Pastor Sarah brought a very unique word that reminded us of the caring and compassion nature of God and we're gonna dive into that. So a couple of things I want you to realize is that we started something last week that we wanna continue this kind of open dialogue, this interconnection, this engagement where at any time if you feel a question well up in your spirit or your mind of something that we said or something that caught your attention on the screens, we invite you to ask that question. We're not gonna wait till the end because we wanna catch it while it's right on your mind. And because sometimes when it, when it lingers, you start to add stuff and then add stuff and then you forget and then stuff like that. So we want to catch you right there. And if you're watching online, we're doing live questions online too. So we invite you to in the chat, put your question in there. Somebody is Watching the chat. We're going to answer them right here. Because if I can't do it and I can't do a lot, these three can do everything. Amen. All right, so we're going to dive right into it. There's a clip we're going to play that just kind of open up the God still cares and gives you a little recap, if you will, of where the message was going. Let's play that clip.
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Monday.com Advertiser
See, life makes this demand on us that requires us to start paying attention to what's happening in our world. I got to pay attention to what's happening in my neighborhood. I got to sweep around my own front porch. I'm in a fight right now. I'm in a season of my life where if I don't focus, I'm going to lose this opportunity. If I don't buckle down, my marriage is going to fall apart. If I don't start prophesying and declaring, this depression is going to have the final say. I wish I could talk to somebody who didn't just come to play church. But you know what it's like to be in a situation where you cannot afford to care about what you used to care about any longer. I used to care about looking stupid. I used to to care that someone thought that I didn't have what it takes. Now I'm so hungry to get a word from God. I'm so hungry to be everything I can be in God that I don't have time to care about what you think. I used to not lift my hands in church because I didn't want anybody to think that I was the one in trouble. But, baby, I got into some trouble. That made me stop caring what you thought about it. My life made me hit some roads. That made me stop caring what you think thought about my worship. Y' all come to church sometimes, and you laugh at the people who run around and laugh at the people who shout around. Baby, you don't know what they've been through. They've been through some things in their life. If you knew from where the Lord brought them, if you knew what the devil was trying to do to them, you wouldn't care either. You wouldn't care if it was loud. You wouldn't care if it was unruly. You wouldn't care if it got on other people's nerves. As for me and my house, we're going to praise the Lord because my house house was shaking. My house almost came tumbling down. But God took care of me. When you realize that God took care of you. It changes the way.
- [04:48]
Podcast Host/Moderator
I don't have capacity to care about
- [04:52]
Monday.com Advertiser
what I used to care about. I don't have the capacity to give attention to what I used to give attention to. To let the rumor spread. The truth will outlast the rumor any day. I'm going to stay steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. God will take care of the rumors. God will take care of the battles. I don't have time to chase down every lie. I got to stand on the truth. The devil tried to take the truth from me.
- [05:25]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
Well, we came out the gate swinging. This is what's so wonderful about Walk It Out Wednesday is that we take this exhilarating moment that she gives revelation to the word of God, but then she brings practical things into it. That makes you think about, how can I make it throughout this day. And while she was. While Pastor was doing that, I thought about this quote in my head. And the quote was, I don't care what you think. Like, I don't care what. Until. What's that old parable? Until you walked a mile in my shoes. I don't care what you think. We were having open dialogue in the back, and we'll get to that in a little bit. But so many times the Bible talks about how we think, how we think the problem might not be the manifestation that God wants in your life. The problem might be how you're thinking about what you're going through right now. So as we say God cares, I want you to realize God cares about you even when you're uncomfortable. Okay. Maybe you being uncomfortable is a result of him caring for you. Okay, let me make it really plain for you. Some of you don't pray like you pray until God makes you uncomfortable. You ever been in a time in your life where you realize, oh, my God, I need you to show up right now? So God calls us, he stirs something up to make you uncomfortable, and then now you're gonna let the way somebody think about you. I don't care. I will run around this church even if you don't like me. And if I find out you don't like me, I might run around it twice. It is.
- [06:59]
Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts
It.
- [06:59]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
It's important, though, that I. I thought it was critical that we talk about how you think about something and not just how you think about it. How you think about people perceive you. Because some of you won't lift your hands like you talk about Dr. Oscar as relate to glory because you're afraid of well, they really don't know what I'm really going through. Well, forget them not knowing what you really been going through. Because if my hand is a sign of freedom going up the devil is a liar. There is no situation. There is no thing. There is no people. I don't care what you think about me. But the question is, we Talked about it, Dr. Ellis, is that's a hard thing to do. That's a really hard thing to do because we say, don't care about it. We tell you, don't care about it. But, Pastor, we still do care. Sometimes we care because we gotta keep it together. Well, I believe there was a song called Undignified Praise, and I'm gonna give it to him. Undignified? Yes, ma'. Am.
- [08:02]
Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts
Well, I really believe that it's not that attitude or that frame of mind and thinking does not come as easy for everybody. There are some of us that would like to believe that we really don't care, but we do.
- [08:24]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
That's good.
- [08:25]
Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts
We do care what others think about us, and sometimes to our own detriment. But I do believe that it is. It's a good way to encourage people to try to support people, to. To help them move forward. But I do believe that we have to consider those who really struggle with what other people say and think about them. There has to be a balance in that. And we can tell some people all day long, why do you care? You shouldn't care. Just don't care. But there's something still innate in us that cares.
- [09:13]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
Yeah.
- [09:14]
Pastor Don
And you know what's interesting about that? You say you bring a good word to that balance. Because there is an element of what we should think about when we are presenting ourselves or portraying ourselves. There should be some element of how is this affecting the people around. And everybody should have a circle of people, of trusted people, that you do care what they say and you do care what they think. I remember when I was a kid, I would leave out going to school. Like, probably most of us have this testimony. My mom would say, you know, don't act up. Don't do this, because you are a reflection of me. And I'm like, but it's my behavior. But I didn't realize what she was saying is what you do affects me. It rubs off on me. So you have to care. If you don't care about yourself, you got to care about how it's affecting me. And some of our behaviors and some of our actions, we are too careless because we have kind of taken that balance and moved the needle to say, well, I don't care what nobody say, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna do that. So the balance of not caring is when it starts to affect your purpose or your calling or in the context of what we are saying. Especially when you come into the confines of a faith based place or church and now you are more cognizant of what people think about you in terms of how you express your love for the Savior than giving God what is due him. That right there is where you take the attitude where you have not. You didn't experience what I experienced. It's the alabaster box. You don't know the cost of the oil in my alabaster box. So you can't judge how I pour my praise on him. When we step out of those confines, being aware of our godly character and being surrounded by people who care about us and people who have best intentions for us, then we do care what they say because we know they're coming to us from a place of, of care, trust and understanding to help us stay in alignment.
- [11:24]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
That's good. That's good. That's so good. And we have an online listen.
- [11:28]
Pastor Don
We told you we have questions.
- [11:29]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
They're ready. We have an online question.
- [11:32]
Pastor Don
Okay.
- [11:33]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
How does God still care? Message help in the midst of a crisis.
- [11:41]
Pastor Don
Crisis. A chaos.
- [11:42]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
A chaos. Listen, that's, that's an open question. How does it help in the middle of a chaos?
- [11:50]
Pastor Don
I think that's a great question and thank you for asking that. So how does this message apply when everything in your life looks chaotic? And I think the answer is right there in the middle. Because God is God even in your chaos. God is God even in your crazy. God is the one that sustains you in your chaos. You in your craziness, in your confusion. If you don't have him to hold onto, then you will get caught up in the whirlwind of chaos. It is God who is our anchor. God who is our stronghold. God who is our rock, God who is our strength. That when the world is doing what the world does, and it will, there is a place that we can run to in God. That's why we know that he cares. Because everything around you will tell you otherwise. Everything around will you say, God doesn't care about your situation. God doesn't care about your struggle. God doesn't care that you lost your job and you have to silence that voice and say the enemy is a lie. God is right there in the midst of everything I'm dealing with One of
- [12:53]
Pastor Anthony King
the things that we have to remember is that God is very strategic and God is also aligned. The Bible goes into so much detail about God's alignment that it says that he knows the varied number of hairs that are on your head. And if he cares enough to number the hairs in your head, why don't you believe that God will take care of you if he takes care of the birds that are in the sky? Literally. We have to have enough faith and trust in God's system and in God's plan for our life. The Bible says that every good and what perfect thing.
- [13:26]
Pastor Don
Perfect, perfect, perfect.
- [13:28]
Pastor Anthony King
God is perfect. His plan is perfect. His will is perfect. What happens oftentimes is that we yield on our will and not his. But if Jesus, the son of the living God, who's in in Gethsemane at this moment, and he literally says, father, this cup is so much for me to bear, but it's not my will, Thy will be done. When I'm able to lean on the will of God, I will understand his process for me. And if I understand the process of God, I understand his outcome. Amen. His outcome is that I will be the head and not the tail. I will be above and not beneath. But I have to take it upon myself to yield to the will of God and understand that even in the midst of chaos, God really does care, even if they don't.
- [14:16]
Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts
And I think another part of that is really understanding who you are and whose you are. When you really understand that you are a child of God, then you will relate to, to the fact that he cares. No matter how long it takes for you to get whatever you've been praying for, whatever you've been asking for, he does care. Everything about him is an expression of his care and his concern for us. And even when you are struggling with whether or not to care about what somebody else is saying, when or not. Again, when you remember who you are and whose you are, the struggle is not the same. So. So that. That's something that you have to understand. Are you a child of God or not? And there are benefits with being just like my girls have benefits because they are my girls. And so they may not get all the benefits now, but they may come later. But at some point they will see and recognize the benefits. The fact that they made it to adulthood, have their own families, have their own children, they can look back over their lives and see what the benefits have been. I cared. Their father cared. How much greater is what God does for us, what he provides for us? What he has promised us. So even if you haven't gotten it yet, understanding that you're his, who you are and whose you are makes the difference.
- [15:58]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
One of the things I will probably do is encourage. The last question was this, is that the Bible says that God will use the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. So oftentimes, what we call chaos, God calls a tool. So sometimes, if we can see the chaos different, and if there's a better version in you that God is trying to pull out of you, you can take the word like God cares, use that as a tool to say, God, show me, in this chaos, what are you trying to pull out of me? Because I know whose I am. So since I know you'll take care of me, show me what you're trying to pull out of me. So he'll take the chaotic moment. But it's really a tool so you can become a better version of yourself. So it's really not chaos. It's an equipment that God decided to use to make you a better version of yourself. So. So that's one thing I would try to do to encourage you.
- [16:46]
Pastor Don
So online is lighting up. We got all these questions online. Y' all better join in these online family. Eva asked this question, how do I know when I'm carrying or carrying too much?
- [17:03]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
That's a loaded question to me. That's a loaded question because when you start, and Pastor Sarah mentioned, there's a difference between care and carrying. And sometimes we become so tired, not because we care, because we're carrying too much. And I think that's when we got to learn how to create boundaries. How do we draw the borders of, okay, I can't keep carrying you if you keep putting a deficit in my life. I can't keep carrying you if everything you do is subtract from me. I can care for you, but if I keep carrying you, eventually I can't meet my purpose. So everyone knows, if you ever flown before, there's one moment in flying that probably all of us kind of nudges is when you put your luggage on that weight, you're like, lord, am I overweight? Am I gonna have to pay this extra? So my wife oftentimes, she said, could you weigh this at home before we get there? And I don't care. Every time I say, lord, this thing is overweight, I got to pay the price. Think about it. Sometimes we're paying the price because we let too many people in our luggage. So I can probably encourage you say, listen, check it Know when to let people go. It's sometimes good to have the anointing
- [18:19]
Pastor Don
of no, but you know, with that there's also another side of that, that sometimes we let our ability, ability to want to save everybody that's good. Be the thing that makes us carry everybody. It becomes, it becomes something. A. A what do I want to say?
- [18:41]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
Savior complex.
- [18:42]
Pastor Don
Yeah, savior complex. It becomes our, our banner. It becomes what we wear. And we like to complain about it. Oh, I got to do this and oh, I got to go do. But secretly we, we use that as some type of a supplement for something that's lacking in our own lives. Like we need to feel important or we need to feel needed. So I got to carry this and I want you to call me, but I'm going to complain to you. But I. And all. And sometimes it is fixing that thing that's maybe deficit within you. Why do you feel like you have to save everybody? I have learned to tell some people this is a job for God. This is not a job me, this is. We're going to pray and we're going to ask God to do his job. And he will. Because it's not my assignment. And she said it's so great on Sunday. It's not my assignment to carry and care for everything that comes within my view. Otherwise we'll get fatigued, we'll collapse because we don't have the capacity. So how do you know when you're carrying. Are carrying too much? When the weight of it is pulling you away from your purpose? When what I have been assigned to, I can no longer focus because I am so involved in what you are doing and what you're assigned for. That is a clear indication that I'm carrying too much. That that's not meant for these shoulders. That I have nothing to prove. I don't have to prove how strong I am. That's somebody else's problem. You trying to prove to people how strong you are. And I can do this. And I can do this.
- [20:19]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
Stop.
- [20:20]
Pastor Don
That's not going to get you extra crown in heaven. That's going to get you extra medication.
- [20:28]
Pastor Anthony King
Amen.
- [20:29]
Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts
And I feel like it's also. It can also be a physical consequence. Yeah, negatively. That's another way to know all that. Your purpose, that purpose piece is absolutely critical. But when you start feeling exhausted and run down and tired and you're tired and it's not even your stuff, that's a problem. That's a real indication that you're carrying too much. You can care, but there must Be boundaries. You have to know when enough is enough. And you have to make that known to those who don't recognize when enough is enough. You have to say that. You say it there. You can say it in so many ways. Of course we want to say it as though we care, and we do. But I cannot care to that extent any longer. You're gonna have to care for yourself and you're gonna have to rely on the fact that God cares for you. But I have to stop here.
- [21:44]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
That is so good. There's a question on the floor.
- [21:51]
Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts
How do. Going back to.
- [21:53]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
There you go.
- [21:54]
Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts
Going back to what we care about, what people think about us. Are we looking into the area of people pleasing or. Or God pleasing because he really cares for us? What is our focus in trying to be pleasers to people instead of to God who really loves us and cares?
- [22:12]
Pastor Anthony King
I think one thing. We have to be comfortable with whatever assignment that we have in the lives of different people. Meaning that I can be one thing to you in one season. I may can be your intercessor. I make him be your best friend. I can be the one who cares for you. I could be the one who comes to pick you up. Right. But the other side of that is I can't be everything to you in every single season as well. Right. I have to be comfortable enough to admit that to you. People pleasing will allow you the invitation to worry yourself out because you're trying to make everybody else happy. It's people right now who are stressed out because I've tried to be the yes person to everybody. Sometimes no is not just a word. No is a posture. So you have to be comfortable saying no, even if it makes somebody mad. Because at the end of the day, you have to please God. I've come to the. To the time now and I'm still young. But even in this young age, I want to please God and nobody else. I can't waste any more time on this earth because Jesus is coming back and when I stand before him, he's going to allow me to give an account for everything that I've done. And I can't stand up there and say, lord, well, I spent time with this person and I did this for that person. And I did this. And God is going to say, but what have you done for me, Anthony? What have you done for me? So you have to think not now. You have to think eternally. What result do I want from God? Do I want to please people and disappoint God or do I want to Please, God, and make it into the gate.
- [23:53]
Pastor Don
That's good. We're going to. We have some other questions, but let's get to this next clip because I think with what we're talking about, it kind of really falls in there. Can we roll that next clip?
- [24:04]
Podcast Host/Moderator
The human brain literally does not have the capacity to care about everything at the same time. That's why it's so dangerous. The news cycle that we live in, so overwhelming social media. I don't know if you're like me, but I've had these moments where I was scrolling or looking at what was happening in the news and I put my phone down and I felt defeated and deflated. Things happening thousands of miles away technically doesn't have anything to do with me, but still so devastating that I don't know what to do about it. Millions of people losing their jobs to AI, war breaking out, murder and death. There are moments where literally I don't have the capacity to care about everything. This is a phenomenon that takes place called compassion collapse. Compassion collapse is where people begin to feel less empathy, the greater the scale of the trauma. Let me say that real good. So it's the difference between hearing that 3 million people have lost access to health care and then seeing that one go fund me page of that one person who's in need of money for surgery. When we can put an individual with a cause, we are more likely to respond from a place of compassion because we feel empowered enough to respond on that individual level. But the greater the issue, the greater the concern, the more powerless we feel. When we feel powerless, our compassion collapses. It's called compassion collapse. And so I have been challenging myself to not just read what I see on the headlines as entertainment, but to remember, or information, but to remember that it is devastation. Oh, we have to not allow ourselves to become so apathetic that we just read headlines, close our apps, and feel nothing at all.
- [26:37]
Pastor Don
So that part of the sermon really stuck with me because it's words that we hear that we use that I really wanted to dive into. So we heard apathetic or apathy. So I wanted to show this clip this, not clip this slide where it just kind of lays out apathy, sympathy, empathy, and compassion. Because I want us to really, really see how they correlate to each other and how where do you fall within that? So we'll break each one down. But just as an overview, apathy, the position of an apathetic person is a closed heart, literally meaning without feeling sympathy, caring heart feeling alongside empathy. The feeling heart Feeling into. And then finally, compassion is the moving heart. I'm suffering with you. Right, let's go to that first slide of apathy. So apathy really breaks down from the apathea, which means without feeling or without pathos, which is without emotion, without compassion. I want to give some scriptures where you could find this. Where do we see this? There's a passage in Ezekiel where God is talking to Ezekiel and Ezekiel's talking to Jerusalem. And he's saying, behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom. She had excess of food and prosperous ease, but did not eat. Aid the poor and needy. You had it, but you didn't care. The rich man and Lazarus. Luke 16. We've heard this. This is a parable that Jesus is. Lazarus was not hated, just unseen. There was a rich man who passed him all of the time while Lazarus was at the temple, Becket. And then when they got. Lazarus was in heaven, the rich man was in hell. And the rich man was trying to get Lazarus to come down and dip his finger in the water and. And cool his tongue. Because the scenarios had changed, the situations that changed. Jesus says in Revelation, the lukewarm church, neither cold nor hot. I will spit you out. Apathy repulses Christ when you don't care about what other people are dealing with. When you are without feeling, without emotion, where you could pass somebody's suffering and walk by like nothing ever happened. What's a practical sign? Passing suffering without stopping. Programs without presence, abundance without generosity, and unfortunately, the world. I think our culture has made us very apathetic. We hear about killings all the time and turn the channel like nothing ever happened. So let's move to sympathy. So then what is the position or first position of our heart? Sympathy. Sympathy is when the heart is caring. It is feeling alongside. Where do we find this in Scripture? Romans 12. Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Job's friends, they show sympathy. That seven days of silence, no speeches. They didn't try to fix anything. They were just there with Job. They had not experienced what Job had experienced, but they could sympathize with Job. The Lord is near to the brokenhearted. Divine nearness and solidarity. And there's a difference between sympathy and pity. Sympathy honors suffering as equal. Pity looks down on it. One builds and one builds bridges and one builds walls. So I want people to sympathize and I remember. And we can pause here for a second because I remember when my. Before my mother passed, I would tell people, oh, you know, I know what you're going through. And they would say, no, you don't. No, you don't. You can sympathize with me, but you can't. Which is the next one? We'll get to empathize. But sympathy comes especially when we talk about grief. How do we have that caring heart or that sympathetic heart even when someone is grieving and to show the presence of God, caring.
- [30:51]
Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts
Well, particularly when it comes to grief. I would say the difference between sympathy and empathy is that sympathy is an acknowledgement, while empathy is actually being able to put yourself in that person's place. Empathy goes further than sympathy because with sympathy, you can actually, although it's better than being apathetic, you can just simply say, you have my prayers and my condolences and go about your way. I addressed it, I'm done. Empathy tries to walk alongside the person for a longer amount of time when. Especially if you have actually had the same experience or similar. But it doesn't mean that does not mean that individuals that have not had the exact same experience cannot be empathic. You can be. It's a matter of learning and growing and developing the capacity to have that type of concern and interest for others. When my husband passed, it took me a minute to get to feeling anything for anybody else. Now, let's be real. And I'm sure you probably experienced that when your mom passed because there's such a void and such a hole and you've spent so many years, almost 40 years of marriage and years prior to that as just friends, that that's now having to learn how to walk and continue living without somebody that has been connected to your heart for so very long. So what I feel for the widow now.
- [32:47]
Pastor Don
Yeah.
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Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts
Does not compare to what. And I had a heart for widows long before my husband passed. But when I tell you it has far exceeded any sympathy or empathy that I might have had prior to his passing. So now I can't. Even then or even now, I don't say to people, I know exactly what you're going through, because relationships are different.
- [33:18]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
Yeah, that's right.
- [33:19]
Pastor Don
Yeah.
- [33:19]
Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts
And so the relationship I had with my husband, some other widow may not have had that same relationship. And so I may not be able to speak to what loss and grief feels like for her, but I can still be empathetic in that I am walking with you because I want to show that I care. I want to show that I know what it's like to walk in your shoes. And that is a level of caring for others that we are absolutely Required.
- [33:54]
Pastor Don
Required to do.
- [33:55]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
Yes. Yes, that is so.
- [33:57]
Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts
Absolutely.
- [33:58]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
I thought. I. I think that as you were talking, Dr. Ellis, a thought came to my mind was conversations amongst and between people can be so much better if we took the posture of empathy. Not just saying, I feel sorry for you, just any form of communication. Put yourself in their shoes. Not arguing, not fussing to say, hey, why did you do that? Okay, let's talk. Let's have dialogue. I think so many times we have conversation based off of defensive hearing that if we took an empathy conversation and hurried through those lights, it may be totally different. Because as you were talking, I thought to myself, man, I need to communicate better from the stance of empathy.
- [34:42]
Pastor Don
Yeah.
- [34:43]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
When I'm talking to someone. Because grieving is not always just a death.
- [34:47]
Pastor Don
Yes.
- [34:48]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
It could be a loss of a job. It could be somebody walking out of your life. It could be, you know, you never know what it is. And sometimes we judge or talk to people without understanding everything that they're going through.
- [34:59]
Pastor Don
You know, can we go back real fast just for. I just want to show something. Go back to apathetic apathy. Just at the bottom, so I am not affected is the posture of apathy. You go to the next one, sympathy. That changes to I'm affected for you. Now let's go to empathy. So empathy is what, you know, we kind of alluded to it. It is the feeling, heart it's filling into. It is the posture of I am affected with you. When Hebrew says, for we do not have a high priest unable to simply sympathize with our weaknesses. He knows Jesus wept. You know, it. It's. It is when we see empathy, it is literally. Even when we talk about compassion, it is literally something Jesus felt from the inside of him. And so after we have empathy, we go to. And we have a couple of questions. We go to compassion. Let's go to that last one. Compassion. Empathy then moves us to compassion. It is now suffering with. It is. I am moved to act on your behalf. I leave the empathetic state now that I'm feeling into it. I'm affected with you. Now. Compassion moves me to do something. That's where we get the passage that we heard Sunday Matthew 9. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them because they were harassed and helpless like a sheep without a shepherd.
- [36:26]
Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts
And.
- [36:27]
Pastor Don
And he did something. So you cannot have compassion and not act.
- [36:35]
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- [37:48]
Monday.com Advertiser
Right.
- [37:49]
Pastor Don
I'm gonna let that say lie in your spirit because compassion will move you to act. Compassion is where empathy now marries it and then it moves you to do something. What am I gonna do about it? And that's where she brought up compassion collapse. You want to speak to that, Dr. Ellis?
- [38:09]
Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts
Yeah, I. It's interesting because I had not actually heard that term. Now of course I understood how we can carry too much, we can do too much. But in listening to that term and what it really means, one of the first things I thought about was self care. When we are supposed to be compassionate and, and we that compassion means doing something, actually acting on something. When we read Mark 8, we, we see that Jesus was so compassionate that he was thinking about the people. Now, we don't see in the scriptures where anybody in the crowd said I'm hungry.
- [39:00]
Pastor Don
Correct.
- [39:01]
Lowe's Advertiser
Come on.
- [39:01]
Pastor Don
Right.
- [39:02]
Adam Grant
Wow.
- [39:03]
Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts
Jesus said they're hungry. They've been following me for three days. They need to eat. That's really true. Compassion seeing a need, even though somebody has not brought it up, not not mentioned it, not said anything. But common sense says to you, if they've been following me out here in this field, in the wilderness, wherever they were on a mountain, wherever they were at that time and they've been following him for three days, somebody had to be hungry. So his compassion not only led him to acknowledge what was obvious to him, there is a need. I care. I am empathetic with them. I am going to do something about it. And so whatever you bring me, I'm going to give thanks and Multiply, apply it.
- [39:59]
Pastor Don
Yeah, come on.
- [40:01]
Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts
That was already in his plan.
- [40:04]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
That's good.
- [40:05]
Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts
So it just. When I kept reading that passage and thinking about how much compassion he actually had, he also had the empathy. I think the other part of that is that we need to understand that even though Jesus did a lot of teaching and blessing the multitudes, there was always a time that he parted from the crowd.
- [40:32]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
Yes.
- [40:33]
Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts
That he walked away. He went to a desert place or he went to a mountain, or he went somewhere so that he could take care of himself.
- [40:46]
Pastor Don
Self care.
- [40:46]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
That's good.
- [40:47]
Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts
Self care.
- [40:48]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
There's a question.
- [40:50]
Podcast Host/Moderator
Go from having apathy, I would say at a younger age, I created apathy towards people. And as I got older and understood life, I started having more compassion. And I think it comes from someone not saving a little girl to where I feel the little girl has to save everybody else. So how do you stop from having over compassion?
- [41:22]
Pastor Don
That's good. That's good. Well, first of all, I appreciate your vulnerability and your honesty to ask that question. And it is the over compensation. It's kind of like what we were talking about. People who carry too much. Sometimes we're trying to overcompensate for what we didn't get and what we didn't have and what we didn't feel. Feel. And so some of that is letting go of what didn't happen. Because you can do nothing about that. You don't have to repay for that. You don't have to make up for that. That's not your responsibility. That your responsibility. Jesus gave us two commandments. Love the Lord our God with our whole heart, mind, body and soul, and love our neighbor as ourself. And that compassion extending to those who are around you is where your capacity is. But I want us to also remember the message. Because you cannot care and care for everything around you. You have to know what is in your alignment for you to care about, for you to have compassion. And where is your capacity for that?
- [42:27]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
I want to say something too, and that's really good. But that's also a form of trauma because I heard you say no one saved the little girl. So what we do when we. You notice me say we. When we got older, we overcompensated because we didn't want to see anyone else go through what we went through. So I will say you this. There's a thing that's called trauma management. So you have to learn how to manage it. Because that trauma that's not transformed, it'll be transferred. So we so, so you have to go back.
- [43:02]
Pastor Don
You.
- [43:03]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
You sit down with somebody. You got to go back and save the little girl. You didn't have dialogue with someone, sit down. Because what happens is with us. Notice I keep saying us. No one saved the little boy. So I overcompensated when I got older, but it wasn't until I went back and had a conversation with Lil Don at the fence, and I still remember being at the fence to let you know, you're gonna be okay. Even though they didn't come for you, you're gonna be all right. So that's real critical that I understand what you're saying. So it's management. It's managing. Cause it's gonna come up. It's learning how to manage it, the tools to manage it.
- [43:43]
Pastor Anthony King
That's so good. And I'll give you one. One practical tip that my therapist gave me. He told me to write affirmations to the younger me. Writing affirmations to the younger me that makes me go back to that place that I was, realize what I did not have, come with the knowledge that I have now at this big age, and pour into my younger self, and what I began to do that, you know, weekly at this point, I began to find healing for things that I didn't even understand. Because some of the trauma comes from things that we didn't even understand. And because we can't understand it, we get aggravated. It makes us become isolated. And now we don't want to be bothered because we lack understanding of what happened. But when we are able to pour into who we were, we now know how strong we can be when we start becoming.
- [44:34]
Pastor Don
Wow. Wow.
- [44:35]
Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts
The other thing to consider is, and I'm not suggesting that you're doing this, but just in case is letting go of the idea that you have to hold somebody right responsible.
- [44:48]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
That's good. Yes. Yes.
- [44:50]
Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts
Because sometimes that gets in the way of our progress or our moving forward. There could be a number of people that were responsible. There could be one person that was responsible. But since, like you said, it's in the past and you can't really do anything about it, I have come to learn that trying to blame somebody for whatever happened that I think messed me up, slowed me down, kept me from getting to my purpose in a timely fashion, whatever the case might be, I had to let it go. I had to release them, actually, you know, I've actually been told. I was actually told when I decided, when I didn't finish college, in the years that I should have. So once I had children and A church and all these other things. I decided to go back to school. I decided to tell a favorite uncle. I was excited to tell him that I had started back to school. And he actually said to me, you will never finish. I didn't even know where it came from. Now, that could have worked for me one of two ways. Give me the drive to go as far as I could go, or stop me and make me sit down and say, I can't do anything because I'm traumatized. Guess what? It did gave me the drive.
- [46:21]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
Dr. Ellis. Doctor.
- [46:24]
Pastor Don
Dr. Ellis.
- [46:26]
Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts
That I had to release.
- [46:27]
Pastor Don
Yeah, Dr. Ellis, that's a good question that we have. Y' all getting something from tonight. Are y' all getting anything?
- [46:33]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
Thing.
- [46:34]
Pastor Don
So we got a question on the floor and question on the, on, on the online. How do people exercise compassion with those who were apathetic toward you in a time of suffering? Talk to Jesus. I mean, but that's a real thing. How, how do, how do I turn the compassion? But you know what? When I feel like when you are really healed, when you are, there are times where, if I'm honest, I wanted to win so I could get back at all the people that didn't want me to win. Like, I just want to show them in their face, you know, I want to give them. I want them to experience what they gave me. But I realized when God really healed that part of me, I was able to take back my ownership of who I am. I am compassionate because of what Christ gave me and how Christ has compassion with me. So it is not hard for me to be compassionate with you, even though you didn't offer me that. Because what I recognize is you had a void that you didn't know how to feel. And that apathy was you acting out of something that was not healed. And I don't hold that against you. But if I am truly healed and I truly understand forgiveness, I can show you what you were missing and in hopes that what you see me give you now is able to turn your life around. And you, you say, you know what? Maybe I need some of that. Because everything about what we doing is being a witness for the Savior.
- [48:02]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
Listen, this next question, and we come into the question on the floor. This is a million dollar question that the world is asking. The question is, how do you get over being church hurt? How? Well, if you want me to answer that, I typically, I say the church didn't hurt you. Somebody did. Stop giving a church a title of what a person did. That's kind of my simple answer to that. But the larger answer to that is, let's take a look at what your expectations were. And then without knowing the fruit of everything that happened, it's kind of hard for me to say an exact answer because you kind of alluded to it. Dr. Ellis. Sometimes we heard hold people responsible for something they don't even have the knowledge to do, like they didn't know any better. That doesn't excuse them. But I think sometimes we take on a hurt that we didn't have to and we blame the church body when it was really one or two people that did that.
- [49:04]
Pastor Don
I think it's what you said. I think once we realized that God's church did not hurt us, that I go to the restaurant down the street that may have a name of several other restaurants and have a bad experience there, there. I don't then cloak all of those restaurants and say, I'm never going to such and such restaurant. So when I understand there is real hurt that happens at some churches, there's real hurt that happens, absolutely. But when I understand that the true church of God, the true church, when I experience the true church of God, I understand that that church helped build me, not hurt me. And it helps me to release that God from what other people did. And then I'm able to say, well, they don't really know God, because if they really knew God, they wouldn't have hurt me like that. So I'll pray for you. I'll have sympathy and maybe a little empathy for you.
- [49:59]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
Okay.
- [50:00]
Pastor Don
Yes. Just a little. You know, I'm still working.
- [50:04]
J
Thank you so much. Thank you so much. I think that when trials and tribulations come, we really often end up robbing God from the opportunity to save us when we take on the weight of all of what the world is happening and doing around us. And I think my question is when and where can the believer find opportunities for God to give us a sign to say, this is not for you. You have taken on responsibility and weight that is not yours. And I want you to allow me as your savior to show up and do the work of compassion, do the work of sympathy. So what are the signs for the believer to be able to release the weight and let God step in and be God? Thank you.
- [50:58]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
That's a great question. Great question.
- [51:00]
Pastor Anthony King
Lord.
- [51:00]
Pastor Don
Today I'm have to bring chat GPT next time. Y' all coming with a. It's good. Like, go ahead.
- [51:07]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
You know the first thing I thought about pain. Okay, this is too heavy. Okay. Why can't I keep carrying this, sometimes pain is an indicator that you're carrying too much. Especially when they leave your life, the pain leaves.
- [51:25]
Pastor Don
Yeah, right.
- [51:29]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
You did say a little bit now and again. I'm trying to be deep, but sometimes God is like, hey, that pain, that's something you're not supposed to carry. But on the other side of that, sometimes it could be fatigue. We had this conversation, like, hey, why am I so tired? I'm always tired, mentally tired, physically tired, spiritually tired. Sometimes that's a result of us carrying things that God has given us. Signals that we oftentimes ignore and think, oh, I just need to push through it. And then maybe God giving us signs of, hey, you carrying a little too much.
- [52:03]
Pastor Don
Jesus says, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. And if you need a metric system, I would just. Just oppose it to what Jesus said. Like, does this feel heavy? Does this feel like it's weighing me down? And again, my, my litmus test is always, am I more focused on what he's assigned and aligned for me to do, or am I distracted because the.
- [52:31]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
I'm sorry, can I say this? I probably. I want to self correct. I don't want you to think I just gave you a license to give up because something got heavy. Yeah, yeah, yeah, something got heavy. Pastor said, let it go. No, no, no. Sometimes God requires heavy things to show
- [52:43]
Pastor Don
us how strong we are. Yeah, absolutely.
- [52:45]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
I want to self correct when I thought about it.
- [52:46]
Pastor Don
Yeah, but his strength helps us carry what is heavy for us. So sometimes what may look like it's heavy to somebody else is light to us because it's his strength working in us. But for me, it's always, how am I aligned with my purpose? How am I aligned with my calling? And if I feel distracted, the only person that benefits from me being distracted from what God has called me to do is the enemy of my soul. That's the only person that gets glory from when I am not on target. And so it is his job to distract me and keep me bogged down. Is my job to say, father, your yoke is easy. Your burden is like, give me your yoke. I'm going to give you all this other stuff.
- [53:31]
Pastor Anthony King
I think that if. If we are honest with ourselves, we pray to God for miracles. We pray to God for healing. We should also be praying for discernment that when is going to come. You. You have a. Hear me. You have a right to be specific with your prayers. You have a right to be specific with what you fast for. You have a right to Be very direct with God. Pastor Sarah said something on Sunday that was so great because my whole life I was told, don't question God, don't question God, don't ask God any questions. And a little older that I got, and I'm not that old. I realized it's some questions I had to ask now. God, look, this is too much for me now, this that you got going on right now, especially being married, having a young child, like this stuff is weighty. But you have a right to throw that weight on God. As much as you ask God to throw the weight of his glory on you, you can throw the weight of your burdens on Him. You got me? So you have a right to be very specific in prayer, but you have to be disciplined to be on your knees. You have to be disciplined to be on your face. Lay before God until you get the answer that you need. You have a right to lay as long as God don't give you no time limit when it comes down to praying for him. So we have to do that and we build that endurance in prayer by staying in the presence of God.
- [55:02]
Pastor Don
So pray.
- [55:06]
Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts
And my answer is short. Sweet. Find yourself in a place of joy. Yes, because the joy of the Lord is your strength. Be intentional about joy. Be intentional about rejoicing. And I, we often hear, oh, how am I supposed to rejoice when I'm going through this, that and the other. Just do it on purpose. I'm inspired spite of I got a praise, I, I, I got joy. I'm going to rejoice. You have to be on purpose and intentional about it and, and, and, and remember that out of that literally comes the strength of God.
- [55:54]
Pastor Don
So somebody asks, why did God allow me to go through near death experiences? I thought I was being punished by God. Why? Pastor DON well,
- [56:10]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
Now I'm going to give you the answer for me. While the praise team was singing, the young man said something, a revelation that caught my attention. He made this statement. He said, where there's a need, God has a name. Where there's the need, God has. I know he's talking about Jehovah, Jireh Nissi. And I thought about something. Sometimes God wants to show us he's a deliverer. So he has to put us in circumstances to show that he is a deliverer. So sometimes you can say, I know him as a healer. Nah, but until you've been sick, then you really know him as a healer. But oftentimes we don't get that. We have to understand the only way we get Revelation sometimes is birth through a situation. So the situation was God put me in a near death experience. It wasn't punishment, it was provision. It wasn't punishment, it was a revelation. So to say I was near death experience, I would say, no, it wasn't a near death experience. It was a coming to God experience. It was God showing you that I can keep you and most of us can testify, I can turn this into a whole church service that he's a keeper and you're not the people that shout. I'm not saying he's a keeper because my neighbor said he's a keeper. I'm saying he's a keeper because I know he kept me in the middle of the chaos. I know he's a keeper. How do you know he a keeper? Because God had mercy on my enemies. Because I know he's a keeper. Because I know what I would have did. I don't do it anymore. How you know he's a keeper, Pastor? Because I know what I should have been thinking. I'm not thinking it anymore. So, so how did you say, why did he allow it? I say God wanted to show you a better version of himself and he want to show you a better version of you in the midst of what you're going through.
- [57:57]
Pastor Anthony King
I would tell that person because they're still alive to even type this question. That's enough for them to give God praise right there. Because he didn't take you out.
- [58:12]
Pastor Don
He, he.
- [58:12]
Pastor Anthony King
Listen, I don't. And I don't know who you are. I see the name is David. God gave you enough. And I want to be very strategic with this. He gave you a testimony in this. You don't know who your question just helped. Perhaps God saved your life because you're about to save another life and can.
- [58:35]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
That's so good. He said, can I say this? Maybe, David, maybe your name came up.
- [58:40]
Pastor Anthony King
Come on.
- [58:41]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
Maybe God was talking to the enemy and he said, have you considered my servant David? Because he said, I know he won't turn on me. Maybe you, you, maybe I can get him to turn. He said, no, no. And sometimes we gotta admit, sometimes we haven't done anything wrong. Maybe your name just came up, Pastor. I don't know what I'm gonna do. Cause your name came up and you want to be thankful. I am so thankful my name came up because I know in the midst of it all, he's still a child.
- [59:06]
Pastor Don
You know, there is a, there is another angle I want to lift up to that that is congruent with that and it is sometimes depending on your church experience, and I have felt this, that we feel like when bad things happen to us, it is God now trying to punish us. It's guilt. It's what it is. It's pride. It's guilt. You guilty and you feel like, oh, God, okay, you gonna get me back. And I used to feel like I would get. I would do something, and I get in a plane, I'm like, okay, God, don't. Don't crash this plane, please. I'm sorry. Y' all do it, too. I know y' all be praying, like, for this plane, the turbulence cup, like, God, whatever it is that I did, I'm sorry. I'll never do it again. Y' all know. You know what that is. That's guilt. Now, this may be somewhat of a kind of controversial statement, but I think the church has taught us wrong sometimes in what it means to fear God, where that fear has turned into this image of what we see, that God is holding this record and gonna get us. And you know, oh, God, you mess. And God is remembering when he says he forget. When we ask for forgiveness. He forgets our sins and throws them as far as the east is far from the west in the sea of forgiveness and remembers them no more. So why are you holding yourself to this invisible card that God has let go? If God. God doesn't need a situation or a circumstance to kill you. He could just take your breath. Oh, God, you just try to get. No, why would this. Listen to the statement. Why would God try to do anything? I want you to say lie. That right there ought to let you know that ain't God, because God don't try to do nothing. So let's dismiss this God that is this person in our head because we're giving God a man image of someone who has abused us or hurt us or held stuff over us or hold. God is not holding grudges over you. Okay, it.
- [61:17]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
Dr. Williams, that is so good, what you said. You made me think about something. In Pastor Sarah's message, we talked about compassion. We talked about all those things, and I see scripture just walk it out. Whimsy. Oftentimes I see scripture differently. I just see it differently. What if. What if we often took a scripture and we thought about the fish and the bread? What if your calling is the fish and the bread? Because sometimes God can't serve you until he breaks you. See, it's. It's. It's good to be the one that's doing. That's eating. But what about When God is saying, I'm. You're in my hand now. I'mma give thanks, I'mma break you and then I'mma spread you. But I can't spread you until I break you.
- [62:03]
Pastor Don
Multiplication doesn't come until you send the breaking.
- [62:06]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
And maybe God is breaking you not to kill you. Maybe he said, okay, I'm breaking you because I'm getting ready to serve you into your purpose. Because your purpose was never to stay in a bag. Your purpose was to never stay in a lunchbox. Your purpose was to feed thousands of people. But you can't feed thousands until you're broken.
- [62:28]
Pastor Don
So as we.
- [62:29]
Monday.com Advertiser
We.
- [62:29]
Pastor Don
We are. We are. Did you all enjoy tonight? Did you get something from tonight?
- [62:33]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
I hope so.
- [62:34]
Pastor Don
We had a couple of questions. We apologize for the questions that we didn't get to online. They were asking. But I want to say something and even to what you just said. Dr. Ellis, you brought up something when we were talking about how Jesus was moved with compassion. And I want to tag that with this, that the disciples job was to bring him the substance. Jesus did the multiplying. Sometimes we try to switch roles. We want to be the ones that multiply. So when we talk about carrying too much and weight and load, it's because we're taking on the wrong role. Their job was to bring it to Jesus and Jesus did the increase. Our job is to bring it to him. Bring yourself to him. Bring the little that you have, bring the much that you have. Bring it so, so that he can break it. And even if it's you, bring yourself. You may not think like you're enough, you're not enough alone. But when you place you in the Master's possession now he can multiply you in ways where you are where there is left over. So let's we, we, we're standing because I believe someone in this house, someone in this place has heard a word from God. Whether you're online and you have been encouraged, your heart has been lifted because you understand. You want to move from a place of sympathy to empathy and then to compassion. And so this is a different type of altar call. Normally, you know, we call altar calls for people who have been pricked or convicted in their heart. And yes, the altar is open for that. But I want to, I want to do a different altar call. I want an altar call for those who want to be moved to compassion that you know and you can recognize that the world has made you numb to all of the circumstances and the situations around you that you've almost had to create a barrier to not be affected. But it's caused you to block off everything and not feel anything anymore. And I want to call people to this altar who say, God, I want a heart for compassion. Because this world will not change unless the people of God rise up and be moved to compassion and make a change. Those who are recommitting to say, father, I have slacked in my prayer life. I slack out praying for those that are less fortunate than me or those that are in my community or those that I can't see or those I just kind of feel fallen short of that. God, I want to reignite that fire, that compassionate fire. I want to have a heart like Jesus. I want to feel what others are feeling. I'm going to invite you to the altar right now because we're going to ask God to fill us again with his compassion. Fill us again with his love. Fill us again with his heart. God, give me a heart like your heart. I want to feel like you. I want to. When I pray, I want to pray like you. I want to feel. I don't want to be numb to the circumstances that are going on around me. Yes, there are wars going on, but sometimes when the headlines leave, we stop praying for it as if it's over. God, I want you to be able to count on me to be an intercessor for you. I'm going to invite you to the altar. I want to invite you down. I want to invite you down.
- [66:10]
Progressive Insurance Announcer
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- [67:13]
Pastor Don
Those that say I feel called. I feel called to be an intercessor and I need that fire. I Want to invite you to the altar. I know that I'm called to pray for the nations. I know I'm called to pray for my family. I know I'm called to pray for my community. And if I'm honest, I've lost a little bit of that faith fire, that compassion. I've lost a little bit of that life. Circumstances have given. Have numb me to feeling what I need to feel. And I. God, I want that heart back. I don't want to just sympathize with people, God, I want to empathize. I want to be moved to compassion. I'm asking you to come. It's a bold statement. And I know. I know. I know We. We always like to say it's the other person. It's not me, but maybe it is you. Maybe you are the. The loaf that God is trying to multiply. And he's waiting on you to come in his hands so he can break you, so that others can get nourishment. Maybe that's you. Maybe that's you. I'm gonna give you a few more seconds. These at the altar. Thank you. Thank you. That you're called to intercede. You're called. Intercession is not just a prayer, but it's a posture. It is being concerned. God. I don't want to just pass somebody on the street and look the other way and not be concerned anymore. God, I know there's a lot going on in my life. I know I have a lot of situations and I have a lot of problems. But, Father, I don't want what happened to me to affect how I deal with other people. So, Father, create in me a clean heart. I see you, brother. And renew a right spirit in me. That's it. It's a sobering decision. I see you coming. I see you coming. You hear the Holy Spirit saying in your heart, you know he's talking to you. I've been whispering in your ear for a while. You know that fire used to pray. That ability to stop and pray for somebody in the shopping center or just. Or just be sensitive and see somebody and pray for them to. You've lost that, and I want to give it back to you because your family needs you. And you carrying around that bitterness that's keeping you from being empathetic. It's time to let that go. Will you come to the altar? Will you come? Yes, yes, yes. I need a minister over here for my brother and my sister over there. Just minister over. Yes. Thank you, Father. Thank you, Father. Father, here we are standing in your presence. Father, all of us have been called to the ministry of intercession because how can we be your children and not concerned about your sheep? How can we be a part of your fold and not concerned about those that are less fortunate than us? How can we be called children of God and not love our neighbors as ourselves? Father, how can we be called your children, your sheep, your called church and not care about other countries or other continents or other people in peril? God, how can we be called your children and not care about our community or the people who live next door to us or our family members that need you? How can we be called and anointed by you and be numb to the situations and the circumstances around us? Father, we have lost our fire. We have lost lost our heart. We have lost our compassion. We have lost our will and we want it back. We will not let this world cause us to grow numb to the situations that are going around. We will not let this world cause us to go numb, God, to the crisis that are going around. We will not let this world cause us to go numb to the cries of your children in other countries and in other places, places in our communities, right in our own houses, God, we will not become numb. We will exhibit the same care that you've given us. Care and compassion. Move to compassion. Move to to work. Move to pray. Move to help. And thank you for those that have come and say, father, fill me with that fire again. Fill me with that fire again. Thank you. We thank you, Father, because the world changes. Because it starts in here. That the spark that starts in here is the fire that changes the world. And so we thank you. We thank you for giving us a new heart. We thank you for giving us a new spirit. We thank you for igniting that fire again. We thank you for making our heart compassionate again. We thank you for making us love again. We thank you for healing that hurt. We thank you for removing that wound. We thank you, Father, for taking that root of bitterness and plucking it up. We you thank. Thank you, Father, for helping us to let go, God, of the grudges and the hurt, God. We thank you because how can we serve you fully, God, and holding on to that pain, God, we thank you. We thank you that when we pray tonight, when we pray this morning, when we pray, God, that you'll fill our mouths with compassion and fill our hearts with compassion. No more just petty prayers, God, but we're praying, God, for the healing of the nations. Thank you, God. Thank you. And we honor you and we love you and we thank you that you can use us and you can count on us in Jesus name. Come on, let's worship him. Come on. Let's just take 30 seconds. Come on, let's worship him with the fruit of our lips. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. I just want to shake your hand. Hey, brother. God's gonna use you, brother. God's gonna use you, my sister. He's gonna use you. Are you glad you came to church tonight? I said, are you glad you came to church tonight? Listen, we're getting ready to go home, but. But it's sowing time. I want us to get our best seed as you go back to your seat. If you need more ministry, our ministers are here. You can stay at the altar. You don't have to go back. They'll pray with you. Somebody pray with my sister. Y' all pray with my sister. Right there in the pink, okay? You good, sister? Okay. Cause she prayed.
- [74:43]
Dr. Ellis Elder Anthony
Yeah.
- [74:44]
Pastor Don
Cause we want to make sure you get everything you need. Listen, it's sowing time. We're excited to sew because part of our compassion, part of the way we're moved to compassion, is how we sow into the kingdom of God. Because we understand that this is a house that not only does our gift go to this city, this community, but it goes around the world. It is affecting places that we may never get to, people that we may never see. It is a part of the compassion in our heart. We don't give out of obligation. We give because we understand that these sinners, these go to fund the kingdom of God. Not just a physical building. We're not talking about just lights and benches. We're talking about people's lives being changed. We're talking about food on folks tables, water wells being drawn and built. We're talking about the work of God manifested through the people of God. So we take giving seriously and we are joyful and cheerful givers because we understand that when we bring it to God, our little. Our two fish and five loaves, he takes it, he breaks it, and he multiplies it. And you know what's wonderful about what he does is because there was always enough left over for the people who gave. It is not that he just took them the little boy's meal, but there was enough left over where they had 12 baskets full of what he gave. Don't you know that your gift will multiply in the hands of the master, where not only will it overflow for somebody else's house, but tell somebody it's going to overflow for me, too, when you have that gift. Come on, stand to your feet. Everybody standing. Because we know that it may not be a tangible gift today, but you are the gift. You are the seed. So I'm standing as the seed. As the seed planted in the earth. I'm standing. Hallelujah. If you need an envelope, we have our PMTs in the aisles. They will give you an envelope. There are ways and multiple ways to give. I invite you, if you're watching online, to get into this giving and help us bless the nations. We raise our seed in the air. Father, I thank you for this seed and this gift that we have to sow, whether it be our tithes or our offering, whether it be just a special gift, whether it be the gift. Father of hope, whatever it is that we're given tonight, whether we are the seed that we're given. Father God, I thank you that I have a mind to give. And as this seed enters into good soil, I play God that you bless. Bless it. You break it and that you multiply it. Let it overflow into nations and countries and let it hit my house as well. In Jesus name, amen. Somebody give him a praise right there. Oh, give him a real good praise. Come on. If you have your seed, pass it all the way to the left. If you have your seat, pass it all the way to the left. Anthony King, bring those announcements. Pass your seat all the way to the left. PMTs, you can serve the people of God. I just got a couple announcements, and we are going home, y'. All. You can have a seat for, like, two minutes. Two minutes. Because I want you. And I'm. I'm telling you, it's not even two minutes worth of announcements. I'm telling you, we going to go. So listen, we got some things coming up that we want to know that we want to bring to your attention. I want to tell you that Destiny World is having something amazing. The Destiny World is proud to present Creative Kingdom Summer Camp, June 15 through July 17. Some parent ought to make some noise right there that you got somewhere for your child to go. Y' all don't want the children to go nowhere. Okay, listen. It is June 15 through July 17, 5. Five weeks where your child will thrive and come alive while discovering and stretching the gifts and abilities God placed inside of them. They're taking field trips. They're going to the Fort Worth Zoo and the Sport Creative Playground in Dallas to weekly water days and daily themed activities in art, music, STEM and theater. Register today at tphd.org d w Kemp. It should be on the screen. Tphd.org dw Camp Resurrection Sunday. How many of y' all know that Easter is coming up? Resurrection Sunday. It is April 5, right around the corner. It is not just an important day on the Christian calendar. It is the hinge point of all human history. It is where we celebrate the resurrection of our Lord. April 5th. Listen. Doors open at 7:45 now. If you have ever been to this church on Easter, Easter Sunday, you know you need to get here early because it's going to be a special time. Invite somebody. It is the best day to invite somebody to church to experience Jesus. How many y' all gonna invite somebody? You're not gonna even wait for Easter Sunday. You gonna invite somebody this Sunday, right? Good. Good. So by the time Easter come, they gonna almost be a member. We got one more announcement. Ladies. Hey, you. Is coming up. Everybody listen. Hey, you. Is themed this coming March 20th. Actually, this coming Friday. Hey, you. Is live. It is not a women's conference. It's not a program. This is a gathering of sacred generational moment for every woman in this room. And online. It is going rogue. She poured it out anyway. And so our pastor, Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts, our first lady, our forever first lady, First Lady Cerita, they are calling all of the women out to the house to come lay it down. Lay down your fear, your shame, the performance of it all. It's a free event. Doors open at 6pm right here at the Potter's house. And don't come along. Bring another woman with you. Bring your sister, your friend, your daughter, and come out and celebrate God and all that he's doing for the women in this church. Hey, you. Y' all. Say it again. Hey, you. Okay. I can't do it as good as Brother Don. Pastor Don. But I did the best I can. All right, that was two minutes. A little close. All right, let's stand. We going home, y'.
- [81:10]
Pastor Sarah Jakes Roberts
All.
- [81:16]
Pastor Don
You know, it's my custom to always have us make a point of contact. Touch somebody. Because you never know. This may be the first time somebody has been touched all day. Make a point of contact. Yeah. Leave nobody in touch. This is what community. This is what family is all about. There you go. Even we gotta stretch out in the aisle. Sometimes we stretch because sometimes making community is not comfortable. It's about going the extra mile. We got service on Sunday. It's a mighty word. Coming get here early. Did y' all invite somebody last Sunday when I told y' all to? I know y' all disobedient. Okay, I'm gonna give y' all another chance. Invite somebody to church, tell them, bring them out with you. You know, evangelize. You'll be surprised. Somebody is waiting on your invitation. Y' all believe me? Okay. Y' all gonna do it, though? She was honest. She said, I don't know. Okay, I'm praying for you. Let's look to God. Father, I thank you. I love you. I praise you because you are great God, and greatly to be praised. Now these your people, Father, have committed to love you and love you only, to serve you and serve you only, to lift you and lift you only. Now as we leave this place. But never from your presence. God go before us. You know, there's a lot in this world, Father, trying to distract us, Father, but we keep our eyes focused on you. Thank you for being our compass. Thank you for being our guide. Thank you for being the captain of our ship. Thank you. Thank you for leading us out of troubled waters into a safe plane. And God, when we get to our destinations, we know that it will be better than when we left. And when we wake up in the morning, Father, and we will wake up. Thank you, Jesus, that our souls and our bodies will be refreshed. Thank you that we'll have a thank you on our lips and a praise in our heart in Jesus name. Amen. Amen.
- [83:08]
Podcast Host/Moderator
That's a wrap for today's episode of the Potter's House podcast. Subscribe for more. Keep your fire lit and your faith immovable.
- [83:22]
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