SOUTH WIND | PASTOR TRAVIS GREENE | FORWARD CITY CHURCH Hey family, I am so honored that you guys decided to hang with us today here at Forward City Church. Our theme for the year is Winds of Revival and so literally that's the series we're in teaching about ((music playing)) the four winds. The Lord commanded Ezekiel to prophesy to the four winds and so we believe in God for revival from the north, south, east, and ((music playing)) west. Each week we are breaking down what these winds represent and we're believing God for revival in every area of our life. Please pull out your notebook, get your Bible, and get ready to receive a word from God for you. Love you. Ezekiel 37. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Man. Verse one, "The hand of the Lord was on me. He brought me out by the spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley. It was full of bones." This is Ezekiel's vision. "He led me back and forth among them and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley. Bones that were very dry. HE ASKED ME, 'SON OF MAN, CAN THESE bones live?' I said, 'Sovereign Lord, now only you know.' Then he said to me, 'Prophesy to these bones Mhm. and say TO THEM, "DRY BONES, hear the word of the Lord." My God, somebody need to say that. Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Dry money, y'all ain't come to church. Hear the word of the Lord. Dry dreams, hear the word of the Lord. Come on, you got to prophesy to that thing. This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones, "I will make breath into you and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin. I will put breath in you and you will come to life. Then you will know man, God says, "When I get done doing what I am doing, there will be no doubt left. Then you will know that I am the Lord." So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, as I was obeying, as I was speaking, as I was walking by faith and not by sight, the Bible says there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together bone to bone. Notice the noise responded first to the sound of his voice. And I believe so many times we're waiting to hear something before we obey. We're waiting to see something before we obey. But the outcome is waiting on your obedience. I'm already preaching. "I looked and tendons and flesh appeared on them. Skin covered them, but there was no breath in them." Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath. Prophesy, son of man, and say, 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says, come breath. Come from the four winds >> ((music playing)) >> and breathe into these slain that they may live.' So I prophesied as he commanded me and breath entered them. They came to life and stood on their feet, a vast army. They stood on their feet, a vast army. We are in a series that we're calling Winds of Revival. That's actually our theme of the year. And it really comes from the part of this passage when the Lord commands him to prophesy to the breath and command the four winds. I love that. And so today uh we're preaching a message called South Wind. Do me a favor, tell your neighbor, "Get ready for the South Wind." Come on, tell two more people, "Get ready for the South Wind." Get ready for the South Wind. Lord Jesus, breathe on your word, breathe in this room. Thank you that we could come together in this nation that is broken and lost, but still we have the freedom to worship. So I pray that whatever you do in this room doesn't just stay in this room. Throughout the week there'll be tens of thousands of people who watch this message and are a part of what you're doing here at Forward City. So I pray that this revival is not just stuck in these four walls, but it moves throughout the city of Columbia, throughout the state of South Carolina, throughout this nation, and would you cover the whole earth with your glory. >> ((music playing)) >> Thank you for your wind. We give you glory in Jesus' name. Amen. If you're excited for the word of God, give them a praise on your way down to your seat. South wind, South wind, South wind. South wind. South wind. I love this concept of Winds of Revival and um we are helping to reframe for many of us what we've thought revival was. Uh even as I've been preparing this and teaching it to our staff and our leaders and to our worship team, it's funny how many of them were born and raised in church and they said, "Man, I always thought revival was a certain thing." And just this scripture alone, this passage is helping to shift my mentality on what revival actually is. And we're recognizing together as we're learning that revival is not random, it's a response. Revival is God's return on the investment of our worship and our surrender. I've been teaching that the enemy can't fight the wind of God, but the wind of God will not fight you. That's why I love these declarations when we say, "Use me to do whatever, whenever, however." Because we're asking him, "God, blow wind, blow. Wherever your wind blows, I will go. I'm not going to fight against the move of God." Come on, how many people that's your posture this year? "I don't want to fight against the move of God." There was an old song that used to say, "Lord, whatever you're doing in this season, please don't do it without me. I want to be with you. I want to be in step with you. I don't want to be too far behind. I don't want to be too far ahead. I want to be in sync and in step with the spirit of God and I don't want to miss his move this year. I might have missed his move last year, but last year is gone. I refuse to miss the move of God." Do I have a witness? "I refuse to miss the move of God on my life and in my family this year." Last week I taught if you missed it, make sure you go back and catch the Netflix series, get caught up. But last week I taught a message called North Wind. Shout North Wind. And we taught the North Wind is the wind of repentance. Jeremiah said this, he said, "Proclaim to the north, return." This word repent means to turn or return. Listen to me very clearly. Repentance is not regret, it's redirection. So when I when I repent from something, I'm turning. This is why the Bible says in 2 Chronicles 7 and 14, "If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves, pray, and seek my face." Watch this, "and turn from their wicked ways, then I'll hear from heaven, I'll forgive their sin, and I'll heal their land." There are certain things ooh that are waiting on you to turn in the right direction so they can come into your life. I want to slow down right here on purpose. What if there was a promise that God has for you, but you've been headed in the wrong direction? Mhm. And so repentance is not just I'm sorry, it's I'm done. Done what, Travis? I'm done trying to do it my way. I'm done trying to be my own compass. I'm done allowing my education, my logic, and my limited experience to guide me when I can live guided by the Holy Spirit. God, I trust you enough to walk by faith and not by sight. My sight has done all it could do in these 41 years. I am ready to lean not unto my own understanding, but acknowledge you, trusting you with all my heart, and allow your spirit to direct my path. Y'all, this is my last Sunday preaching at age 41. I didn't come to play around. I'll be 42 next Sunday. >> ((applause)) >> The Lord desires man, I I just as I've been in this text and in this book, man, the Lord has just been reframing even my mind. He's been teaching me that the redirection, many times when we look at the limitations of God. Can I just teach for a moment? Many times when we look at boundaries and limitations, we think that God is trying to keep something from us. And it's not just the boundaries, it's not just the protection of God. That is one reason why the Lord put parameters around us, but another reason there are boundaries because you can find yourself, please hear this. This is very basic and it but it's liberating. You can find yourself wasting time in territory you're not called to. Why God trying to keep this from me? He's not trying to keep it from you. God is into optimization. He wants you to maximize the borrowed time you're on. And so while you're over here on the job that you're not called to, you're wasting energy and time and anointing that God has invested in you for a specific territory. And so repentance is not just I'm going to stop doing drugs. Repentance is God turn me from my own desires, from my own wants, from my own dreams BECAUSE GOD'S DREAM IS MUCH bigger than my limited dream. And many of us need to understand that the Lord has been He's not going to leave you alone. Because the Bible says no word can return to him void. You don't know this, but the breath you have, the intellect you have, the skills you have, the capacity you have, everything you have, hear me, is an investment from God with an expected return. And so God is saying, "Would you turn? Would you return to my presence?" And this is why prayer is so important. This is why I've been loving these 21 days. It allows us to to really be sanctified and consecrated enough to be clear. That's the purpose of fasting. I I I want to slow down enough to move quicker in the right direction. And so that's why I I got to speak to me so I can turn, so I can repent, so I can quit wasting time on things and feelings and with habits and stuff that don't really matter. Return, repent. Revival is reserved for the broken. This is really the foundational point for even revival, first repentance and turning. And I love this about Ezekiel. Ezekiel, we taught this last week, he couldn't just preach judgment, he had to feel it first. He had to live out the sermons. Man, I I've been I've been really encouraging everybody everywhere I've been going. I've been saying, "Man, read the book of Ezekiel. Take your time. It's a big boy book now. I'm telling you, you know, it's a big boy book. Tell somebody it's a big boy book. But I love this about Ezekiel, before he poured out the cup, he had to drink it first. And it's very important because when I look through this Bible and I'm looking at just the story of Israel, it reminds me so much of the story of America and it's really scary because Israel's condition was one of spiritual rebellion marked by idols and high places. I'mma set this foundation and I'mma jump into my message today. Say this with me, idols and high places. Idols in your heart, idols, idols, idols. Idols can be lust. It can be success. It can be money. It can be your loyalty or your allegiance to an organization, Greek or otherwise. It can be your loyalty or your your allegiance to an affiliation. Watch this, an idol can even be ministry. Every single mama, an idol can be your children. Oh, it just got tight. An idol is anything that you place above God. It's anything that is in your heart. See, sometimes when we think of idols, we think of statues that we bow down to. No, no, no, that's not that's not modern idols. Modern idols are anything that you run to before you run to God. Mm. Uh anything you prioritize more than God and this is how I'm able to identify idols in my life. It's anything that God requires from me that I have a hard time giving him. Idol. A high place, here here's what high places were historically and how you can find them in today's time. A high place fits very well into culture. So it's acceptable. Heart idols, they they justify sin privately. But high places normalize sin publicly. And so what begins in your heart as an idol will build a high place. It might be your corner office, a high place. It it it it may be your your idea or your dream, a high place. It could be something in culture. Here's the thing about high places, this is why kings I love studying the book of the Bible because there's so many kings in the Bible who had trouble they had they were it was easier for them to to smash idols than it was to get rid of high places. Here's why, because high places are so culturally accepted that if I even speak against a high place, it threatens to cancel me. UH HIGH PLACE IS SO ACCEPTED BECAUSE YOUR grandma used to go to it. It it it can be an ideal. It could be an ha a habit. It could be a way of thinking, A HIGH PLACE. IT IS CULTURALLY ACCEPTED. Here's one high place you got to watch out for. I know churches love to stand on stage and bash homosexuality. I'mma speak to one that we forgot about, fornication. It's a quiet church. I'm not scared of y'all. Fornication. A HIGH PLACE. JUST BECAUSE IT'S CULTURALLY ACCEPTABLE for you to sleep with your boyfriend or girlfriend does not mean that it is permissible or in the will of God. >> ((applause)) >> Come on, I'mma stay right here just for a second. I feel it. I feel it in the room. I feel it in the room. I'm not here to shun you or bash you or judge you, but I'm not here as a man of God to bring the word of God down to culture to fit the COMFORT OF YOUR HIGH PLACE. I'M HERE TO DEMOLISH high places and tell all of us, let's bring our lives up to the standard of the Bible. >> [applause and cheering] >> And if you ain't married, there is no license to drive. Come on here. >> ((cheering)) >> High places, HIGH PLACES. IT'S CULTURALLY ACCEPTABLE. This is acceptable. This is acceptable. There's things in our culture that we call acceptable that God actually rejects. And so here's THE QUESTION. THE QUESTION IS DO I WANT TO BE accepted by man? Or do I want to be accepted by God? The question the question is a it is a question of whose comfort is my priority. Am I more after Travis being comfortable or the spirit of God being comfortable inside of Travis? I know who I'm preaching to. And I know that most of the people in this church, if we're honest, we put God in places he don't want to be. You know how we do. You carry the spirit of God until you get where you going. You'll be like, God, if you could just stay here in this car. I'll be right back in about an hour. Idols and high places. They will always This is why it's important. This is why it's important because idols and high places will always disconnect you from intimacy with God. It's not that God is rejecting you, he's rejecting it. And because he is holy, he cannot stomach places of sin. And so what happens, please hear this, when Israel continued to build high places, what what happened as a result is that their holy temple was destroyed. This is why, because God will not compete with what you have decided to exalt. He'll let you have it. Refrain. Judgment, judgment. Judgment is a result of God's absence, not just his anger. See, what we've learned in our religion is God's mad at you, that's why. NO, NO, NO, GOD AIN'T MAD at you, he just won't show up there. And if God's not there, his blessings won't be there. And now some of us are using grace like a trampoline hoping that God IS GOING TO CATCH US WHEN WE PLAYING RUSSIAN ROULETTE WITH our life and with our destiny. My God. And I have decided if God's not there, I don't want to be there. Moses told him, God said, I y'all go ahead, but you go I'mma have to send an angel with you cuz you people too stiff-necked. And Moses said, God, if you don't go, I can't GO IN. MAN, DAVID SAID, take anything, don't take your presence from me. It is in the presence of God that I have security, THAT I HAVE PROVISION, THAT I HAVE PROTECTION. IF GOD'S NOT THERE, LADIES and gentlemen, that is judgment. That is what hell is. It's not just the wrath of God, it's the absence of God. >> ((applause)) ((cheering)) >> Judgment is the absence of God. Revival is the return of God's presence in every area of my life. I just want to make it very simple for you. Charles Finney said it like this, he says revival is a renewal of conviction of sin. I love that. And repentance followed by an intense desire to live in obedience to God. Revival. Come on, shout it, I need revival. Are you still with me, church? I'm I'm not leaving nobody. I need revival. And so this south wind, the Bible says in Acts chapter 27, Paul is traveling and the Bible says there was a gentle south wind that came. They were stuck, they were stagnant. This is what I believe the south wind does. I believe it gives you a divine push when you find yourself stagnant. It also heats up what has grown cold and hard, the south wind. So south wind is the wind of renewal. We talked that the north wind is the wind of repentance. I believe that the south wind is the wind of renewal. Come on, shout, renew me. Come on, shout it like you really want it, renew me. The wind of renewal. There are four areas of renewal I'mma walk through very quickly and I want to get through this as fast as possible because I want to create an atmosphere and an opportunity for us to really engage heaven and have an encounter with him so he can do what he can do by his Holy Spirit. I believe today you're going to leave renewed. Come on, shout it, renew me. The first thing I believe God wants to renew, there's four quick things that God has stirred in my spirit. The first thing I believe that God wants to renew in you is a right spirit. Renewed right spirit. I love this, renewed right spirit. The Bible says in Psalm 51, verse seven, "Purge me with hyssop." And this is David, you got to understand the context of this. This is David speaking after his big miss up uh his big mess up. He says, "Purge me with hyssop and I shall be clean. Wash me and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness." I love this. "Let the bones that you have broken rejoice." "Hide your face from my sins." I like that. "And blot out all my iniquities." And this is the part you all know. "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew." Shout, renew me. "Renew a right spirit within me." "Cast me not away from your presence and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of my salvation." Do you remember how on fire you used to be? "Restore to me the joy of your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit." I like this, renewed right spirit. A renewed right spirit. A renewed right spirit is a willing spirit. When my spirit is renewed, I don't Many times we're not playing tug-of-war with temptation or even with the devil, we're playing tug-of-war with the Holy Spirit. And there is something that he has required or something he's asking from you or for you and you're saying, "No, God, I don't want to do that. It's uncomfortable. No, God, it's going to be embarrassing. No, God, I don't know how." And so a renewed spirit is a willing spirit. Watch this, a a a right spirit a right spirit is a willing spirit. A right spirit releases and replaces wrong spirits. It discontinues the agreement with wrong spiritual attachments. I'm going to give you a few wrong spirits. And most of these wrong spirits are hidden. I like to really make it practical because majority of the people in this room are believers. There will be several at the end of our service that will lift their hand and receive Christ for the first time. But majority of the people under sound of my voice are actually believers. And so when I talk about wrong spirits, y'all, I'm not talking about, you know, cocaine. So I don't want you to be like, "He ain't talking to me." I'm talking to you. Shout, "Renew me." Wrong spirits. Here are some hidden wrong spirits. They they they hide, y'all. They hide. They hide. And then every now and then they'll peek out. A wrong spirit, the spirit of jealousy. You don't know you're jealous until you can't celebrate what God is doing in their life. >> ((cheering)) >> It hides. The spirit of of offense. It hides. It's a wrong spirit. Come on, tell somebody, "Beware of wrong spirits." The spirit of pride. It it hides until somebody asks you to do something that's not your job. >> ((cheering)) >> It hides until somebody asks you to do something that's beneath you. They don't know how anointed I AM. HOW DARE they ask me to park cars? Watch kids. I AM A BISHOP in the Lord's church. Pride. [screaming] If Jesus washed stinking feet, who are we TO TELL GOD WHAT WE WILL and won't do? Pride. It hides. I'll tell you another one that hides out on you, fear. God said, "For I have not given you the spirit of It's a wrong spirit. But of love, power, and a sound mind." Beware of wrong spirits. Mm. Well, here's the mission of wrong spirits. The mission of wrong spirits is to desensitize you to the presence and the will of God. The more you tolerate, foster, nurture wrong spirits, the least likely you are to even know what God is desiring of you. That's their mission. It is to desensitize you to the presence and the will of God. I need him to renew the right spirit in me. The right spirit. Spirit of joy, that's the right spirit. Spirit of peace, that's the right spirit. Come on. Spirit of humility, it's the right spirit. Not only does I do I believe the Lord wants to renew right spirit. Here's another one. Renewed faith. The Bible says in Ezekiel chapter 37 verse two, this is so powerful. He led me back and forth among them. I love this. Bible says, "Led me back and forth among them. I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry." He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" I said, "Sovereign Lord, you would know." No, you don't know who know this one. I like this. He led me back and forth. He asked me, "Can they live?" He led me back and forth. He asked me, "Can they live?" I like this because the Lord made him assess the condition before he even asked him if revival was possible. Ladies and gentlemen, I hope you're smart enough to know this, that when God asks you a question, it's not for his own education. "Where are you, Adam?" It ain't cuz he actually looking for you. It's cuz he wants you to know you can't hide. >> ((cheering)) >> And so whenever the Lord asks you a question, he's asking you a question, watch this, not so that it can reveal something to him. He's full of revelation. Okay? He's asked you this so that hopefully in the answer, it will cause revelation to happen in you. And the Bible says in Romans 12:2, "Do not be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be you transformed by the renewal of your mind." That is revelation. It is revelation that leads to transformation. And so the Lord will ask you questions in order to reveal something to you. "Son of man, can these dry bones live?" Ladies and gentlemen, God already knew the possibility. So why would God ask Ezekiel the question? I believe God asked Ezekiel the question in order to place a demand on Ezekiel's faith. Tell you all this, my last sermon at 41, I'm giving everything I got. One of the effect of being in a valley is faith fatigue. The Lord gave me this revelation earlier this week, this phrase, faith fatigue. Talking to one of my guys, he pastors in in Georgia. He was like, "PT, I need some help." And I said, "Man, there's one thing I said, I need you to be beware of faith fatigue." What is faith fatigue? Do you want to know what faith fatigue is? Faith fatigue is when you believe God for something so long, but it hadn't happened yet. I have faith fatigue. Faith fatigue, watch this. Faith fatigue is when it took all the faith I had to believe God in the last season. For the last big thing. I have faith fatigue. And I believe that the Lord is in the business, come on. Shout, "Win." Of renewing faith. This is what I love about my God. God is so amazing. I love that God did not need Ezekiel's agreement for God to get active. He just told him what to do next. This is great for me. This means that even when I'm unsure about the outcome, I have to speak the word of the Lord anyway. "Son of man, can these bones live?" I DON'T KNOW. "WELL, PROPHESY TO THEM THEN." FAITH is not knowing how. Faith is knowing who. God not afraid of your I don't know. I'll tell you what church people got a problem with, fake faith. Fake faith is saying stuff you don't believe. "Can these bones live?" "Sure can, and they going TO BE BLESSED AND HIGHLY FAVORED." And you sitting at home like, "Uh huh." You better You better off just saying, "God, I don't know." He said, "Cool. I don't need you to know. I just need you to obey." That's a word right there. That's a word right there. God does not need you to know. And some of our problem is that we know too much. Come on, punch your neighbor in the kneecap. Let's stir the atmosphere. Tell them, "JUST OBEY. JUST OBEY. [laughter] Just obey. JUST OBEY. YOU DON'T HAVE TO KNOW." I WANT YOU TO BEWARE OF FAITH FATIGUE. The Lord stirred me with this this past week, y'all. He said, "Try. Activate your faith." He said, "Don't be passive." Some property we've been believing God for, and the Lord told me this past week, he said, "Go march around it seven times." And I said, "God, that just seem like a lot. How long that's going to take, Jesus? What if somebody see me, Jesus? What if it's snakes out there, Jesus?" God said, "Boy, I'm trying to renew your faith. You don't have to know how. You don't have to have strategy. You don't have to even be able to to afford it. All I need you to do, Joshua, is obey me." So guys, I pulled up and I just started marching around. >> ((applause)) >> And I started praying in the spirit. I got the round four or five, I lost count because somebody interrupted me. This man, A JEWISH MAN, walked up on me. He said, "What you doing?" It's true story. I didn't know if he was about to call the cops. I said, "I'm uh I'm praying." He said, "When you went around the second time, >> ((cheering)) >> the Lord told me >> [screaming] >> you was out here marching and praying." He said, "Are you spirit-filled?" I said, "As a matter of fact, I am." He said, "LET'S PRAY. TAKE CARE. >> ((music playing)) >> HE SAID, "I STAND IN AGREEMENT WITH YOU THAT EVERYTHING GOD SAID IS ABOUT TO BE RELEASED IN YOUR LIFE. I CAME TO RENEW YOUR FAITH TODAY." GOD SAID, ((music playing)) "Believe me again. I CANCEL FAITH FATIGUE. IF GOD BE FOR YOU, HE'S MORE THAN A WORLD AGAINST YOU." ((music playing)) GRAB YOUR NEIGHBOR AND TELL THEM, "BELIEVE AGAIN. Believe again. Trust again. >> ((music playing)) >> Speak it again. SHOUT IT OUT AGAIN. DECLARE it again. >> ((music playing)) >> There are things waiting. I'm telling y'all, me and that man had a whole Holy Ghost fit standing outside. I said, "This is what I needed." That's how I lost count of my laps, so I just did three more just in case after that. The enemy The enemy wants you to have faith fatigue. You believe God for the last miracle, but it exhausted you. And now it's been 5 years. It's been 5 years since you believed God for something you couldn't afford. It Oh, here we go. Here we go. Here we go. I feel it stirring. It's been 5 years since you've done something that could embarrass you. It's not faith unless the alternative leaves you looking foolish. If you're not having to risk your image, it's not faith. >> ((cheering)) >> I know it's faith when if God don't do it, I look stupid. You know how crazy I looked for 6 months laying hands on a abandoned Best Buy saying, "God, you're going to fill this place with worshippers?" Y'all, the cops would pull up on me. This is 2020. "Sir, what are you doing out here?" It was one cop I reached to get my phone to show him a picture of what we believing God FOR. HE SAID, "WHOA, [screaming] WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, BUDDY." I SAID, "WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, WHOA, MAN." He said, "Bro, you got to say something before you start reaching like that, dog. It's a lot going on out here." I said, "I'm just trying to show you a picture. This is what we believing God for." I said, "Well, go ahead. We ain't going to bother you. Go ahead and pray." And every day I would come and lay hands on this building. And if God didn't do it, See, see, it's real faith when you put the word out there. Tell them, Pastor Marvin, I stood in front of the church and said, "Y'all, we're going to buy the old Best Buy." With what? I don't know how, but I know who. >> ((music playing)) >> The bank said, "No, we're not going to loan you money." I don't really need banks to loan me money when I have Jehovah Jireh that can write checks. >> ((music playing)) >> I came to stir you up today for God TO RENEW YOUR FAITH. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU TRUSTED HIM? I GOT TO GET OUT OF THIS POINT. Not only does God want to renew the right spirit and renew your faith, he wants to renew your strength. Renew your strength. I like this. Ezekiel 37:7, he said, "So, I prophesied as I commanded. As I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone." God is in the business, ladies and gentlemen, of bringing back things together. I like that. He's bringing things back together. Uh this is divine alignment. I like this about our our prophetic declarations, divine alignment. Please catch this. That strength flows where order is restored. The Lord had told me to tell you some of the areas in your life that you lacked strength in last year was because there were things that were out of order. Shout new strength. New strength. I believe that new strength is coming to your life. I believe that. I'm telling you. I believe that new strength is coming to your strained marriages. I believe that new strength is coming into your struggling ministries, to your businesses, new strength, to your dormant dreams. God is sending new strength. I was praying last night, and I said, "God, what was it that you had me go through and why?" And God said, "Travis, I had to get you weak enough to need my strength." I wish I had time. I've had seasons in my life, ladies and gentlemen, and maybe this is you, where I've been frustrated because I felt overqualified for the space I was in. Come on, you ain't got to lie to kick it. Be honest. I I've been in seasons where I've went to jobs and felt like the job was too small for me. There's been seasons in this church, especially in our former building, where I felt like the building was too small. The budget was too small. The staff was too small. And the Lord said the problem was never external, it was internal. He said, "Because I was trying to rely on wrong things to strengthen me." The Bible says in 2 Corinthians 12:10, this is Paul talking. He said, "That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in my weaknesses, in insults, and hardships, and persecutions, and difficulties." He said, "For when I am weak, I am strong." I THOUGHT ABOUT THIS. GIDEON'S army grew from 32,000 to 300. Now, in man's eyes, it was a 99% decrease. But God has a way of giving you multiplication by subtraction. Jesus did more with 12 dedicated than he did with a whole crowd that was spectating. Uh somebody need this word, less is more. God makes you strong by first making you lean. I wish I had time. I don't have time. God Somebody said, "You do have time." I don't. God said, "Travis, I had to eliminate your natural dependencies to shift your attention back to your strong place. Sometimes you have too much help." And when you're desperate for help, you'll even tolerate things that are out of order. Tell you how great your God is. He don't need your strength, he wants your surrender. This is why the Bible says in Isaiah 40:28, this is powerful. He says, "Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth, he does not grow faint or weary. His understanding is unsearchable." This is your Bible. SAYS, "HE GIVES POWER TO THE FAINT. AS TO him who has no might, he increases strength." Come on, shout it, renew strength. "Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted. But they who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up on wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint." God says, "I give strength to those who learn how to wait on me." The Lord told me this gem and messed me up. He said, "Travis," God be preaching to me, y'all. I'll be having a Holy Ghost fit. God said, "Travis, the best things that was working for them bones was the inability to move." There'll be seasons where the Lord force you to wait. Because they that wait on the Lord >> ((music playing)) >> will get new strength. So, there are times when God himself will place you in a valley to slow you down. There are times where the Lord allow you to run out of your resources, your connections, in order He said, "I got to get you weak enough to rely on my strength." My God. Paul says, "When I'm weak, that's when I am strong." I've learned how to lean not onto my own strength, my own understanding, but leaning to him. If I want RENEWED STRENGTH, I HAVE TO SURRENDER WHAT I THINK are the things that strengthen me. And sometimes it is connection to the wrong people who are keeping me out of order. Uh these are the people if I do the leadership training, I would teach pastors this. These are the people who can add intellect, but not spirit. These are the people who have mastered the art of bringing bones together, but haven't spent any time with God for breath. This is leading me to my next point, renew passion. I'm done right here. Renew passion. The Lord says, "I want to renew your right spirit. I want to renew your faith. I want to renew your strength, and I want to renew passion." The Bible says in Ezekiel 37:8, "I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them, and skin covered them." Watch this. "But there was no breath in them." What good is it when things come together, but there's no breath? Ladies and gentlemen, this is the American church. The American church is packed and breathless. I don't know if y'all felt it a few months ago. I just had a shift, and I haven't looked back yet. I have no desire to fit into the crowd. I have no desire to be at dry conferences. I have no desire to be in concerts where the spirit of God is not at. I have no desire to be famous and to be fitting in with culture. I am looking for the breath of God. I am looking for a move of God. And God says we need TO REPENT BECAUSE MANY OF US IN THIS ROOM and watching online only serve God for what he can do for you. And not what you can do for him. Passion says, "God, if you don't do anything else, you already done enough." We've bowed, all of us need to repent. We've bowed to the idol of convenience. That's why we don't pray no more. It's inconvenient. I said, "Some of us fasted only on Monday, and then we quit." Come on. It ain't too late. Jump back in. It's inconvenient. It's inconvenient. And we don't know, especially in America, convenience is an idol. Man, I travel this world, ladies and gentlemen. I've ministered in Africa where people will walk 5 miles. 5 miles or longer just to come to church. I've been to places where people have walked 10 miles to come to an encounter and it was so packed they couldn't get in, so they laid before the Lord in the dirt on the outside. You know what you would do? You know what you would do if you was forced to sit in the overflow? I didn't get in my car and drive all the way to two notches and have to get on a shuttle and come here and have to sit outside and watch on a screen. I can watch on a screen at home. It ain't about the screen. IT'S ABOUT WHEN TWO or three are gathered in his name, he'll be in the midst. It's about one can chase a thousand, but two can ((music playing)) chase 10,000. I don't start I'm no longer bowing to the idol of inconvenience. I AM WHAT WHAT shall I render unto God for ((music playing)) all of his mercies? I'm looking for A WAY TO SHOW GOD THAT I'M STILL ((music playing)) PASSIONATE. IN A FEW WEEKS, we're going to have the big gift. AND NOBODY'S BEGGING YOU. BUT THIS is the Lord inviting your faith. Saying, man, man, don't bow TO CONVENIENCE ANYMORE. GOD, IT YOU CAN DO MORE in your hand than I can do with this in my hand. So, I'm going to stretch myself and I'm going to trust you. And even I'm going to tell you when your gift is really valuable. When you say, God, even if I don't get the outcome I expect. You told me that I can expect, so I will. You told me that you'll return to me pressed down, shaken together. But the truth is, God, you've already done so much, man. The truth is I owe you back pay. Come on here. And if you never do anything else, you saved me and that's enough. You saved my children, that's enough. You kept me in my right mind, that's enough. I got clothes on me, that's enough. ((music playing)) God, you've already DONE ENOUGH. WOULD YOU REIGNITE our passion? Well, passion trumps preference. Passion. I've been praying, God, stir me up again. I remember I remember I remember when it used to just You remember this, Mike? When it When it used to just be you and God? I'm [snorts] talking about All of y'all come from small churches. Y'all know what it was like, man. We hadn't done this fancy stuff. You know how expensive that keyboard is? And you're asking for another one. What's wrong with you, Zach? When we used to just have just a little raggedy keyboard. This was me. And just sat in my room. And there were no crowd. It'd be teddy bears lined up. One named Termite. You remember Termite? My gorilla. I still got him. I'm bringing him to church next week. Sit him right next to me. Y'all put a reserve for Termite right there. He's a gorilla. I tried to get him off my mom and she gave him back to me. Said he looked scary. I raised him up as my own since I was 9 years old. Termite. It'd be my Termite and his crew sitting there just looking at me. And I would just worship before the Lord. Cuz I had passion. It wasn't about a stage. I had passion. It wasn't about a paycheck. I had passion. IT WASN'T ABOUT ATTENTION. IT WASN'T ABOUT INSTAGRAM FOLLOWERS. IT WAS ABOUT, GOD, you've done so much for me. I JUST I'M SATISFIED worshiping you. The Lord told me, David, that the kingdom has become a distraction. What happened to the heart? What happened to the passion? I got to let y'all go. When God breathes, passion spreads. The Bible says in Acts 2, this is heavy. It's heavy. When the day of Pentecost came, they were together on one accord. Suddenly a sound of a blowing wind like a blowing wind. It was It was like a violent wind. It came from heaven. The sound came from heaven. Filled the house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire separating fell on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. Watch this. Here's what passion is. It was like a rushing wind. It was like a rushing wind because I believe Jesus was breathing in the room. When the Lord breathed in the room, it it sounds like wind. I believe passion is when wind meets fire. He breathed and fire fell. And the Bible says Peter walked outside and 3,000 were saved. This is the same Peter that 53 days before denied Christ. Hmm. Because passion can do what guilt can't. Passion. And the Lord says some of us are stuck in cycles because we lack passion. >> ((music playing)) >> Man. Can I be honest for a moment? The reason I don't play with sin, two reasons, because I love Jesus and two, I'm passionate about souls. I'm passionate about the mission. I'm passionate about the call. The Lord says this, after the renewal wind, he says, I'll send I'll send fire for passion. But here's the responsibility. It's on you to fan the flame. >> ((music playing)) >> It's on you to stay hot. I want you to monitor the things in your life that compromise, man, your flame. That compromise your passion. The Lord wants to renew the right spirit. He wants to renew your faith. He wants to renew your strength and he wants to renew your passion. Man, what an incredible move of God. We're so encouraged that you decided to watch today's message and I'm believing in my heart that he said something that he did something that stirred you eternally. There's a few ways you can respond. First of all, and the most importantly, if you're far from him, I want to give you an opportunity to receive him into your heart. This is a very important decision. It's very simple. The gospel is this, that Jesus came and lived a a blameless life and took on our sins and died a gruesome death, but he rose so that we can get up as well. I want you to repeat after me if you want to receive him into your heart today. Lord Jesus, I believe you died for my sins and I believe that you got up so I don't have to stay down. Today, I give you my ((music playing)) heart. You are my king. You are my Lord. Thank you for saving me, for changing me, for delivering me in Jesus' name. >> ((music playing)) >> Amen. Hey, if you prayed that prayer, please comment below. Let us know. Also, there are ways below to get connected with Forward City, with what God is doing here. Also, ways to give. There are also ways to stay connected. Uh we would love for you to be a part of what God is doing here in Forward City and throughout the world. Remember, your past is gone. Your future's waiting. Move forward. God bless you.