Into the Hands of a Woman | Courteney Bence

((music playing)) Thank you so much. ((music playing)) Why don't you turn to your mama or a mama around you and say, "You're the best to ever do it. Happy Mother's Day." And I have the microphone. So, she's not my wife. She's my mother. But my mother's sitting on the front row. And I honor you today, mama.

You are the mother not only to all of us, but to this entire church and this house. And I told him in the first service, the thing I love about you is you've never tried to fit into the mold of what a preacher's wife is supposed to be.

Um, you've done exactly what you wanted to do. She's a builder. So all of these buildings, every detail that you see that makes this place beautiful, it comes from her. And um I honor you today. Love you. And um I love my grandmothers and I love my sister.

And then I've got my other sister on the front row. She's not a mother yet, but a couple of weeks ago she got an Easter basket as an adult. And we were told it's because well, we get Easter baskets for your kids. But today it it's about us.

Connor, you don't get anything today. Okay. I'm just kidding. Well, happy Mother's Day, everyone. I am so excited to be here today. Not like I'm not here every day. He acts like I forsook you guys. That's hateful. I love this church. This is home to me. My parents took the church in September and I came in February.

So, um, due to child labor laws, we don't usually put that out there, but I've been working here for almost 34 for 34 years and counting. And I feel like I should get some credit for that even when I wasn't being paid to work here. Just throwing that out there.

But my daughter, my Elliot, the second song that they sang this morning, she loves that song, Holy Forever. How many of you love that song? And every time we get in the car, she says, "Mama, turn on Holy Forever." And I say, "Okay." The other day we were driving down the road and she said it said above all thrones and dominions, all powers and positions.

And she said, "Mama, why did why did they put that in there?" I said, "What do you mean?" She said, "Of course Jesus is more powerful than the minions." He's like, "Yeah, you're you know what, baby? You're right. He is more powerful than the minions. I'll let Jim Johnson know."

And so, how many of you are thankful that we serve a God who's above all thrones, dominions, powers, positions, and the little yellow guys? Well, I want to bring a word to you today. Um, one that I'm very familiar with, but when I think about mothers, I think about a superhero that most women are described as, and that's Wonder Woman, right?

Um, the women love her because she exemplifies what we want to be. And I think the men just really love Linda Carter. But we're gonna we're going to move. I know my husband. Um, Wonder Woman is a huge huge um hero in our house. And a couple of years ago, I saw the movie that she was in.

And there's this part in the movie where they talk about um this battle. She comes up with the men and they're in the trenches. And when she comes up to this field, there are these people who are suffering in this town, in this village who's suffering. And she says, "Why don't we go?

Why don't we go help them? I don't understand." And the men tell her, "Well, this is no man's land. You can't go out into that field. It's it's no man's land." And no man's land is an actual military term. It's used in times of war. And its definition is this, the land that is unoccupied or under dispute between two parties who leave it unoccupied dear due to fear or uncertainty.

And so she says, "Well, we have to go help." And he says, "No, you can't go into no man's land. It's certain death, but you know, she's Wonder Woman and she can't be told." And so she takes her cloak off and she steps out into this field and the bullets start coming and she starts reflecting and she pulls out her shield and she just has this glorious moment and she ends up the men come out after her and she wins this battle and takes back this city.

And when I watched that movie, I couldn't help but think of a familiar story in the Bible that I grew up listening to. And that's the story of Deborah and JL in Judges chapter 4 and chapter 5 in the Bible. And just to give you a little bit of context, in the book of Judges, we hear it over and over again.

And Israel did wrong in the eyes of the Lord. They turned their back on God. And because they did that, they were sold into slavery by to King Jabin, who was a wicked king who ruled over them. But a mother arose, the Bible says, Deborah, and she arose and she was a working mama because she was a judge and she was a prophetess.

How many working mamas do I have in the room? You tired? Me, too. Just throwing that out there. I get it, girl. I'm exhausted. They keep telling me it's going to get easier. I I think it's a lie. So, we'll see. I don't I don't think it is.

But we got it, you know. We got this. Deborah was a powerful woman and God gave her a word of deliverance to give to Barack who was the military leader there in Israel. And the Bible says that she went to him and she told him in verse 7, "I will lead Cesar, the commander of Jabin's army, with his chariots and his troops to the Keshan River and I will give him into your hands.

This is your promise. this is your deliverance from 20 years of slavery. And in verse 8, Barack responds to her and he says this, "If you go with me, I will go. But if you don't go with me, I won't go." And her response is this. Certainly, I will go with you, said Deborah.

Because of the course that you are taking, the honor will not be yours. For the Lord will deliver Cesura into the hands of a woman. And I want to speak to you today for a few minutes on into the hands of a woman. That there are certain victories and battles in our homes and in our marriages and in our families and in our financial situations that I believe that God has set aside to be delivered into the hands of a woman. but he needs your certainly I will go in order to give them into your hand.

And it's an incredible story because the second that Deborah steps into what God has called her to be. She goes and she gives the battle cry and God sends the Bible says that Cesar's army, this general, they were powerful. He said, "Take 10,000 sons of Israel. They had 900 chariots of iron and 40,000 troops.

They were wildly outnumbered. It was an impossible situation. But God gave this woman a word. And she had a certainly I will go spirit into no man's land because I know who's going with me. And God sent rain and a flood. And what they thought would be to their advantage ended up becoming to their disadvantage.

And the the troops got stuck in the mud. And the Bible says that not a one of them was left. And Cesar fled on foot. and he came to the tent of a woman named JL. And the Bible says that she was a tent dwelling woman. She was uh a stay-at-home mom.

She was a homemaker. And the Bible says that he asked her for some water to refresh himself, but she said, "No, I'll give you some milk." She said, "Just it's time to go night night. I got a plan for you. This is where things get a little bit brutal, okay?

A lot of bit violent, if you will. He took she took a tent peg and a hammer and she put it to his temple while he lay in her tent sleeping and crushed his skull. And the delivery of the victory was put into her hands in that moment.

And I think like Deborah, it's time for some mothers to arise. When I look at the state of our nation, when I look at the state of our world, the reason that I believe that we are where we are is because we have some women who have gotten defeated, who have gotten broughten down low, who have gotten to feeling like it's not even worth it anymore.

But I believe that God has called us to arise for such a time as this, to step into no man's land with him with a battle cry of certainly I will go. Certainly, I will go into uncertain circumstances because I serve a certain God. And he has set aside this victory for me as the woman in my home, in my marriage, in my children's lives, in my f finances.

He's calling me and he's calling you to step into no man's land with him today. There is a promised victory that is waiting for you to get up. It's time to arise. And please understand, this is not an anti-man message at all. No man's land is not no male's land.

It's no human territory. It's God territory. It's impossible territory where things don't make sense, where things don't really add up. But if you read this book, that's something that you see as a consistent pattern is God regularly puts the odds against his people so that they know when they come out on the other side of this, there's no other way that it could have been done other than he alone.

The Bible tells us though that Barack, the thing that was so powerful is he didn't see Deborah as as someone that he had to compete with. He saw her as a partner. He recognized the authority that she had to speak. In fact, he had her give the battlecry to the troops because her obedience produced her authority.

She had no hesitation when the charge and the promise of the Lord came. She took him at his word. She believed everything that he said was going to happen. It didn't matter what it looked like. And I believe that right now in our nation and in our world, there is a demonic attack on femininity and masculinity.

And we want to tell men not to be men. And we want to tell women not to be women. And we want to tell women, and my dad gets up here and speaks a lot about this, but I think on Mother's Day, and as a woman and a mother myself, I need to speak on it for just a second.

Understand the makeup on my face, the heels on my feet, and the clothes that I wear do not define me as a woman. I am not a birthing person. I am not a sis woman. I am not a breastfeeding human. I am a mother. I am a woman.

I am exactly what God before the foundations of the earth called and made me to be. He didn't make a mistake inside of me. He didn't make a mistake inside of you. He made us each unique and special for what God had in mind for our individual lives.

I was not created as an afterthought. Genesis chapter 3 says, "I was created as a solution to a problem." Women were created as a solution to a problem. He made Adam and he said, "It's not good for you to be alone. So, let me make something and let me improve on it quite a bit and perfect it by the way and I'm going to go ahead and make a woman."

And he said, "It is very good and I'm very proud of what I did. And don't allow your gender to be dwindled down to your outward appearance. It's a mandate and identity given by God. I find it insulting that we think that you going to call me a birthing human.

You haven't been through it. You hadn't been through nine months of them sucking your body dry. You haven't been through labor and delivery, the valley of the shadow of death. No, not birthing person. I am a mother. I am what God made me to be. And it's a powerful story.

You should go read Judges chapter 4 and chapter 5. I encourage you to do so. As mothers and as women, we need to embrace the immense impact that we have in our home with our words. Barack put conditions on the deliverance. He said, "If you go, I'll go."

But she took God at his word. But notice that her obedience produced authority, but it didn't produce pr pride and arrogance. It didn't produce her being ugly and mean to the man that was standing there doubting because Jude tells us, "Be merciful to those who doubt." If you have a child who's doubting their faith, who doesn't know what if they're too sure about this whole God thing, be merciful for those who doubt.

It's not through condemnation that we come to meet Jesus. It's through his loving kindness that draws men to repentance. Therefore, there is no condemnation in Christ Jesus. Why don't you try loving them a little bit rather than telling them how wrong they are every time you're on the phone with them?

It's your loving kindness. If we think we're better parents than God, we think we're better mothers. We We think we understand this thing more than God. He's given us the handbook of how we are to handle our children that won't listen. I'm definitely one of those. I was with my daughter the other day and I did this a lot more when they were younger because it helped my um it helped my ego a lot more back then.

But now my daughter's nine and five and Elliot's still sweet to me most days. But Amelia has gotten to where um when I ask her this question, she tells the truth. And I don't know how I feel about it just yet. But I will ask my children a lot of the times when we're laying down and maybe we've had a hard day and maybe I've flipped out a little bit.

I don't know. Does anybody do that? I chunked some rollerblades across the living room the other day. It wasn't my finest moment. Flipped out. Had to just have a come to Jesus moment. Me and both of my daughters were all three just sitting there crying. I I don't know why Ameilia was crying.

I looked at I was like, "Why are you crying?" "It's just a hard day." I was like, "All right, I get it." Like just all having a moment. But I asked my children a lot. I said, 'What can I do to be a better mama to you? Is there anything that I can do?

And at first when they were little, they used to say, "No, you're a great mom. You're the best." I'm like, "All right, perfect. We're good." Now, Ameilia's like, "You could put your phone down. All right, go to bed. You know, you could um if you want to yell at me about picking your clothes up, you could pick your clothes up, too."

I'm like, "All right, this is a mistake." She told me the other day, "You could cook better." I was like, "All right." That was hateful. They'll tell you the truth, huh? Like, you don't want it. And I asked her a couple of weeks ago. She said, "You're a good mom."

And I thought she was just placating me. I said, "Cool. So, what makes me a good mom, Amelia?" And she said, "Well, I know that you love me and you tell me you're sorry a lot." And I was kind of taken aback by that answer because I'm like, "Girl, I coach your soccer teams.

I'm at every stinking school function. I work. I do all this stuff. I cook your meals whether you like them or not. I cook them. Okay? I'm there. I do all these things." And the number one thing in your mind as a mother that makes me great in your little nine-year-old's mind is I say I'm sorry a lot.

She said, "Yeah." I said, "Why?" and she said, "Because it helps me to know that everybody's not perfect." And so I think that some battles, some victories can only be won with an apology. And I wonder how many mothers in this room, you have distance between your children and yourself or your mother and yourself because no one will forgive and apologize.

It's a humbling thing to have to go to the thing that you created and say, "I'm sorry. Mommy doesn't have this figured out. I don't know that I ever will. Likely not. and I I I mess up a lot and I'm going to fail you over and over and over again.

But the only way for me to truly fail you is if I don't point you to the one who never will. And so when we apologize to our children, when we choose to take ownership, not only are we walking that out for them to see, but we're also choosing to point them in the direction of the one who will never fail them, who will never let them down.

That's a hard one. I know. I didn't like it either. I believe in certain circumstances and in some wars that women can win and you can win the war in your home, sometimes against your husband. I am the worst at this. Tyler apologizes so much more than me.

And when that was brought up one time, I was like, "Well, I mean, if the shoe fits." He's like, "That that was not my what I'm trying to say. I'm trying to say you don't ever apologize." And I'm like, "All right, I'll work on it." It's easy for me to apologize to my children, not so much to my husband.

But what an example for our children to take extreme ownership to go when we have spats in front of them when we have these moments and say I'm sorry say forgive me. Authority can't come victory can't come where unforgiveness and bitterness reside. Some battles can only be won with forgiveness and an apology.

When I think of JL and I think of Deborah, I think of fierceness. I think of battle ready mamas. A couple of years ago, we had a situation where my oldest daughter, Amelia, she came home and she said, "Mom, um, there's this boy on the bus and he's been making fun of me." and he told me I was ugly and I'm stupid and I'm dumb.

I said, "Well, baby, are you ugly? Are you stupid? Are you dumb?" And she said, "No." I said, "All right, there's going to be a bully out there for the rest of your life. He's going to use mean words. They're going to try and break you down. You got to learn who you are and and we'll put this to rest."

And, you know, I sent something into the school and you know, okay, that was good. That was a really good parenting moment for me, right? Well, then she got off the bus um a couple days later and she said, "Mama, today he hit me." And this is not my finest parenting moment.

This was where I turned from a mother to what I fear most when I'm in the woods hiking, a mama bear. Because something visceral happened inside of me. And you know there's a reason you don't hear about daddy bears. You hear about mama bears. They're what you fear.

And I said, "Amelia, get in the car." And I didn't ask Daddy Bear. He wasn't happy about that later. Um but I didn't ask Daddy Bear. And I said, "Get in the car." And she's like, "Where are we going?" And I said, "Show me which house is his."

And she's like, and my my sweet, sweet, sweet girl. And so I show up to my daughter's bully's house with her and I'm banging on the front door and I'm like, "Hey, I need to see your son because I need to have a conversation and maybe something else.

I don't know yet. I see how I'm feeling." And they bring this little buck to sevenyear-old boy out. Oh. And I said, "I need you to understand something." I said, "You've been running your mouth." And I said, 'But today you chose to put your hands on what is mine.

And I said, 'I need you to understand that I'm not a note home in your agenda. I'm not a writeup slip. Me right here, I'm the real life consequences of your actions. And this I I was putting my hand on Ameilia's. I said, "This is mine, and there is nothing that I will not do for this little girl to protect, defend, and do whatever I need to do, including some jail time if necessary.

If you put your hands on top of her again, do you? And you might as well keep your mouth off of her, too, cuz we're having an issue with that. And the school can deal with it how they want. But I'm here to let you know there's a whole lot that comes behind this little girl.

He might have wed himself. And I might have gone too far. Again, I don't condone violence. I don't think it's okay. Don't do as I do. Just there's a moral. I didn't go to jail that day. And again, Daddy Bear was not very pleased with me. But I got Ameilia in the car and I said, she said, "Mama, you're shaking."

She said, "Are you scared?" I said, "No, I'm not scared." I said, "I'm I rate." And I said, "Baby, I need you to know I brought you there for two reasons. Number one, I brought you there so that he could see that you're mine. That when you mess with this little girl, a whole lot comes behind her.

That's not just messing with one little sevenyear-old, 8-year-old little girl. You're messing with a whole lot of people when you mess with this one. And I brought you so that you could know that there is nothing that mommy is not willing to do for you. That I have your back.

That not one battle, one thing are you going to fight alone in your life. I am here. And when I called my parents, the further my mama bear daddy bear point. My dad said, "Courtney, you you you can't do this." He's like, "You sound like a psychopath." But my mother's response was, "Send me the address.

I'm going to go too. I'm going to let him know as well. I need some mama bears, some Deborah, and some JL's to wake up and not physically go to the bully's house, but say, "I battle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and against demons, and I'm going to fight my battles on my knees.

I'm going to put up a hedge of protection around my children. I'm going to step into no man's land, and I'm going to say, "Certainly, I will go." Because there are certain battles that can only be given into your hands and your home and your family and your marriage and your finances.

It's time for us to wake up. It's time for us to learn how to fight on our knees. It's time for us to learn how to fight in our secret place. How to fight with the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. It pierces through any and everything.

It is powerful. We need to get like Jesus in the wilderness. And just because a situation looks dark and grim, you need to get an it is written inside of your soul. And when the enemy comes and says he's addicted to heroin, it's over. It's done. The possibilities are through.

You give him an it is written that he has a joy and a hope and a future according to the word of God. And devil, I don't take what you say over my children. I take what the Bible says and I'm going to proclaim it and I'm going to pray it over them.

We have to learn how to stand up and pray for our children. We have to learn that this is how we battle. This is how we war. This week, as I was preparing, I thought about a story that I had heard in passing, but I did a bit more research, and it was about my great-g grandandmother, Letty Stone.

For those of you who don't know, my grandmother Katie is one of 26 children. Yeah. They took be fruitful and multiply to heart. They said, "We're going to repopulate the whole world from Middle Sex, North Carolina. And my grandmother Lety, my great-grandmother Lety, she was raising 18 children.

She raised 18 children. She passed away. She had 18, passed away. And my granddaddy Stone remarried another incredible woman, Thelma, and she had eight more. But my my grand great-g grandandmother Lety, she was a powerful woman, but she was a woman much like JL. The Bible says in Judges chapter 5 that JL was a tentdwelling woman.

In fact, it calls her most blessed of the tent dwelling women. She was a stay-at-home mom. She was at home taking care of the children with no glory, with no, you know, big moment where she's able to get out and talk to another adult. 18 children. 18 children.

And they told me that she would go out and they had an outhouse. So, they had a they had a restroom in their house, which I I'm pretty sure I know what she was doing. They had restrooms in their house, but she specifically would choose to go to the outhouse.

And my dad earlier goes, "I wonder why she did that." And I said, "Because she had 18 children. I I don't ever get to go to the bathroom alone. I get it." And so they had an outhouse and they have a photo of this. And this was on the back side of my great-g grandandmother Let's home.

And inside of it, it was not much. But she would go in this outhouse and she would pray for her children. And she would write the prayers all over the walls. She wrote prayers about my grandmother. She wrote prayers about Sunday morning. She prayed for her church. She prayed for her children.

There's one August dated August 6, 1948. This is what it says. The baby is sick. Maybe it won't amount to much. Polio is spreading. Lord, help us to be more humble and obey you, more bold and more spiritual. And what she maybe didn't realize then was what she was doing was she was writing prayers on the wall.

She was building hedges of protection over our family for legacies for generations to come. We wouldn't be sitting in this building today. I have no doubt if not for that outhouse. And my grandmother said that when we were kids, we would go out there sometimes when we were playing and as we're sitting there, we look up on the walls and we read would read what mama was talking to God about.

We read our names written up on the wall that she was laying up prayers, storing up prayers. And here's the thing, prayers don't evaporate and go away. My great-g grandandmother's prayers, she never saw me. She never saw my children, but her legacy is here today. Stormmy O. Martin says this.

If you're not praying for your children, you're leaving their life up to chance. And here's the thing, it doesn't have to be a beautiful prayer. Prayer is simply talking to God about what you're worried about. Instead of picking up the phone and calling your mama or calling your friends, what if you stopped talking up your problem and began talking to your problem solver?

What if your children think about my other great grandmother, Mother Young. My grandmother told me that her her husband died when she was had five children alone when he was 50 years old, died unexpectedly. My great uncle went off to Vietnam and my grandmother said that she had a prayer quilt and she said when she got that prayer quilt out, we knew what was going to happen. and she would lay it on the floor of her bedroom and she'd say, "My son is crawling around the jungles of Vietnam and so I'm going to lay on my face and I'm going to pray for my child for protection."

She was putting up a hedge. She was building walls. We have to pray for our children. It's it's how we take a hammer and a peg and we put it to the temple of the enemy. How many pegs did my great-g grandandmother Lety put in the temple of the enemy?

Every time in the heat of summer when she's out there in that outhouse praying over our family. Every time in the cold of winter that she went out there interceding on my behalf. It's powerful. It's legacy. It continues. And here's the thing. Maybe you're you're here today and you say, "I don't have that.

You don't have to have had a great mother in order to be a great mother. You can start now. You want to know how I know? Rahab, she was a prostitute and she didn't know how to pray. She didn't have access to the Torah, but she let out the scarlet cord, which is a representation of the blood of Jesus Christ.

And when she did that, she put protection around her family. Not just for her generation and her children that were there, but she became a part of the lineage of Jesus Christ. If you have not been raised by a godly mother, you can still be a godly mother.

The only way to truly fail your children is to not point them to God. God, help us to be stepping stones to get to Jesus and not hurdles they have to get o over in order to find him. I love that when the Bible says that JL when the enemy came to her home, she didn't have a sword and a shield.

She had what was already there. She had a tent peg and a hammer. You are already equipped with everything that you need in order to win the victory that God is ready to deliver into your hands. She used what was in her home as a weapon against the enemy.

She used prayer. She used understanding. She used compassion. She used kindness. She used a gentle word that turns away wrath. She used the word of God. and she won the battle that day. But then Jesus years later came and he took a cross and he carry it carried it to Galatha, the place of the skull.

And he put a tent peg through the temple of the enemy one time once and for all so that we could forever have our victory. And today, I think it's important as women and as mothers that we wake up. Life is hard. Mothering is hard. And I I'm tired now.

And I'm not even to the full hard part yet. I know that because I was a daughter, a teenage daughter, and God help us. But the prayers that have been prayed over me my entire life. Maybe your child today is on a path that you would have never ever chosen for them.

Maybe they're addicted. Maybe they're in doubt. Maybe they're in unbelief. But I'm here as a testament to say I know my parents would have never chosen the path that I took in order to find Jesus. But I found him. And he found me. He found me exactly where he needed me to be.

Not so I could live off of their faith, but so that I could have it deep inside of my soul. My soul knows him well. No one can take him away from me. I am convinced of this one thing. And so I want everyone to stand to your feet today.

I know it's a simple message, but I feel like I want to call all the mothers today down to the altars. Maybe you're a single mother in this house. Maybe your heart has been broken because this is your first Mother's Day without your mother. You need to know that the prayers that she has prayed over you, they don't die with her.

They linger and they stay and they cover you. And I want all the women of this house to come down. And today I hope I gave you a promise, a true promise from the word of God that there is a victory in your home. There is a victory with your children.

There is a victory that is waiting for you to arise. That is the promise of the word of God. But see, we serve a God that's so kind. He's so good. Just like Abraham, he told Abraham when he was over a hundred years old, he said, "You're going to have a child."

And he said, "And they're going to be as many, many, many children as you can think of." And he gave him a promise of a future. But then he said, "Step outside of your tent and go look up at the stars because I want to give you a picture of what I have for you."

And today, I believe that he's going to give you a picture of the victory that you need in your life today. Maybe it's a child who's strung out on drugs. The name of Jesus is more powerful than heroin. The name of Jesus is more powerful than alcohol. The name of Jesus is more powerful than a vape of nicotine.

The name of Jesus is more powerful than depression and anxiety and suicide. The name of Jesus is more powerful than divorce. The name of Jesus is more powerful than your loneliness right now. It's time for you to arise. It's time for you to get your battlecry of certainly I will go.

God, I don't know what's in front of me, but certainly certainly I will go because I know that you're going with me. And today, I want us to sing this song. And if you're a mother in this altar, I want you to begin. If you don't know how to pray, this is how you pray.

I plead the blood of Jesus over Amelia. I plead the There is nothing more powerful than the name of Jesus. Than the blood of Jesus. If you don't know how to pray, pray that I pray Jesus over my child. I pray Jesus on and so tired and so weary from years and years and years.

Your victory is on the way. Don't lose hope today. Don't fall down today. Get back up. The joy of the Lord is your strength and your victory is on its way. I want us to sing this song. And while we're singing this song, I want you to ask God to give you a picture.

Ask God to give you a picture of you ringing that cancer-free bell in the hospital. Ask God to give you a picture of you holding that child that you desire so greatly that a doctor told you you'd never have in your arms. Ask God to give you a picture of you set free from any and all addiction.

Ask God to give you a picture of your family here in church every single week of a husband that leads you, that prays over you, that loves the Lord, that serves God. Ask God to give you a picture today to go with the promised victory that he has already made a way for you to have.

Oh, I want to see the victory. I'm mercy of victory for the battle belongs to you Lord. I see the victory. I will see the victory for the battle belongs to you, Lord. Oh, I see the victory. of victory for the battle. Start thanking him for it in advance.

When it doesn't look like it's coming, start thanking him right now. Thank you, Jesus. That my children will serve the Lord. That your goodness and your mercy will follow them all the days of their life. That their eyes will be seeing who you are, God. That your revelation will come to them. that the scales will fall off of their eyes and they will see that you are God and God alone that their doubt will go that their freedom will come for evil.

I thank you Jesus everything he meant for evil. Thank you Jesus that you turn it for our good ((music playing)) and you turn it for good. You turn it. ((music playing)) You real good. You turn it for good. I asked my grandmothers to come up here. I'd asked my mother, but I want to live.

And it's no, it's not lost on me that I am only here today because of that outhouse. Because of the prayers that I know both of these women have prayed over me, that the prayers of that woman sitting on the front row who won't come up here, will you?

No. Okay. Has prayed over me. Your child might not be where you want them to be right now, but it keep praying. Keep believing because if I had not been there, I could not have stood here. I believe that. And I wanted these two incredible mothers and grandmothers and intercessors and prayer warriors to close us out today.

I hope and I believe that God gave you a picture of victory today. That the victory is now imprinted in your mind. And when you walk out of these doors, don't lose hope. Don't lose faith. It might look worse before it looks better. But our God is faithful.

He brings to what he says to fulfillment. He makes everything beautiful in its time. And I wanted my beautiful grandmothers to pray over you today to the daughter of the outhouse prayer. I love it. I think it's so powerful. What a legacy. And I wanted my grandmother if you want to pray.

You feel it? Both of you can pray over each and every one of you. I think there's a mandate and a power that can come especially with these two women who have helped build the foundation of this room and the many rooms that you're standing in today. And so, grandmother, what you got to say?

I just say I speak the name of Jesus. La felt the Holy Ghost in this house today and I speak the name of Jesus. is the greatest name, the greatest helper, the greatest friend that you will ever have. My God has been faithful to me. He has brought my family right here and then brought me after husband's eye.

Our God still is with us. a half a day. I enjoy reading his word and talking to him and it just gives me I just get up and I go about my business in my home. Just God and I pure Jesus. That song I speak the name of Jesus.

Oh ((music playing)) Hallelujah. We speak the name of Jesus. You want to say anything? ((music playing)) I just don't know hardly what to say this morning, but I'm telling you, this is the greatest thing that ever happened in our family. God has really done a work in her life. And I'm telling you, I think she's going to take up her daddy's manhood.

God, no, God can do it for you, too. It's what you need to see is a picture of women that spend time with the Lord. Women that have gotten a promise and when it hasn't made sense and when it hasn't looked like it was going to happen, God still provided a victory into your hands.

Lift up your hands today and say, "Jesus, I'm ready for the victory that you're going to deliver into my hands. I thank you, Jesus, for my new certainly I will go spirit. I thank you, Jesus, that as I step into no man's land, you go with me. In your mighty, precious, powerful, unmatchable name, we pray.

Amen. And amen. Amen. Amen. Boy, when when she started saying that she was going to take my place, I told those ladies, "Get out of the way. I need to get up there. I really feel the thread. I do. I love you, too. I'm your favorite son, aren't I?

Um, it's not just you and Jesus, Mom. It's Jensen, too. I normally come by every morning if I'm in town, but but boy, she's something else. And Pat, we love you. Where did Pat go? There she is. What a what a legacy we have. And the reason this great church is great is because of these amazing mothers.

Raise your hand and receive this blessing on this beautiful, beautiful Mother's Day. Courtney, that was exceptional. It was just incredible. Incredible. What a message. What a word. Amazing. Amazing. Receive this. And I just pray you have the most blessed day. And I love what she said. If you've lost a mother and you're thinking about her today, know that know that she's in your future.

She's in your future. And Father, we thank you for this great group of people and our precious mothers. And we speak the blessing of the Lord over them. We celebrate them today in very, very heartfelt ways. And now, may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make his face shine on you.

May the Lord be gracious unto you. May he lift up his countenance upon you and may he give you peace in Jesus mighty name. We love you so much. God bless you. Have a wonderful day. We'll see you next Sunday. Don't forget about the divine conference. Get signed up for that.

And also there are beautiful flowers that are available outside under the little tent. and you can show your love to your mother, grandmother, or whoever uh that you're celebrating today. Thank you for that. I sure do. ((music playing)) Well, what a special day at church Free Chapel family. We've had that time of worship, the word, the kids singing.

Amazing. Amazing. Special. Somebody was cutting onions in service. I don't know. Absolutely. We need to find that person. But uh fantastic. Hey, get mom some flowers. By the way, the flower emoji, it's not good enough. Get mom some flowers today. Hey, all the moms, happy Mother's Day. And you know, this is also we just want to make a note too for some of you.

Uh you're remembering a mom or grandmother that has passed. And so our heart goes out to you, but we celebrate all the moms past and present today. Absolutely. What a powerful, amazing, special day it is. And if you joined us in prayer while Courtney was leading us in prayer this morning, said yes to Jesus.

We are excited for you and welcome to the great family of God. We celebrate you. We encourage you to text the word yes to the number 510510. And also if you need prayer, like Pastor James said, if it's a tough day today and you're there remembering mom, we're here to stand with you, to encourage you um through prayer.

So go ahead and text the word prayer to the number 510 510. Absolutely. Thank you for letting us know how you responded so we can be in prayer for you. Just one more moment before you sign off today. We want to tell you just a few things going on this Tuesday night.

Free Chapel YouTube channel. Okay. Free Chapel YouTube channel only 8:00 PM Eastern time. We have got an online hangout night. It's totally virtual. It's going to be uh really incredible. We got free chapel music is coming. We got a message. Got a fun icebreaker uh behind the scenes.

It's going to be absolutely incredible. Celebrating some of what God has done through Free Chapel. So, make sure uh Free Chapel YouTube 8:00 p.m. Eastern this Tuesday night. That's right. Be a part of it. This hangout night is for you, our online campus. So, we need you to be there.

Okay. Make sure you invite others to join in as well. Um, and on May 19th, we're going to be having a graduation recognition for those of you that are graduating or if you know anyone in the household who's graduating from high school from college, we want to celebrate with you.

So, go ahead and text grad 24 to the number 510510 and we'll um prepare and get excited to celebrate with you as well. Yeah, can't wait for that. Last thing here, summer united nights for our online connect groups. Some of you are in online connect groups, online small groups already.

Some of you, hey, you haven't take advantage of that. This summer, beginning in June, all of the online groups are going to be joining together. It's going to be really incredible. We're going to have a main session. Then we're going to utilize breakouts. So much fun. Make sure to sign up for summer United Nights.

Absolutely. Absolutely. It's going to be an amazing summer. A summer like no other. That's right. We also want to thank you so much for your generosity. If you'd like to take the opportunity to give, you can do that. There's some ways on the screen there to be a part of that.

Thank you for being a blessing. Absolutely. Go ahead and do that. And don't forget, spoil mom. This is probably the only day once once once once in a year, right, when you get to spoil them when they don't get to cook, right? So, go ahead and take them out to lunch, take them out to dinner, and have a special Mother's Day.

All right, we'll see you Tuesday night. Bye-bye. Heat. Heat. Hey. Hey. Hey. ((music playing)) ((music playing)) Heat. Heat.