Call Me Foolish (1 Corinthians 1:18–25) | Pastor Kelvin Shaw (Sermon)

In this episode of the New Life Now Podcast, Pastor Kelvin Shaw shares a powerful message titled “Call Me Foolish.” Drawing from 1 Corinthians 1:18–25, this sermon reveals a profound truth: what the world calls foolish—the message of the cross—is actually the very power of God.

The cross may appear weak or irrational to human wisdom, but through it God brings salvation, transformation, and new life to all who believe. In this message, Pastor Shaw calls listeners to repentance, faith in Jesus Christ, and a genuine surrender to the ways of God, reminding us that the power of the gospel still changes lives today.

Recorded at New Life Pentecostal Church in North York, this Spirit-filled message encourages anyone searching for hope, purpose, and truth to embrace the life-changing power found in the cross of Jesus Christ.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

First Corinthians chapter 1 verses 18 to 25. I'll just read this verse out of the New Living Translation. And uh if you have your Bibles, take out your Bibles and I know it's on the screen, but it's always good to have your Bible in church. And when you have it, say, I got it. And if you don't say, hold on a second. I heard a couple whispers, hold on a second. If you're in Matthew, keep on going left. And if you're in Revelation, go right. And if you're not there, just pretend that you're there. The Bible says for the message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction. But we who are being saved know that it's the very power of God. Verse 19 says, as the scriptures say, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and discard the intelligence of the intelligent. So where does this leave philosophers, scholars, and the world's brilliant debaters? God has made the wisdom of this world look foolish. Verse 21, New Living Translation says, Since God in his wisdom saw it to that the world would never know him through human wisdom, he has used our foolish preaching to save those who believe. So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended, and the Gentiles say it's all nonsense. Verse 24 But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. And the foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans. And God's weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength. If you can put right back up, verse 18. Someone say foolish to those who are headed for destructions. But we who are saved or being saved know it's the very power of God. I want you to help me this morning and look at your neighbor and just say what I'm gonna preach today in the form of my title, but ask it, say it in a declaration. Now, the first time you're gonna say it, you're not gonna understand, so I'm gonna have you say it multiple times. But if you believe what the Bible says that we just read, look at your neighbor and say, Call me foolish. Look at your other neighbor beside the other side of you and said, Call me foolish. For some people that felt good. You know why we praise the way that we do? Because we're foolish. You know why when we're in the middle of a service and somebody gets out of their seat and begins to dance, it looks foolish to you. But it's the power of God to salvation. So you can call me foolish. Put your Bibles down one more time, and I want you to pray on your own. But here's the direction for you to pray. I want you to pray and say, God, help me today to hear your word in your own words, in your own language, whatever the case may be. Just say, God, speak to my heart and my mind today so that I can leave here changed under the power of your word. Can you do that? Come on, somebody, begin to lift your voice, lift your hands. Jesus, I'm asking you, God, to touch your people, God. Touch me, God. Let your word resonate through my spirit that's delivered to Lord your people. God, move in a special way. God, your word is already anointed, but now approve it so that it can do a great work in our life. I pray, God, that somebody here today will come one way, but leave out following the cross. Following you, Jesus. I believe that somebody can be born again today. That person that has been sitting on the fence, the water is ready. They can be baptized in your name. God, they can walk, leaving here forever changed because they're following you with all their heart, their soul, and their mind. Move me out of the way, God, so your word can speak exactly what it wants to do. In Jesus' name, somebody say amen. You may be seated even in the presence of the Lord. Call me foolish. Want to get right to the point this morning, and I pray that every word is on purpose from the Lord. It's not smart to try to outsmart God. Not now, not ever. Not even a little bit. It's never smart to think that we are smarter than God. We are humans, creatures of dust and breath. But some for some reason we always try to be more clever than God Himself. We've seen it from the beginning. If we were to go in Genesis all the way down to where we live today, Adam and Eve thought they knew better than God. God said, Don't eat of this tree. And they said, and he said, if you eat of this tree, you shall surely die. And they said, We're not really gonna die. If you remember and you know your Bible, Pharaoh had the Israelites captive for 400 years, and he thought he was smarter than God. He thought he could stop God's plan. And oftentimes we think that we can deviate or switch or change God's plan, but I'm here to tell you today that it's impossible to outthink God. He is the omniscient one, meaning he's all knowing. What's more than all? I guess so. Hear me. He knows even the whispers in our heart that's happening right now. The Bible says in 1 John 3 and 20, that God knows all things, even our whispers. Matthew chapter 10, verse 29 to 30. I don't know if I gave that to you. If I did, you can put it on the screen. It says that he knows where the birds and the sparrows fall. And look at verse 30. It says that the very hairs on our head are all numbered. I don't know. Now the Bible doesn't say that they're all counted. It says we're all numbered. So it doesn't, it's not that he just knows how many hairs are on our head. He knows where every hair is. He knows that here's number one and here's number 5,072. And for some of us, it's just zero. Psalms 139 tells us that he saw us in our mother's womb. Solomon said it best in 1 Kings 8 and 39. You Lord alone know the hearts of all mankind. So it's not smart to try to outsmart God. Beyond that, if I can take it further, it's impossible to outstrengthen him. Can you imagine trying to overpower God and his will? He's omnipotent, meaning that he's all powerful. The Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the one with all power in heaven and the earth, and even under the earth. Every molecule, every storm, every kingdom is under his control. But how is it that we think that we have strength enough to will God to do what we want? Oh God quiet in here. Sometimes we act like we're smarter than him. We can outmaneuver our own life and figure out our own path. The young people would say, I'ma do me. Do what I want to do. Live how I want to live. Because deep down I think I hold my tomorrow. Somebody take a big breath. You didn't even control that. Proverbs 14 and 12 tells us there is a way that seems right to man. But the end of that way is death. I thought about it and I think about it. Remember that big boat called the Titanic? Did you know that the architect of that boat, whenever they were about to announce its first voyage, one of the statements that he said is this boat is so big and beautiful that not even God can sink it? Yet the Titanic is known most for its sinking. How often do we live in a way that we think we outthink God? Outmaneuver Him, find a better way to live, or a better way to be saved, or a better way to plan our life? How often do we try to plan and strategize our path? And we get to the end of the road and find that our ways are filled with confusion, chaos, and disorder. God says something about his thoughts compared to our thoughts in Isaiah 55, 8 to 9. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways. As high as the heavens are to the earth, are my thoughts towards your thoughts. Can you picture that? Has anybody been in an airplane recently? Nobody? I was gonna say, Mache, you've been in an airplane, that's what you do. When you look out the airplane and look down and all the things that used to look so big, when you look over and you see that the buildings are this happened to anybody? Oh, you didn't hit the window seat. But the higher up you go, you realize the smaller we really are. And God is saying, my thoughts are as the distance between the earth and the heaven. What he's really trying to say, you don't know what I'm thinking, and you don't know what I'm thinking about you. Hear me this morning. Our best thinking is nothing compared to the plan and the thought that God has for us. Our wisdom cannot save us, our strength can't deliver us, and it's only his power that can do that. So meet me at the cross this morning. The Bible says, as we read, and I'm gonna preach heavy in a second, but I'm trying to conserve my energy, Bishop. Can I just talk for a minute? The Bible says that the cross looks foolish to the world, but to those who are being saved, it's the very power of God because everything about the cross really contradicts the way the human brain works. Humans, we we we look at things being measured by what's big and what's strong and what's mighty and what's victorious and what's successful, but the cross was totally different. The cross looked like defeat. We were singing it, lift Jesus higher. That if I lift, if I be lifted up among the earth, what that really means is when he's on the cross being lifted up. What looked like weakness was God's greatest strength. What looked like God might, he humbled himself and went into a man and went on a cross and he died. But his death was my victory. Because he died, because he paid the price on the cross. We can walk free into the house of God in 2026 in new life because he died and we're able to live again. And the world says power looks like domination, but God says power looks like surrender. The world will say, We gotta win at all costs. Do everything you can to win. God says, You gotta lose your life to find it. The world says, do everything you can to protect yourself. And God says, surrender, and I'll protect you. First Corinthians 1 and 18 is the scripture that we've we've read to begin. It's the message of the cross. And it's foolish to those who are perishing, but because from the outside it looks like a great defeat. It looks like it's nothing, it looks like it's it's weakness. But God dismantled the wisdom of the world with regards to his strength on the cross. God's greatest work look like man's weakest. He did his resurrection work for people that the world gave up on. And he does his redemption for those who are broken. You see, when you come to Christ, you don't come to Christ because you're strong. We come to Christ because we're weak and we realize it. I I don't know if I told you the story. I probably told you this story. Sister Shaw, have I said this story? I was in the barber shop. That would have been a long time ago. And in the barbershop, the barbers were talking and they say, Oh man, they're talking about how strong they are and their beliefs. And they said, you know, those Christians are weak. They use Jesus as a crutch. And it was funny because the guy that said it was about this tall. I was looking down at him. I was like, you want to challenge what's weak or what's strong right now? But as they were discussing, I sat there and then I stood up. I said, Yes, as Christians, we are weak, but we have something to hold on to. You see, when when you have troubled times, you look around and you can't find anything, but we have a night. Oh come on, somebody. I feel the Holy Ghost now pushing me. Oh, you can call me weak all you want, but I feel the Holy Ghost pushing me. You can call me with all you want. And here's what's the ironic thing with this. Some of those same people in the barbershop, Bishop, years later, when they had trouble in their life, they didn't call those at the barber shop. They call me. When nobody else is looking, they say, Can you can you pray for my family member? Can you call on the name of Jesus for me? I had one guy, he he called me at three o'clock in the morning. He says, I don't know what to do anymore. I want to end my life. And I said, I don't have anything for you, but I have the name of Jesus that's stronger than any other. Come on, somebody. We have a name that is stronger than any other. So that when the world walks past. The cross and shakes its head saying that doesn't make any sense. The redeemed saying, Call me foolish. Because what looked like the end was just the beginning. I realize that the cross is not just a symbol, but the cross then becomes a transaction. The cross becomes an exchange. At the cross, Jesus had his justice satisfied. At the cross, mercy was released to us. At the cross, sin was judged. You said, Pastor Sean, why is that so important? Because if it's judged at the cross, then I don't have to take the judgment. And I realized at the cross that my grace was released to me. It's where God took everything that should have fallen on us and let it fall on him. The cross is not just a symbol, it's a transaction. God took my burdens, he took my sins, he took my trouble, and he nailed it on the cross with him. The Bible says, He who knew no sin became sin for us. Oh, it looks foolish that the Savior is on the cross, but uh to me, uh, call me foolish because I don't want to take that. And here's the tension that Paul wants us to feel that those who are perishing cannot see its beauty because pride blinds us. But those who are saved are recognize that it's his power that opens grace to us. Notice the language. It says those who are being saved. Put the verse up on the screen again, 1 Corinthians 18. 118, sorry. Look at your neighbor and say, being saved. That means that it's an ongoing process. Present tense and ongoing, continuous. My salvation starts with repentance, being baptized in Jesus' name in this water. Look oh, it's warm. I've been thinking about being baptized. It's like a sauna in there. Here is water. What does hinder us? Receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost speaking in other tongues. That's the beginning of our salvation. But it says, being saved. It means that once I am saved, I gotta continue to be saved. The Bible would just say that his mercies are new every morning. Every time I wake up, his mercy is like a blanket that's given unto me. So it tells us that I can't have a puffed up spirit, that I'm saved. Because when I think that way, I gotta still be saved. And if I'm not saved, it gives me an opportunity to say, I can be saved, and I can continue to be saved every day. But the world's wisdom says, I don't need to be saved. I'm good. I can do this on my own. When I get there, then I'll I'll figure it out. You see, salvation is not just for a moment, but it is a constant movement. It starts with a decision, but then it turns into transformation that I gotta continue in this. And you can look at me and call me foolish. But I'm foolish enough to believe that when I'm baptized my sins are washed away. I'm foolish enough to believe that when I have God's spirit inside of me, that I can get direction from God. I'm just foolish enough to know that God is with me everywhere I go. You see, I I I don't have to worry about my tomorrow because I know who holds my today. I'm just foolish enough to know. Holy Ghost help me. It was foolish that the cross lifted us out of places that should have destroyed us. I'm trying to hold on, Bishop, but you know, let it go. Thank you. Yes, I'm feeling it now. I'm trying to save this suit. I keep bringing my stuff to the dry cleaner. But if you look around this place, you're looking at people that were once lost but now are found. Don't judge us by how look cleaned up we look today. Because if you would have seen us yesterday, if you would have seen us in our past, you would say, I can't believe that's the same one. Oh come on now. If you would have known what I look like before, when you saw me, you would have to go the other way. But thanks be to God who's given us the mercy. I'm trying to reach somebody, I'm trying to tell somebody that what you are today can change under the power of God's spirit. But guess what? The requirement is you gotta be foolish. You gotta be foolish. People say, how can you really change? How can you really get past this sickness? If you would have seen Brother Peter's in the hospital, it would be foolish to pray for him. But I'm foolish enough to believe that when I call on the name of Jesus, the enemy has to flee. When I call on the name of Jesus, sickness and disease has to go. I told you the other day there was a car salesman who called Sister Shaw and I and asked us to pray for this guy named Trevor. Does anybody remember that? And uh Trevor, if you didn't know the story, Trevor was doing work on a two-story house and he fell two stories flat on his back. And Trevor had his femur broken, he had his face broken, he had stuff wrong with his lungs, everything that you can think of. And the guy that we purchased our car from, I hope he's watching today, giving him a shout out. He he he he texted me and he said, Can I can I have you pray? And I said, or can I call you? And he called me and I pick up the phone and he said, I I ran out of options. He said, The only person I know to call to pray is you. And this guy is not he's not a Christian. He needs to be in our Bible study on Wednesdays. He's a really good guy, but he's he's not a Christian. He said, I and he has he has everything that the world can can give, and I I like him a lot. But he said, all my stuff that I have, I don't know where else to turn. And I thought this would be foolish for him to think that if he would just call somebody, that God would be able to do something, but God needs our foolishness. He's in the doctor's office, that the medical system doesn't know the wisest of the wisest, and I'm thankful for our doctors. I'm thankful, we need more doctors. Sister Shadia, we need more doctors. But can I tell you that the medical field only can go up to a certain point? The wisdom can only go to a certain level, it can only reach a certain threshold. But our foolishness walks past that threshold and says, I know the God that can heal and deliver. I won't tell it all again, but I can tell you when we were away last week, he texted me and said, He there, he said, He's he went down again, and you're the only one I know how to text. And before I could even answer him back and say that we're praying, he says, I don't know what happened. What I just texted you scratched at. He's just turned all the way around again. Why? Because he was foolish enough to believe in a God that goes beyond our human wisdom, it's almost like a scandal. It's almost scandalous. How does God do things, impossible things? How does he make possible out of impossible? How does he make great out of brokenness? And here's the most scandalous thing that I can tell us today. How is it that God chooses us? Knowing us, you see, we can I can I can look good to everybody else, but only God knows what's really in here. I can fool you or you can fool me, but God is not fooled by us. He knew my weakness, he knew my struggle, he knew my victory, he knew come on, somebody he knows. And what makes this word so foolish, but also so divine, that it was foolish that God would look at us. It's foolish that God would keep reaching after us. It's foolish that God would would would keep coming after uh the broken. You would think he would go after the strong, but no, he he goes after the weak, he goes after us, he goes after all those who don't have it all together. So salvation would confuse those that know us. That's why whenever you come to the Lord, sometimes your your friends and family say, What are you doing? Has that happened to anybody before? They say, I know who you are, Brother Davis. What do you mean you're going to church? Are you crazy? He said it call me foolish. That's why whenever we begin to surrender our life to God, some people around us won't understand. It looks foolish. What do you mean you're changing and what do you mean you're paying tithes to the church? Are you foolish? Call me foolish. What do you mean you're going and lifting your hand? You look silly. Brother Henderson. I love the way you dance. If you're ever in church and the Holy Ghost hits Brother Henderson, you're going to see him do some. I can't even do them. Say it again, Sister Morell. Dance like the Lord, like David did. And when Brother Anderson begins to dance, if you didn't know why he was dancing, you would come in and say, You look foolish. But Brother Anderson, call me foolish. In the Bible, when David was bringing the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem, the Ark of the Covenant represented the presence of God. And the Bible said that he danced so much that he took off his clothes and threw it on the ground. And he began to spin and dance. And the Bible says that Mikel was sitting, his wife was sitting in the tower and watching David come down and bringing the ark to the covenant. And she said to David privately, You look foolish. And when the presence of God hits the room, it doesn't matter what I look like. It doesn't matter what I do in the presence of God. We haven't already happened. People would just walk down and come down to the altar. Somebody shout yes. I'm going to control my money. I'm going to control. You notice how every time we try to control our money, we never have it. I'm going to control my time, and then the time gets out of hand. I'm going to control everything that I can control. And every time we kind of control stuff, we realize the older that we get, that we had less control than we thought we ever did. I can't control even my body movements. Trust in the Lord with all thy heart. Lean not to your own control. In all your ways, acknowledge him. And he shall direct thy path. Call me foolish, but I'm foolish enough to put aside the things that I know to get the secrets from what God knows. But why does the world call what we do in here foolish? Because the word uses a whole different type of wisdom. The world says that power means control. Look what they're doing down south. Maybe never mind. Let me think they can control things. Never mind. Lord help me. Get me out of that. Get me out of that. But I'm not gonna let no president or prime minister control my future. My future is not in the government's hands. Oh, and don't don't get me wrong. We need a good government. But when the government stops being good, I turn to the one that's better than good. Help me, Holy Ghost. Bishop, tell me to stop. Tell me to get out of that. He said, continue. Okay, the school system won't control my outcome. I I turn to the Lord for your direction because I know the word that says the path of the righteous is ordered by the Lord. And no matter what the world will tell me to do, if I follow him, his path is the better path. Can I take it home for a second? Whatever God is calling you to, his way is smarter than our way. When God is calling us to turn our life to him, even when it doesn't look like it makes sense, if you surrender, I promise you the greatest life you've ever had and you ever will have. See, Pastor Shaba, there's so many people that are Christians that are going through so many things. And that's true. But we have somebody to hold on to. He gives us peace in the midst of the storm. Can I tell a story about last week, Sister Shah? You don't know where I was last week. You know where I was. I was preaching. I kind of had vacation. And right when we got to the location, actually, my friend and I said, I need to talk to you after church. I was in your home country. And and we were preaching, and I was preaching about God meeting us in the middle of the storm. And when we showed up to the place, it was it was sunny. And then in the middle, as soon as we got to the church, the rain came down. And we're like, this is crazy. The rain is heavy. And and as I was preaching, God's like telling me I'm gonna show you an example of what I'm doing. And I said, Bishop, what's this? And he as I said in the middle of the service, it was raining like crazy. And I said, God will give you peace in the middle of the storm. The storm stopped. I started recognizing where he said, Well, I don't hear the rain anymore. And after I preached as hard as I could that God is gonna make a way in the middle of no way and that God's gonna stop the storms, I realized the storm had stopped. And I said, I can preach as hard as I can, but let me turn you to the one that just stopped the storm. And people realized the storm had stopped. And people just began to rejoice in the presence of God. Why? It didn't make anything. I don't know if I believe that story. God wants to stop a storm in your life today. If you just turn around and surrender your life, the things that you're going through, you're gonna have the master of the storm with you. Come on. Later on, in the middle of the service, I thought the Lord said, I'm gonna let the storm start again. And he said, But this time this the rain is a blessing. And basically, as I said that, the rain started again. And the people said, This is the blessing that's falling on our country. You see, this we serve a God that is so foolish that he turns our storms into blessings for us. Here's what we Christians define a storm as a blessing. We call it a testimony. The test becomes our testimony. I realized that the struggle that I had was only for me to turn around one day and say, He brought me out of the God can turn my trouble. Let me just say that to somebody. God can turn your trouble into your greatest testimony. God, I'm here to tell somebody, God has been calling you. Can I move into the Holy Ghost here a little bit? God has been reaching you, my brother Bobby. Bob has been reaching you. He's been calling you Sarah. He's been going after you, Nathaniel. He's been calling you. He's been reaching you. You ain't here for curry, chicken, and rice after church. You're here for my sister, a meeting with God. You ain't here by accident. You're here because God has been foolishly reaching after you. And you know why I'm so thankful? That even when I was walking away from God, God was still chasing after me. Sometimes I don't even walk with you in the womb. But here's what's really foolish. It would be foolish to resist what God is trying to do. We would call that the Bible will call that pride. Pride says, God, I'm smarter, I know more, and I'm even more powerful. Now we don't say that out loud with our words, but we say that with our actions. And James would tell us, James 4, 6, that the only real foolish thing would be to be too proud to follow God. The Bible says, James 4.6, that God resists the proud. But gives grace to the humble. The humble are those that say, God, I don't have it all. I don't have all the answers. I'm not as powerful as I thought I was. I don't have it altogether, but let me surrender myself. Because if God resists the proud, he comes to those and gives grace to those that are humble. In other words, the strength of a believer is not found in gripping tighter, gripping tighter to our life, gripping tighter to what we think we own. But the secret is letting go and giving it all to Jesus. I'm almost done. Here's a real issue. Human wisdom trusts what it can see. I can see it. Show me, and then I'll believe. Show me, Pastor Sean, show me. But that's not how it works in the kingdom of God. God says, believe me, and then I'll show you. Human wisdom says, let me understand it all. If you show me every detail, every question that I've ever had in life, if you give me every answer, then I'll follow God. I have to understand it all. But faith says, I'll obey him and lean not to my own understanding. I'll just surrender it to him. Walking with God sounds foolish, I know. Sounds foolish to the world. But until we discover what surrender looks like, God will never lead us to the path that He has for us. I'm almost done. Did I say that already? Matthew chapter 16, verses 24 to 26. If you have your Bible, I'll give you a second to turn to it. I preached all that to get to this point. Matthew chapter 16. I can put it on the screen. Verse 24 to 26. The Bible says, are you there? Get there, get there. You got time. Keep ruffling. Matthew chapter 16. If you write in your Bible, write this down. If you have your notes on your phone, take notes here. The Bible says, then Jesus says to his disciples, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself to take up the cross and follow me. And look at the oxymoron, the next verse. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it. But whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what profit it is to a man if he gains the whole world and loses his own soul. But what will a man give in exchange for his soul? The first verse that we read, the Bible says, if anyone desires to come after me, let him deny. Someone say deny. Notice it didn't say if anybody desires to come after him, let him understand me. He didn't say let him know everything about me. He said the first step to follow him is to deny ourselves. Deny in the in the Greek. The word literally means to disown or to renounce or to refuse association with or to say in a statement that is no longer mine. So deny deny himself means I look at my own ways, my own path, and I renounce it. I say, my life is no longer my own. I'm not going to put my trust, the Bible would say, in horse and chariots, in things, in other things, but I'm going to put my trust in the name of the Lord our God. So Jesus is giving us insight to something that I'm preaching here today for somebody. Basically saying, I'm going one direction and I'm turning that direction back to Jesus. You say, Pastor Sean, how can I do that? It just starts with surrender. It doesn't start with any great words. You know, sometimes when you're standing beside somebody that can pray so good and you feel so inadequate, like, how do they have so many words? They're like a Shakespeare in prayer. Heavenly Father, touch the roads of the places that I would go, put petals down and gold in front of me, and I'm just like, I don't know what to say. Surrender doesn't come with great words. In fact, in the Bible, the Bible says that there were those in the temple that had great words saying all this stuff, and there was this one man that just came and pounded his chest and said, Lo, I'm undone. He said, No, I'm I'm wicked. I don't have it all together. He was denying himself. So if you want to deny yourself today, it won't take any. You have to know all the beautiful things that we can say. All it takes is you just say, God, I'm tired of walking my way. And I surrender my life to you. You say, Pastor, what's all the things that are gonna happen after that? You don't have to worry about all the things after that. It's just say, God, I'm sick and tired of trying this on my own. And can I tell you, if you've been trying this on your own for all these years, why not try something else? Listen, your understanding will always fight obedience. Can I say that again? Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not to your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him, and he will direct your path. Our fight comes when we try to understand everything. You say, Pastor Shaw, that's kind of harsh. Okay. Well, tell me how many breaths that you've made this morning already. Tell me. Does anybody know? How many times have you how many times have you breathed this morning? Do you understand it? But you're here. Not everything that happens in our life requires full understanding. Somebody, let me just show you. So everybody raise your right hand. Tell me the scientific way what your brain said to your arm to put it up. Do you understand it? Where's Sister Shadia? She's like, I understand it. I'm a doctor. But we don't understand most of the things that happen in our life. Look at this. This is a chair. Everybody wants a chair? Is it gonna hold me when I sit on it? Thank God it did. I've seen some people go on chairs that they thought was gonna hold them and they fall. They didn't understand it, but they had the faith to believe that it was gonna do what it's supposed to do. When you deny yourself, you're saying, God, I don't understand it, but I believe that if I surrender my life to you, you're gonna do what you're going, you said you would do. The Bible then goes on to say, after you deny yourself, take up your cross and follow me. That means from here on out, when you decide, if you decide today to say, I'm gonna give everything to you, God, then every day we got to do that a little bit. Every day we gotta, is this okay? I'm trying to help somebody. Every day I'm gonna follow him. Every day I'm gonna just try to get a little bit further. That's taking up your cross. Taking up the cross says, I'm not taking up my own way, I'm taking up his way. And I'm following him. And here's the mystery and the miracle. Whoever loses their life for his sake will gain it. It sounds like a loss, it sounds like a defeat. Whoever loses, but that's why it's foolish. If you lose your life, you will save it. If you surrender your life, you'll have more freedom than you'll ever have before. The cross is not just believing it, but it's carrying it. It's walking with it. If you can stand with me. All of us that aren't worthy of his grace. It doesn't make sense that the righteous one would then turn around and call the unrighteous righteous. It's foolish. The one who didn't need anything from us is asking us to follow him. It's foolish. It's foolish that God would choose us. And here's why it's foolish: it's because he chooses those that aren't polished, he chooses those that aren't perfect, he chooses those that don't have it all together, he chooses the broken, he chooses the people with a past. He chooses people with mistakes, he chooses people who took take wrong turns. And he always walks them back as long as they're ready to surrender. Romans 5 and 8 says, God demonstrates his love, his own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. That means before we ever clean up, God is willing to take us. Let me make it personal. Before I ever was Pastor Shaw, before you were ever Sister Baker, before you were ever Sister Drummond, even Bishop, before you were Bishop Green, there was a time. Say it. That was a mess. Me too. Big miss. You say, really? Hey, look. Can I say this, Bishop? If you can't admit that, you have a bigger problem.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:00

Yes, sir. That's the truth.

SPEAKER_00 1:00:04

But I just know that I'm a sinner. Saved by his grace. You say, Pastor, you? Yes, I was once lost. But like everybody else, I had to surrender my life. He came for me. He died for me. He manifested himself in the flesh for me! And I'm just foolish enough to believe it. That if he died for me and he can change everything in me, that he can change something for you. Here's what I'm asking us to do. I'm asking us to respond. If everybody closes their eyes and bows their head, nobody's looking. Now I'm gonna ask you something. If you feel and know that God is calling you to a deeper place in Him, calling you to walk closer to Him, calling you to leave things where you are and go into a new place with Him. If you know that's you, I just want you, everybody's eyes are closed and their heads are bowed. I want you just to raise your hand, just show me. Oh yes. Oh yes. Oh yes. Yes, you put your hands down. Nobody saw. But I can tell you there's many people in this house that want something more from God. Can I tell you your moment is now? Now is the time to stop outthinking God and out trying to outthink him, outstrength, and out will him. But now is the time to come to a place that we just say and we call in the Bible to repent. Repent means the simple thing of repentance just means turning. It means saying, God, I know I've been going in my direction. I've been trying everything that I could, but now I wanna try you. I'm turning my life to you. So we're all gonna repent in here. We're not gonna leave anybody out. The Bible says, if I confess, 1 John 1.19, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us. To confess means just to say the same thing that God would say about us. What does that mean? It means I'm saying, God, no more excuses. I'm not blaming anybody else. I'm not, I'm not looking at anybody else, I'm just looking at myself. And repentance is just turning my mind to him, turning my life to him, and it's a small step. John the Baptist's whole ministry was preparing the way of the Lord by preaching repentance. You know what it tells us in a backwards way? If we don't repent, there is no way we can't see God. If we don't say God, I'm turning around. That's the road to get to follow him. So everybody's eyes are still closed. Here's the invitation this morning. The invitation is not just to a nice sermon or nice story, but the invitation is to the weary, to the bound, to the searching, to the one who says, I don't know anymore. And I can't fix it. And I'm gonna turn everything to you. So call me foolish if you want. But I'm gonna turn everything to the Lord. I'm gonna have Bishop come and pray a prayer of repentance for us. And then I'm gonna have all of us, after the prayer of repentance is made, I'm gonna have everyone, as much people that can fill this altar, to come and just say, God, I'm gonna turn everything to you. Now I want everybody to step out of your seat and come. And then some of the ministers and ministries are gonna come and pray for you. That God would have his way in your life, and that your turning will make a difference today. Bow your heads.