This morning I'm going to be speaking to you from Matthew, or Mark, I'm sorry, Mark chapter 5, verses 21 through 34.
The title of my message this morning is called Hanging by a Hem.
Here we go, let's jump into it. Are you guys ready? Are you ready? Are you ready? Are you ready? Are you ready? Are you ready?
Verse 21, it says,
hands on her, heal her so she can live. So Jesus went with him and all of the people followed,
crowding around him. And a woman in the crowd had suffered for 12 years with constant bleeding. She
had suffered a great deal from many doctors. And over the years, she had spent everything she had
to pay them. But she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse. So she had heard about Jesus.
So she came from behind him through the crowd and touched his robe. For she thought to herself,
if I can just touch his robe, I will be healed. And immediately the bleeding stopped and she could
feel in her body that she had been healed from her terrible condition. And Jesus realized that once
healing power had gone out from him. So he turned around into the crowd and asked, who touched my
robe? His disciples said to him, look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask who
touched you? But he kept on looking around to see who had done it. Then the frightened woman
trembling at the realization of what had happened to her came and fell to her knees in front of him
and told him what she had done.
And he said to her, daughter, your faith has made you well.
Go in peace.
Your suffering is over.
For some of you, you need to hear this.
Your suffering is over.
And for some of you, you need to hear this.
You are a son and you are a daughter.
Let us pray.
Father God, I thank you for your spirit that is here.
I thank you, God, for what you're about to do in this place.
I thank you, God, for freedom.
I thank you for deliverance.
I thank you for salvation, Lord.
I thank you, Lord, for every good thing that you have in store this morning.
I pray, God, that our ears would be open, our hearts would be open,
And our eyes would see what you see.
Let us hear what you hear.
Let us speak what you speak.
God, have your way in this place.
We believe, Father God, that you are already in today.
You are already in our tomorrow.
And you have every good thing lined up.
I thank you for what you're about to do, Lord.
We love you, God.
We honor you.
We praise you.
We ask these things in Jesus' name.
And we all said, amen.
In the beginning of Mark chapter 5, we read that Jesus has just finished setting free a man who was possessed by thousands of demons.
We know this because Jesus asks the demon his name and he answers, my name is Legion because there are many of us inside of this man.
The word legion was used in the Roman Empire and it referred to a division of the army that numbered between 3,000 to 6,000 soldiers.
I cannot imagine being tormented by thousands of demons every single day.
But Jesus delivers this man and now Jesus has made his way to the other side of the lake and people have caught wind.
And they have heard that Jesus is there.
So they have come to meet him.
I can imagine it's probably hundreds, maybe even thousands have gathered to see Jesus.
See, Jesus, he is the talk of the town.
They've heard about the miracles that he's done and now they're finally getting to see him.
Sure, I'm sure that some have gathered out of curiosity.
But there are others who I'm sure have come and gathered out of desperation.
And to be honest, this kind of sounds like church.
Let's be honest.
Because we have some people that just come to church every Sunday just out of curiosity.
I wonder what the pastor is going to say today.
I wonder what songs the worship team is going to sing.
I wonder if my friends are going to show up to youth group.
I wonder if that cute boy that I saw last Sunday is going to be there.
I wonder if that girl that I texted last night is going to show up.
See, a lot of times we just go out of curiosity.
But then there are some of us that come and gather every Sunday
and that are even here this morning, not out of curiosity, but out of desperation.
you are desperate for something to change
you are desperate for something to move
you are desperate for something to shift
you are desperate for something to break
you are desperate
and I'd like to let you know that if that is you
this morning you are in the right place
because whatever it is that you need he has
that's just the kind of God that he is
see he's an on time kind of God he's a make something out of nothing kind of God he's a make
a way out of no way kind of God he's a I have your back kind of God he's a promise keeping God he is a
stick closer
to anybody this morning. He's a, I love you without limits kind of God. He's a, I don'T care how far
you've run, just come back home kind of God. He's a healing kind God. He's a restoring kind of God.
He's the delivering kind of God. He's a saving kind of God. And I don't now know what it is
that you've carried in here this morning or what it is that you need from him,
but I can tell You that whatever it is, He's the kind of God that's got it.
but Jesus has arrived
and I can imagine the excitement
that has filled the streets
I can imagine
the conversations
going down the streets
hey I heard Jesus is here
hey have you
seen Jesus yet
what does he look like
what does his voice
Sound like, did you see him do any miracles yet?
I've heard that he's here.
I've heard that he has arrived.
There is excitement that fills the streets.
During the summer, do we have any, like, Phil Wickham and Brandon Lake fans in here?
During the summer, maybe some of you went, they had their summer nights tour in Washington, D.C.
And when I found out that Brandon Lake and Phil Wickham were going to be at Washington, D.C., you don't understand.
Like, my people at my church, they know that I'm, like, obsessed with Phil Wickham.
Like, obsessed.
Because if you've ever heard him sing, if you've ever been to a live concert, it is literally like an instrument was built inside of his esophagus.
When he sings, like heaven just fills the room, kind of like, you know, this worship team here, heaven just kind of sweeps in.
That's what it's like for me when Phil Wickham sings.
And so when I heard that he was coming, I reasoned within myself and I decided, you know what, I'm going to do whatever it takes for me to go see this man because I love him.
I love him.
Don't judge me, okay?
I love him.
So I reasoned within myself, I'm going to do whatever I have to do to go see this man.
I'm going to buy the best tickets and I'm going to get a hotel room and me and my best friend are going to go and it's going to be great.
I was willing to do whatever it took for me just to go see Phil Wickham.
And I believe that in this story that we're reading this morning, there were a group of people that reasoned within themselves to say, I don't care what I have to do.
I heard that this man who has performed miracles and has set people free is going to be in our area.
And I don't care what I have to do come hell or high water I've made up in my mind that I've got to go see Jesus.
I believe that's how these people were.
Full of excitement.
And while excitement has filled the air, a man by the name of Jairus runs up to him frantically and says,
Jesus, I've heard the stories of you performing miracles and I heard that you were here.
So when I learned of your presence, I had to come find you because my 12-year-old daughter, she's sick.
She's very sick, in fact.
She's dying and I need you to come and heal her.
And all of a sudden, Jesus hears not only Jairus' heart's cry, but his heart's posture.
So Jesus goes with him to go see his daughter.
But while traveling on this dirt road to see Jairus' daughter, Jesus' travels are interrupted.
And everything stops because someone has touched him.
Now, I don't know about you, but I absolutely hate interruptions.
If I'm already doing something, please don't bother me.
I may stick to the schedule kind of gal.
Like, even if my friends are like, hey, you want to go get something to eat?
No, that's not on my schedule.
Again, don't judge me, okay?
I hate interruptions, but can I tell you that I'm thankful that I serve a God who isn't intimidated by an interruption?
It doesn't make him nervous.
It doesn't make him insecure.
But while people have gathered in the streets excited to see the one who has done miraculous things,
there is a woman in the background trying to stay out of sight from people of her town
because for 12 years she has been bleeding.
And under Levitical law, she has been condemned as unclean.
And because she is unclean, everything that she touches becomes unclean too.
Levitical law taught that when a woman started her cycle,
she would have to be separated from everyone and everything for seven days until the bleeding stopped.
See, she couldn't be with her husband.
She couldn't be with her kids.
She couldn't be with her parents.
She couldn't be with her siblings.
She couldn't go out and hang with friends.
She couldn't sit where other people sat.
She couldn't touch what other people touched.
She couldn't lay where other people lay.
And do you know what I noticed while reading this story?
While reading this story, nowhere in this text does it give us her name.
No one would call this woman by her name.
They would only refer to her as an issue.
See, she was the woman with the issue of blood.
She would never be recognized by her name.
They would only recognize her by the outward stains caused by an internal problem.
Pastor Aubrey, what do you mean?
The problem wasn't just that she was bleeding.
I believe that the Lord can use an external issue to deal with internal things.
It's much deeper than that.
There was an internal problem that needed to be fixed.
You say, Pastor Aubrey, what is this internal problem?
The issue was that she didn't know who she was.
She was never able to know who she was because the issue of blood, her issue of bleeding robbed her of learning her name.
She was robbed of the opportunity to learn about who she was.
The Bible never tells us at what age did the bleeding start.
It just said that she had been bleeding for 12 years.
Did she start her cycle at age 13 and just never stopped?
I don't know.
Was she a full-grown adult, had a child and kept bleeding, and it never stopped?
I don't know.
There are many questions that we have here.
But what I do know is that at some point, this woman had a name.
But eventually, her name would be replaced with an issue.
See, sometimes we can go through life and we can go through issues.
We can go through problems for so long that we forget who we are.
As a matter of fact, we hear it all the time.
I've been going through this for so long, you can finish it, that I've forgotten who I am.
We allow issues to rob us of our identity.
This is exactly what happened in the story of the prodigal son.
See, he gets his portion.
He left his covering.
He spent it all and ended up doing things that he never should have been doing.
He lost everything he had, including him forgetting who he was.
How do we know?
Because the Bible says in Luke 15, verses 17 through 18, it says,
And when he came to himself, he said, how many of my father's hired servants have bread and even extra to spare?
And I perish with hunger.
I will arise and go to my father.
See, he lost himself.
He realized, hey, this isn't me.
This isn't who I'm supposed to be.
This isn't where I'm supposed to be heading towards.
And some of you have had the same thing happen to yourselves.
You've said to yourself, this isn't me.
This shouldn't, I shouldn't be here.
This isn't what I was called to do.
This isn't the name that God has given me.
You found yourselves having a come-to-yourself moment.
And you better thank God for the come-to-yourself moment.
Because when you have a come-to-yourself moment, your insides begin to awaken.
And you realize, I've got to get back to my father's house.
I've got to get back to my father's house.
Some of us need a come-to-ourselves moment.
Can you imagine living your life 12 years and one, being completely separated from your family and friends,
but two, you only knowing yourself as your problem?
She was never called by a name.
She was only identified as an issue.
And I wonder how it would make us feel if instead of somebody knowing us by your name,
or we introducing ourselves as our name, we only began to introduce ourselves as our problems and the struggles that we carry.
How would it make us feel if instead of me saying, hi, my name's Pastor Aubrey.
I introduce myself to you as this.
Hi, I'm sick.
Hi, I'm broke.
High.
I'm bitter.
High.
I'm heartbroken.
High.
I'm lonely.
High.
I'm tired.
High.
I'm angry.
High.
I'm worn out.
High.
I'm lost.
High.
I'm confused.
High.
I'm anxious.
I'm depressed.
High.
I'm desperate.
High.
I'm addicted.
High.
I'm bleeding.
How would it make you feel if nobody knew your name, but they only knew your struggle?
And we get to a point of where instead of us understanding that,
Hi, my name is Aubrey, and I'm just going through some issues,
I start to say within myself and believe, Hi, I am the issue.
See, we walk around saying, I'm depressed, I'm anxious, I'm sick, I'm lonely, I'm heartbroken.
Do you understand what you're doing?
You're claiming a name that isn't yours.
I need you to understand that these may be issues that you are faced with, but that is not who you are.
Your issues are not who you are.
no you're not depressed you're a child of God you need to start reclaiming your identity you need to
know who you are stand on it and believe it you are more than a conqueror greater is he that is in
you than he that's in the world you are chosen you're a royal priesthood you're set apart you're
called for such a time as this some of you need to get up and lay hands on yourself and speak to
your spirit because you are called for so much more than where you are.
I am tired of watching the body of Christ wallow in self-pity because no one took the time
to tell you you're not a mistake, you're not an accident, you're not a failure.
There's so much more in you.
I'm sick and tired of being sick and tired of watching our people fade away because they think because I've done wrong, I've counted out.
No, baby, come to the altar.
Make it right.
Start again.
Get up.
Some of you just need to get up.
But you don't know what I did.
Or you don't know what happened.
Respectfully, I don't care.
It is not my job to condemn you into the kingdom of God.
It is my job to love you into the kingdom of God.
where is that?
the Bible says that love covers a multitude of
oh Aubrey you're just preaching messy grace
it's only messy if you don't understand what grace is for
hear me when I say this to you
grace is not a ticket for you to get up and sin and to keep doing what you're doing
what grace is is the ability and the power to conquer the thing that's trying to conquer you
can i tell you that sin has already been conquered there is more inside of you that you give yourself
credit for whatever it is that the lord has called you to he's already put it inside of you
Some, I'm telling, my God, some of you just need to lay hands on yourself.
You're waiting for some prophet to come by and lay hands on you.
Baby, you're the prophet.
Speak to yourself.
Is this okay?
I love you.
I love, listen to me.
Oprah you don't know me I don't care
I love you
I want you better than what you were
God has called you
for so much more
you're not an accident
you're not a mistake you haven't done
too much you haven't ran too far
but you know what else we do
this is what we do too
see we make excuses
within ourselves and we
say this. Oh, it's just my genetics. It's just in my DNA. I get it from my mama. I get
that from my daddy. This is just how I am. I did this thing, maybe some of you know about
it, Ancestry.com. Any fans? Any fans of that? Wow, no? Wow. I was so excited to do it.
I was pumped. Well, for those of you who don't know, you get this box.
This is gross, but whatever. You spit in it. You spit in this tube, and you mail it off, okay?
Listen, science is amazing.
Aubrey, that's so worldly.
Be quiet.
No, it's not.
I love you.
I'm a nerd.
Like, I love outer space.
I'm fascinated by it.
And I will just go through Google and look up random facts about space because I'm weird.
But anyway, science is so cool.
And no, I was not good at science, if you're wondering.
I wasn't.
But science is cool.
And based off of the spit from your DNA, they can figure out where you're from.
They can, like, pull your lineage.
They can tell you about your characteristics, what you'll like, what you don't like, where you get certain traits from.
So I did it because I want to know about myself, okay?
And this is what came back.
It says, you know, from my DNA, it says that I am European, I'm German, I'm Russian, I'm Irish, I'm Norwegian, I'm French, I'm Welsh, I'm Portuguese, I'm English, and I'm Scottish.
Don't ask me percentages.
Percentages don't matter.
I'm just telling you this is what it says that I am.
Okay?
So if I were to go off of my genetics, based off of what was presented to me from Ancestry.com,
I could say that I'm short-tempered and I'm hot-headed because I'm Russian and Irish,
and it's just in my genetics.
That this is just how I am.
That it runs in the family.
That it's always going to be this way.
I will always be this way.
No, this is not how you are.
It's not your genetics.
It's not because it's always been this way.
It won't always be this way.
Why?
Because it is impossible for you to stand before a holy God and not be changed by his holiness.
The only issue is that your issues haven't ran into Jesus yet.
The genetics haven't ran into Jesus yet.
The family history hasn't ran into Jesus yet.
The how it's always been hasn't ran into Jesus yet.
Some of you need to have a run into Jesus moment.
Because I promise you, when you encounter him, he changes everything.
And when I say everything, I mean everything.
The Lord says in Isaiah 49, 16, it says, see, I have written your name.
on the palms of my hands that I would not forget you.
It doesn't say that I've written your issues on the palm of my hands.
It doesn't say that I've written your problems
on the palms of my hands that I would not forget you.
No, it says that I have written your name on the palm of my hand
and I would not forget you.
He's not concerned about the issue.
He isn't concerned about your problem.
He isn't concerned about the labels or statistics.
He's concerned about you, your name, who you are.
Something happens when we come into contact with the one whose words are so powerful that the wind and waves obey his very command.
But we allow ourselves to stay bound in our minds of who we are because we have not come to the realization of whose we are.
Proverbs 23 and 7
it says as a man thinketh in his heart
so he is
do you understand how powerful
your words are that you not only think to yourself
but meditate on are
what it is that you allow yourself to listen to
and believe is what you become
and as a man thinketh in his heart
so he is
we've got to decide within ourselves
that hey I'm not listening to these lies anymore
we've got to come to ourselves and say hey
I'm a child of God
I'm the head and not the tail
I'm set free, I'm sanctified
I'm changed, I'm chosen
I am a royal priesthood
I'm a holy nation, I'm delivered
I'm a new creation.
I'm washed in the blood.
My old man is gone.
You need to start speaking these things over yourself.
But here this woman is.
She is making her way through the crowd, trying not to be noticed because she's breaking Levitical law.
And she's in this very, she's gotten to the end of herself.
She's done everything there is to do.
She's tried everything that she could possibly try.
and Jesus is her last option.
This is what we do a lot of times.
We try everything else.
And we make Jesus our last option.
The Bible says that she spent everything she had to become well,
but she didn't become better.
She actually became worse.
And that's what we do a lot of times.
we go looking for something that will not make us better
but will settle looking for something that will make us feel temporarily good.
We settle for temporary gratification
knowing full well that once the good feeling fades away
we are left only feeling worse.
The pain was too much to deal with
so you picked up the bottle or you picked up that drug
and yet it numbed your pain for a little while.
But the good is gone and now you feel even worse.
You got lonely so you hooked up with someone for the night
and it was good in the moment until the good is gone
and now you're left with still issues maybe even more.
And the good is gone and now you get up the next morning
only to feel worse.
And some of you have gotten so numb and you feel so dead inside that you cut yourselves not because you want to hurt, but you just want to feel something.
I don't know, but I think there are some of you sitting here this morning relating to what I'm saying because you have looked for temporary gratification.
But at the end of the day, your good feeling wore off, and now you are just left feeling worse.
So this woman has come to the end of herself.
And some of us would say that she's done everything that she's known to do.
She's got nothing left.
That she's just hanging by a thread.
When in reality, she would actually be hanging by a hem.
The Bible says that when this woman with her issue heard about Jesus, she thought to herself.
Somebody say thought to herself.
That was a little lame.
Can you say, she thought to herself.
if I could just touch the hem of his garment I will be made well can I tell you that you do not
need listen to me this is important you do not need to share every thought that the Lord gives to you
with every person that you're around because if you told some people around you what your thoughts
were they would give you every reason of why you shouldn't follow through with that thought
this woman knew that she had no business being around these people
she knew that she shouldn't be in the mix of the crowd
she knew that she had no business touching anybody but she had this thought if i could just get
to where jesus is i know that i would be made well and i could imagine that if she told
the circle around her, they would tell her, sit down, get away, you're dirty, you're filthy,
don't touch us, you're too unclean, you should be stoned, you should be killed. They would have tried
to convince her to regret the choice of her making the choice to chase after Jesus. You do not have
to share every thought with other people around you, because if you did, they would convince you
to not follow the blessing that the Lord has for you.
Let me tell you something.
If it was for them, he would have told them.
But he's talking to you.
The best thing for you to do is move in quiet.
Sometimes you need to tell people to mind your business.
I don't know if you can tell, but sometimes I get an attitude.
Mind your business.
Some of you need to tell some of your friends that.
Why are you doing that?
Why are you acting that way?
Why are you changing?
This is what we always did.
That's what Pastor Bro preached last night.
When you get a hold of God and God gets a hold of you,
he's going to remind you that he's changed the way you walk.
you gotta look at your friends
say mind your business
this ain't for you boo
this is for me
it's what he called me to
but they'll give you every reason
of why you shouldn't follow through
and the best thing for you to do
with your thought
is move quietly
sometimes we talk ourselves out of a blessing
and sometimes we let others
talk us out of receiving the blessing
the Lord wants to give us
sometimes your worst enemy is not you
it's your best friend
let me tell you something
jealousy is an ugly thing
and that can go for your boyfriend
and your girlfriend too.
I'm not being invited next year, I know.
But we'd rather settle for temporary gratification.
But they make me feel good.
Shut up.
But they love me.
They all say that, boo.
I'm sorry.
No, I'm not, actually.
Because if somebody ain't told you, I'm going to tell you.
Well, how do you know?
Because I've been there.
You want me to pretend like I got this all together?
No.
We don't have it all together.
Can I tell you that the Lord isn't looking for perfection?
He's just looking for it.
Yes.
and some of you think that you got to get all cleaned up
oh this is gonna rub some people some of you think you got to have it all together first before you
change Jesus no baby run to him dirty he's the one that makes you clean
all it takes is a step one step after the other after the other after the other
that's all it takes
he's going to change the way you walk man
and listen don't take it personal
when your friends turn away
it's okay
not everybody's meant to go with you
until your next season
my name's Pastor Aubrey
I'm the worship pastor
at Charm City Church of God
Okay, thank you.
Thank you.
Not everybody's meant to go with you.
And you know what?
It's okay.
Jesus never said, hey, when you follow me, you'll have many friends.
He never said, if you follow me, you'll have fame, fortune, and money, and you'll be rich.
And all these things, no.
The Bible does say that you'll be blessed.
He does say that you're highly favored.
He does say that you'll never walk this alone.
He does say that he'll be with you in the fire.
He does say that he'll be your comforter.
It does give you that.
I can tell you that it's the best choice that you'll ever make.
I promise you it is.
And it's also important for you guys to know that lonely seasons only last for a little while.
I know it's hard and I know it's difficult, but they only last for a little while.
How do you know?
Because I trust me.
I know.
But he's faithful.
Amen.
So she makes her way through the crowd.
And she comes up from behind Jesus and touches him.
The Bible says that faith comes by hearing.
And hearing the word of God.
See, she heard about Jesus.
And just hearing about him stirred her faith.
Because by her hearing that Jesus was coming to town, it made her get up and go to where he was.
But it doesn't stop there.
See, faith without works is dead.
See, she heard about Jesus and it stirred her faith.
But moving to where he was is what activated her faith.
If I could have a group of people come up, I need you to just come up here and make a group.
Quickly.
Oh, quickly.
Praise God.
Just make a group.
I just need you to make a group.
For those of you who don't know, I'm a visual learner.
and for me to understand things, I need to picture it, okay?
I need to make a group.
I don't want to lie in a group.
Yeah, bunch of them.
Bunch of them.
Let me help you.
Come up here.
Yes, Lord.
Come up.
So this is what, wow.
I just needed my stage people, but y'all can get close.
That's fine.
Glory, glory to God.
she heard about Jesus and it stirred her faith
but moving to where he was is what activated her faith
and I believe that this woman who had an issue
said within herself
enough is enough
I believe that she made her way
she stood in the back and she saw Jesus ahead
if you guys move up this way.
She saw Jesus from afar.
And she said, man, I'm tired of doing this for 12 years.
I'm tired of suffering for 12 years.
And I believe that she said to herself, forget it.
I'm tired.
Listen to me.
I'm tired of people's comments.
I'm tired of people's opinions.
I'm tired of what society has said about me.
I've got to get where Jesus is.
And I believe that she decided to push her way through the crowd.
And she's seeing that she's getting a little closer.
But I'm sure the enemy is saying to her, you're dirty, you're filthy, don't touch, get away.
And she said, no, I've got to get where Jesus is.
So she moves her way through a little bit more.
And she says to herself, I'm almost there.
I can see him.
I know that if I could just touch the hem of his garment, I would be made well.
So she makes one final push to where he is.
And the Bible says that she grabs hold of the hem.
And when she does, the Bible says that Jesus felt power leave his body.
And the disciples, well, Jesus turns around amongst all of these people, all of these people, and he asks, forgive me, but he asks a stupid question.
He said, who touched me?
And his disciples look at Jesus and they said, Jesus, don't you see all of these people?
Why would you ask, who touched me?
These people are pressing up against you, thronging you around, and you want to ask, who touched me?
and Jesus said
I felt power
leave my body
Aubrey what are you saying
I'm trying to tell you
that Jesus can recognize
a desperate touch
Jesus can recognize
a desperate touch.
Thank you guys.
And I wonder
if there are people here this morning
who have said within your cell,
I'm tired of the labels.
I'm tired.
Worship team, you can come.
I'm tired.
of people's opinions. I'm tired
of what's been said about me. I'm tired
of what I say about myself. I wonder if there's
anybody here this morning who is desperate
for a touch from Jesus.
I wonder if there are people here this
morning who are ready to get a hold
of the hem of his garment.
I wonder if there are people here this morning
who are ready to lay it all down.
This woman who realizes that she's been found out.
She comes before Jesus afraid and scared.
because she knows what the law is.
She's been dealing with it for 12 years.
And I can imagine that the woman starts to stammer over her words
because she's scared.
Jesus, I'm sorry.
It was me.
I know what the law says.
I know that I'm considered dirty.
I know that I'm filthy.
I know that I'm an outcast by society.
But, Jesus, listen, I've tried everything, man.
I've tried it all.
And nothing is working.
And I heard that you were here.
And honestly, Jesus, I'm sorry, but I just had to touch you.
Because I heard that people have miracles when they touch you.
And Jesus, I know, I know, I know.
I'm so sorry.
I can imagine the fear because Jesus, man, he's the son of God.
He's perfect.
He's holy.
He's righteous.
It makes no sense.
It makes no sense for someone so dirty to be able to touch someone so clean.
but she rationalizes everything she says what she has to say
and Jesus looks at this woman and you know what he doesn't say
he doesn't say get away from me he doesn't say stone her he doesn't say do you know what you've
done. He doesn't say, you're the woman with the issue of blood. No, he doesn't say any of these
things. Jesus turns around and looks at this woman who has been an outcast for 12 years, condemned
by society. He looks at her and he says this. He says, daughter, your faith has made you well. And
For the first time in 12 years, someone has called her by a name.
This man who is pure and holy and righteous and performs miracles has given her a name.
It's daughter.
It's not the issue.
It's not the problem.
It's not the struggle.
I've come here this morning to let you know your name is not your problem.
Your name is not the things that you deal with.
Your name is not the burdens that you carry.
Your name is not the burden that you think you are.
Your name is son, and your name is daughter.
And there is a place for you at God's table.
you're not a problem
you're not an issue
you're not a diagnosis
you are a son
and you are a daughter
I believe that majority of kids leave church
not because the church didn't have anything for them.
I believe they leave church
because when they went to someone for restoration
they got rebuked instead.
I already said it earlier, listen to me.
It's not my job to condemn you into the kingdom of God.
It's my job to love you into the kingdom of God.
you may not know me
I may not know you but I want
I want you to know this
from the bottom of my heart
I love you
I don't care what
you've done, I don't care what you've been
involved with, I don't care what you've said
I don't care what you didn't say
I don't care about your circumstances or situations
I want you to know
that I love you
so I wonder
this morning.
If anybody
one, maybe you're sitting here
and you don't know God.
You came because your friends invited you.
Welcome.
Welcome to Premier Winterfest 2025.
But you don't know this God
that you've been hearing about.
And you wonder,
are you sure he wants me?
Yeah, baby, he wants you.
You were created for such a time as this.
So I wonder if there's anybody here
who you know of this Jesus,
but you don't know him.
But you want to know him.
I want to deal with you first.
If there's anybody in this room
and you've decided, man, enough's enough,
I want to give my life to Jesus
because Jesus, I know, can radically transform my life.
If that's you, I want to see your hands.
I want see them.
Lift them up.
Lift them.
up. Look at God. Lift him up. If that's you, you don't know the Lord, but you want to. Let me see
him. If you're in your seats, I want you to make your way down quickly. Run. Skip. Whatever you have
to do. I don't care. Run. Run. Run. He's waiting for you. This is your time. This is your time. This
is your time. This is your time. This is your time
You, yes. He's calling you. Yes. He wants your heart. Yes. He wants your mistakes. Yes. He wants your burdens. Yes. He wants your trials. It's you. I'm going to wait 10 more seconds.
You're like, Aubrey, this is it. I'm done playing games. I wanta know them. I wanta know them. I wanna really, really know them.
Look at all these people that are ready to give their hearts to the Lord.
Glory to God.
All right.
We're going to deal with you all first.
Everybody throw your hands up.
Listen, we're not looking for King James prayers, okay?
It ain't nothing fancy.
God just wants your heart.
So I want you to repeat after me.
Say, Father God, thank you for today.
Thank you for choosing me.
Thank you for calling me.
I give my life to you.
I surrender every part of me to you.
I believe that your son died on the cross, rose three days later, and that I was resurrected with him.
Thank you, God, for saving me.
thank you for calling me.
Thank you for creating me for such a time as this.
Listen to me.
Do you know that heaven is rejoicing with you right now?
The heavens are having a party
because you decided to say yes to him.
This place and here, we should be erupting with praise.
We should be giving glory to God
because there are people that have now entered into the family of God.
God, we praise you.
We thank you, God, for these people that are here.
We glorify your name, God.
We lift you up, God.
Hallelujah.
Now there's a second group of you that you know the Lord.
You've given your heart to him, but you've allowed the opinions of others.
You've allowed circumstances to dictate who you're going to choose to be.
And you're saying, Pastor Aubrey, I'm tired of faking it.
I'm tired of carrying this burden.
I'm tired of doing these things and just going through the motions.
I'm tired of the baggage.
I'm tired of the weight.
I'm tired of the labels.
If that's you, I need you to make your way.
Make your way quickly.
If that's you, you need to come.
You need to come.
I'm trying to tell you, God is about to restore some people today.
this is what I want you to do
grab the hand of the person next to you
or place your hand on their shoulder
we're going to pray for one another
because I believe that nobody should suffer alone.
There are burdens that people are carrying
that they don't need to carry by themselves
and sometimes they need someone else to help them release it.
So find your friends, find a stranger
and we're going to pray and we're going to believe
that God is going to do a new thing in their life.
We're going to believe that there is about to be freedom in this place.
I believe that there's healing and restoration, that strongholds are being released, God,
that the labels are being removed, that a new identity and a new name is going to be placed
upon your people.
Father God, in the name of Jesus, we come before you this morning declaring, God, that you
are who you say you are.
Father God, that you have good things in store.
In the name of Jesus, I release every person that's been held by labels, that's been held
by opinions, that's been held by circumstances, that's been held by strongholds. I release them
in the name of Jesus. May they walk in freedom. May they walk in their name, son. May they walk
in their name, daughter. Let them know, God, that you've created them for more, that you have good
things in store, Father God, that you are setting them free in the name of Jesus, God. We submit
ourselves to you, God.
We lay it before you in the
name of Jesus.
In the name
of Jesus.
- Yes!