Keion Henderson - It's a Trap

Today 's message is only for people who are fed up. If you are tired, just holler at me every time. Good people don’t change into hurting people until remaining the same hurts too badly. Yeah, people change when staying the same hurts, and when it hurts badly enough, you’ll say bye-bye. The Bible says I’ve been well acquainted with grief. By the time you get tired of pain being a guest in your home, you may say you ain’t got to go home, but how dare you tell depression it ain’t got to go home? Let it live; you gotta get out of here. I’m saved when I’m in church; you gotta get out of here.

Genesis 35… no, you know what, 37, my apologies. Genesis chapter 37, verse 5. The Bible says, «And Joseph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brothers.» Big mistake. He thought that because they were closer to him, they were on a need-to-know basis. Sometimes people who are close to you don’t need to know. And they hated him the more. Haters don’t hate you; they hate what they think you are, and anytime you have enough courage to become what they think you are, then you get more haters. But you gotta be well acquainted with that; you gotta be fine with that. This is just the next stage of your life. You used to be popular, and now you’re gonna be famous, and that’s the difference.

You used to come to the family reunion, and everybody was like, «Oh look who’s here,» and now you come in, looking down your nose. She thinks she’s better, but don’t she know you think I’m better than you? Because if I thought I was better than you, I wouldn’t be here. I did not run this hard to stay in place; I went through all of that so I could change. You know people say, «You changed,» and you’re right; I am. I didn’t go through all I went through to stay the same. I’m changing! Somebody say, «I’m changing!»

Whenever you are in an environment that challenges your growth, you are in danger because the environment wants you to stay the same, which is why I’m going to preach on this subject. I need you to help me preach; tell your neighbor, «It’s a trap!» You may be seated in the presence of the Lord; it’s a trap, it’s a trap, it’s a trap. Write this down, and I’m gonna teach this to you today; is that alright? Write this down: The moment you decide to walk away from ordinary… and I’m gonna repeat this several times, so don’t panic. The moment you decide to walk away from ordinary, the less familiar you become with yourself.

The moment you decide to walk away from ordinary, the less familiar you are with yourself. You need me to say it again? Okay, last time: The moment you decide to walk away from ordinary, the less familiar you are with yourself. In other words, if you feel that you’ve walked away from ordinary or you’re going to the next level, haven’t you started to question yourself and be unsure? If you’re honest, you might be kind of unsure about some of the moves you’re making. Nobody will ever know it, but you’ve been questioning and doubting yourself.

But we 've all become good at wearing a persona, so we step out like we are bold, but after we finish, we retreat to insecurity. There are times I stand on this stage, and I go home thinking, " Lord, that was the worst sermon I’ve ever preached,» and then someone texts me and says, «You changed my life.» I have this constant battle between what I think is good and what’s acceptable. Our life trains us that good always gives us a certain response, but the higher you go, don’t you ever forget this; the higher you go, the more diversified responses can be.

Did you hear what I said? Alright, for instance, if you give a two-year-old some candy, they will all respond the same way. I was watching Nick’s son the other day when they gave him some donuts. This boy bit into the donut, and it was his first time having that much sugar. Let me tell you, this is the god 's honest truth. That boy kept moving his mouth every time he saw a donut. This happened just in the back last week. He bit that donut, then they took him over to where the donuts were, and this is what he did.

All kids have the same reaction to candy and sweets, but how many adults don’t care too much for sweets? See, how many of you are like me? I start thinking about my dessert before I eat my food. My wife makes the food, and I say, «So what are we having for dessert?» I eat dessert after every meal. I don’t care if it’s just one Skittle; I will eat one Skittle just to have something. This is the god’s honest truth. I want some kind of cupcake, Lord, and I don’t like chocolate-no, I want some strawberry and some pineapples.

Anyway, the message is that if I were to ask the question, «Who wants candy in the church?» everyone’s hand would go up. If I asked the same question in the main sanctuary with the adults, some would say yes and some would say no. Why? Because the higher you go, the more diversified responses you see.