Keion Henderson - Shake It Off

I have three words for you: shake it off! That 's what I’m talking about today. Slap three people and say, «Shake it off! Shake it off!» You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. Don 't shake the Master’s zone. Ladies and gentlemen, this is Paul’s first time in Corinth. The Bible says, «Look at verse one,» and you 've got to see this. Every time you read the scripture, he says, «After these things.» Whenever you see " after these things» in the Bible, you have a responsibility to find out what these things are. If you start with " after these things,» then you’re getting half of the story. After these things-after what? Well, in chapter 17, he’s in Thessalonica and Athens preaching in a wholesome city- the suburbs where people drink lattes for breakfast. In the suburbs, they 've got tea, English muffins, crumpets, and tea with milk in it. You know, everybody’s walking their dogs, and everyone waves at you when you pass by. Have you ever been in one of those neighborhoods where everyone is so kind, and everyone jogs in the morning, even though it’s 12 degrees, still wearing shorts? It 's a beautiful place. He 's in Athens, and the Bible says, «After these things,» Paul goes to Corinth. It’s important that you know Corinth and Athens are nothing alike. Right now, Athens is this good, wholesome suburban city where everybody pays their taxes, none of the lawns are overgrown, and the homeowners association makes sure all the grass is cut. You know this kind of place-it’s Athens. But Corinth ain’t Athens. The Bible says that Corinth was a place of debauchery. Some writers suggest that Sodom and Gomorrah were great places compared to Corinth, that when you got to Corinth, they had male and female prostitutes working at the church. The word " orgy» comes from Corinth. This is the kind of church these people went to; this was a place of licentious behavior. They had no moral compass or morality-they just did whatever they wanted to do-so much so that they didn’t listen to Paul the first time. He had to come back and write them two letters. That 's why you’ve got 1 Corinthians and then 2 Corinthians. These are two of his longest letters. You 'll see Galatians; when he got to the church at Galatia, he was done in six chapters. When he got to the church at Ephesus, he was done in a few chapters. But when he got to the Corinthian church, he had to write 15, 16, or even 17 chapters, and he had to do it twice because many of them were just in the house trying to get it right. Don 't judge Corinth because of that. If the church were alive today, some of us would be good members! Amen! Why are you sitting up there looking down? I know you’re acting like it! How dare them? How dare you? Paul goes to Corinth, and the reason I’m talking about this is that the church sometimes continues to want to find these great neighborhoods to build our churches in. We want to find these suburban areas where people have great financial resources, and ninety percent of the people in the area are graduating from high school, and sixty percent from college, and crime is low-that’s where we want to plant our church. But sometimes, God sends the church to the highways, byways, and hedges. How many of you know that people who don’t have silver spoons still need a gold God? He goes into the city, witnesses, and goes by himself. Normally, when you follow Paul, he has a companion; sometimes you see Barnabas with him, sometimes Silas. That was who was with him when he was in prison. Every time Paul went, John Mark was with him, Luke was with him, but when he got to Corinth, the Bible says he had to go by himself. I don’t know who I’m talking to, but sometimes you’ve got to go by yourself. Sometimes you have to go by yourself. I don’t know about you, but I’m not the person who is best alone; I like company. I like to talk to people; I like to hear what people are thinking. But let me tell you: when God is building something in your life, sometimes company gets in the way. If you take inventory of your life right now, you’ve lost more friends in this season than you’ve ever lost in your life. If you take inventory of your life right now, your phone is not ringing as much as it used to. Why? Because God is sending you to Corinth. God is sending you to that place where you have to go by yourself, and I’m talking to some ladies right now. You love to have a companion; now God says date yourself. This is the season where you’re going to have to go by yourself. Open the door for yourself, clean up for yourself, pay your own bills, cook for yourself. I know you want somebody around, but God, this is your season not to be selfish, but to be with yourself. Paul is by himself. Slap somebody and say, «I’m by myself in this season.» But what I want you to know is that even though he was by himself, here was the key: he stayed faithful. I don’t have much respect for a call that needs company to activate.