Keion Henderson - Reviving the Strategy

I want to talk about reviving the strategy. Somebody said God is about to revive the strategy. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. Are you all ready for a word? At the time that Jesus was in, and according to our text in Israel, the Roman government was the presiding power in a land they did not own. Does that make sense? The Romans invaded Israel under the power of Caesar, usurped the authority, and now the descendants of the land were subject to a foreign power. Let me say it this way: it would be like me coming into your house and saying, «Get me something to eat,» or me going into your room and lying down on your bed. Do you see how bad that sounds? This is what is happening in the text-people taking over things that they don’t own. Just because they got it doesn’t mean it’s theirs. Are you with me so far? The Roman government comes in and takes over during the time of Jesus, and they’re in this foreign land. Typically, just like the young man said over there, when somebody comes in and tries to take over something that you own and that you haven’t given them the rights to, what is your natural reaction? It depends on what kind of person you are. If you’re diplomatic, you’ll probably say, «Let 's talk this thing out.» If you are not diplomatic in your neighborhood, you will be like, «When I count to three, it’s going to be me and you-and mostly me.» There is confrontation between the people of Israel and the Roman government because they are in a place where they should not be. In typical fashion, and you can see this on all of the news outlets, you can see this happening in the world today. Typically, if the government starts a fight with the people, the government tends to win-almost always. There are several instances where, when people come together, we can usurp any negative, vitriolic system that has come to vex certain of God’s people. You can go back to the days of Nelson Mandela in South Africa during the moments of apartheid. God raised up a leader, but he didn’t do it without 30 years of imprisonment. Somebody say, «It takes time.» It took time for Martin Luther King to weave his way through segregationism and counters, through buses, and all the things he had to deal with. But people came together because when we unite, there is no enemy that can keep a united people from achieving their dreams, aspirations, and visions. Do I have anyone with me today? So if you keep that in your mind and think about it, Matthew 24 says that in the last days we would see and hear — come on, Bible readers-"wars and rumors of wars .» Well, it seems like we’re there. Everywhere you look on the news, there’s a war and a rumor of war. I heard somebody say yesterday that as a result of the conflict in the Middle East, we might very well be on our way to World War III. So we’re right here in these times. And here’s the thing that Matthew said that I hope to get into your spirit today. I’m going to try to plant these ideas in your spirit so they can manifest in your life. Matthew says there are going to be wars and rumors of wars, but here’s what he says to the church: my advice to you is to see that you are not alarmed because these things must happen. I just want to talk to you about that because I know you don’t always like pain, but these things must happen. I know you don’t always like to argue with someone you’ve been in relationship with all your life, but these things must happen. I know you thought you would be friends forever and it didn’t work out, or you thought that relationship would last for the rest of your life. I know you had expectations, but these things must happen. I know you thought you were going to retire from that job and receive a gold watch, but let me tell you: they don’t give watches anymore. You lost that job, and here you are at 50 years old trying to figure out what the next stage of your life is going to be like. You thought by 55, your life would be set, and you would be 5 to 7 years away from retirement. But here you are, raising somebody else’s kids, trying to figure out how to start over. I’m here to tell you these things must happen. You didn’t think that at 57, you would be wiping someone 's nose; you thought you were done with that. You didn’t think that at 50 years old, you would still be looking on the internet, Googling different jobs. You didn’t think your 401k would become a 1k. You had no idea that after 20 years of marriage, you would be dating again. You thought that was your forever boo. You had no idea that the child you raised …