Touré Roberts - Alignment: Ferociously Focused

All right, so I’m just going to dive in. This is still the alignment series. The title of this message, or the thrust of this message, is to be ferociously focused. That’s what you and I have to be in this season; we have to be ferociously focused. Because I’ll be honest with you, we are the most woke generation. If you don’t understand what that means, we are the most conscious generation. Okay, we’re the most woke generation, but the reality is we’re also the most distracted generation. The same thing that wakes us is the same thing that distracts us. So, we’re woke and distracted, which means that we’re woke and then rocked back to sleep. Can we talk? Can we have a real conversation today? We wake up, and then we get distracted from what we were awakened to. We have to understand the times we’re in and how to navigate so that we are not lulled to sleep by what we were awakened to. In this season, we’re going to have to be ferociously focused. When God speaks to you, you’re going to have to hold on to it because everything and its mother will come at you to try to rob you of the focus and the course that the Lord has placed you on. Are you tracking with me? I want to talk about the climate in our world, specifically the climate of our country. Right now, there is a spirit of contention over America. There’s a spirit of division, contention, and polarization in America. To be honest with you, if I were you, I would be more concerned about the polarization of America than I would be about who’s in office. Oh, you’re not ready? That’s okay; I’m going to get you ready. To be honest with you, I want to say this properly. I want to be in alignment as I say it, right on the line and not over it. This whole situation has been a big distraction. It has been a consuming distraction that has affected not only our country but our world so much so that we have become different people. What you need to know about yourself is that you are a Spirit-filled believer in God Almighty, a believer in the Kingdom of Heaven, a believer in the fact that if you walk with God, if you trust in God, if you serve God, then everything is going to be all right. I hear Kendrick Lamar up in this place right now; you know what? I’m messed up, you’re messed up, Trump’s messed up, Clinton’s messed up, but if God is for us, baby, we’re going to say it again, baby. Kendrick was prophesying, and we have been distracted. We have forgotten who we are: woke and then lulled back to sleep, full of faith and then full of anxiety, and nothing has changed. I’m concerned that we are forgetting who we are, what we have, who’s with us, and what’s coming. We cannot be shaken from that. Let’s talk about the atmosphere. There’s a spirit of contention, there’s a spirit of strife, and there’s a spirit of division in the atmosphere right now. The Bible says that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. So, I would be more worried about why we can’t get along. I just want to talk to you. I’m going to give you some Bible in a second. Religious people like, «Prove it! Prove it!» I’m going to give you some Bible in a second. It’s the division in our country that’s terrible. Now, I believe that certain things have taken place to bring things to the surface. Sometimes things have to get ugly in order to get better. There’s a powerful proverb that says that where there are no bulls, the stable is clean. Bulls poop and do all that kind of stuff, right? If you don’t have any bulls, everything’s clean. It says, but by the strength of the bull, there’s increase. In other words, sometimes things have to get messy in order to become fruitful. Are you tracking with what I’m saying? I’m concerned about the spirit of division in our country because the spirit of division, like any spirit, aims to perpetuate itself. Okay, we’re going to grow today. Every spirit desires to multiply itself. Hello, somebody! We have had a very cantankerous presidential campaign, a very volatile and vociferous campaign—like the worst I’ve ever seen. It’s been downright nasty; literally, it has been. It’s hard for that to just go away; it’s in the air. People have been hurt, offended, and wounded, and that’s in the atmosphere of our country. Our country needs healing, and the reason why I’m sharing this with you is that I want you to understand the air that all of us are breathing right now. We’re breathing divisive air unbeknownst to us, and I’m concerned. A house divided against itself cannot stand, and you are a house. So, if there is division in you, then we’re going to be in trouble. I want to draw your attention to Hebrews chapter 12 real quick. I want to show you something that I think speaks directly to where we are, and I think it really commands us as to what we need to do. I want to reiterate a point that I made: what ought to concern us more than anything is how it relates to…