“Working Remotely” – Sarah Jakes Roberts – The Potters House One Activate LA

Worship Songs

• Here For You- Travis Greene – YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMxO-ForFS8
• Rest On Us – by TRIBL Music – YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BThG8egfPNA  

Pastor Torue’s Introduction During Worship

• God causes all things to work together for good
• He makes certain his plans unfold for us
• We miss seeing you all and look forward to seeing your faces again
• We love you and look forward to seeing you all again
• We are seeing generosity in this time that’s unprecedented
• As a church, we determined to double down on our ministry and we picked up four new organizations to be more strategic with outfits that are doing things to respond to those that are most vulnerable during this pandemic
• We won’t stop being good/generous because of what’s happening in our world
• We are responding to physical needs as well, not just our spiritual needs
• Thank you for partnering with us with these endeavors
• If you take care of God’s business, he’ll take care of yours; God foresaw pandemics in the midst of his mandates on tithing
• Thank you God for the opportunity to invest and partner to save physical lives, we love you, and thank you God

Pastor Sarah’s Prayer Excerpts During Worship

• Father, as you are taking our seed, there are some of us that have a breakthrough money can’t even buy
• See those needs; you will never leave us or forsake us
• Allow us to feel your love, consistency and protection like never before
• Open our hearts to receive the prayers from our prayer team and a breakthrough like never before

Additional Worship Song

• Goodness of God – Bethel Music – YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvSuGyJQ6oM

Sermon: “Working Remotely”

• The goodness of God will run into whatever your situation is, remind you that you are loved, seen, provided for, and protected – it doesn’t care about a pandemic
• Even in the midst of a storm, our God has a strategy

Scripture:

John 9:35-39 New King James Version (NKJV)

35 Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when He had found him, He said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of [a]God?” 36 He answered and said, “Who is He, Lord, that I may believe in Him?” 37 And Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him and it is He who is talking with you.” 38 Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” And he worshiped Him. 39 And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”

• Father this is our moment to see what you see
• Remove distractions and worries God so that we can hear what you have for us

We can be universally grateful for the internet – get information about the virus, stay connected, and allow the gospel to still spread.

In fact, we have been able to continue building in spite of restrictions instead of regulations, i.e. working remotely.

The internet didn’t start the notion of working remotely.  – Instead, Jeremiah 1:5 New King James Version (NKJV)

5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified[a] you; I [b]ordained you a prophet to the nations.”

Before God formed Jeremiah, he knew him. He ordained and sanctified him before he was born. This happened in a realm that we could not see that was going to affect this new dimension. He got an assignment before he was born.

We are on assignment; we are working remotely. We started in the kingdom, in the mind of God.

We’re not just in that marriage, that job, raising our child – we’re working remotely.

We’re not of this world, we’re working remotely. Where I’m from, we don’t believe in fear, there is no strength that anxiety has over my life.

My assignment is to get reconnected with where I’m from so that I don’t forget the culture of my working environment.

The culture of the home can begin to invade your work ethic. It’s the same thing when the culture of this world invades our kingdom assigned work ethic.

As you’re listening, God is drawing a line in the sand. We’re allowing the culture of the work environment to forget how we do things where we’re from.

Where we’re from, we operate differently, think differently, sleep differently, we have authority. That culture needs to be released in this world.

We have to recognize that we are here on assignment, working remotely. That’s why I cannot be silenced.

You are a mouth piece for God. Release love, hope, faith, or it may not be released at all. What if the cure and breakthrough is in your mouth. What are you saying with your mouth? You are the prophet called to speak at this time. There’s something in your mouth that needs to come out of your mouth. Yes, you are a prayer warrior. You don’t know who you are in the kingdom until you’re backed against the wall. You’re a prophet, you are not insecure, you do not battle with anxiety, you are a prophet when the room is full, or when the room was empty. You were a prophet before you became or did anything. You are a mouthpiece for God. He’s looking to release his word and combat the negativity in this world. Only my prophets can release it. Only those creating an environment where God can sit in the room and can begin to raise you to release God’s sound. Maybe it took a pandemic, or having to go though hell to decide not to be silent.

I am a prophet. What are you prophesying in this season? It is just beginning, the world is getting ready for heaven. God is calling us higher. Are you ready to carry this weight and stand up to this thing? Are you ready to square up and prophesy in the middle of the storm? I am a prophet who recognizes that I am not powerful because of what I’ve done, or what I’ve seen, but because I was ordained as a prophet before I came into this world.

As you find ways to bring unity, it is a God idea, not just a good idea. Helping people navigate through anxiety and fear, that is God. Add heavens resources so that you won’t be unsure, allow your words to shift things in the atmosphere. You are a prophet. More people are going to know God than ever before. We’re coming out on the other side of this.

Our Role: our best bet is to work the way Jesus worked. Jesus was God wrapped in flesh. Jesus was God working remotely. God said his spirit needed to invade the Earth. When God’s spirit invades the Earth, it pushes back fear, pushes back demonic oppression, there are some things that cannot live any longer, it can take what happened to you and get it out of your spirit. Get filled with the spirit. You may need rehab or to break up, but first allow God’s spirit to fill you and invade the Earth. Work remotely for the king of kings, the Lord of Lords.

God’s spirit is needed in the hospital, the grocery store, it has to invade the Earth. Whenever you see fear, you should have an answer because you carry the spirit of God.

Jesus recognizes that there’s work to do in the Earth. He gathers disciples because he recognizes that he needs to be a recruiter too. We need to remind others that they need to work remotely. They will only do it if they see someone else functioning in their purpose.

Jesus is about to recruit an unsuspecting blind man. The disciples point out to Jesus, asking what sin did the man’s parents do that led to his blindness.

God is on assignment, so he uses this unsuspecting man. Jesus didn’t perform the miracle to recruit him into the kingdom. He had something more important to prove – that I have performed this miracle so that you see that you are still set apart. This man was born blind. When you’re born with any kind of dysfunction, seen or unseen, you always feel different. This miracle is the one thing that is keeping him from being like everyone else.  We sometimes think the miracles will level playing fields and help us to be like others. Jesus gave the man the miracle and the man still doesn’t fit in.

What if we’re wondering why we still feel different/unfulfilled, after we get the miracle? What happens when we still feel empty? The miracle was never to make the man like everyone else, it was to show that he can bless you and you will still be set apart. He is giving you the desires of your heart, the miracle wasn’t supposed to make you more like them, but more like God. It’s supposed to make you curious, not fit in. The miracle is not for validation or blending in, or to be right. It’s to draw you closer to God.

The miracle may have not ever been about you. It may be for us to become desperate for the man behind the miracle. So that we can be connected to the ultimate source – to know more about the man behind the miracle.

You’re calling it a miracle, but you wont have breakthrough until you become curious about the man behind the miracle. The blind man went on trial, instead of living his best life. You won’t know how to handle the miracle unless you stay connected to the man behind the miracle. You will never have to worry about going back to who you were, and how you used to live if you stay connected to Jesus. He overcame everything standing behind your way. Don’t fall so in love with the miracle that you miss the man behind the miracle. Jesus wants us to know who he is and recognize that he’s recruiting people to work remotely, and stay connected to their boss despite the bonuses and raises.

You are here to set hell on notice.

We’re not on vacation; we’re still working. The kind of work we do cannot be banned, or stopped, it will invade the Earth and every illness.

If you knew who my boss was, you wouldn’t talk to me the way you do. Fear and anxiety – they don’t know who your boss is. You have a boss and you’re working remotely. Everything happening in the Earth is for those called the sons of God. The enemy is not after your finances, or relationships – he’s trying to make you quit your job. To miss the mark – the mark of your job assignment and what God has called you to be. If you allow the chaos, disappointment, and disaster of this world to keep you from working and staying connected to God, then you lose. This is not the season to be distracted and miss the mark. We have to go harder than ever before. We have to do it if nobody comes or sees it. God sent you because you need to be alive, in this day, in this hour – are you doing the work of your father? Have you removed anything and everything that keeps you from doing that work?

The man doesn’t even realize he’s talking to Jesus the Messiah because he’s so wrapped up in his miracle. The key to seeing God when he’s right in front of you is to acknowledge what’s he’s already done.

Jesus triggers something in his mind to know that Jesus has been here all along. Worldly distractions can cause us to miss the fact that God has already done a miracle in the midst of it all.

God has been here all along, “I will never leave you, nor forsake you”.

Jesus has this encounter with the blind man, he has this back and forth with the blind man and says, do you believe in the son of God? He doesn’t realize he was having an encounter with God. He then says, Lord I believe and begins to worship. When God removes the blindness from his spirit, not just his physical blindness, then he was able to worship him. There are so many things that keep us from seeing spiritually. We can become so blind spiritually that we become desensitized to the presence. Your belief has to have an action attached to it – there has to be worship every time it’s brought back to your remembrance what you believe.

Lord I’ve been persuaded that you’ve been there all along. I am persuaded that you are using everything the enemy meant for evil and using it for my good. You waited for me; you were patient. Jesus didn’t get frustrated with the blind man while he waited for the blind man to have the epiphany that it had been him all along. He didn’t just recruit disciples, but for people who haven’t seen yet.

Maybe this moment is for you to realize that your blessings, e.g. that job you were unqualified for, that joy in the midst of burying your parents – was Jesus. You realized that the only thing needed is God, not the arms of others distracting you.

I believe like never before that the kingdom has an opportunity to recruit. We have to recruit with personal evidence. Evidence that shows that the opportunity was given not because you did everything right, but because God was working in the background unseen.

Prayer: that our eyes would be opened spiritually. Acknowledge that God has opened our eyes when we wake up. That the strength from our healthcare workers is the strength of God. God can move in and out of brokenness and shattered pieces. He doesn’t have to wait for lives to be perfect, just for us to be willing to believe.

John 9:39 New King James Version (NKJV) – 39 And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may be made blind.”

God is looking for people who are blind, so that he can show them how to see. Those who think they see, and think they know everything, are blind. As believers, we should know that there are parts of our world and destiny that we are blind to. Know that what we don’t see will ultimately allow us to become closer and closer to Jesus. You thought the relationship, the job, the degree would do it, but you still feel cast out. You’ve been feeling like you’re not like any group. God is glad that you asked, now he can open your eyes.

Prayer: that we will not come out of this season and still be blind, but with our eyes open to what God has been saying and doing all along. That we need to spend more time with the kids, that our priorities are wrong. God wants us to open our eyes spiritually.

Prayer Exercise: close your eyes for a minute. Spirit of God, we are closing our physical eyes and giving you permission to open our spiritual eyes. Feel the spirit of God opening your spirit. What does God want to show you that you cannot see because you’ve been looking for it physically? We are giving you permission to open our spiritual eyes Lord. We’re not here for a vacation, to enjoy life, and be fulfilled only, but to not live in this world selfishly but to wake up hungry to do your work, like Jesus – determined to do the work like our Father. Awaken our hearts to know what that mission is. Let us wake up hungry to do it and recognize that there may come a day that we can’t do it. We may not be here forever – what do you want me to do in this season for which I am here for? Jesus knew there was something else waiting for him outside of the moment, but he was so in tune with what needed to be done in the moment, that he wasn’t looking to escape. He was looking to fulfill the word that needed to be manifested in that moment. The same is true for you. God has work for us to do in this moment that only we can do.

Note: the live feed cut abruptly at this point…

Full video link to rebroadcast: https://youtu.be/JRvXPqHFvoY