Sunday felt like one of those days’ heaven sat in on service. Pastor Kevin from Ruach Rivers came in with a word that had me leaning in like I was hearing some divine secret for the first time. It wasn’t just another sermon; it was a revelation. And just when I thought it couldn’t go any deeper, Reverend Lee from Fortress Assembly followed in the second service and it felt like the Spirit simply continued what He had started. I genuinely wondered if the two had shared notes, but no, that was all God, weaving one powerful truth through two surrendered vessels. I love it when we have guest pastors. Listen, my African mother trained me well, guests are sacred. You clean the house like State House is visiting, and you better bring out the good cups and plates. You know, the ones she keeps hidden at the back of the cabinet and only brings out when visitors arrive. Because guests never come empty-handed, they always come bearing goodies. And in church, it’s no different. Guest pastors always arrive carrying something, only this time, it’s a fresh anointing. And trust me, this Sunday? We feasted.
One thing that hit me hard was when Pastor Kevin took us to Jeremiah 1:11-12, where God asked Jeremiah, “What do you see?” He responded, “I see the branch of an almond tree.” God’s response was profound: “You have seen well, for I am ready to perform My word.” That wasn’t just a casual conversation. It was God testing Jeremiah’s alignment with His perspective. It showed that God’s readiness to fulfill His Word was tied to how well Jeremiah perceived it. That alone shook me. Because sometimes we think that just because God said it, it will automatically come to pass. But what if what we see, how we perceive what God is doing, determines how much of it we experience?
Pastor Kevin also talked about how if what you believe keeps changing, then your faith will also keep fluctuating. He challenged that phrase we like to throw around, “If God wills,” and while it sounds spiritual, it can sometimes become a soft landing for doubt. It’s not the abundance of hearing that births faith. The Israelites had the privilege of hearing from God for generations, and yet, they still rejected Jesus. That part stung. Because how can a people so exposed to God still miss Him? Reverend Lee touched on this too, reminding us how even after God parted the Red Sea, sent plagues to Pharaoh, fed them in the wilderness, the Israelites still wanted to go back. And maybe it was because of the cucumbers in Egypt, who knows? They got to be different, because I can’t imagine choosing cucumbers over deliverance. Going back to a place of oppression? No way. But that’s human nature. We often romanticize what enslaved us simply because it was familiar.
Reverend Lee said something that got me thinking. “Men forget what God has done.” And it’s true. That’s why she encouraged us to document God’s goodness. Instead of constantly journaling our trauma, maybe we should start writing testimonies. Moments. God’s fingerprints. Because that’s what anchors our faith in the dark.
There was such a heavy emphasis on the power of words in both services. Pastor Kevin reminded us how Jesus taught us to pray. He said, “Say.” Meaning, speak. We’ve somehow embraced this quiet, internalized form of prayer, but Jesus modeled a prayer that was spoken. Even Hannah, though her prayer wasn’t loud, moved her lips, there was utterance. And God responded. If you didn’t say it, then it was just a thought. That line stopped me in my tracks. Because words carry weight in the spirit. Apostle Peter also reminded us that prophecy didn’t come by the will of men, but by men who spoke as the Holy Spirit moved them. Not thought, spoke.
Reverend Lee built upon that truth, saying you can’t be silent in the day of battle. The most powerful force in spiritual warfare is your mouth. You speak over your life. Speak over your family. Speak about your situation. There’s a moment in your life right now just waiting for your voice to activate it.
Pastor Kevin drove it home when he said miracles don’t just happen, they’re worked. There’s an involvement, a partnership with heaven. Heaven doesn’t move until someone acts in faith. He said you cannot have faith built on knowledge you don’t have. Faith is a leap on the understood Word of God. The Word you don’t understand gets stolen. Just like in the parable of the sower, some seeds fell on the path, They were swept away, trampled on, or scorched before they could take root. That’s what happens when we hear but don’t understand. The enemy comes quickly for what hasn’t been planted deeply. It’s not enough to just listen, we must grasp it, let it sink, let it grow.
Not only has the Kingdom come, but we have come into it. Pastor Kevin took us into Hebrews 12:13 24, a powerful reminder that we’ve not come to a mountain that burns with fear and trembling like in Moses’ time, but to Mount Zion, the city of the living God. We are part of a kingdom that cannot be shaken. That scripture stirred something deep in me. It was a call to realize the weight and beauty of what we’ve been brought into. Not just a religion, but a divine inheritance. Our relationship with God is not transactional, it’s sacred, eternal. And that should shape how we live and believe
Another thing that stuck with me was when Pastor Kevin warned us about mistaking service for relationship. That hit a nerve. Because sometimes we pour ourselves out in serving, thinking that makes up for an empty prayer life. But anyone can serve God, even Pharaoh did. It was his hard-heartedness that God used for His glory. Service doesn’t mean intimacy. Proximity to a man or woman of God doesn’t equal access to God. The only access is through rebirth. Jesus said Unless a man is born again, he cannot enter the Kingdom. Not by favor, not by giving, not by connections, only through rebirth. And the blood? It’s not something we just plead over things as a chant. It works when we understand what the shedding of the blood did for us.
Reverend Lee reminded us that our entire belief system is built on the truth that our God is alive. She shared from Hebrews 11:17-19, the moment Abraham offered Isaac by faith, believing that God could raise him from the dead. That’s the kind of faith that doesn’t rely on experience, but on pure revelation. Abraham had no resurrection reference, yet he believed. I sat there thinking, what if I believed like that? What if I trusted God with that kind of surrender?
And that’s what this Sunday was full of: faith that moves heaven. Reverend Lee gave the example of the fishermen. How one word from Jesus turned their empty nets into an overflow. That’s what divine interruption looks like. And it could very well be our story. A net-breaking blessing that comes when we choose to believe.
Pastor Kevin and Reverend Lee didn’t just preach. They echoed. They echoed the heartbeat of God for us to believe again. To speak again. To stop playing it safe with comfortable losses and start expecting divine wins. Because, as Pastor Elizabeth said last Sunday, everything God does cannot be defeated. That was a reminder. A wake-up call. Because if the same Spirit that raised Jesus lives in us, as Romans 8:11 says, then what exactly are we doing settling for defeat?
That’s not our portion. When you start something, it should work. And by the grace of God, it will.