John K. Jenkins Sr - Player-Haters and Purpose (01/24/2026)
The Purpose Series: Part Two
I want to pick up—this is a series I started two weeks ago. This today is part two on the Purpose Series. Somebody say, «The Purpose Series.»
And so, last two weeks ago, we started this series talking about purpose. Everybody has a purpose. That’s right. You have a purpose. God has an assignment for your life. You have a purpose for why God created you.
You’re not just an accident, a coincidence. You have been given and called to a purpose. That was the first thing I shared with you: that you’re called. God has called you to His purposes—not your purpose, but His purpose.
God has destined you to accomplish and do something with your life. You’re not an accident. You’re not a coincidence. God called you to fulfill an assignment. And ultimately, God’s called you to give Him the glory. Your life is to give God glory.
We also talked about the fact that God predestined you to His purpose. He predestined—before the foundations of the world—God already assigned your purpose before the world was created.
So you know what that means? That means God knew you were going to be a jacked-up joker. Amen, amen. He knew that you were going to miss the mark and mess up and fail in so many areas.
And the thing that I celebrate is: even though God knew you would mess up, He decided to choose and use you anyway. That’s worthy of a shout. Somebody ought to have shouted and ran around the building—that God chose you regardless of your failures.
That devil would try to make you think that God cannot possibly use you because of your failures. But the truth of the matter is: in spite of your failures, God can still use you. Thank all five of y’all for that rousing affirmation.
That’s such an important piece—an important thing to understand.
But today I want to talk about how you can know what your purpose is. How do you identify what are the signals, what are the signs of what your purpose might be—what your purpose is.
I want to teach you that today so you can know beyond a shadow of a doubt what it is and why it is that God has called you—and that you’ll be able to identify what it is.
And we’re going to learn about this through the story of a fellow named Nehemiah. So if you have your Bibles, I want you to go to Nehemiah chapter 1. Nehemiah chapter 1.
And we’re going to start off just talking about that Nehemiah. Let me give you some background information. Nehemiah is living in a foreign country, working for a king. His job for the king—he was the king’s cupbearer.
What’s the cupbearer? I’m glad you asked. The cupbearer is the guy that drinks from the king’s cup before the king—just in case it’s been poisoned, he would die first. I’m not applying for that job.
But that’s the job that he had. He was the king’s cupbearer. And there he is in a foreign country—and he gets word and hears that his hometown back home is in disarray. The walls have been destroyed—torn down.
Matter of fact, they’ve been torn down for a long time—and they have rebuilt the temple, and people want to go back to worship in the temple—but they don’t go back because they are afraid to go back—because there’s no wall to protect the city.
Nobody wants to go back to the city when there is no protection. But Nehemiah gets word about this and decides to go back home—go back to Jerusalem. That’s where he was from—Jerusalem. Somebody say, «Jerusalem.» Say, «Jerusalem.»
To go back to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls. And in fact, he does. It is his assignment for life to go back and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem—and he goes back, rebuilds the walls.
And here’s the deal: it is such an amazing assignment that God’s given to him that he does a remarkable task and rebuilds the walls in 52 days.
Anytime God gives you an assignment and God is with you, He will allow you to accomplish things in record time—in a record way beyond what anybody else expected or anticipated.
So how did Nehemiah know that that was his call? Here—this is a man in another country, several countries over from where his home was—and he’s in another place, another city, in another community—and yet he feels a call to go back to Jerusalem.
How did he know it? I’m glad you asked the question. Open it to Nehemiah chapter 1—and I’m going to give you—there’s five points I have today: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. I’m going to get—I will get through all five. It might be 3:00 before I get done, but I will get through all five. Yeah, I know y’all saying that, but y’all don’t mean that.
Chapter one—and I want to read verses three and four. It’s going to give us this first—the first way he knew.
«And they said to me, the survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.»
«And so it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept and mourned for many days. I was fasting and praying before the God of Heaven.»
Do y’all see that right there? Here’s the first way—and the first reason—the way, first way that Nehemiah knew that he had a call to something is he had a passion for something. A burden might be another word you might want to use.
Whatever it is that God has for you to do, He will give you a passion for it—a burden. And right here, Nehemiah says when they told me about what was going on—he said that the wall was broken down and the gates are burned with fire—the Scripture says in verse four: he says, «I sat down and wept and mourned for many days.» He had a burden.
Now, the problem we have in our country today—I’m so glad I’m at this 11:30 service because I can take my time and say everything I need to say—we have a community of people that only care about themselves. They don’t have no burden about anything but taking care of themselves.
If your burden is only about you, you are out of touch with the power and presence of God. Let me make clear one thing: when you have the heart of God and the spirit of God and the anointing of God and the call of God, He will give you a burden about something outside of yourself.
Somebody say, «Outside of yourself.» Outside of you getting a car. Outside of your clothes. Outside of something about yourself. He gives you a burden that is somehow interested in caring about somebody other than you.
He had a passion and a burden. Somebody say, «A passion and a burden.» Passion.
Now, how did I know my call? I knew my call as a pastor, as a minister, as a preacher of the Gospel. I knew it because as I was growing up in church, I’d be in church listening to the pastor preach—while my friends were cracking jokes and playing with each other and not listening to the preacher—but yet I heard what the pastor was saying, and I felt a burden that I could take what the pastor was saying and communicate it differently—in a way that my friends would understand.
One, two, three, four, five—y’all don’t have to shout. It’s okay. I just—I know—that was my call. That’s how I knew.
And so I would take the message and go and meet with my friends and go and communicate with my friends—and we sing gospel songs on the corner of the streets—the street we would hang out in the street—and I would tell them what the pastor’s message was about. That’s how I knew my call. It was a burden for me—for them to hear the message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
God put that burden in me—and I was a teenager, 15 years of age. Don’t tell me I’m too young to preach. Don’t tell somebody they’re too young to share the gospel. Nobody’s too young to share the gospel. I had a passion. I had a passion and a burden.
Look at verse—look at chapter 2:17: «Then I said to them, 'You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach.'»
He said, «Let’s do this. Let me do this. Let’s go on.» He had a burden and a passion. «Let us go and build.» Let’s do something about it.
God’s purpose for your life will give you a passion to do something about the thing that’s bothering you. God’s call upon your life will give you a burden to do something about what’s bothering you.
God’s passion and burden—am I speaking in a foreign language? Y’all understand? I just want to make sure I’m clear.
That if you don’t have a burden about anything, you might be out of touch with God—because you all are called to something. Everybody here is called. Everybody who’s accepted Jesus is called to something.
You’re not called to sit in the same seat and look at the same back of the same neck every week that you’ve been looking at every week. That’s not what you’ve been called to do.
You’ve been called to do something that advances God’s agenda—that advances His kingdom—that gives Him the glory and that gives Him the honor. You are called to do something.
You should have a passion and a burden about something that gives you the desire to want to make a change—in your circumstance, in your life, in your community, with your family, with your kids, with your friends, with your neighbor.
Somebody ought to—you ought to have something that burdens you—and it won’t go away. By the fact—as a matter of fact, when you have a passion about something and a burden about something, it doesn’t go away. It might subside for a little while, but it will always come back to you—talk to you.
When I was 15 years old, I felt this passion. I went to the pastor at the time—right here, First Baptist Church of Glenarden—the prior pastor. I said, «I feel I’m called to the ministry.»
He said, «You’re a little bit young, but keep praying about it.» And I kept praying about it—and I went back to him again, and I said, «I feel that this is what God’s call is on my life.» 15—maybe I was 14—whatever. I was a teenager. I don’t know how old I was. I was a teenager.
And I told him that I felt this is what God wanted me to do—and then I went back to him after praying—and I went back to him and I said, «Pastor, I feel that this is what God wants me to do.» And he said, «We will work something out for you to be acknowledged and licensed next year.»
15-year-old John Jenkins told the pastor, «I can’t wait till next year.» Wow, y’all not hearing what I’m saying to you today. The audacity of a 15-year-old kid to tell the senior pastor at the church, «I can’t wait till next year.»
But that was the fact—that I had such a burden in my heart, I couldn’t wait. So December 23rd, 1973, he licensed me to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ—and this December 23rd, 2023, I will celebrate 50 years of being in the ministry.
50 years of telling people about Jesus. 50 years of preaching the gospel. 50 years of getting souls saved. 50 years of pulling people out of the drudgery of sin and the depths of life. 50 years of getting people in the right path with God. 50 years.
What burdens you? What is it that is burdening? What are you passionate about? And by the way—not only what are you passionate about—what are you doing about it? Go ahead and ask your neighbor: say, «What are you doing about it?» Go ahead—ask the person sitting next to you: «What are you doing about your passion?»
That’s the first thing: you have a passion. That’s how you know what do you have a passion and a burden about.
Sign 2: Possibilities and Opportunities
Here’s number two. Here’s number two. Look—can I read verses 1-6 of chapter 2? Go to chapter 2, Nehemiah—and let me—can I read these first six verses? It’s a little lengthy, but let me read verses 1-6 of chapter 2. Y’all with me? Yes, sir.
«And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was before him, that I took the wine and gave it to the king. Now I had never been sad in his presence before.
Therefore the king said to me, 'Why is your face sad, since you are not sick? This is nothing but sorrow of heart.' So I became dreadfully afraid, and said to the king, 'May the king live forever! Why should my face not be sad when the city, the place of my fathers' tombs, lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire? '
Then the king said to me, 'What do you request? ' So I prayed to the God of Heaven. And I said to the king, 'If it pleases the king, and if your servant has found favor in your sight, I ask that you send me to Judah, to the city of my fathers' tombs, that I may rebuild it.'
Then the king said to me (the queen also sitting beside him), 'How long will your journey be? And when will you return? ' So it pleased the king to send me, and I set him a time.»
Y’all see that? The second thing for you to know what your call is—that God gives you possibilities. Say that: possibilities. Maybe a better word might be opportunities. God opens up doors of opportunity for you—the possibility.
Nehemiah—the king gave him the opportunity, the possibility to be able to go back and rebuild the thing.
If you want to know what God’s job and assignment and purpose for you is, He will open up a door of opportunity. Now I need to—I need to stick this in here. I didn’t say this earlier today, but I feel the Lord telling me to say it today.
It’s critical that you are prepared so that when the opportunity comes, you have prepared yourself. Now I think this is a very important thing because a lot of people come and tell me that they’ve been called to the ministry—and the first thing I ask them is: what doors of opportunity has God opened up for you?
And here’s what’s clear—here’s what’s clear to me: if God has called you to do something, He opens up doors of opportunity for you to do it.
If you say you’ve been called to the ministry but ain’t nobody asked you to preach nowhere—wow—that, Houston, we have a problem. Somebody say, «We have a problem.» We have a problem.
Yeah. There should be some doors of opportunity opening up for you—because here’s what the Scripture says—here’s what Proverbs says: a man’s gift makes room for him.
If you need to get a license in order for you to have the opportunity—that’s not what the Bible says. It says the gift that God puts inside of you—when God puts a gift inside of you—others will see it, and God will open up opportunities for you to do it. Amen.
Somebody say, «Amen» right there. Somebody give God a shout right there.
God opens up doors of opportunity for you to do it. Look for possibilities of God to open up the door for you—for you to do it in that place. Whatever the burden is, whatever the call, whatever the purpose is—God will open up a door of opportunity.
Sign 3: Provisions
Here’s number three. Let me read verse 6-9 of chapter 2. «Then the king said to me (the queen also sitting beside him), 'How long will your journey be? And when will you return? ' So it pleased the king to send me, and I set him a time.
Furthermore I said to the king, 'If it pleases the king, let letters be given to me for the governors of the region beyond the River, that they must permit me to pass through till I come to Judah, and a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, that he must give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel which pertains to the temple, for the city wall, and for the house that I will occupy.' And the king granted them to me according to the good hand of my God upon me.
Then I went to the governors in the region beyond the River and gave them the king’s letters. Now the king had sent captains of the army and horsemen with me.»
Y’all miss a great spot to say amen. Did y’all see all of that? Number three is: when God opens up an opportunity—when God has a purpose for you—you’ll know it by provisions. He gives provisions. Somebody say, «Provisions.» Provision.
I don’t know if y’all—not this—this thrills me. This—I’m so excited about this. I’m so thankful that God will—some of y’all today are in situations that God’s about to open up a door, and He’s about to blow—He about to blow you up. You about to be lit—is that right? Is that how you say it? Is that the latest term—lit? Is there a new word?
God—God’s about to open up a door of opportunity for you. He’s about to give provisions along with the door of opportunity.
Look at what he got. The king gave him a passport, some wood—that’s right—a car. Okay, y’all missed it. I got to show all this to y’all right here.
He said—and the king granted—he said, «Give me"—verse number eight—he said, «The keeper of the king’s forest, that he must give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel which pertains to the temple, for the city wall"—and here—that he gave some—a house—"and for the house that I will occupy.» And the king granted him.
And he gave him—look at here—look at this: now the king—verse 9—had sent captains of the army and horses. He gave him security—drivers and a vehicle.
Y’all ain’t hear what I’m saying. Maybe I’m trying to put it in today’s language. Y’all—I don’t know if y’all can—can y’all see the correlation?
Here—the king gave to Nehemiah everything he needed: gave him wood to build a house, gave him what he needed to rebuild the walls, gave him the wood to rebuild the gates, gave him security to protect him.
Y’all ain’t hear what I’m saying to you today: gave him horsemen—a car and some drivers.
Y’all ain’t hearing what I’m saying. Who is God—who am I prophesying to? Who am I preaching to? Who is God about to open up a door for you? You didn’t anticipate it, but I’m trying to get you ready—to get prepared—and anticipate that God is about to blow the thing open for you.
Somebody say, «Blow it open.» God, blow it open. Provisions—God is going to give you provisions. Everything that you need to do what it is that you need to be done—that He’s calling you to do—He will make provisions.
Y’all hear what I’m saying? I’m almost finished.
Sign 4: Player Haters
Here’s number four. I’m almost finished. Chapter 2, verse 10: «When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard of it, they were deeply disturbed that a man had come to seek the well-being of the children of Israel.»
Let me read that to you again: Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard of it. They were deeply disturbed that a man had come to seek the well-being of the children of Israel.
Here’s the—here’s how you know you’ve been—that God has—what your purpose is—is that there will be some player haters. Do y’all see the P? I got the Ps rolling up in here today.
You’re going to have somebody that’s not going to like what you’re doing—and they’re not going to like you—and they’re going to be upset: who called you to do this? What made you so qualified to be in this situation?
But you know what? When you know that God has called and anointed and gifted you, it don’t matter what player haters have to say—and they can’t stop you.
They might not like you. They might hate on you. But they cannot stop you from doing what it is that God has called you to do.
I don’t know who I’m preaching to—but all I’m trying to let you know today is: don’t let the player—if she could come on down here and drop something up on there—somebody else ought to be able to say, «I know what I’m talking about"—and she know what I’m talking about.
Somebody say: don’t let no player haters disturb you. Don’t let no player haters stop you. Don’t let the player haters make you quit. Don’t quit.
The fact that you got player haters mean that you playing the game. Don’t hate the player—hate—learn the game that the player is playing.
Somebody high-five your neighbor: say, «Don’t let no player hater stop you.» Don’t let them disturb you. Don’t let them frustrate you. Don’t let them make you quit.
Look—look at verse 19, chapter 2. I’m almost finished. Verse 19: «But when Sanballat the Horonite, Tobiah the Ammonite official, and Geshem the Arab heard of it, they laughed at us and despised us and said, 'What is this thing that you are doing? Will you rebel against the king? '»
They even made a suggestion of something that wasn’t even possibly true. They weren’t trying to rebel against the king.
And so people are going to be upset—mad—frustrated. It’s a sign that you headed in the right direction.
Somebody high-five your neighbor: say, «I must be headed in the right direction.» Tell them on the other side: «I must be doing the right thing—all the stuff they saying about me, all the lies they’re telling on me, all the stuff they’re trying to do. I must be headed in the right direction. I must be doing the right thing. I must be called of God. I must be doing the thing that God has assigned to my hands to do—because I got some player haters.» Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
That’s why I want the college students to know: don’t quit school because somebody hating on you. Don’t stop what God has called you to do. Just know it comes with the territory. Player haters come with the territory of reaching your destiny.
I’m headed in my destiny. I’m about to fulfill my purpose. I’m about to do what God called me to do—and player haters go with the territory.
I’m almost finished. One of these—I’m going to spend some time talking about player haters—how to handle player haters. Because even in this—y’all, if y’all get a chance to read this book of Nehemiah—read it. Because it’s powerful. It’s interesting. It’s anointed. It’s amazing—how even the player haters tried to distract Nehemiah, tried to get him to stop doing the work.
And they sent him letters—and they talked about people. Let me tell you something: people send me letters all the time. I stopped reading the letters if they ain’t got no name on it.
Stop paying attention to people who don’t have the courage to put their name to something.
Don’t pay attention to people that won’t put their name on their thoughts and their feelings. Don’t come to me talking about «they said.» Who saying? You better consider the source. You better consider where it came from. They ain’t willing to put their name on it—I ain’t got time to read it. I’m not going to pay no attention to it.
And it’s just a signal that I’m headed in the right direction. Somebody tell your neighbor, «I’m headed in the right direction.» Hit him on the other side: say, «I must be headed in the right direction. I must be doing the right thing. I must be obeying God. I must be achieving—the devil must be mad. The devil must be upset. He’s trying to distract me. He’s trying to get me off the track.»
Don’t the devil know that no weapon formed against me shall prosper? Does he not know that I’m not going to quit just because of what people say? I’m not going to quit. Woo. Hallelujah. Glory to God. Bless the Lord at all times. I will bless His name at all times.
I want to drill in right here for a moment. I want to stick a pin right here for a moment—because I want you to get it in your head and get it in your heart and get it in your spirit: don’t allow player haters to stop you from doing what it is God told you to do.
All right, let me close. I got one last point—then I’m finished.
Sign 5: Partners
Here’s my fifth point. What was the first one? A passion. Number two: possibilities. Number three: provisions. Number four: player haters. Number five is partners.
This is important—because while you got people hating on you, God will raise up people who will support you.
Chapter 2, verse 12: «Then I arose in the night, I and a few men with me; I told no one what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem; nor was there any animal with me, except the one on which I rode.»
I love this right here—because he says God raised up a few men who just decided to be with me. They didn’t even know what the whole assignment was.
God will raise up a few people to walk with you—to pray with you—to encourage you—to support you. God will raise up some people to be alongside you.
Look at chapter 4—slide over to chapter 4, verse 6. I want you to see this—and I’ll be finished. Verse 6 of chapter 4: «So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.»
God will raise up people who will do exactly with you what you’re doing. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
Now this is an important deal. Yeah—and I’m finished. This is—I’m finished. I’m bringing my plane in for landing. I’m pulling my boat into the dock. I’m putting my car in the garage. I’m putting the dishes in the dishwasher.
God will raise up people who will support you and walk alongside you.
Everything—this is important—everything that I’ve accomplished in my life, God has made it happen with people who—for unknown to me their reason or motive—have come to walk alongside me to help me make it happen.
Everything that I’ve accomplished in life—God raised up people who thought enough of me or the God that’s in me to walk alongside me. Amen.
And that’s how you know that this is God’s purpose for your life: He will raise up people to walk alongside you.
Yes—everything I’ve accomplished in life has been because of relationships. That’s why you got to be careful how you treat people—because you might be cussing out somebody that might have the key to your destiny later.
Now when you read the book of Nehemiah—and I really hope y’all will read it—it’s only 13 chapters long. But in chapter 3—I’m finished—I’m coming to a close—chapter 3: they rebuilt the wall.
You know what’s interesting about chapter 3? He mentions all the names of the people who helped work on the wall.
Tell your neighbor: he lists all the names of the people who helped work on the wall. 32 verses—1 through 32—he lists the names of all the people who worked on the wall.
But I want you to read verse 5 of chapter 3. He’s going through these names of the people—he’s going through all these different people and tribes and families—he’s going through who did what.
Then he gets to verse 5: «Next to them the Tekoites made repairs, but their nobles did not put their shoulders to the work of their Lord.»
In every crowd, there’s some people who work—and some people who just sit in their seats. Yes, sir. I feel some tension in the room.
In every crowd, there’s some people who come and get the benefit of the work but don’t participate in making it happen.
Next to them the Tekoites made repairs, but their nobles did not put their shoulders to the work of their Lord.
Look at who’s clapping. Keep clapping if you’re clapping. Don’t—if you’re not clapping, don’t clap. They mad. Look at them—they upset because I’m talking about them.
They’ve been here—they’ve been coming for years but ain’t never joined the ministry. They’ve been coming for decades but never—couldn’t find—out of 130 ministries—couldn’t find a single ministry to do anything with.
But they say, «That’s my church. That’s my pastor"—but ain’t done nothing to help get the work done. They claiming it as theirs. They shout about him being there but ain’t joined no choir, ain’t joined no ushers, ain’t done a thing.
I feel a cursing spirit coming on me. And then want the church to help them when they get in trouble—talking about, «I pay my tithes to the church.» Yeah, you supposed to pay your tithes to the church—that’s the Lord’s money.
But you supposed to also serve. Yes. Amen. I feel some tension in the room. Feel something drawing me somewhere back here.
You can always tell who you talking to—they look straight ahead and say, «Please don’t come over here. Please don’t come over here. Please don’t come over here.»
Is it right for you to come and receive the benefit of the ministry but participate and do nothing to help make it happen? I asked the question: is it right? Hell no, it ain’t right.
I’m sorry to the kids. We get ready to go to three services. You know what’s holding us back? People helping to make it happen.
That’s what’s—that’s my biggest problem. We got 7, 8,000 people coming every weekend, but we don’t have seven or 8,000 people serving.
You can’t do nothing about—all of the stuff that we need help—you can’t do nothing.
I asked you a question: they going to sign up now. They going to sign up now. Y’all stand up. I’m finished. Amen.