Philip Anthony Mitchell - Who Deserves Honor (01/25/2026)
In this powerful message, Pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell addresses the tragic erosion of honor in our generation, marked by rising disrespect, moral decay, and broken homes. Drawing from Scripture, he defines honor as ascribing proper value, respect, and weight, while dishonor treats the worthy as common. He outlines eight groups deserving honor—parents, the elderly, authorities, employers, marriage, pastors/elders, all people, and supremely God/Jesus—urging believers to guard relational equity through intentional respect, submission, and reverence, transforming relationships, reputations, and our witness for Christ.
The Erosion of Honor in Our Generation
Who deserves honor? I think one of the greatest tragedies of our generation is the erosion of the virtue of honor and seeing the unprecedented rise of dishonor in our culture and disrespect for human beings. I think this is one of the greatest tragedies of our generation.
I know a lot of it is largely attributed to the moral decadence of our society—that as our society is moving towards the return of Jesus, the Bible does prophesy that there will be a great moral decadence, that we will see society begin to unravel in the home and nations all around the world and governments. And so, as I see the moral decadence of our society, it always reminds me that we’re getting closer and closer to the return of our Savior.
Although we don’t think about it, I mean, the Lord’s return is near—the second advent of Christ is near. In fact, at the end of this preaching year, I’m going to be doing a series in December called Advent, where we’re going to be talking about the coming of Christ. And I see, as the days are approaching towards the coming of Christ, that there’s a growing dishonor. It’s almost like a spirit in the earth of disrespect, a spirit of evil, a spirit of dishonor.
We can see it all around our country. I think that the brokenness and the rise of dishonor is also attributed to the breakdown of the American home in our society—that in the old days, most homes had a mother and father. Maybe they were Bible-believing, and even if they weren’t Bible-believing, they had morals and ethics where you taught your children to respect people, and you pulled out that belt every now and then and taught your children not to talk to adults in any way.
Anybody remember the old days when we taught people morals and values, where we were allowed to spank people in classrooms, where it really took a village to raise a child? And you weren’t going to act a fool in Mr. Jenkins' class, because your kids would say, «I don’t care, call my mama.» But back in the days, kids would be terrified to call mama because they knew that if Mr. Jenkins called mama, all hell was going to break loose in that classroom. Mr. Jenkins was coming out with that yardstick, and all hell was going to break loose in that classroom. And then when you got home, phase two of getting your whooping was going to happen when you got home.
So we see the moral decadence of the home—that we are living in the first bastard generation, the first generation that has been raised without fathers in the home and without headship and without good models for people to emulate. This is the bastard generation—the first generation where children are raising children, where people who are unwise are raising children, where teenagers and young people… So we’re living in a generation where morality is declining because of the times that we’re living in.
And we see the rise of dishonor also because of just the disappearance of values in our culture. We see it in our homes amongst families. We see it in politics, in our government. We see it across social media.
Dishonor on Social Media and in the Church
You know, one of the things that bruises my heart about social media is that while social media is a great tool for us to leverage for the spread of the Gospel, at the same time, social media has also given a voice to fools and has allowed us to make ignorance palpable in our society. Now, instead of ignorance just being in people’s hearts, now ignorance is all over social media. We can see the ignorance and the words of fools all across social media. Now it has given a stage to idiots.
Everybody wants a platform. Everybody wants a church. Everybody wants to do their Facebook Live. Everybody wants to preach. And now we see fools preaching, and we see ignorant people preaching, and we see fools going live on Facebook and IG spreading their propaganda and foolishness. So now social media has helped to proliferate dishonor and disrespect.
I said to you last week, let Nikki and Remy duke it out—believers shouldn’t be duking it out on social media. Amen, anybody?
We see it in the church. Last week we started a series looking at Malachi chapter 1, the last prophet of the Old Testament. Malachi was a man of God who God spoke through to the people of God about their dishonor and disrespect. And if you really read Malachi—the four chapters—he’s really dealing with the leadership first. Not only is he dealing with his people who had gone astray—they started loving other gods, they had turned their back on God, they began to disrespect God. In fact, they called the Lord’s table contemptible—that is, they despised the Lord God Almighty themselves. But a lot of that was being motivated or pushed by the leaders of the congregation who were propagating that dishonor.
We see the same thing right now all across America—preachers leading churches astray, preachers leading congregations astray, preachers teaching people to dishonor God, afraid to hold people to standards, afraid to confront people in their sin, afraid to tell people the truth. And so we see even preachers—men and women of God—leading people into dishonor against God. We make people feel like it’s okay to treat Jesus like a homeboy and that He can just be disrespected.
So we see that even now—what incentive do believers have to be honorable towards Jesus when leaders are not honorable towards Jesus? It’s amazing to me how preachers are always complaining about people in the pews when they don’t take a look in the mirror. How can we expect people to honor the Lord when we ourselves—men and women of God—when we ourselves don’t honor the Lord?
Preachers, if we’re dishonorable in public, if we’re dishonorable in the pulpit, if we’re dishonorable in private, if we’re dishonorable with those finances, if we’re dishonorable when no one is watching—how do we have the moral authority or the anointing to get up in any pulpit and tell other people to be honorable? Revival has to start with the house of God.
And so God cries out in the book of Malachi, «Where is the honor due me? If I am a father, if I am a master, where is the honor due me?»
Defining Honor and Dishonor
And last week I defined honor for you as ascribing worth, value, or respect, or giving weight to someone or something. So it’s giving something worth, it’s giving something value, it’s giving something respect, it’s giving something weight.
So for example, this black Bible that I come to church with every Sunday—this Bible is something that I honor. I don’t just honor it simply because it’s the Word of God—it is the Word of God—but this Bible is special to me. In this Bible it says on the front page, it says «Philip Anthony Mitchell 2010, Valedictorian of Valor Christian College, May 15, 2010.» This Bible was given to me as a gift from my Bible college for finishing college with a perfect 4.0.
So this Bible has value to me, and so I take care of it. It’s delicate, it’s in perfect condition. There’s nothing in it—it’s crispy. Like if I put it in your hand, it feels like the way I like my waffles when I go to Waffle House. When I go to Waffle House, I don’t like my waffle soggy. Anybody know what I’m talking about? I don’t like my waffle soggy. When I go to Waffle House, I tell them, «I want my waffles dark.» I say, «I want it dark but not like me.» I don’t want it to look like me, but I want it dark, and I want it crunchy. And this—it’s crispy.
This Bible was a gift to me from the Bible college, bestowed upon me as an honor for finishing with a perfect 4.0. The young knucklehead from Queens finished with a perfect 4.0 in Bible college. Somebody clap for your pastor. Somebody say, «You go, pastor.» Yes, somebody said, «Do your thing, sir.» I’m trying to, sister.
So this Bible has increased value to me because of where it came from. And so when something has honor, we give it value, we give it worth, we give it respect, we give it weight.
And I defined for you dishonor last week—that dishonor is to show contempt for or to treat something worthy of honor as common or ordinary. So if I took this Bible and I threw it down on the floor, I would be dishonoring this Bible, and I would be dishonoring the organization or the institution that gifted this to me for my graduation.
So if I just threw it on the floor, I dishonor Pastor Parsley. If I threw it on the floor, I dishonor the Bible college. If I threw it on the floor, I dishonor the people that gave it to me. If I threw it on the floor, I dishonor God.
So we dishonor things when we show contempt for it, when we take something that’s worthy of honor and treat it as common. Consequently, I want to encourage you—don’t do that to the Lord. You want to be careful not to treat your salvation as common or ordinary because your salvation came at a high price and cost a man His life and the shedding of blood.
So you should never treat your salvation as common and ordinary. If you are born again, you are born again by the power of the Holy Spirit of God who rescued you from the dominion of darkness and saved you from the wrath to come. If you are saved, you have been saved from the wrath to come. If you are saved, your name has been inscribed on the Lord’s palms. If you are saved, your name is in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Somebody holler at me—if you’re saved, you’re on the way to heaven. If you’re saved, you escape hell. If you’re saved, you’re about to be rewarded. If you’re saved, you are a son and daughter of God. If you’re saved, you are the recipient of the greatest thing any man or woman will ever have.
We should never treat that as common or ordinary. It’s dishonorable to God when we treat our salvation as common or ordinary. It’s dishonorable to God when we treat Him as common or ordinary. It’s dishonorable when we treat the church as common or ordinary.
Man, your salvation came at a high price. That’s why I don’t understand how people drag into church and they can’t worship God. Man, it doesn’t matter what I’ve been through—I have to lift my hands before the set is over. We sing three songs—before that set is over, the devil’s not going to rob me of what God is owed. I’m going to lift my hands before that set is over. I’m going to shout unto God before that set is over. I might jump before that set is over. I might spin before that set is over.
Like, Michael, you be spinning for Michael. And really, in the Psalms, we are actually commanded to do these things. We are commanded to lift our hands—Psalm 134: «Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and bless the Lord.» We’re commanded to lift our hands. We’re commanded: «Clap your hands, all ye people.» We’re commanded to clap. It says in the Bible, it says leap for joy—we’re commanded to leap. It says shout unto God with the voice of…
Let’s practice. Somebody shout unto God with the voice of triumph! Now some people didn’t jump in. Okay, let’s get this going. Let’s practice the Bible right now. But no, no, no, no, no—let’s practice: lift your hands, all ye people. Let’s practice: clap your hands, all you people. It’s like Simon Says: stomp your feet, all ye people. Somebody shout unto God with the voice of triumph! Yes, God. Somebody shout out to God. Somebody shout Jesus!
Y’all don’t have no behavior. Doesn’t that feel better now? Imagine every time we come in here if everybody did that—it would just rearrange the whole atmosphere. You can’t even be sad in an atmosphere like that.
I taught a series many, many years ago about worship. It’s called «Lift High”—it was the worship series. You can go back and check that out. And you see how we feel right now—see, y’all ready right now. Y’all feel good right now. Something broke and fell off your shoulder right now.
Key Ideas from Last Week
A couple big ideas that came out of last week, and then I want to give you eight things. But last week I told you that honor attracts favor—that when you are honorable, you attract favor from God, you attract favor from people.
Think about this: think about the people around you who have showed you honor—whether it was a card, a gift, or they served around. How did you feel about that in your heart? Your heart naturally wanted to be moved towards that person. Anytime we show people honor, our hearts explode—that person’s heart explodes. And so anytime we’re honorable, God’s heart naturally explodes with greater affection for us. When we’re honorable, we attract favor from God, we attract favor from people.
Another big idea I talked to you about last week is that dishonor invites misfortune—that when we are dishonorable, we cut off favor, we invite harm into our lives. When we’re dishonorable, I told you dishonor is like a boomerang—if you throw it out, there’s a possibility it’s going to come back and affect you.
Another thing too I want to say to you that wasn’t in your notes last week—and you should just write this down or take a picture of it when it comes on the screen—is that dishonor diminishes relational equity. And I want to talk to you about this before I give you the eight things.
Dishonor diminishes relational equity. When you are in relationships with people, you have a certain amount of equity. Equity is the grace they give you in which they will do something for you—they will go above and beyond. It’s their affection for you. The more equity you have, the more valuable that relationship. The more someone is inclined to do something for you. The less equity you have, the less valuable that relationship—the more people just push away from you.
When you honor people, you increase in relational equity—it just happens naturally. If you’re honoring, honoring, honoring—you know what happens in the heart of the person you’re honoring? That heart increases equity on your account. So then that heart naturally wants to do stuff for you. That heart grants you favors. That heart looks out for you. That heart is trying to do things behind the scenes to be a blessing to you.
When you dishonor people, you lose equity. You call somebody and you’re nasty with them—equity goes down. You send somebody a text and you’re disrespectful in the text—equity goes down. You hurt somebody—equity goes down. And sometimes equity goes down and you may not know it. It can go down publicly where you feel distance between you and that person, or it can go down silently when in their heart they don’t feel the same way about you anymore.
It’s like a spouse who’s been abused for so many years by another spouse—equity diminishes where they don’t feel the same way about that spouse anymore. And the danger of that is that yes, you can rebuild equity, but the danger of that is sometimes you lose equity permanently—where you could hurt someone with a text, a phone call, ill-chosen words, lose equity, and you may never get that equity back with that person. You may still have the relationship, but the equity will not be the same. Say, „Man, this relationship feels different.“ Equity has been lost.
And before I get into these eight things, I want to show you—you need to understand this one point or else we can’t go any further. This is such a big deal because watch: right now you have equity with people in your lives all around you. Next to you, there’s equity there. In some relationships there’s a lot of equity, in some relationships there’s a little bit of equity.
And the thing that determines the increase or decrease of equity is honor and dishonor, respect and disrespect, value and lack of value. The more you value a relationship, the more equity. The more you honor a relationship, the more equity. The more you dishonor a relationship, you lose equity—it just keeps going down. The more disrespectful you are, you lose more equity.
Now that may not matter with people you don’t really want to be tight with. So it’s like, if it’s someone you don’t care about anymore, you don’t have no business, you don’t want to be in a relationship—that’s fine because you feel like the season with that person may be done. So equity doesn’t matter.
But when you have relationships with people that you need equity with—is this making sense to anybody? When you have people in your life that you need—like I need equity with my wife, I need equity with my children, I need equity with my staff and with my leaders. There’s people that you need equity from them.
If you need equity from them, you need to be careful about how you treat that relationship. Whenever you have favor with God or people, you need to guard that favor with honor. You heard what I just said? Whenever you have favor with God, when you feel that you have favor with someone, you need to protect that favor with honor.
Honor protects equity. It protects favor. Anytime you sense—whether with your boss, with your kids, with your brother—when you sense you have favor with someone, a wise person will guard that favor with honor. You guard that equity with honor.
And listen—and don’t be mad if you have favor over somebody else and don’t try to hide your favor. Don’t try to act like, well, I’m—you know, don’t have this false sense of humility. Jesus had favorites. The Bible says He had 500 followers, 72 disciples, 12 apostles, and of those 12 apostles He had three that were closer than the others—Peter, James, and John.
When He’s on the Mount of Transfiguration in all of His glory—Peter, James, and John. When He raises Jairus' daughter—Peter, James, and John. When He establishes the first church—Peter, James, and John. So Peter, James, and John had a type of favor with Jesus that the others didn’t have. Favor is not fair.
And when you have that—if you’re wise, you guard that. You are foolish to destroy the equity or favor you have with someone when you know they’ve gifted it to you. When someone has gifted you equity, gifted you favor—you are foolish to destroy that with dishonor, disrespect.
So I want to encourage you and caution you—listen, be very careful about how you talk, how you text, how you call, how you act, how you behave around people who you need equity from them.
And you know why this happens in our generation? Let me—I want to read this to you, a statement I wrote: „Dishonor can leak out of us either knowingly or unknowingly when we fail to ascribe or have not been taught to ascribe the proper value, respect, and esteem for people and things deemed worthy of honor.“
This happens naturally—it leaks out of us. This is like a child who disrespects an adult because they were not taught to respect adults. Like, I’m not going to have no 8-year-old walking up to adults and calling them by their first name—“Hey, Tom.“ No, no, no, no, no—“Excuse me, excuse me, that’s Mr. Tom to you.“
I thought somebody would help me and say amen. Not going to just have a little kid walking up to people saying, «Hey, Laura.« No, no, no, no, no—this is Miss Laura to you.
See, because dishonor naturally leaks out of us when we have not been taught to ascribe honor to those worthy of honor. Why do people dishonor God? Because we’re not teaching people in our society what it means to honor God.
And dishonor is—listen to me—dishonor is damaging to relationships, is damaging to our reputation, and it grieves the heart of God when we are dishonorable. It damages your relationships, it damages your reputation, and it grieves the heart of God.
So how do we correct this in terms of our relationships? Well, I studied this week really good, and in the Scriptures there are actually eight people who God tells us deserve honor—eight categories that God actually says give these eight honor. And because right now as I go through this list of eight, most of us are interacting with all eight of these, and so after you see this list, what my prayer is that you walk out of this message thinking to yourself: the next time I see one of the people on this list, let me be careful about how I treat this person.
Eight People Who Deserve Honor
Eight people the Scripture teaches us that we need to have honor for. You probably know what number one is coming. I feel like Family Feud, right? Okay, we’ve surveyed 100 people in the church, and top eight answers on the board. Tell me the first person that deserves honor.
No, no, no—in the Bible, the first person mentioned for honor is parents. Parents deserve honor.
Now I know for some of us, when you hear the word parent—when you think mother or father—it’s hard to think about honoring mother or father because when we hear the word father or when we hear the word mother, there’s negative connotations associated with that. For some of us, when we hear the word father or mother, we think absent, we think abandonment, we think molestation, we think rape, we think mistreatment, we think abuse, we think never met them, we think addict.
And so for us, when we hear «honor our parents, ” we say, „No, I can’t do that, Pastor Philip, because you don’t know my mother and you don’t know my father. You don’t know how my father crept into my room when I was X age. You don’t know how my father abandoned me when I was X age. You don’t know how my mother chose drugs over me. You don’t know what my parents did to me. I know, Pastor Philip, that you’re taking care of your kids, but you don’t know my story. So I know you’re telling me that the Scripture says I need to honor my parents, but I can’t do that.“
Well, what does the Bible say? Okay, in Exodus—do you know that honoring your mother and father comes up in the Ten Commandments? That honoring your mother and father shows up in the Ten Commandments—the 10 moral laws that God gave to all human beings.
And then the Apostle Paul in the New Testament, writing to the church at Ephesus, he would quote the book of Exodus when he says this in Ephesians chapter 6:2-3: „Honor your father and mother”—it’s not a suggestion—“honor your father and mother, respect your father and mother, which is the first commandment with a promise.“ Here’s the promise: „so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.“
How many people’s lives have been cut short because they disrespect their parents? And how many people’s lives are not going well because they disrespect their parents?
Okay, now let me say this: the Scripture doesn’t teach us that we must trust our parents. And for adults, you’re not commanded to obey your parents. The verse before this is „children obey your parents in the Lord.“ So if we’re under the roof of our parents—little children—you’re commanded to obey them until you leave. Once you become an adult, there is no commandment to obey your parents.
So if your mother or father is telling you to do something crazy, you’re not commanded to obey. You’re not commanded to trust. You’re not even commanded to be close to. But you are commanded to respect them no matter what they have done. We are to respect them. We’re not commanded to trust, we’re not commanded to obey once we’re adults, but you are commanded to respect them no matter what they’ve done.
There’s a sister in this church—and I’m not going to call her name—she shared a story with me last year, and we have been praying for her, that when she was a little girl, her father took the life of her mother in front of her. He was sentenced to prison. And for her, that had been grieving her heart for many, many years. He’d been longing to see her—she’s an adult, didn’t know what she looked like.
Something broke in her heart during one of our worship experiences. I was preaching about something—I don’t remember. Something broke in her heart. She reached out to me: „What should I do?“ I said, „If the Holy Spirit is not hindering you, go and see him. It may be your last chance to see him, for tomorrow is not promised to anyone.“
She beat her face, she made sure her clothes were presentable, and she drove the drive to where he was in prison. And for the first time he saw her as an adult and spoke to her. And she let him go from the prison he was in—he was not only in a physical prison but an emotional prison—and she let him go.
Now she doesn’t have to be intimate with him, and she doesn’t have to see him all the time, but she respected him enough to go and present herself before him.
Maybe there are people in this room—you have a strained relationship with a parent. Maybe you haven’t talked to them or seen them in many, many years. Maybe they’re just on the other side of town. Maybe they offended you.
Two things I want to encourage you: forgive them, for they know not what they do—and if they do know what they did, forgive them anyway, because forgiveness is never for the perpetrator. Forgiveness is for you, the victim, because the Scripture teaches us when we hold people and we don’t forgive, we put ourselves in an emotional prison.
So if you want to sleep, let them go. And if you want to sleep, just give them respect. Now you don’t owe them trust, and you don’t owe them obedience, but the Bible tells us that we owe them respect.
Maybe today, this week, somebody might get free from a burden that has been on your heart for many years. Maybe you need to let a parent go. Maybe they did the best they could. Maybe the devil had their minds in that season. Honor your parents.
Number two: the second person we’re supposed to honor—the aged deserve honor. The aged deserve honor. Honor, according to the Scriptures, the elderly, the old men and women of gray hair—men and women who have lived longer than us, who know more than us, who have seen more than us.
It’s amazing how I see young people disrespect the elderly. How do you cuss out an older person? How do you physically violate an older person? How do I go on Facebook and see young men—especially young Black men, I’m sorry—robbing an old person in the parking lot at Walmart? How do you pistol-whip an old person and knock out their teeth? How do you… you are a sick and depraved human being to pistol-whip an old person, to knock an old person down to the floor and leave them in a pool of blood. I’m talking about something I saw—you are a sick and depraved human being to disrespect an old person.
It’s crazy to see little kids disrespecting old people. And some of us, when we see our kids disrespecting the elderly, we think it’s cute and we say, „Go ahead, Little Johnny,“ and we think it’s cute that little monster that you don’t want to correct—he’s going to bring shame to you when he turns a teenager.
And especially in the Black community, we be having these little monsters and don’t discipline them, don’t spank them, don’t put them… We think it’s cute that they cuss and disrespect old people, and we think that’s cute, and we put that on social media like we’re proud of that.
The Bible says a child left undisciplined will bring shame to his parents. And when your child is unruly, people look at you, the parent.
How in the world we got little kids disrespecting grandma? No—you shut that little… Even if you don’t like grandma, even if you got a problem with grandma, you shut that little person down: „Don’t you ever talk to your grandmother like that, boy. I’ll break you all the way down. Apologize to your grandmama now.“
Some of y’all parents need to… I said now.
Leviticus 19:32: „Stand up“ and another translation it says „rise in the presence of the aged and show respect for the elderly and revere God.“ Why? Here’s the reason: „I am the Lord.“ There’s His reason.
Why should I stand up when an old person comes in the room? Because I am the Lord. Why should I respect an elderly person? Because I am the Lord. What reason do I have? Because I am the Lord.
The Bible says rise in the presence of the aged. When an old person comes into the room, you stand up and you greet them. When you come into the presence of an older person, you stand up and you greet them.
I’ve never shaken the hand of an old person from a seated position in my life. I’ve never seen an old person come talk to me—“Oh, pastor”—and I’m sitting in a chair and I just greet them. I always stand up in their presence. And I’m a pastor. Anytime an elderly person comes to talk to me in this church, I always rise in their presence. And if I can’t rise, I show them some gesture of respect.
Last week, a woman named Miss Mary—she’s the mother of a sister in our church—she came to talk to me right here. And I’m on a platform, so I can’t stand up—I’m already standing. So I knelt down in her presence and I spoke to Miss Mary. She was standing right here, and I just wasn’t standing here—I got down on one knee and I gave her my undivided attention. I didn’t pay attention to… because I wanted to respect the elderly.
When you come into the presence of an old person, you stand up and you greet them. Standing is a gesture of honor.
The Bible says in Exodus that when Moses went out to the camp, all of the people stood for Moses as he came out of the camp, and they stayed standing until he passed by them—because where he was going, because he was the man of God, God’s vessel. When they saw him, they stood in his presence as a gesture of respect and honor.
We’re going to teach people to respect the elderly and respect age. We have no right to disrespect an old person or to dishonor an elderly person.
I mean, I know our church is full of millennials. I know I’m not going to get an amen because I know most of y’all 25. Do I have any elderly persons in the room? Y’all shout if you’re 65—you say amen. 68—you say amen. Mama E, amen. Mama E, we going to respect you. We going to respect you.
65 and 68—let’s honor the elderly. Oh, y’all stood. Oh, rise in the presence of the aged. Wow, look at that. Man, y’all are an awesome church. I didn’t tell y’all to stand—they just stood for you, Mama E. They just stood for you. Mama, nice blouse. Mama, nice blouse.
They stood for you, Mama. Nice blouse.
The other day my wife was out with the kids, and she had the kids—and we got four, so you got to keep an eye on them. And one of them was missing. She was like, „Where’s Malachi? Where’s Malachi? Where’s Malachi?“ She turned around, and he was holding the door for an elderly person. Respect the elderly—rise in their presence, treat them with honor and respect. They know more than us.
Third person: authority deserves honor. Almost done. Authority deserves honor.
And y’all know for this generation we have a problem with this. We don’t like authority. We don’t like nobody over us telling us what to do. We be like—no, y’all from the South—y’all ain’t fixing to tell me what to do. I’m from New York—that’s how we… You ain’t fixing to tell me nothing. You ain’t my mama. You ain’t my mom. That’s—you ain’t my mom. You ain’t fixing to tell… I got…
We need to respect authority.
Romans chapter 13, verse 1: „Let everyone“—how many people? How many people? That includes—how many people? Everybody—men, females, males, females, children, White, Black, Asian, other. Miss, my wife is other. I know you’re trying to figure out what she is—she’s other. She’s all mixed up. She’s half Black, half Filipino, so she’s other. She be like, „No, I’m Black.“ No, you other.
See, always talking about—now I’m Black, I’m Black. No, I say you other. There’s only five Black people in our house—you other. So I know some of y’all trying to figure out what is she, what is Miss Lena—she’s half Black, half Filipino, okay? She’s other.
„Let everyone be subject“—let everyone be subject „to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.“
And so the Bible teaches us to be subject to, honor, to respect all authority—all governmental authority. Respect those authorities. God established them.
Say, „What if they’re wicked?“ God established them to do His work in the earth.
In the Scriptures, the word honor—the Hebrew and Greek words—also translate love, submission, and obedience. So we are to respect authorities. We are to be submitted to authority—governmental authorities, police officers.
I know we mad that young men are getting shot, but if you fight with an officer, you put yourself in danger. We have an officer in the church—Officer Danielle. She’s an officer. She needs to be respected as an officer because she has governmental authority.
So we need to respect officers, respect governmental authority. You push against authority—you’re going to get hurt. „I don’t care, pastor—I don’t like the boys in blue. I don’t want to respect authority.“
Okay, let me give you the next verse—verse 2: „Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.“
So when you dishonor authority—parents are authority over children, y’all listening—and when you dishonor authority, you bring judgment or the belt upon yourself. Teachers have authority in their classroom—when you go against that, you bring trouble upon yourself, suspension, whatever.
So we ought to respect authority. The only time we don’t respect authority is when there’s a competing loyalty between authority and God. Anytime there’s a competing loyalty between authority and God, you choose God over authority.
How do you know when the loyalties are competing? When authority tries to make you do anything that is either immoral, unethical, or illegal—you have to dishonor authority for the sake of honoring God.
So when authority tries to make you do something that is unethical, immoral, or illegal—you have to choose God over authority. This is why there are believers who are dying in nations all around the world where the gospel is illegal—because they refuse to subjugate the gospel to the government. They’re not going to abandon Jesus for the sake of the government.
The government passes the law: „Don’t preach the gospel.“ No, no, no—Paul says we must preach this gospel even if it costs us our lives.
Those three Hebrew boys in the book of Daniel said, „Oh king, you can do whatever you got to do, but as for us, we must obey God.“ They got tossed in that furnace, but the fourth man appeared in that furnace—the fourth man.
I want to do a series called „The Fourth Man.“ And they came out of that thing not even smelling like smoke. Man, they came out not even smelling like smoke. You know why? Because God will always vindicate obedience. God will always vindicate obedience.
You don’t got to prove nothing to nobody—God will vindicate obedience whether people like it or not. Don’t worry—you obey God even when they don’t trust you, even when they’re confused, even when they talk bad about you. Go obey God and watch the fourth man show up in your circumstance.
Somebody shout „The fourth man!“ Shout „The fourth man!“ Shout „The fourth man!“ The pre-incarnate Christ.
I feel that in my spirit—I’m going to do a series called „The Fourth Man“—the power of Jesus to sustain us in trial and keep us in all things.
I’m not afraid of what I’m enduring because I’m enduring this with the fourth man. I’m not afraid of what they’re saying about me because they’re talking trash about me with the fourth man next to me. So I’m not afraid of nothing. I ain’t scared. I ain’t afraid of people. I’m not afraid of circumstances. My heart not pumping Kool-Aid for anybody because I walk with the fourth man.
I’m going to make decisions in obedience to the fourth man—don’t care what nobody say. I’m going to obey and trust the fourth man to keep me in every circumstance.
Somebody just shout „Four!“ Hallelujah. I’m trying to, elder.
The fourth man. Afraid of what—are they going to fire you? So what. Or they talking bad about me—so what. Or they going to try to jump me after school—so what. I’ma fight you with the fourth man and take this whooping with the fourth man.
I’m going to walk out this job with dignity with the fourth man. You going to slam this door in my face—He going to open another door in your face—the fourth man. Woo, Jesus.
Sometimes rejection is just redirection with the fourth man. Somebody holler if you hear me.
So what—so what you lose something? You lost it with the fourth man.
Hi, Channon—you flew in this morning. So glad to see you, Channon. Don’t mind me—I was just talking to Channon. Channon flew in this morning and came straight to church—the fourth man.
Romans 13:3-7: „For rulers hold no terror for those who do right.“ So if you do right, you don’t have to worry. „But for those who do wrong“—why am I always getting in trouble? Because you disobey authority.
Malachi, Izzy heard that. Kids, you can just take this one part of the sermon and give it to your kids. Why am I always getting in trouble? Because you disobey authority.
If you obey authority, you’ll never get in trouble. „Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.“
„I don’t like the police“—they are agents to bring punishment on wrongdoers. They operate with God’s authority. „I don’t like the police—oh, get rid of them.“ When we see what happens to your neighborhood.
„Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes“—don’t cheat on paperwork—“for the authorities are God’s servants who give their full time to governing. Give to everyone what you owe them.“ Just talked about this—be a good steward. „If you owe taxes, pay your taxes. If you owe revenue, pay revenue. If you owe respect, give respect. If honor, then honor.“
Fourth person that deserves honor: employers. I know you don’t like them, but they deserve honor. „Pastor, you don’t know my boss.“ I know your boss is a tyrant, and I know your boss is foolish, but they deserve honor.
„Pastor, I don’t believe that—you got to give me some Bible for that.“
The Apostle Paul writes to Timothy, his young protégé pastor. He said to him, 1 Timothy 6:1: „All who are under the yoke of slavery should consider their masters worthy of full respect, so that God’s name and our teaching may not be slandered.“
In this context, masters and slaves was the same context we have for employers and employees. Slaves were employees of masters.
Listen to what Paul says—this is powerful. It’s not about your boss. It says show them respect so that the name of Jesus would not be maligned.
Jesus—if you are disrespectful to your employer and then they find out you’re a Christian, you just ruin Jesus' reputation. Your employer should be saying, „There’s something different about this person. There’s something different about her. There’s something different about him.“
Man, your employer should be saying, „Oh, how I try to be mean to this employee—they just keep giving me back honor. I don’t get them their days off—they keep giving me back honor. I tell them they got to work overtime—they just keep giving me back honor.“ And then I find out they are Christian—oh, that’s why. Now they go home and think аbout: this person is a follower of Jesus. Now their heart has to deal with that. Someone might be saved because of that.
So Paul says honor employers because when you dishonor your employers, you dishonor the reputation of Jesus.
Verse 2: „Those who have believing masters are not to show less respect for them because they are brothers and sisters. Instead, they are to serve them even better because those who benefit from their service are believers and dear to them. These are the things you are to teach and urge on them.“
So he says if your boss or your employer is not saved—respect them to protect Jesus' reputation. If your boss or employer is a Christian or follower of Jesus—give them even more honor because you know their work is furthering the spread of the Gospel.
Ephesians 6:5-8: „Slaves“—employees—“obey your earthly masters“—employers—“with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart“—don’t cheat when you’re at work, do your job—“just as you would obey Christ. Obey them not only to win their favor“—so don’t just do right when they can see, when their eye is on you—“but as slaves of Christ“—as employees of Christ—“doing the will of God from your heart. Serve wholeheartedly“—don’t go to work and be lazy, go the extra mile like Chick-fil-A, second-mile service—“as if you were serving the Lord, not people, because you know that the Lord will reward each one for whatever good they do, whether they are slave or free.“
So he says when you’re an employee, go the extra mile.
Fifth: people that deserve honor—marriage. Okay, almost done. Marriage relationships deserve honor.
Hebrews 13:4—we don’t know who wrote Hebrews. Some people think it’s Paul, some people think it was Apollos—we don’t know who wrote Hebrews. Hebrews 13:4a—the writer says, „Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure.“
Marriage should be honored by all. But how many people should honor marriage? Everyone.
Why should marriage be honored by everyone? Because marriage is a picture of Christ and the church. It is the most honorable covenant in the earth. So marriage should be honored by all.
A husband should honor his wife and their covenant. A wife should honor her husband and their covenant. Outsiders should honor the marriage covenant. Outsiders should not work to destroy someone’s marriage. Your mama—your mama-in-law going to become an outlaw—they should not be working to destroy the marriage. Mama-in-law going to become an outlaw—they should not be… Everyone should honor the marriage covenant.
Man, maybe there’s somebody watching me right now—maybe you’ve been dating somebody for a long time, and you already know like this is the person God has given you. You already know this is like an Isaac-Rebecca thing. Why don’t you honor—go ahead and move that thing towards marriage.
Like, you’re going to date for how long, and you’re going to cohabitate for how long? If you know she’s the one, you know he’s the one—why don’t you got to move that thing towards honoring God? Your marriage then becomes honorable.
In fact, the Bible says—I don’t know who I’m talking to—somebody’s watching—the Scripture says that a man who finds a wife, he finds a good thing—he obtains favor from the Lord. If you think your relationship is good now—okay, Bible says you’ll get more favor when you make that thing right before God.
I mean, it’s Isaac-Rebecca—you already know he’s the one, she’s the one—got to move that thing towards marriage.
And husbands, respect your wives. Wives, respect your husbands. Outsiders, respect the marriage covenant.
Okay, number six: pastors and elders deserve honor. Not just any pastor—no, no, no, no—not just any pastor, because I know we want to honor charlatans, we want to honor thieves, we want to honor men who are stealing money, we want to honor men that’s dropping babies all around the country—no, no, no. The Bible didn’t say just honor anybody. There’s criteria.
1 Timothy 5:17: „The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor.“ So whatever is the highest honor you give anyone—when you find a pastor or teacher who is directing the affairs of the church well—whatever is your benchmark for honor, the Bible says go above that to honor that person.
If you’re watching this message and you have a pastor who is teaching the Word of God, directing the affairs of the church well—the Bible says wherever is your benchmark for honor, go above that to respect and honor that person. It says that person is worthy of double honor—double honor.
And watch the rest of the criteria: „especially those whose work, whose job it is to preach and teach to you.“ Why? Because they’re caring for the most important part of your life—your soul and your spirit.
What part of you is more important? What is there more important than the spread of the Gospel, the work of Jesus, the development of the soul and spirit? What is more important than spiritual formation? The person responsible for doing that, whose job is to do that week in and week out—study and pray, pray and teach week in and week out—the Bible says that person’s labor is worthy of double honor because they care for your soul.
And it’s crazy to me how people just disrespect pastors who are… I’m not talking about charlatans and false prophets—I’m talking about men and women who are really doing God’s work. The men who stand up in pulpits and really preach this truth—they’re worthy of double honor. Double honor. Double honor and respect.
Hebrews 13:17: „Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy and not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you.“
He says listen—don’t make your pastor’s job more difficult than what it already is. You have no idea the crushing weight, the huge boulder that sits on the chest of a pastor leading a group of souls. You have no idea what that feels like.
I used to be dishonorable to pastors until I became one. And when I became one, there is a weight that God lays on the shoulders of a pastor that you have no idea what that feels… You have no idea what it feels like to be responsible for souls—in your prayer time, in your teaching, in your preaching, in your counsel. You have no idea the crushing weight that that puts on you at nighttime when you’re laying in your bed. You have no idea what God does in your heart and the prayer.
You have no idea how the Holy Spirit crushes someone in their heart who’s responsible for souls. You have no idea what kind of weight this is. People think they know, but you really don’t know until you become one. You don’t know.
And then you have some people do it and it seems like they don’t care—because some people were sent and others went. Ephesians chapter 4 teaches that Jesus handpicks pastors, handpicks apostles, handpicks prophets—He handpicks teachers. You can’t just be one—He handpicks them, those offices to teach the entire body of Christ.
Listen—you have no idea the weight associated with doing this. And the Scripture says listen—don’t make that person’s job harder than what it already is.
Pastor asked me to do this—then just do it. Pastor gave me this task—do it to the best of your ability. Don’t bring unnecessary frustration to your pastor—you’re adding unnecessary weight to a task that’s already crushing enough as it is.
That’s why it’s frustrating to me when I’m spending my week giving out assignments and tasks and conference calls and meetings, leading my family, leading a church, dealing with leaders—I’m in staff, I’m preparing content for staff, content for leaders, conference calls, text messages—you’re sending stuff out, this person won’t do this, this person drops the ball, this person won’t do this all the way, this person is half-hearted. Man, that stuff is dishonoring to God. Man, you’re making the job of the pastor harder.
You have no idea. Why don’t you trade with me for a month? I challenge anybody to take my job for 60 days—you know what you’ll do? You’ll probably quit.
You think it’s easy to lead a church—to be in meetings, to do conference calls, to prepare content for multiple groups of people? You think it’s easy to put together a sermon every week—especially if it’s at least a decent sermon? You think being responsible for hundreds of lives and thousands of people who’s watching—think that’s… You don’t think that’s a weight on a person’s heart?
And you give out stuff and it just falls to the floor, give out stuff—do it half… It’s frustrating. It’s frustrating because you dishonor when you do stuff like that.
Like, this is more than just having a Sunday morning service—that we’re doing all we can to spread the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ and to multiply disciples. Man, if you can’t do it right, don’t do it at all.
I’m about to raise the standard—if you can’t do it right, don’t do it at all. „Pastor, you might lose some people this week.“ All right, okay. If you can’t do it right, don’t do it at all. Off the soapbox.
Number seven—I’m closing out—other people deserve honor. By the way, I think we have an incredible staff and incredible lead team, and I think we have one of the best volunteer corps in Atlanta. It’s my personal opinion—my personal opinion. I’ve been to a lot of churches. I’m not knocking your church—I think we have one of the best volunteer corps in the city of Atlanta. I believe that with my whole heart, and I’ll fight for my volunteer corps, my staff, and my leaders.
I believe we have one of the best volunteer corps in the city of Atlanta. In fact, Kenny taught basic this morning—connecting new volunteers to the mission of Christ. The V unit—man, I mean, we got our own issues—every church has their issues—but you visit other churches, I think we have one of the best volunteer corps in the city of Atlanta.
Now number seven—other people deserve honor. 1 Peter 2:17—and I like how God slipped this one into the Bible, so just in case you thought, „Woo, I can get away with this person“—no, now He ties everybody: „Show proper respect to…“ Yeah, I saved this one towards the end of the list: „Show proper respect to everyone.“ Then He continues: „Love the family of believers, fear God, honor the emperor.“
You know what He just said? Respect everybody—strangers, respect fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, parents, respect your children—stop cussing them out, stop labeling them, stop telling them you’re stupid and you’re going to be just like so-and-so. Little kids deserve respect too—they’re people.
What about people in the womb—are they people? Are they people? Yes. Do they have a heart? Yes. Do they deserve honor? Yes. Why are we funding organizations that destroy them? We export murder from the United States.
Our enemies deserve respect. Everyone.
Everybody—look up here at me. Look directly at me. Listen to what I want to say to you, and I’m just going to drop this last one—because the last one you already know, it’s obvious.
Listen—look at me. If you listen seriously and take to heart what I’m saying—me personally, Philip Anthony Mitchell—because of this Scripture, when I deal with people, whether I’m in a grocery store, Walmart, the checkout line at Aldi, whatever—when I see another human being, I see the fingerprint of God in that person—that this person was made in the image of God, and they have worth and value.
So I don’t want to just mistreat human beings because when I see another human being, I see someone—even if they don’t know God—I see someone that God made, and I have to treat them with respect and decency and honor.
The other day I was checking out at Food Depot, and I’m looking at the girl checking me out, and I’m thinking, „Man, Jesus made this young girl.“ And she’s saying, „Good morning, sir.“ I’m saying, „Good afternoon, miss. What’s your name?“ „Hey, Tanya—here’s your change. Thank you so much.“
I don’t just take stuff and just run and disrespect—that God made every human. They have worth and value.
Every time you stare into the eyes of another human being, something in your heart—you say God made this person, and they are worthy of respect and honor and value. So we don’t just mistreat human beings, and we don’t just rip them from the womb.
And we don’t just… even strippers trying to feed their kids—the other day I was going up Moreland, and I pass two strip clubs, and I pray, „God, I curse this place. I pray You would shut it down. I pray You would save all the women in there. I pray You would show them their worth. I pray You would hook them up with different jobs. I pray You would deliver them, Lord.“ Even they are worthy of honor—they have value.
That’s why we can’t just enjoy that kind of stuff—something in our heart has to break for those things. Man, I know most of us men may struggle with lust, but our heart has to break when we see those things.
When you see other human beings, you have to see value and worth—that God created this person. I ought not disrespect them. See value in other human beings even if they don’t know your Savior—and treat them and deal with them with honor.
Romans 12—you know what? And that would destroy racism. We disrespect each other because of the color of our skin. Racism is taught—you put a little Black boy, a little White girl, and an Indian girl in a room—they’re going to love on each other. It’s when they get older, society and parents teach them to be racist.
Love White people, love Black people, love Hispanic, love people—and see value in them no matter what they look like on the outside or what they’ve done. See worth in human beings.
Romans 12:10: „Love one another with brotherly affection.“ Look at this next one—this is your challenge this week: „Outdo one another in showing honor.“
How about that for husband and wife? You think that’ll change a marriage—outdo one another in showing honor. You think that would change a relationship between two homeboys—outdo one another in showing honor.
That is, whatever honor they give you, go above. They give you honor—go above. They add three—you go four. They go five—you go six. Outdo one another with respect and honor. Go out of your way to honor other people.
If you try to outdo people in honor—do you know what will happen in your relationships?
And this last one—God, His Son Jesus deserves not just honor but the highest honor.
Psalm 29:2: „Ascribe—give—to the Lord the glory due His name. Worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness.“ Ascribe to the Lord—give Him glory and honor.
Proverbs 3:9: „Honor the Lord with your wealth“—the one you have most trouble with—with the first fruits of all your crops. Give Him your tithe and your offering. Put Him first in your budget. To not put Him first in your budget is to dishonor Him. You’re spending what belongs to Him. He says give me back a percentage—what for? So I can use it to help other people. And to not keep Him first in your budget is to dishonor Him. Be a good steward—honor Him first.
My budget—Philip Anthony Mitchell—begins at 90% after we’ve given away what belongs to God.
Proverbs 14:31: „Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.“
When we are kind to the poor, we honor God.
And this last Scripture—this one is heavy. John the aged apostle—the only apostle to not be killed for the faith. Every other apostle, followers of Jesus, was martyred. The 12 was martyred—one committed suicide, the other 11 were martyred. They were killed for their faith except John. He lived to an old age. They boiled him in oil trying to kill him, and he survived that. And for the preaching of the Word of God, they banished him to an island called Patmos—it’s still there in the center of the Mediterranean Sea.
And while he was in prison on that island, Jesus appeared to him and told him, „John, write down what I’m going to give you.“ And John wrote what became the book of Revelation. I’m going to do a series on that in a few years from now—it will take us 6 months.
And John recorded this in Revelation chapter 4 about Jesus giving him a glimpse of something that was happening in heaven. He said, „John, write this down. Let me show you what’s happening in heaven.“
Revelation 4:9-11: „Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders“—the 12 men on both sides of Him—look what they do: „they fall down.“ The 12 elders on both sides—the first 12 represent the nation of Israel, the second 12 representing the Christian church.
„Whenever they see Him“—how often do they see Him? So they probably always on their face—“they fall down before Him who sits on the throne and they worship Him who lives forever and ever. They lay down their crowns before the throne and they say, ‘You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they were created and have their being.’“
That God Almighty who sits on the throne, who created you, who’s holding your very next breath in His hands, who is the author of life, who’s the giver of everything that you enjoy—all good and perfect gifts have come down from the Father of lights—He who is all-powerful, all-knowing, almighty, who holds your next heartbeat in His hand, who is the ruler of all things, the beginning and the end, the first and the last—He is worthy of the highest honor.
That the elders, when they get a glimpse of Him, they fall down and they take the crowns off their head and they cast it at His feet and they cry, „Holy, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty. All the earth is full of Your glory.“
Is this your position in prayer? Is this the posture of your heart in worship? Do you appreciate all He has done for you? Is He God or is He a homeboy? Is He Lord or is He a suggestion? Is He Master?
What do you love more than Him? What are you worshiping more than Him? What are you withholding from Him? He’s worthy of the highest honor.
And Jesus is worthy of the highest honor. And what Jesus died to create—a growing gathering of people who He’s going to return for—the Christian church—man, we should honor it. We should stop disrespecting the local church. We should serve with our whole heart. We should give generously to spread the Gospel. We should honor God with our lips, with our bodies, with our resources, with our lives.
I taught you that honor flows in all directions of the cross—it flows up, it flows across, it flows down.
This week I want to challenge you to find people on your right and on your left—people on your level, brothers and sisters, friends—and honor them: text messages, phone calls, gifts, whatever you want to do. Find someone across—honor them.
And let us be men and women of honor. Let us be men and women of respect. Let’s honor up, let’s honor across, let’s honor down. Let us be found honorable.
Let’s rid ourselves—rid your heart. Honor is born out of the heart—it’s not just behavior modification, it’s from the heart. Let us ascribe value to everything that deserves value and weight, and let us stop being disrespectful and dishonorable towards everything on this list.
Let us live to be men and women of honor.
Closing Prayer
Father, in the name of Jesus, God, I pray in the name of Your Son Jesus that You would drive out of our marriages, out of our relationships, out of our hearts—You would drive away the spirit of disrespect and the spirit of dishonor.
Let us be more mindful, God, how we talk, how we call, how we text, how we live, how we treat the people above us, beside us, beneath us.
God, I pray You would drive out of every church—drive out of here, God—the spirit of disrespect and dishonor in public and in private.
God, would You mold us and shape us—the men and women of this church, the men and women listening—would You mold us and shape us into men and women of honor, men and women of standards and values, of morals and respect.
And let that transform our marriages, let it transform our relationships, let it transform how we act on our jobs. Let favor fall on us as we live honorable lives, and let us increase in relational equity with people above us, beside us, and beneath us.
Again, Lord, drive out of our hearts the gossip, the judgment, the tearing down, the slander, the disrespect, and the dishonor towards You, towards these eight.
Help us, God, to see the weight and the gravity of this important concept, and let it transform our relationships.
Maybe somebody, God—I pray they would get a promotion three months from now because they were honorable on their jobs. Father, I pray a marriage will be transformed because a husband is going to honor a wife and a wife is going to honor a husband.
I pray, God, a parent would hear from someone they have not heard from because „I honor God.“
I pray that this church would explode with excellence and our advancement of the Gospel because we honor You and because we honor leadership, we honor our assignments, we honor our tasks, we honor everything that we do, God—from setup and breakdown to preaching to administration—we honor all of it.
Father, we pray this and we believe it and receive it in Jesus' name we pray. Amen, amen, and amen.
Let us be more mindful, God, how we talk, how we call, how we text, how we live, how we treat the people above us, beside us, beneath us.
God, I pray You would drive out of every church—drive out of here, God—the spirit of disrespect and dishonor in public and in private.
God, would You mold us and shape us—the men and women of this church, the men and women listening—would You mold us and shape us into men and women of honor, men and women of standards and values, of morals and respect.
And let that transform our marriages, let it transform our relationships, let it transform how we act on our jobs. Let favor fall on us as we live honorable lives, and let us increase in relational equity with people above us, beside us, and beneath us.
Again, Lord, drive out of our hearts the gossip, the judgment, the tearing down, the slander, the disrespect, and the dishonor towards You, towards these eight.
Help us, God, to see the weight and the gravity of this important concept, and let it transform our relationships.
Maybe somebody, God—I pray they would get a promotion three months from now because they were honorable on their jobs. Father, I pray a marriage will be transformed because a husband is going to honor a wife and a wife is going to honor a husband.
I pray, God, a parent would hear from someone they have not heard from because „I honor God.“
I pray that this church would explode with excellence and our advancement of the Gospel because we honor You and because we honor leadership, we honor our assignments, we honor our tasks, we honor everything that we do, God—from setup and breakdown to preaching to administration—we honor all of it.
Father, we pray this and we believe it and receive it in Jesus' name we pray. Amen, amen, and amen.