Sarah Jakes Roberts - Mission Unstoppable - Part 1 (01/16/2026)
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This sermon, titled «Mission Unstoppable,» draws a parallel between Chick-fil-A’s mission-driven customer service and the biblical story of Abraham’s servant in Genesis 24, who is tasked with finding a wife for Isaac. The preacher stresses that true unstoppable success comes from aligning our gifts and talents with a God-given mission to serve others selflessly, rather than just offering services without purpose. The key takeaway is that when we embrace service with a clear mission—expecting resistance, praying specifically, and connecting with like-hearted people—God places us in the vicinity of our miracles, making us unstoppable as we trust and obey Him.
Mission Unstoppable: Service with a Mission
So my message for today, tonight, this evening is called «Mission Unstoppable.» I don’t eat a lot of fast food because Summer’s getting ready for me; I’m not getting ready for summer. It’s going to be so lit! Summer’s getting ready for me, so I have not been eating fast food. But when I do, I like Chick-fil-A. That’s all right. I know some of you are vegan and things like that, and you only eat what comes from the Earth. But the rest of us, we like Chick-fil-A. And you know I like Chick-fil-A because they respect me. They say things like «my pleasure.» They don’t tell me, «you know, extra sauce is 10 cents per sauce.» There’s just this level of respect. They ask me how my day was, you know? Like, they don’t—I won’t put any other establishments out there, but they don’t seem to really care about me the way Chick-fil-A does. Chick-fil-A is closed on Sunday; they’re saved. They love the Lord.
If you’re visiting for the first time, you’ll just get used to me; it’s a process. What I love about Chick-fil-A is that they have made it a mission to make customer service a part of their experience. I want to read you something the owner of Chick-fil-A said. He said, «The word restaurant means 'place of restoration, ' and we think of Chick-fil-A as an oasis where people can be restored. We strive to treat people better than the place down the street. One way we do that is by remembering that we’re all people with a lot of emotional things going on that don’t necessarily show on the surface. So we try to offer amenities and kindness that minister to the heart.» He said, and this is working for them because Chick-fil-A does more business in its six days of the week than McDonald’s does in seven. The 66-year-old family-owned business is now the second largest quick-service chain in the country, but they’re able to do this because they recognize that they’re not just providing an item or product; they’re serving people, and their service has a mission. When your service has a mission, you can do things like close on a Sunday because you recognize there is no competition when you’re in your mission. You can do things like train people on how to be kind to every person that comes through your doors because you recognize that what we’re doing is more important than a sandwich. This is an opportunity to change a life.
Service Without a Mission vs. Service With a Mission
Service with a mission. See, the problem with most of us is that we have a service, but our service has no mission. Yet we have gifts and talents that we want to offer to the world, but they have no mission. It’s just a product for us; it’s just an opportunity. We’re not necessarily thinking about how the world is going to become better because our gifts and talents are in it. And so we go about our lives trying to serve people something they don’t even value because the mission qualifies whether or not the person can handle what you’re giving.
That means that when you understand your mission is to be above and not beneath, you don’t associate with things that pull you down. But because you don’t have a mission, you just cast your pearls among swine. This is Mission Unstoppable because I want to show you how to have service with a mission. Because when you have service with a mission, nothing can stand in your way. It doesn’t mean that things don’t try; it just means that it’s unsuccessful.
So when we talk about having a mission that is unstoppable, it is connecting our gifts, our talents, our influence with something that is bigger and greater than us. It’s coming to God with surrendered hearts and clear minds, saying, «Who am I, and who do you need me to be on Earth?» I am willing to relinquish anything that stands in the way of that.
Abraham’s Servant in Genesis 24
I want to tell you about a servant I read about in Genesis. Genesis 24: this is Abraham’s servant. Some of you may know the story of Abraham. He was made a covenant with God. He had to leave his father’s house, and God showed him this land. He told him, «I’m going to make you the father of many nations.» He got a little tricky and had a side chick situation, but God is able; grace is sufficient. God restored him. Come on, somebody! Sometimes you need a little restoration. He has one son with his wife, Sarah, who was supposed to be barren, but God said he was going to make him the father of many nations. Yet he had one son, so he’s on his deathbed when we find him in this text.
His oldest servant is about to be given a task, and it says, «Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age, and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.» It continues, «So Abraham said to the oldest servant of his house, who ruled over all that he had, 'Please put your hand under my thigh.'» This was like—'cause I know some of you guys need to understand why hands were under thighs—this was a thing in Hebrew culture or Jewish culture at the time where the lifeline is underneath the thighs, so it meant that you were connected to the lifeline. It was like a pinky promise. «So please put your hand under my thigh.» It continues in verse 3, it says, «And I will make you swear by the Lord, the God of Heaven, and the God of Earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell; but you shall go to my country and to my family and take a wife for my son, Isaac.»
And it continues, and the servant said to him, «Perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land. Must I take your son back to the land from which you came?» So I imagine being the servant in this moment. He is the oldest servant of Abraham. Abraham is dying; he’s on his bed, and I imagine that the servant must have been thinking that this is my moment to shine. I’ve been his servant for all of this time. He only has one son; he amassed so much wealth and so much influence. This is probably the time in which he’s going to bless me and give me my own cattle and my own land, and I’m going to go and establish my family. This is the moment where I’m no longer going to be serving.
Serving in Seasons of Transition
Have you ever had to serve in a season where you thought you should be shining? Have you ever found yourself in this position where you were just right at the door, where you were just about to break into what you thought God had called you to do, and then you have to go and apply for a job because the purpose isn’t working out the way you thought it would? That you moved all the way across the country, you took a chance on a relationship, you actually got the job opportunity, and you thought this was going to be the one thing that propelled you to higher heights, but it looks like you’re still going to be serving for longer than you anticipated. This is where we find the servant when Abraham is beginning to prepare for death.
One thing that I want you all to recognize about serving with a mission is that it separates you. And we all rejoice about separation because we think it means we’re going to leave childish people behind us. But in this instance, the servant is having to separate from Abraham, a master he knew, and begin preparing for Isaac, a master he did not know. He was in this incredible in-between stage where he had to figure out who he was outside of what he’s always known. Abraham, his old master, he knew exactly how to do things. He knew exactly how to communicate with him. He was comfortable under this type of authority and leadership, yet for some reason, that season was transitioning and dying, and he was going to have to start preparing for change, like many of us who have to separate from everything we thought we knew to step into what God has called us to do.
There is a separation. Old service with a mission creates separation. It means that you can no longer continue to exist in the world the way that you’re comfortable with. You have to be willing to walk into the unknown, even in seasons when you think you should be calling the shots. There was something about this servant who immediately decided that he was going to submit to the vision, even if he didn’t understand the plan. And we know he didn’t understand the plan because it says that «perhaps the woman will not be willing to follow me to this land.» It was at this point in the scripture when I realized why he was Abraham’s most trusted servant: it was because he recognized that he must anticipate resistance.
Anticipating Resistance
He had been given a mission, a mission that he spelled out perfectly. He told him exactly what to do: go back to the land, to my home country, and I want you to find a wife for my son, Isaac. And the first thing he began to do was anticipate resistance. See, when you begin to anticipate resistance, when obstacles stand in your way, you’re not surprised because you knew this road wasn’t going to be easy. You knew that there was going to be something to overcome. Some of us are servants and don’t even realize it, because when you are a servant to your purpose, you recognize that you’re not just going to be able to walk into that thing and have doors start flying open. You recognize that you’re going to be shaking up some systems and making people uncomfortable, so you, like the servant in the text, start asking God questions like, «What if they don’t accept me? What if they don’t understand me? What if my vision doesn’t come out clearly?»
Expecting resistance is a blessing because God gives you strategy when you expect resistance. God comforts your insecurities when you expect resistance. God shows you who you are when you expect resistance. We live in such a fast-paced generation where we’re so used to instant gratification that the moment we experience resistance, we start questioning whether or not we should even be in the rooms that God’s called us in because people don’t like us. They don’t seem like they like me; they don’t seem like they get me, and I need to be understood, and I need to be supported because I’m not used to standing on my own. We’re not used to having to expect a certain level of resistance. God is telling us in this season that we’re not going to be able to just overtake things the way we think we are without ruffling some feathers along the way. So don’t be surprised if people don’t start embracing you when you start coming in with your new ideas and your new sound and your new voice because there’s a certain level of resistance when you’re separating from old things.
It’s such a great story, and it goes throughout the whole chapter. I selected just a few scriptures that I wanted to show you because I needed you to prepare for resistance. You’re going to need a persistent strategy in this thing called service. You’re going to have to be persistent enough that you start expecting resistance, planning against resistance, and getting your spirit in a position where you realize I didn’t think this thing was going to come easy. So the fact that I have to work hard doesn’t bother me. I didn’t think that you were going to embrace me, so I don’t necessarily need your likes for me to continue my work. I was expecting a little bit of resistance. I didn’t come into this thing needing your votes and your support, so I was expecting a little bit of resistance because what I’m doing is greater than how you feel about what I’m doing. I know who’s called me; I know who my master is. I know what my mission is, so I expected a little resistance because who I am should make you feel a little bit insecure about who you are. It should make you wonder: are you on your square? It should make you wonder: are you really giving your best? Because when I come into the room, everybody ought to step their game up. So I’m not really surprised that I made you a little bit insecure because I’m thinking on such a next level that when you’re with me, I’m either going to drag you to that next level or I’m going to reveal you. We’re never really ready to go.
So I was expecting your resistance. Next time someone starts resisting against your purpose, just smile. There’s no need to be petty; just smile. Like, «Hmm, you’re going to have to study a little bit harder, huh?» You see, because God’s going to have people who are more qualified than you feeling insecure when you come into the room because you’re hungrier than they are, because you’re more confident about who sent you than they are. You’re going to start recognizing that you didn’t even need the connections that you thought you needed. All you needed was the sound of God telling you when to move and how to move. So expect a little bit of resistance—service with a mission. Yeah, won’t He do it?
Moving While Wondering: The Servant’s Prayer
Okay, verse 14: so my man, my servant, does exactly what Abraham told him to do. He packs up his camels, he packs up a few men, and he starts making this journey back to Abraham’s homeland. Now he has no idea how he’s going to choose this wife for Isaac. All he knows is that God has given him a mission. Abraham didn’t tell him, you know, «Pick the person who’s got just long brown hair and who smiles at you.» He just says, «Find a wife.» This servant, this seemingly small person on the totem pole, has been charged with carrying out the legacy of Abraham. Everything he does in this moment matters, yet he has no idea how he’s supposed to do it.
Have you ever had to move and wonder at the same time? We’ve got this servant on the road. He’s got a mission: «I know what I’m supposed to do; I just don’t know how I’m supposed to do it.» Yet he’s still moving while wondering—yes, moving while questioning, and he’s got people counting on him. It would be one thing if it was just him on his own, but he’s packed up camels and all of these different men are following behind him, and everything he does in this moment matters to his community and to his legacy. Everything is riding on this one person, this one servant, who doesn’t have a clue what he’s doing. He’s not even sure that he’s qualified enough to really carry out this mission the way he’s supposed to. So he says a prayer. Out of luck, he starts praying. He makes his place of wonder a place of worship. He makes the place of insecurity, instability, and all of these questions a place of wonder.
He prays from that place. He prays from the place that is unsure of whether or not he has what it takes. He prays from the place that doesn’t exactly see the plan very clearly but recognizes there is a mission; I’m just not sure how the mission is going to come to life. So he prays, and he tells the Lord, «Now let it be that the young woman to whom I say, 'Please let down your pitcher that I may drink, ' and she says, 'Drink, and I will also give your camels a drink, ' let her be the one you have appointed for your servant Isaac. And by this, I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.»
Stay right there for just a second because I want you to recognize that service with a mission allows you to create connections with people who look like you. What the servant basically says in this text is, «I’ll know that that is the person I’m supposed to be aligned with because they’ll have a heart of service just like me. That she won’t just ask me for a drink of water, but she’ll also feed my camels too. They won’t be upset with going the extra mile. They’ll see opportunities to serve and will add to my life. That’s how I’ll know that you’re supposed to be connected to me, when you add to me things I didn’t even ask you to add.»
Attracting People Who Serve Like You
See, when you have this gift, this light that shines down on the inside of you, this ability to make everyone feel loved and connected, when you are gifted the way people in this room are gifted, there are so many people who are attracted to your service but very few people who serve you in return—very few people who are willing to go the extra mile the way that you are. Very few people who will feed your camels and feed your men; very few people who will stay to make sure you’re taken care of. And it can make you a little bit resentful when you’re serving and receiving nothing in return.
As a matter of fact, it starts to make us bitter and honestly, a bit selfish, because we stop existing in this world as servants and start just taking what we can from people because people abused our hearts in the past. It’s hard to serve when you’ve been abused. It’s hard to give when you’ve been hurt, when you’ve been broken. It’s hard to believe that good still exists in people, even though you believe that it exists down on the inside of you. But what this servant said is, «Show me people who look like me.» Let this be your prayer in this season that God would begin to show you and attract to you people who look like you, people who recognize the beauty in serving—not just in taking but in recognizing that they have something to offer you.
So often, we find ourselves attracted to people from whom we give and give and give and then we’re upset that they don’t give in return. But the reality is, had we qualified it in the beginning, we would have recognized that they never had what it took to give to us anyway. So the person we really should be upset with is ourselves and not them because we allowed them to think it was okay to overdraft us while we invested in them. And then our hearts are broken because we served ourselves to someone who didn’t recognize our value, because we served our purpose and our spirituality and our time and our wisdom and our resources to people who didn’t fully understand the investment.
But our servant says, «I want you to show me the person who looks like me.» And verse 15 continues, and it says, «And it happened before he had finished speaking.» This was so powerful because there was something about him admitting that he wanted people who looked like him that unleashed the opportunity for people to come into his life. That God—before he had even finished his prayer—had put him in the vicinity of his miracle and didn’t even know it. Before he had even finished speaking, Rebekah came into the area where you come to draw from the water, but it wasn’t like she came in and angels started singing and arrows started pointing at her. He was in the midst of his miracle. He was in the midst of his answered prayers and didn’t even know it.
You’re Already in the Room
God wanted somebody to know tonight that you’re closer than you think you are, that I’ve already put you in the right rooms, that the people who are going to help you, the people who are going to take you to that next dimension, you’re already in the right rooms—just wait for me to highlight them. Before you had even finished your prayer, I had put you in the right room. Before you would even put tape on the box, I’d put you in the right room. Before you would even click send on the resume, I’d put you in the right room. You’re already in the vicinity of your miracle. Stop doubting me, says God; I’ve got you strategically placed in this season.
Did you not forget who your master was? Did you forget who has called you? Did you forget the mission that I have for you? I’m counting on you because I recognize that you’re going to follow through. You’re already in the room. You’ve already got the bank account. You’ve already got the businesses. You’ve already got the jobs. It’s already within your reach. The building is already there. The nonprofits are already lined up. You’re already in the room. I know it doesn’t look like it because you’re still praying, but before you had even finished your prayer, I had started attracting angels that would guide you and order your steps and lead you right where I placed you. You’re already in the room.
The marriage is already saved; the car is already on the way; the children are already healed; cancer must flee in the name of Jesus. I said the miracle is already in the room. The miracle is already in the room. The miracle is already in the room. I wish you would praise God like the miracle was already in the room. I wish you would start worshiping like the healing was already in the room, like you’re already unstoppable, like you’ve already tapped into the next dimension. I wish you would stop recognizing you’re already in the room. You’re exactly where I need you to be; you’re already—before you even finish the prayer, you’re already connected.
Your Rebekah, whatever your Rebekah is, whatever your prayer is, whatever your dream is, you’re already on the right path. The only thing standing in your way is you don’t think you’re in the room. You’re doubting whether or not you’re in the room, and God said I’ve already placed you there. Look around you! Some of you shouldn’t even be in this room tonight, but because you were already in the line of your miracle, because you were already right where I told you to be—because I make all things work together for the good of those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose, those who recognize the mission recognize that there’s nothing in my room, no obstacle, no inadequacy that God is not going to use to work together for my good.
So I’m celebrating even when it looks like I’m losing because I recognize my miracle is already in the room. Because I recognize that my God has sent me, I’m already in the room. I don’t need the degree—that’s right! I don’t need you to approve. I don’t need the deals; I don’t need the endorsements because I’m already in the room, which means it’s already mine anyway, that the mission has already been accomplished. I just have to step into the mindset of unstoppable because I’m already in the mood.
See, the enemy is somewhere trembling because somebody just tapped into their unstoppable. Somebody just recognized that they were already in the room, so they don’t have anything to be afraid of. Somebody just recognized that no weapon formed against them shall prosper. Somebody just recognized that He who is working down on the inside of me, baby, is greater than any obstacle down on the outside. I’m already—I’m already in the room! Get that down so deep in your spirit that fear cannot take it away from you, that people walking away from you can’t take that away from you. Get that down so deep in your spirit that you start walking differently, that your head starts held high into the rooms differently because you recognize there’s a blessing for me. I don’t know how it’s coming; I don’t know what it’s going to look like, but I know that You’re going to work for me. You look like you’re working against me, but when it’s all said and done, because I know whose side I’m on, this thing is going to work out for my good.
I’m already—I’m already in the room. Oh yeah! All this time I thought I was lost. I knew I was on a mission, but I didn’t know how the mission was going to take place. But I see now that I’m already in the room because I’ve been following the presence, because I’ve been following the voice of the master who sent me like a servant. So maybe, maybe I’m not as lost as I thought I was. Maybe I’m not as out of reach as I thought I was. Maybe—maybe I’m already in the room. Maybe I’m already in the room that leads to the room that leads to the room that leads to the room that leads to the room that leads to the room.
Because your room is so small right now, you can’t imagine how God could ever take something that small and turn it into the mission that He put down in your heart. But you have to trust that He’s getting you used to this room so that when He moves you to the next room, you’ve got lessons from this room and wisdom from this room and experiences from this room.
Altar Call: Awakening to Unstoppable Potential
I think I’m going to have to finish the message next week because there’s something about where we are right now that is mandating that people start awakening to the unstoppable potential that’s down on the inside of them. The unstoppable potential that’s always been there—that mistakes couldn’t take away, that abuse couldn’t take away, that broken hearts never robbed from you, that closed doors didn’t shake off of you, that bruises didn’t lose you—that there’s something happening in this room that someone is being stirred up again.
If you don’t have to leave, please don’t leave because the key to this servant recognizing he was in the room was when he opened his mouth in prayer. I want you to start speaking over that potential that’s down on the inside of you, over those questions and those wonderings that are down on the inside of you. Because our text tells us before the servant had even finished speaking, and I believe that tonight, before your prayers have even come to an amen, that God is going to begin shaking up things in your world and shaking up things in your environment. That people are going to start offering you things that you didn’t even ask for, but you told God in the secret prayers that you needed, that He’s going to start bringing and attracting people to you who recognize the call that’s on you. Instead of trying to abuse it and use it for their good, they’re going to start saying, «How can I serve you? I see something on you that’s different than I’ve seen on anyone else, and I want to know how I can use my little bit of water to serve what God is doing in your life. How I can use my little bit of water to pour seeds on what God is doing in your life.» I want to know how I can serve you.
And our word tells us, «Where two or three are gathered in His name,» if we could all in unity begin speaking those prayers into the atmosphere, into the presence of the Lord. And not just speaking them, but declaring and decreeing there is a miracle in this room for me. God, open my eyes and let me see it. There is a miracle in my life right now! I may not be aware of it; I may not recognize how to tap into it, but I know that I’m in alignment. And God, if I’m not in alignment, bring me into alignment. Bring me into a room full of miracles that I can begin to recognize how I can serve what You’re doing here on Earth.
Make me a servant; give me a mission. I don’t just want to be gifted for the sake of being gifted; I need a mission. I need a mission that helps me withstand the obstacles that stand in my way. God, help me to make this mission important to other people. God, help me to understand that with You, I am unstoppable. With You, I can do all things, so I don’t have to be afraid of anything because with You, I can do all things. So I don’t have to be afraid of anything; I don’t have to be afraid of my fears, my insecurities, my doubts, because with You, I can do all things.
If you’ve been struggling with believing that there is a mission for your life, with believing that you’re not just gifted for the sake of being gifted, but that there is a unique purpose and reason why you just took a breath, I want you to meet us down at this altar because together we’re going to come into alignment like never before, and the kingdom is going to come touch down here on Earth, and you’re going to recognize that you are a part of a royal priesthood—that God has sanctified you and set you apart from the moment you were in your mother’s womb, not so that you could just be here suffering, but because there is only one person who can carry out this mission, and it’s you. And you’re not crazy, and you’re not lost, and there is a war against that goodness that’s down on the inside of you.
But you don’t have to fight that thing on your own because there are warriors in heaven waiting for you to speak that thing in the Earth so that He can begin to dispatch hedges of protection and angels and strategies and wisdom and people who recognize who you are. That He’s just waiting on you to begin speaking that thing. If this message has been speaking to you, I want to invite you down to the altar. And yes, I know there are a few people down here already, but I promise you there’s something about admitting that you’re unsure of your mission—that you want to be confident, you want to believe you’re unstoppable, but you don’t really know how to get there. And I’m telling you that only comes when you recognize who sent you, the master who has called you and set you apart and given you a mission.
He gives you confidence to walk into rooms that seem larger than you and demand a miracle to come forth because you recognize who sent you. And if God brought me into this room, there’s something in this room for me. So I’m not leaving, and I’m not shrinking, and I’m not going to pretend like I don’t belong here because God has brought me to this point and space in my life. And we’re going to surrender ourselves under the mighty hand of God, and He’s going to give us vision, and He’s going to give us focus, and He’s going to give us confidence, and He’s going to help us to recognize that there’s nothing wrong with being a servant. That when we start asking questions like, «God, how can I serve you today?» when we start becoming like Chick-fil-A and recognizing that every person has a story, so we lend more grace than we even thought we had, and we forgive more than we thought was necessary because we recognize that life is about a mission, and we’re here to serve everyone we encounter.
We’re here to serve; we’re lights, and we have an opportunity every time we walk in the room to not just ask, «What can this room do for me?» but «God, what can I do for this room? What can I do for this industry? What can I do in this marriage? What can I do in this household? What can I do on this job? God, help me to recognize how I can serve whatever it is You’re doing in this Earth because that’s when I tap into unstoppable is when I start recognizing that my life is about serving a master who sees and knows all, who recognizes where the landmines are, where the betrayals are, and He helps to make our crooked path straight.
I want to serve You because without You, I’ve tried it, and I walked away more bruised and more broken than I had to be. So God, I just want to know how I can serve You because I know when I serve You, that You’ll elevate me, and I don’t have to worry about crashing down, that You’ll pull people away from me, but it’s only because quality people can be connected to me. I want to serve You, and when I do that, I’ll begin to see my life change. I’ll begin to see peace return; I’ll begin to see joy come back to me because I recognize that I’m living in this place of service.