Skyfall 2024 - Finish Strong by Pastor Troy Towns

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   Well, I want to introduce my friend and Pastor Troy Towns, I think everybody should be familiar with him. He is the pastor of Next Level Ministries and the former vice chair of the Alabama Republican Party and I've known him for a long time and the thing I love about Pastor Troy is he's serious. He's serious about getting before God and making sure he knows what he's supposed to preach and teach and I've seen him do that for years. He is serious about that and I appreciate that and I know that he has a word from the Lord for us this morning. So Pastor Troy, come on and give us a word, brother. Hallelujah. Praise you, Lord. Hallelujah. Praise you, Lord. Hallelujah to your holy name. Oh, praise you, Lord, God. Thank you, Lord. We praise you, Lord. We take a moment to meditate on you and your goodness, Father God. Lord I shudder to think what my life would be if you had not sought me out and bought me with your blood. If you had not courted me with your love, I'd think about the manner of man I was. Father, I'm so grateful. And Father, now I want to pray over this word. I know you dropped it in my heart and in my spirit. And Holy Spirit, I ask you now to anoint your vessel and speak through me. I pray in Jesus' name, amen. You know, we have all heard the expression, it's not how you start, it's how you finish. But in the kingdom of God, it's a little different thought. It's how you start and it's how you finish. For the believer, the two most important moments of our Christian journey is the start and the finish. Now between those two paradigms in time, there will be highs and lows, peaks and valleys, stumbles and triumphs, promotions and setbacks, sickness and health, attacks and victories. And how we navigate those twists and turns will determine our lot in life.

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   But our start and our finish will determine the fate of our eternity. One day over a year ago, I was in the sanctuary at Next Level Ministries and I was in an intense time of prayer and intercession. I was standing right up at the podium. I was praying for my children. I was praying for myself. I was praying for the ministry, praying for the nation. And then all of a sudden, I heard the Lord speak to my spirit and he said, finish strong. You know, this is the third time that I've had the privilege to speak at Skyfall. And the other two times I was struggling to come up with a message. I was seeking God, asking him what to say. Both times I didn't feel the leading of the Lord until a few days before the conference. That's scary, y'all. But not this time. Pastor Dean asked me to speak and the very next day, or no later than two days after, I heard the same voice of God again say to me, finish strong. So our theme today will be about how you finish your race. You see, it all makes sense to me now why God had me bring this message today. Because the theme of Skyfall, the Skyfall Conference this year is staying on course. You see, you can't finish strong if you don't stay on course. And you probably won't stay on course if you don't finish strong. By the end of this message, it's going to be very clear, it's going to make all this is going to make sense to you. And we're about to watch a short video. This video depicts those who know how to finish strong. And afterwards, we're going to go right into the Word of God. So if y'all will cue up, cue that up, you're going to be blessed. The United States lost to East Germany on this final event, and they had a full muscle. Mike Franks coming through now, the crowd booing in response to that earlier incident. What a controversy. What a finish to this World Cup as the Africans are pushing back. But look at Franks. What a fantastic effort by Franks. Unbelievable run. Unbelievable by Franks.

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   We just saw them, Mitchell stumbled, so she's going to have to go out. Looks like Rosa Flanagan out in front. This is a turn up, but Vic Mitchell coming home. Rosa Flanagan, the 18-year-old from New Zealand, coming over the final steeple. Vic Mitchell coming from way back. She tripped at the final water jump. But look at this as she storms over the line. Vic Mitchell come back there, unofficial time of 9.56. The end of the World Press Country Champion. He's sucking up, punching, the rain has come. Angelino is making a move as well. 8.7-15. The team of 18, Faun and I post up on the the competition. And we're going to do it. We're going to do it. We're going to do it. The time is coming. We're going to do it. We're going to do it. We're going to do it. We're going to do it. We're going to do it. We're going to do it. We're going to do it. We're going to do it. This is where we're all going to do it. Caroline overtakes him, 600 meters in. 17.98. Man is very far. And Barbosa goes fast, proud. And look at Ermusic! Come now, look at the Olympic champion, it's absolutely breathtaking. He stormed to Barbosa and Linne has come fast. Barbosa holds on. only too many. The Olympic champion and the defending champion. And that is a storming round. Look at the clock. 144, 85 and Sebastian goes for a record of that's it. Finish strong. If that don't get your blood flowing, check your pulse. Finish

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   strong. That's what the Lord was talking about there. How many of you have ever run track before? I used to run track. Anybody? Can you feel that? Finish strong. That's what the Lord is saying. You guys, we have two foundational scriptures today. The first one is going to be Hebrews chapter two. I'm sorry, chapter 12 verse two. And it says, looking unto Jesus who is the author and the finisher of our faith. Oh, hallelujah. The Bible says he's the the author, he's the originator, he's the inventor. You could say that Jesus wrote the book on faith. He's the author and the finisher of our faith. And our second foundational scripture we find in Philippians chapter 1 verse 6 saying, being confident of this very thing that he which has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Christ Jesus. Has he started good work in you? He said he's faithful to perform it to the end. Amen. I want to read that Philippians 1 and 6 in the Amplified. It says, I am convinced and confident of this very thing that he who has begun a good work in you will continue to perfect and complete it until the day Jesus Christ the time of his return. If it's one point I'd like to get across to you this morning is that our God, he's a finisher. He's a finisher. Y'all remember back in the day when when your parents would tell you, now don't you go around starting no mess. But if somebody get up in your face, it probably was your dad that told you this. They said he said, listen if they started, you finish it. Amen. Y'all remember that? But let me tell you something about our God. If he starts it, he's gonna finish it. Amen. You know even when I think about Job, y'all know Job started, I mean you know y'all know God started that fight. Satan was bragging, I got everybody in the world, everybody. I got everybody. I'm controlling everybody and God said, but what about my servant Job? He started the fight and it didn't look like it was going well but at the end of it, Job got double for his trouble. Our God, he's a finisher. If he starts it, he can finish it. Now let's put up Ecclesiastes 9 and 11. Says this, I returned and saw under the sun that the race is not given to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding. As the Holy Spirit led me to this verse,

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