To you this morning. Champion Center from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. It is so good to be back in the house. Man, I love this church. This church has a special place in my heart. This is a special platform for me. It’s probably more than just a platform. It’s because of the special people, Pastor Kevin and Pastor Sheila, the place that you have in our lives, in our hearts. And I feel exactly the same. I could ditto exactly what you said that I found out that there were other people of a different skin color who thought the same as it related to the kingdom of God and scripture and truth. And it was so encouraging for me especially in that season. And so, you know the old saying God has brought us to the kingdom for such a time as this. And I believe he brought us at the right time with the right word to share, to do something, to do some damage to the kingdom of darkness. Praise God. And so I just stand for one moment because I am so grateful to be here today. Anytime you invite me, there’s always a yes. I told our church, I can’t take another invitation this year. But if certain people call me like Pastor Kevin Gerald, we’re going to make some room. Praise God. Because I am very grateful for you and Pastor Sheila, and we’re just so much alike as couples. Our wives are alike, we are alike, and so it is just I’m so glad that you’ve welcomed me into your world and that we’re walking together in life and in ministry and so it is a privilege. So thank you so much for having me again. And my lovely wife, Pastor Tracy, is here. Praise God. 32 years and she is my ride or die. Praise God. We’ve been together for 42 years and I was like 10 years old when I met her. No, I’m just kidding. I’m just kidding. My son Jeremiah is with me today. Praise God. I don’t know the last time I was here. I don’t know if he was on staff yet maybe, but he’s joined our staff at church now and went to school, got his master’s degree, and it felt like God put ministry in his heart and so we’re grateful to have him on staff with us today. All of the pastors who are present here today. I honor you today. My great friend, Pastor Justin Enoch. Man, I just feel like God has put us on a fast track in friendship and I’m so grateful for you and thank you for being here today early and I appreciate you in the crowd and your support. Praise God. And all the other pastors that are present today, Pastor Brandon, man, I mean, we go way back, way back. And I’m so grateful to see what God is doing in your life and your ministry. And so, Pastor Danny Green, my uncle, my uncle in the house. I love you, Pastor Danny. Any other pastors? You guys can be seated. I want to welcome also, you know, all of the other campuses. Praise God. Bellevue, Yakama, DuPont, everyone who’s online, and of course all of you here at Tacoma. Man, let’s get this thing kicked off right. Amen. Pre-conference team church. Real quick before I get into the word today, Pastor Kevin mentioned my book, The Law of Loyalty. We have some in the lobby. If you come purchase one, I’ll come out and sign it. Praise God. It’s a great read. It’s a quick read. It’s really just about a missing ingredient, I believe, in today’s culture, which is loyalty. It’s a little bit different than dedication and faithfulness. Loyalty goes much deeper because you can be faithful in habit, but loyalty is in heart. And so, I think it’s something that we’re missing in many of our relationships and our marriages and our churches. And I talk about that in the book. And so, I think it’ll be a great read for you. I’m also very excited about I just started a brand new merch line. I was so encouraged and inspired by your pastor, Pastor Kevin’s True North, that I started my own merch line because I love fashion and I love colors and I started something called Kingdom Citizens. And Kingdom Citizens because really it’s my life’s message. One of our slogans is preaching the kingdom and changing the world. For 19 years, the name of our church was Kingdom Christian Center. And we changed the name in 2019 to Strongpoint Church. And so, it’s really just what I’m all about, the kingdom. And so, I got some t-shirts, some hats, got a brand new crew neck out there’s vibrant orange. So, if you like colors like I do, go out in the lobby today. Amen. I’ll meet you out there. God bless you. So, how many you ready for the word today? Let me ask one more time, church. How many of you are ready for the word today? I believe I got a word for you today. Amen. 2 Chronicles chapter 9. Oh, I got some Strongpoint family in the house as well. Let me just make sure I say hi to you guys. I think we’re bringing like 25 people to conference this year. So 2 Chronicles chapter 9:1 story of the Queen of Sheba in Solomon’s house and it says the Queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame. So she came to test Solomon with difficult questions at Jerusalem with a very large entourage with camels bearing spices, gold in abundance and precious stones. She came to Solomon and spoke with him about everything that was on her mind. Solomon answered all of her questions. Nothing was too difficult for Solomon to explain to her. When the Queen of Sheba, here’s what I want you to focus on, observed Solomon’s wisdom, the palace, the house he had built, the food at his table, his servants’ residence, his attendants, servants, and their attire, the cupbearers and their attire, and the burnt offerings he offered at the Lord’s temple. Look at what it did. It said it took her breath away. Wow. It took her breath away. And I want to kick pre-conference off this morning and I want to talk about a church that takes their breath away. Come on, everybody say that with me. A church that takes their breath away. A church that takes their breath away. The first thing I want to point out is that the Queen of Sheba observed the house that Solomon built. And the one thing people do when entering any new space is that they observe. Observation is a nonverbal form of communication and it is how we gain information. So the first thing they did was observe. She observed. They say that studies have shown that a first-time guest knows within like seven minutes of coming to the church’s property if they’ll ever return or not. It’s called observation. And I believe God is still sending some spies out to survey the land. There’s some spies in the room this morning. There’s some spies in Yakama, Dupont, and over at Bellevue. They’re in the room and they want to see if Champion Center’s reputation is real. They want to see if it flows with milk and honey, grace and truth, love and acceptance, kindness and excellence, enthusiasm and happiness. Everybody say, “A church that takes their breath away.” A church that takes their breath away. Look back at verse seven. It says, “Happy are your wives and men, and happy are these your servants who stand continually before you to hear your wisdom.” She said, “Happy, happy, happy.” Number one, the first thing she observed was their attitudes. Attitudes. She observed their attitudes. You know, one day I was in Target and I love Target and I was getting in the line and it had 13 registers and only one of them was open and I was so frustrated. I’m like, where are all of the cashiers at? And I’m standing behind about 15 people and I’m in a hurry and I’m getting aggravated and I’m about to give them a piece of my mind. I’m about to say something else but I held my peace and I stayed cool and calm, and then the line started moving. When I got to the register, the girl looked up and she said, “Hey, pastor.” I was like, “Woo, thank you, Jesus, for saving me.” I was about to blow all of my testimony with a bad attitude. Just the other day, I was driving up the highway doing about 85 and a car comes and pulls over in front of me almost causing a devastating accident. Something rose up in me. I got so angry I hit the gas pedal. I pulled up on the side of that car and I was about to give him the half-piece sign and it dawned on me that my license plate says I work for God. My point is people are always observing our attitudes. Jesus sets the tone for the church’s attitude. What is the church’s attitude when it comes to sinners? When it comes to children? When it comes to women? When it comes to other ethnicities and nationalities? Jesus sets the tone. Some churches have very serious attitudes, very strict attitudes, or self-righteous attitudes, but Jesus sets the tone for the church. The Queen of Sheba observed the attitudes of Solomon’s servants, Solomon’s men, and Solomon’s wives, and she noticed that they were all happy. Solomon got 700 wives, 300 concubines. My point is, you know you have something special when the whole house is happy to serve. You have something special when the whole house is happy to submit. You have something special when the whole house is happy to stand to hear the Word of God. You have something special when the whole house is happy to surrender the tithe unto God. You have something special when the whole house is happy to speak to and socialize with first-time guests. Somebody say, “Amen.” She noticed they weren’t smacking their lips, rolling their eyes, shaking their heads, being passive-aggressive, bullying, or gaslighting. She noticed the spiritual, positive, godly, Christlike attitude, and it took her breath away. 2 Chronicles 9:3 says, “When the Queen of Sheba observed Solomon’s wisdom, the palace he had built, the food at his table, the servants’ residence, the attendants’ service and their attire, the cupbearers and their attire, and the burnt offerings he offered at the Lord’s temple. It took her breath away.” Number two, she observed their attention to detail. The details make the difference. Healing is sometimes in the details. Deliverance is sometimes in the details. Increase is sometimes in the details. Giving tithes, serving, showing up consistently matters. Peter caught a miraculous amount of fish because he obeyed a small detail. See today in church it’s not just ushers and greeters. It’s parking lot detail, security detail, host and hospitality. Audio, visual, lighting, temperature, scent, chairs—all these details make the difference. She noticed their attendance. They weren’t just coming to church once a month, Easter, or Mother’s Day. She noticed their attire. She noticed they weren’t wearing bishop robes, clergy collars, long flowing dresses, or bonnets. She noticed the spiritual armor of God. She noticed the inward man renewed in Christ. She noticed the food at his table. Food is synonymous with the Word of God. Some churches have plenty of food, but people return to the table where the Word addresses the details of life. I need a pastor that preaches the specifics of life. Jesus did that with the woman at the well. She went and told her city, “Come see a man that has told me all of the specifics and details of my life.” She observed the atmosphere. When I come into a church, I observe the atmosphere. Is it friendly? Are people smiling? Laughing? Hugs? High-fives? Is there favor in the atmosphere? Faith? Fire? Jesus understood miracles are manifested in faith-filled atmospheres. Imagine what the Lord can do with all the faith in the room. Every Sunday we come to sing, serve, smile, stir the Spirit, and sacrifice to set the atmosphere. For years, people have been saved, healed, and set free in this atmosphere. Wisdom builds the house. Solomon’s wisdom produced an environment that impacted lives. Attitudes, details, attire, Word, and atmosphere—when aligned, they produce a church that takes people’s breath away. If you’ve never received Jesus, or if you’ve wandered from Him, now is the time to respond. Lift your hand. Let’s pray: “Father God, in the name of Jesus, I repent of my sin and turn toward You. Jesus, come into my heart and fill me with Your Spirit. I will never be the same. The rest of my life shall be the best of my life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.” Champion Center, let’s continue being a church that takes people’s breath away!