🔥Sunday Service, July 5, 2026

This message is based on Matthew 8:5–13, where the Roman centurion asks Jesus to heal his paralyzed servant. The central theme is: “Only speak the word, and my servant will be healed.” Pastor Jose uses this passage to teach about authority, faith, obedience, identity, and the power of words.

The Centurion Understood Authority

The centurion was a man with military authority, but he also understood that Jesus carried a higher spiritual authority. He knew Jesus did not need to physically enter his house to heal his servant. A spoken word from Jesus was enough.

The sermon emphasizes that true authority comes from being under authority. A believer cannot walk in God’s power while ignoring God’s commands, principles, and order.

Faith Requires Humility and Surrender

The centurion said he was not worthy for Jesus to come under his roof. This showed humility, honesty, and spiritual awareness. He did not pretend everything was in order. He simply trusted the authority of Jesus’ word.

Pastor Jose explains that many people miss their miracle because they make excuses, deny their condition, or try to help God instead of cooperating with Him. Faith means trusting God’s word and surrendering to His authority.

Words Carry Spiritual Power

A major focus of the message is the power of the mouth. The sermon warns that many believers do not pay attention to what they say. Words can build, bless, encourage, and heal, but they can also destroy, weaken, and create strongholds.

Pastor Jose connects this to Proverbs 18:21, teaching that the tongue has the power of life and death. Believers are encouraged to stop declaring defeat, lack, failure, and hopelessness over their lives.

The Mind Is a Battlefield

The sermon teaches that the enemy often works through confusion, insecurity, comparison, offense, and negative thoughts. Small things, such as not receiving a compliment or feeling overlooked, can become mental battles if they are not handled with truth.

Believers must take authority over their minds and think the way God thinks about them. They are not called to live beneath their identity in Christ.

Identity Must Be Rooted in God

Pastor Jose strongly emphasizes that believers must know who they are in God. If they do not, the enemy can use people, circumstances, or emotions to move them out of position.

The sermon warns against minimizing oneself or agreeing with words that contradict what God has spoken. Believers are called to walk with confidence, not pride, because their identity comes from the Kingdom of God.

Self-Awareness Is Necessary for Spiritual Maturity

The centurion is presented as a self-aware man. He understood his position, emotions, motives, desires, and limitations. He did not have an identity crisis.

Pastor Jose teaches that self-awareness helps believers recognize what they need to surrender, correct, and bring under God’s authority. Without self-awareness, people often blame others instead of examining their own words, attitudes, and decisions.

Authority Begins at Home

The sermon uses the example of a homeowner preparing the house for different seasons. Just as a homeowner protects the house from insects, mice, weather, and damage, believers must protect their spiritual lives, homes, and families.

Pastor Jose teaches that order matters. Parents should not allow children to run the house. Families need principles, boundaries, and healthy authority. Without order, confusion can enter.

Believers Must Stop Speaking Defeat

Pastor Jose gives practical examples of changing language:

Instead of saying, “I’m broke,” say, “I’m on a budget.”

Instead of saying, “My marriage is under attack,” say, “My marriage is under construction.”

Instead of declaring that children are “acting up,” speak with hope and correction rather than defeat.

The point is not denial. The point is to speak with faith, wisdom, and alignment with God’s Word.

The Word of God Goes the Distance

The centurion believed that Jesus’ word could travel beyond physical distance and heal his servant. Pastor Jose teaches that God’s Word still has power to reach situations that people cannot personally fix.

The spoken word of Jesus carried authority. The centurion’s faith and attitude activated that word in his situation.

Stop Focusing More on the Problem Than the Solution

The sermon challenges believers who become consumed by their problems. Pastor Jose says that for every problem, there are solutions, but the first solution is often to get out of your own way.

People sometimes delay what God wants to do because they overthink, complain, speak negatively, or try to control the outcome.

God Wants Cooperation, Not Human Control

Pastor Jose explains that God does not need people to “help” Him accomplish the impossible. God needs cooperation, obedience, and faith.

When God begins answering prayer, believers should be careful not to ruin the moment with wrong attitudes, suspicion, sarcasm, or negative words.

Moses and the Red Sea as an Example of Trust

The sermon uses Moses at the Red Sea to show that God already had control, even when the situation looked impossible. Pharaoh was behind them, the Red Sea was in front of them, and millions of people needed to cross.

Moses had to obey God and extend the rod. Pastor Jose explains that the rod represented God’s promise and authority. When Moses obeyed, God made a way.

Do Not Rush God’s Process

The Israelites’ journey should have taken 11 days, but it became 40 years because of murmuring, complaining, and disobedience. Pastor Jose uses this to warn believers not to lengthen their own process through negative speech and poor attitudes.

Some people say they “should have been there” by now, but they have not considered how their words, attitudes, and choices may have delayed their growth.

The Morning Is the Gate to the Day

Pastor Jose teaches that the way a person begins the morning often shapes the rest of the day. Believers should command the day with faith instead of allowing weather, emotions, phones, news, or social media to control their attitude.

Even rain should be viewed with gratitude because it serves a purpose. The message encourages believers to see life through God’s perspective.

Four Biblical Principles About Words

1. The Heart Is the Source

What people speak flows from what is stored in the heart. Bitterness, unforgiveness, trauma, and resentment can produce sickness, stress, and destructive speech.

The sermon encourages believers to confront negative thoughts with the Word of God before they become strongholds.

2. Speech Is a Mirror of Character

Words reveal a person’s character, values, and spiritual condition. Pastor Jose encourages listeners to pay attention to their reactions, assumptions, and complaints.

Small reactions can reveal deeper issues in the heart.

3. Words Impact Others

Believers must consider how their words affect other people. Words should be seasoned with love, compassion, and wisdom.

The sermon does not encourage tolerating wrong behavior, but it does call for correction that is loving, careful, and spiritually mature.

4. Words Call Believers to Action

Words should align with God’s will. Believers should pray before making decisions, receiving opportunities, entering relationships, accepting advice, or responding to situations.

Pastor Jose teaches that not every open door is from God, and not every suggestion should be accepted without prayer.

Speak Life Over People and Situations

The sermon encourages believers to see people through God’s eyes. Even when someone is still growing, trying, or imperfect, believers should look for hope and speak life.

Pastor Jose gives examples such as encouraging someone who is learning, appreciating small steps of growth, and not immediately criticizing what is incomplete.

Gratitude Changes Perspective

Believers are encouraged to thank God for what they have now, even if it is not where they want to end up. A house, apartment, job, car, family, or current season can be a starting place.

The message teaches that gratitude helps believers enjoy the present while trusting God for what is next.

Final Message

The sermon closes with a call to be careful with words because every person will give account for what comes out of their mouth. The overall message is that believers must live under God’s authority, speak with faith, protect their identity, and use words to bring life instead of destruction.