Mid-Atlantic Rally Sermons Address Attitudes of the Heart
Updated: 2 hours ago
From Thursday, September 17 through Saturday, September 19, the Clifton Heights Potter‘s House hosted the 2026 Mid-Atlantic Rally. Pastors Scott Lamb, Rick Martinez, and Jon Overson preached a series of sermons crafted to address issues of the heart. Visitors from churches throughout the East Coast, from Rhode Island to Virginia, gathered to hear these biblical messages.
Pastor Overson preached about the difficult road we face in life and in ministry. He said that when the hard thing is the right thing, we must follow God and not turn back. Pastor Overson gave Moses as an example of someone who faced hard things and yet persevered in what God called him to do. Moses worked in obscurity, tending sheep in the desert, where his circumstances didn’t give him much hope. Then he was called by God to deliver his people from bondage and lead them into the promised land. He had to deal with complainers, and he had to deal with himself. He saw the promised land and never got to live there, yet he appeared in the New Testament at the transfiguration of Jesus. God leads us through hard places to develop us and to help us work through doubt and rebellion. He will meet us, help us, and bring us through.
Pastor Lamb preached four sermons at the rally. He began with a message based on 1 Corinthians 4:15–17. “Even if you had ten thousand guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me. For this reason I have sent to you Timothy, my son whom I love, who is faithful in the Lord. He will remind you of my way of life in Christ Jesus, which agrees with what I teach everywhere in every church.”
Pastor Lamb stated that our church is more than a just a program, a method, or a body of doctrine. We have many influences, but also a spiritual father in Wayman Mitchell. Pastor Mitchell did not make us what we are, since all that we are comes from God. But God put a vision in our founder, which lives on in our craving for a spiritual movement. “We want to touch the world,” said Pastor Lamb. “We want to be a force to be reckoned with. We are not content to have a small meeting. We want to shake the Earth.”
Speaking of ancient apostolic truth, Pastor Lamb said, “We are not the only ones who have it. There are other strains and other wings of Christian consecration.” He then went on to explain our fellowship’s place in world evangelism, and how our own spiritual father was able to transmit to us a type of spiritual DNA through his commitment to three things.
The first is preaching. “We are not all called to pulpit ministry,” stated Pastor Lamb, “But we all will preach the gospel, and create an environment where preachers can rise up.” The second thing is prayer. We gather before service and contend together, getting ahold of God. The third thing is vision. We evangelize, make disciples, and plant churches.
Paul called Timothy his spiritual son because Timothy was gripped by Paul’s vision. This, Pastor Lamb observed, is a spiritual impartation, from heart to heart, not just a body of philosophy. God takes the truth that we know and breathes life into it. The Spirit draws us into the kingdom of God. Then we want to be a part of something bigger, which leads to the process of discipleship.
Pastor Lamb‘s second sermon was from Proverbs 5:21, Job 34:21, Hebrews 4:13, 2 Chronicles 16:9 and Psalm 139. He preached that our lives are a matter of record, because God is watching us. This is a source of enormous fear if we are not living right, since we can’t sneak around and get away with anything. Yet it is also a source of encouragement. Nothing can blindside us because God is protecting us. He chose us, knowing who we are, and He loves us. We live our lives in front of God, and that is reassuring, since He knows our struggles. We need to live in the face of God with the conscious, deliberate knowledge that what we choose and what we do is done before Him. We don’t want to dishonor Him or ignore Him. We want to meet with his approval, which requires serious prayer.
Pastor Lamb told the congregation to slow down and to not be impulsive. He said to consider what God wants. It is easy, he said, to slip into carnality, live in our flesh, and spend a lot of time offending God. It is easy to ignore our conscience and silence our better instincts. We get caught up in the world around us, which isn’t the real world. The real world is the spiritual world. When God dwells in us, our behavior should change. He shares his nature with us and helps us to be holy.
In a sermon on marriage, Pastor Lamb quoted Diane Sawyer, who said, “Marriage is a contest of generosity.” Referencing Deuteronomy 25:4 and 1 Corinthians 7:32-34, Pastor Lamb spoke about the ideal of marriage and the profound selfishness of mankind. Selfish thinking makes marriages die. Narcissistic people believe their spouse is supposed to make them happy, or else be replaced by someone who will. But marriage is the opposite of that. Marriage should be a relationship where each seeks the other’s happiness. “God has breathtaking, self-sacrificing love for people who don’t deserve it,“ said Pastor Lamb. “Marriage is the great unselfing machine.”
Finally, Pastor Lamb preached a sermon using 1 Peter 5:7. “Cast all your anxiety on Him because he cares for you.” While describing a world in which our anxieties create a heavy weight upon us, Pastor Lamb noted that it is painful to constantly process worries. “We lean into the negative, because the positive doesn’t need a solution,” he said. “But we need to learn how to deal with these cares.” Many problems, he preached, are out of our hands and we cannot fix them. God says to cast all of our cares on him. Jesus said, “Without Me, you can do nothing.“
Pastor Lamb explained how the Father sent the Holy Spirit as our defender, helper, comforter, and counselor. The Spirit will give us wisdom, lead us along the right path, remind us of God‘s promises, and give us faith and truth. Little children are blissful and carefree because they have protectors and providers. We need that childlike trust. God is our Father. He is not distant. He knows how to give good gifts, and He knows exactly how to fix things.
Pastor Rick Martinez is a fiery preacher who delivered very wise sermons at the rally. He preached a message about the heart, which is the center of the person. It is the place where God makes his appeal. But it is also a place of ignorance, evil, and deceit. “God wants your heart, said Pastor Martinez. “He doesn’t want your possessions, your talent, or your charisma, only your heart.” God, he said, wants to control your heart’s direction.
The sermon discussed idols of the heart, which cause people to stumble into iniquity. An idol is more than a statue, or a celebrity. “An idol is a substitute,” explained Pastor Martinez. “It’s anything we love and pursue more than God, or place side-by-side with God. An idol of the heart is very subtle. It’s not seen or noticed overtly, or necessarily evil in and of itself… God is jealous, and he has the right to be. He wants your heart for himself.”
Pastor Martinez stated that loving the things of the world will disrupt your connection to God. Repent, he preached, and spurn your idols. Welcome the Word of God and the conviction of the Holy Spirit. Push away bitterness and selfish desires. There is no place in the heart for dual loyalties.
Pastor Martinez also preached a sermon entitled “The Fence of Offense”, inspired by Proverbs 18:19. “A brother wronged is more unyielding than a fortified city; disputes are like the barred gates of a citadel.”
Pastor Martinez observed, “Christians should be the best at dealing with conflict and offense, but often we’re the worst. People get all twisted up and offended. Nothing better gages the spiritual maturity of a person than how we deal with conflict, violation, and offense.”
As a gangster before his conversion, Pastor Martinez was able to reconcile with another gangster who had literally stabbed him. Yet in the church, he said, many people are unable to let go of grievances. They build an immovable fence around their life. Jesus said that offenses are inevitable. It’s impossible to make it through life without being offended, or without offending someone else.
“Yet,” said Pastor Martinez, “Most believers act shocked —‘ I can’t believe they said that to me!’ We shouldn’t act shocked… the kingdom of God, the church, is about people. People are imperfect. As long as there’s people, there’s going to be opportunities to hurt one another. You’ve never offended someone? You’ve never said something dumb? If you’re perfect, you don’t belong here. You belong in heaven.”
He discussed how the selfishness we have as children can follow us into adulthood and even into the kingdom of God. “Be quick to apologize,” he advised.
Pastor Martinez explained that bitter people are stunted in their spiritual growth and unable to function in their calling. Satan uses bitterness to divide the saints, because a divided house will fall. A bitter spirit fills people with hatred. Some people come to the house of God with a
contentious spirit, waiting to be offended, until no one wants to be around them.
Pastor Martinez said to do whatever it takes to get right with people. He said that when you love Jesus, you don’t have time for hate. Love the law, the word of God, the church, and the things of God so that offenses won’t ensnare you. Move on, and God will give you peace.
At the conclusion of the Mid-Atlantic rally, many attendees had been inspired by the sermons and were encouraged by their fellowship with other believers. God willing, the Mid-Atlantic Rally will occur again next September.
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