T.D. Jakes delivers sermon at Potter’s House for first time since health incident (2025)

The Potter’s House lit up with energy on New Year’s Eve as its founder, Bishop T.D. Jakes, returned to the Dallas megachurch’s stage for the first time since suffering what his church called a “slight health incident” in November.

Shortly after the start of the packed Tuesday night service, a video played on stage signaling Jakes’ return. Clips of news broadcasts announcing Jakes’ health scare played before a series of people repeated versions of the message: “Welcome back.”

Advertisement

Bishop T.D. Jakes of Dallas’ Potter’s House church: what to know

Advertisement

Jakes entered the stage to an eruption of applause from his congregation.

Breaking News

Get the latest breaking news from North Texas and beyond.

Or with:

Google

Facebook

By signing up you agree to ourTerms of ServiceandPrivacy Policy

“I cannot tell you how glad I am to be in the house of the Lord tonight; I missed you,” he said.

During a November service at his church, Jakes began to shake after finishing a prayer and was quickly surrounded on stage by men in suits as shouts could be heard from the congregation.

Advertisement

T.D. Jakes delivers sermon at Potter’s House for first time since health incident (1)

The Potter’s House has not explained what caused the health scare, though Jakes said on social media in November that it was not a stroke.

In a service a week after the incident, Jakes appeared in a livestreamed video and said he “feels good and is in no pain.”

Advertisement

“Many of you don’t realize that you’re looking at a miracle,” he said in the video. “I faced a life-threatening calamity, was rushed to the ICU unit; I had emergency surgery. I survived the surgery. I’m back.”

Advertisement

‘Standing here as a testimony’

During the New Year’s Eve service, Jakes began his hourlong sermon by talking more about the health scare.

“If all the odds have been against you, and if they couldn’t hardly get a pulse on you, and if you couldn’t hardly recognize anybody and everybody said you weren’t gonna make it, I’m standing here as a testimony,” he said.

Advertisement

T.D. Jakes says he’s in good spirits and in no pain after health scare

“I don’t come as Bishop Jakes; I come as Bishop Lazarus to let you know that with God all things are possible,” Jakes said, referencing a man in the Bible who is brought back from the dead.

Jakes thanked his church for praying for him. “You went right into spiritual warfare,” he said. “You fought. … You spoke in tongue[s], you cried, you prayed, you prevailed, you danced, you laid prostrate on the floor, and every time you did it, death had to back up off of me.”

“They had oxygen up my nose. I was breathing in what you was putting out, baby,” he said.

Advertisement

‘You need the Lord’

Throughout the rest of his sermon, Jakes reflected on the past year, looked to the year ahead and frequently returned to the refrain “You need the Lord.” He described 2024 as a “tough, tough year,” citing a “clickbait attack, artificial intelligence, rumors gone wild.”

T.D. Jakes of Potter’s House experiences ‘slight health incident’ during Sunday sermon

At the end of 2023 and the beginning of 2024, a slew of videos on TikTok, YouTube and other social media platforms spread rumors about Jakes’ alleged ties to Sean “Diddy” Combs.

Advertisement

In May, the fact-checking website Snopes said videos spreading “false and unfounded rumors” about Jakes and Combs, some with hundreds of thousands of views, were at least partially created with artificial intelligence.

T.D. Jakes delivers sermon at Potter’s House for first time since health incident (2)

Combs has been accused of sexual assault and sex trafficking in a series of lawsuits since November 2023.

After Jakes’ sermon, award-winning gospel artist Pastor Mike Jr. performed several of his hit songs accompanied by thundering drums, strobe lights and a crew of backup dancers. At one point, most of the audience members held one another’s hands and jumped up and down while the gospel singer yelled a refrain.

Advertisement

As midnight approached, an on-screen clock counted down to the new year as Jakes’ daughter Sarah Jakes Roberts invoked God’s blessings in a voice that rose to a fever pitch.

To end the night, the church gathered to watch fireworks from the building’s parking lot.

AI-fueled videos spread rumors about Bishop T.D. Jakes, fact-checking site says

Verenda Harper has been attending the church since she went to its New Year’s Eve service 14 years ago. Jakes’ sermon left her in tears. “I was here when the incident actually happened,” she said, “so to see him walk on stage alive and breathing, still vibrant — it just did my soul and my spirit well.”

Advertisement

Hubert Robinson has attended the church and its New Year’s Eve service for several years. “God allowed him [Jakes] to be restored and have the ability to come back to serve God’s people,” Robinson said. “He was able to encourage the saints to know that through God’s faith, having the faith in God, you can be restored.”

Adrian Ashford covers faith and religion in North Texas for The Dallas Morning News through a partnership with Report for America.

Related Stories

View More

    TV host and author Joyce Meyer plans to pause her program with Daystar Television Network

    Letters to the Editor — Here’s what readers think of the Ten Commandments in schools

    Faith-based group pushes UnitedHealth Group to study denials in wake of CEO murder

    Dallas megachurch Watermark ‘aware’ of staffer’s sex offender status, his platform remains

    Bishop T.D. Jakes files motion to subpoena Google, says AI-generated videos defamed him

By Adrian Ashford

Adrian Ashford covers faith and religion in North Texas for The Dallas Morning News through a partnership with Report for America.

Connect:

T.D. Jakes delivers sermon at Potter’s House for first time since health incident (2025)

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Nathanial Hackett

Last Updated:

Views: 6129

Rating: 4.1 / 5 (52 voted)

Reviews: 83% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Nathanial Hackett

Birthday: 1997-10-09

Address: Apt. 935 264 Abshire Canyon, South Nerissachester, NM 01800

Phone: +9752624861224

Job: Forward Technology Assistant

Hobby: Listening to music, Shopping, Vacation, Baton twirling, Flower arranging, Blacksmithing, Do it yourself

Introduction: My name is Nathanial Hackett, I am a lovely, curious, smiling, lively, thoughtful, courageous, lively person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.