The Power of Words, Bible Study 05/18/11

The power of Words

Synopsis of Bible Study 05/18/11

Delivered by Bishop Walker III

Some acronyms we are talking about when we talk about “words” are outreach, relationship, and discipleship. We expect something to happen as we pass through this life. A “word” for us (as children of God) is a systematic way to make sure the changes that we expect take place in our life, so you can be the Christian you desire to be while giving God the glory.

I. Worship

1. The purpose of worship is to glorify and praise God. It is not about what we do, but who we are.
2. It requires humility. Pride goes just before destruction according to the bible. In order to worship God, we have to know the power of humbling ourselves before him. James 4:6 says 6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.” James 4:10 says 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.-Humility is important. Too many of us go before God with pride and egos. God will not share his glory with anyone. We are not worshipping some building or our ego. We are literally worshipping God and we are under his authority.
3. This is the season where God desires worship. John 4:23 NKJV says 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. – In other words, the Lord desires a certain kind of worship. It is not the type that is fabricated. John 4:24 NKJV 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”-Our flesh can’t glory in God. Once we have submitted ourselves with our flesh out of the way, we find ourselves inadequate in his presence, and as result we ask if he doesn’t mind, will he accept our praise to him.
   1. Paul deals with this on mars hill in Acts 17 which is the Mecca of scholars. Paul tries to explain what this is about how our worship must be portable. In Acts 17:24 NKJV which says 24 God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. -  Religion will confine worship to the sanctuary. The problem with religion is that it will cause you to come to the temple or the church in the name of form and fashion, have a heavenly experience in the temple, and allow you to leave with ability to still give people hell. True worship moves beyond the building. Ex- The Mt Zion congregation moved from the Jefferson St location, to the World Baptist Center, to the Gentry Center, to here. During this process, we learned how to worship God on throw back chairs and bleachers. When you think about how good God is, it is easy to worship him anywhere. People of this generation act as though God needs us. Paul reminds us that he doesn’t. In Acts 17:25 NKJV it says 25 Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. We worship because we need it, not him.
   2. What does worship do and why is it important? It will change your mental environment. Ex- People often want to know when Bishop made the curve concerning his success with Mt Zion. They want to know how he got his church to grow. The answer to this is that it was all about the mind set. Bishop had to get Mt Zion to change its mental environment. You can’t get big when little got you. The thing that can change your mental environment is worship. Ex- People at work have put you in a funk. You get your ipod and turn it on a worship song and it takes you to a place that no one is aware of. That song changed your mental environment. After all the baggage and stuff you dealt with today, we want to get ready for you to receive the word when you get to the house of God. This is why we worship during praise and worship before service starts. poll 2:5, Romans 12:2 NKJV says 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God., Colossians 3:2 NKJV says 2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. Worship takes you to another place. – Here at this Ministry, we focus on worship. We are in belief of setting the atmosphere.
   3. 5 ingredients of worship
      1. Attending church- There are people now that have an option. Hebrews 10:25 NKJV says 25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.-Things happen when you come to church. Ex- Mt Zion Anywhere is designed for people out of the city and who or traveling and can’t make it to the church building. Sometimes things happen here (in the church) that can’t happen on the internet or TV.
      2. Entering Gods’ presence- We are not here to see who is here. We are trying to have an encounter with God’s presence. Psalms 16:11 NKJV says 11 You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore., Psalm 42:1 NLT  ¹ As the deer longs for streams of water, so I long for you, O God. – We are like a deer that has been on the run. The word is like the water for that deer. It restores us.
      3. Enjoying God’s presence – Psalm 100:4 says ⁴Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name. – Some people look at you on your job and wonder what your hurry and your hype is to go to church. All you have to do is tell them this:  Psalms 122:1 NKJV says 1 I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go into the house of the Lord.”- You got to enjoy going to church. If you are not happy to be going to church that’s a problem. Who signs up to go to oppression? I ain’t going to sit down for two hours in a church service and be unhappy. If you are not happy to go to church, you are probably going to the wrong place.
      4. Listening to God- Matthew 11:15 NKJV says 15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear! – We believe God is going to send a word for our life. We hear gods voice all in our situation. We believe God’s word.
      5. Respond to God and the community of faith – It is not unilateral. It is not about just receiving. It is about giving. Ex-Bishop explains that it always bothers him to hear people say, “Now we have come to part of the service where we can all participate.” Participate; what have you been doing throughout the service up until that point? Proverbs 3:9 NKJV says 9 Honor the Lord with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase; – Offering is worship. Malachi 3:8-11 NKJV says 8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. 9 You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. 11 And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” Says the Lord of hosts;- The storehouse is where you are being fed and where your needs are met. The enemy will try to come in and mess up your income and savings, but God will come and say, “Not here, that’s a tither!” You are recession proof because you are a tither!
      6. Gods empowering- Here at Mt Zion we ask you to give and we leave it at that. We don’t oversee you and your tithe practices. We don’t have any miracle water for you either. All we are going to do is give you the word and let you decide for yourself. We don’t check your w2s here. We want you to give according to the word of God and because you love God. Where a man’s heart is, his treasure will be.
      7. We (meaning Mt Zion) are a Full Gospel Baptist Church. Bishop Paul Morton is our international presiding Bishop. The Full Gospel doctrine means less of us and more of him. In this doctrine, we believe in the power of the Holy Spirit taking over the control of the total man. Full Gospel is a merge of Baptist and Pentecostal. We believe in the ordination of women in ministry and the 5 fold gifts. We embrace these things and think they ought to flow. We are not codependent on the Pastor to do for us what they can have the power to do for ourselves. Mark 16:17 NKJV says 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; – There are a lot of people who end up codependent on the Pastor. When we understand that we have this power in us, we don’t run from demons. We have the authority. We want to live empowered lives. It is like driving your car and the manual in it tells you all you that you can do. We often don’t read the manual and therefore don’t operate in the fullness of the car. In like manner, if you are traditional and don’t operate in fullness, this is why you will not worship. If you read the manual (the bible), you will see that you don’t have to put up with the things you put up with.

      II. Outreach

      1. Scripture provides us with principles on how we operate in the world.
         1. Following Jesus means putting our faith into action- Luke 6:46-49 NKJV says 46 “But why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say? 47 Whoever comes to Me, and hears My sayings and does them, I will show you whom he is like: 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock. 49 But he who heard and did nothing is like a man who built a house on the earth without a foundation, against which the stream beat vehemently; and immediately it fell. And the ruin of that house was great.”- We have faith, but it must have works tied to it. We must put faith into action. Jesus gave it when he gave his life for us.
         2. If we love God, we love people in action too. 1 John 3:18 NKJV says 18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth., 1 John 4:7-8 NKJV says 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.- There will be people that don’t believe what we believe, but we must still love them. We can agree to disagree. We don’t make these hierarchies of sin. We are not a church that pushes people away. Regardless of your issue, we love you.
         3. Proclaiming and demonstrating God’s love in action go hand in hand – Luke 9:2 NKJV says 2 He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.- Jesus just didn’t say what he was going to do, he did it. We can’t stand being in a meeting with people that is telling us the problem that we already know about. We need an action plan. We are a church empowered to make things happen
         4. God cares for the whole person- Outreach is not just in one area. We believe God is concerned about the total man. He wants you to prosper in every area of your life. As a church, we minister to peoples physical and spiritual needs. Ex- If you are out ministering and somebody said that they were hungry, praying is one thing, but you need to feed this person. Outreach is whole-istic. It meets the total need. We have program to get back on feet.
         5. God desires individuals to live in health communities and just societies. Jeremiah 29:7 NKJV says 7 And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace.-It was God’s desirer that the city be restored. We bring the peace of God into outreach. We don’t want you to come to church to get face time. We have acronym we use here at Mt Zion called SPAM which means Social Political Action Community. It is all about whole-istic change
         6. God has a special place in our heart for those who are poor and vulnerable. Jeremiah 22:16 NKJV says 16 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; Then it was well. Was not this knowing Me?” says the Lord.-Remember we have a big heart for those who are poor and vulnerable. People see the presence of God through us. Ex- When we bring canned goods and groceries in to give out to the needy, they don’t see us, they see God. Proverbs 19:17 NKJV says 17 He who has pity on the poor lends to the Lord, And He will pay back what he has given. – God will bless you for taking care of the poor.
         7. God’s people are to be an instrument of blessing to the world – We are blessed to be a blessing. Genesis 12:2 NKJV says 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. – God didn’t bless this ministry for us not to be a blessing. We are blessed to be a channel of blessings. God trusts you with a blessing so you can help someone else.
         8. The church’s ministry is incarnational- When we follow Jesus for example, we enter into brokenness, and as a result we end up in God’s presence. Philippians 2:1-8 NKJV says 1 Therefore if there is any consolation in Christ, if any comfort of love, if any fellowship of the Spirit, if any affection and mercy, 2 fulfill my joy by being like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. 3 Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. 4 Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others. 5 Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, 6 who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, 7 but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. – We as the church are the ambassadors and representatives of the world. When you came to these 3 locations and you gave the foods and bags and volunteered to pass them out, the recipients didn’t see you, they saw Jesus Christ. When you went to Alabama and helped them rebuild, they didn’t see us, they saw Christ. This is who we are.
         9. The Holy Spirit empowers us to participate in ministry. Ephesians 2:10 NKJV says 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.- God wants us to work in the body of Christ.
         10. The church’s Ministry is to work in the kingdom of God. Luke 10:9 NKJV says 9 And heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’- The reason why we have Antioch debt free is because we want to do kingdom work. There used to be clubs and all kind of sinful activity where our Antioch location is located. Now not only is a church there, but we have built a place called Kid’s Zone. The Kingdom is bigger than fighting. When you are kingdom minded, you don’t care where you go, as long as you go to church. We celebrate what God is doing in every church across this nation.

         III. Relationship

      2. 1 John 1:7 NKJV says 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.- There is a Greek word called koinonia which means fellowship, to share in common. Assimilating and believing coming as one. We are the body of Christ. The body needs proper blood circulation – Paul shares this in 1 Corinthians 12:27 NKJV where it says 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. – Paul was making a comparison. The body of Christ must see itself as body anatomy. The body works in this amazing way together.One thing affects the other. Each of us are different members, but we are all part of the body of Christ. It is those parts that are not most popular that is the most important, such as the ankle. Just graze the ankle and see how good you get around. In like manner, those people you never see that work behind the scenes, make it happen. They are very important!
         1. Think about the body. The blood is a cleansing agent. It supplies oxygen and passes through kidneys and other organs. If a part of your body was to be severed, it will cause that part to become infected. Survival can only happen with continued circulation of the blood. The blood is what causes us to be in relationship with Jesus Christ. The devil wants to stop the blood flow. If he does, because of our issue, he has affected the whole flow of the body. This is why when you got the blood, you have to say that you have a responsibility to get along with others. You don’t stop the flow.
         2. Fellowship is the practice of loving the brethren- Rejecting fellowship leads us away from God. This is why you learn to be in relationship. You have to get connected. You need somebody to be there for you. Example: Many people complain that Mt Zion is too big of a church. You must understand that you can be in a church of just 20 people and it be too big as well, based your interaction with it.
         3. Be an active part of Christian fellowship- If you a teacher, find in the body of Christ where you can to teach. If you can sing, find somewhere you can sing.
         4. Discipleship- This is about training- Matthew 28:19-20 NKJV says 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. – The Great Commission commissions us to come down and give life to Christ. When you got baptized, you were supposed to go to a program to train you with the basics (such as new discipleship class, Sunday School, and etc…). You need to be trained, because you are entering the greatest battle of your life. Nobody goes to the Army on Monday and on Tuesday they go to Afghanistan. You go through basic training to learn to deal with your weapon and understanding principles of warfare and battle. What we mean is you can’t just depend on just a tape of the service for this. 2 Timothy 2:15 NKJV says 15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.-When you can understand the power of this, you will want to know why you believe what you believe. How many of you have been on a job where you had to undergo training. In every area of life, we believe in training, but we don’t seem to believe in it when it comes to serving God. We talk about illiteracy, and it is painful to think about it. Nobody ever talks about Christian illiteracy. There are people have been church for 20yrs and you tell them to turn to the book Job and they think Job is the word job (as in work). You learn everything you want to learn, so we can learn about how to serve God. Everything you learned, you stayed with it. You put the time in. Take advantage of all opportunities to learn more about God. Bishop Walker wants to pastor a smart church. We got to do better. Let’s do an exercise. Turn to the book of Hezekiah. Did you find it? This is not a book of the bible. This is one example of why we need to learn more about the God we serve.
         5. Must engage in evangelism – Make sure you take to opportunity to tell people about God. We all have a responsibility to add to the church and lead people back to God, while at the same time introducing him to those who don’t know him.

Life in perspective Pt II “A word while you are waiting” Sermon 12/13/09

Life in perspective Pt 2
A word while you are waiting
Synopsis of Sermon 12/13/09
Delivered by Bishop Walker III
There is an incredible tension among all of us that is tied to our expectation. The tension is our expectation against God’s timing. We know God has made us promises. The challenge is in waiting for God to deliver. The promises of God remain yeah and amen. They are given to us through obedience. As a Christian, it is our responsibility while waiting on the promise of God, we must do good. Regardless to how people act to us, we are instructed to turn the other cheek and pray for those who despitefully use us. We are instructed to love those that are unlovable. Sometimes the best of us struggle with this. This is hard because when we try to do well, evil is on every hand. We do this because we love God. We realize that we are ambassadors for God in the earth realm. We literally understand what we are expected to do for good. Our expectation gives rise to our toleration. We are able to tolerate things because of our level of expectation. We would not do it, if we were not expecting something. We would have told that person off if we were not expecting something. We would have acted a fool in this situation or that situation if we weren’t expecting something. All of us come to place where we get tired. Corporate fatigue sets in. God wanted this message preached because resident in the pews today is a spirit of fatigue and weariness. Paul shares a word just like this with the church of Galatia. It is a twofold message. One is to remind them of their responsibility as Christians to represent the Christ they proclaim and second to look at his life (Paul’s life) as an example of how to hand life at a time of struggle.
In Galatians 6:9 it says 9And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.-There is a season where Satan wants us to faint. He wants to destroy us before our destiny manifests in our life. He knows if he can frustrate us, then he can retard the process of what God wants to do in and through us. The fact that God would send a word like this at this particular time should be confirmation to you that you are close to what God has promised you! The devil knows it is his last chance and this is why he is trying to throw everything that he can at you right now to try and take you out. We come to tell you to wait on it! Don’t compromise with devil. Wait on it! Don’t break down your standard, wait on it! No matter how long it takes he might not come when you want him to come, but he is always on time.
I. Learn to be faithful beyond your frustration
1. You have got to manifest spiritual maturity. Paul speaks this trying to get his church to grow up. Problems are inevitable. There are reasons people get weary. One is your flesh. Your flesh will wear you down. You spirit is willing but you flesh is tired. 2 Corinthians 4:15-16 says 15 All of this is for your benefit. And as God’s grace reaches more and more people, there will be great thanksgiving, and God will receive more and more glory. 16 That is why we never give up. Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are[a] being renewed every day. –When your outward man grows, your inward man is renewed day by day. There is no way a child of God can fulfill their assignment in the kingdom of God in their flesh. You must move to the spirit of God and recognize that it is the anointing of God. In Luke 4:18 Jesus says 18The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, – Jesus says he was not doing this in his flesh. He explained he was doing it in his spirit. All the stuff we deal with, we have just gotten tired. When you are hungry or tired, Satan uses this as an avenue to frustrate you. He wants to make the thing that God intended to bless you become a burden to you. Your flesh is a mess.
2. There are folk who are reading this right now that has gotten tired of fighting. They have to fight on every hand. It’s not that you mind fighting. You just need a break every now and then. 1 Timothy 6:12:12 Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have confessed so well before many witnesses. -Fight the good fight of faith. Never let the devil rob you of your fight. Some of you act like you forgot how to fight. As Christians we don’t forget how to fight. We just change our weapons.
3. Struggling to produce fruit. What gives validation to our profession as a Christian is our ability to produce fruit. We are tired of having to produce. Every time you show up you have to constantly create or bear fruit. This makes you tired too. Ex-Bishop explains that when he was going through with the death of his wife, the congregation still wanted to receive a word. Regardless to what you are going through, people who look up to you want you to show up and produce. There is an amount of pressure connected to having to produce. This is why you have to learn the power and greatness of your purpose. You must be faithful to your purpose. Galatians 6:9 says 9And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not – Don’t give up what God has assigned you to do. You have to realize that your purpose is greater than your pain. If you find yourself complaining, you have allowed the enemy to minimize your contribution to the kingdom. God never promised you the road would be easy, but he did promise that he would be with you and walk with you through what you go through.
4. Validation that your are faithful through your frustrations:
a. You will always have peace- Philippians 4:6-7 says 6Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. -We give God glory for peace. No matter what frustration comes in our life, God will give us peace. We might not live where you live or drive what you drive, and might not wear what you wear, but we have peace!
5. Your ability to be productive-This is other evidence that you have been faithful past your frustration. You are constantly productive.
a. 7 steps to productivity
i. You have to put God first- Remember the bible say seek the Kingdom of Heaven first and all these things will be added.
ii. Establish structure and order-We have to get the clutter out of our life.
iii. Firm commitment to solid foundational principles. – This is the principles that we stand on.
iv. Must create an environment conductive of perpetual growth, development, and creativity. – You got to get trifling folk out of your life and be around people that can stimulate creativity, development, and growth.
v. Plan and implement strategies for abundance-Productivity is not just doing something. We want the thing to be successful. Since God goes from glory to glory then everything we put our hand to must go from glory to glory.
vi. Implement a management system to sustain productivity. We start out well, but we don’t have a management system to keep us productive. You have to have something that will keep you growing. Something that keeps motivating you.
vii. Learn how to preach to self. Incorporate a regimen of rest. Recognize if you work hard you can rest harder.
6. Your Presence. If you can still show up, you are a blessing. Ex-Bishop explains he never did well on pop test in a certain class, but he got good grades over all. He explained that he got extra credit because of his attendance which offset his short fall on pop quizzes he didn’t do well on. You don’t realize who is sitting with you. Somebody is sick, laid off, and believing God for a breakthrough. They are expecting extra credit because they are still showing up!
II. Focus on the facts
1. Focus is hard. Some people are so distracted; they have to be pulled back into focus. The enemy loves to distract us. Paul says shift your focus and remember that the scripture says, in due season.
2. Due season is a period of time that God operates and chooses to bless you. Due seasons suggests a due date. The due date is always in the hands and the control of the owner. When you borrow money, you are not in charge of due date. The lender is. God is in control of the due date. Just because God doesn’t tell you the due date, it doesn’t’ mean there isn’t a due date. The due date is not tied to our time and realizing this lets us know it will come. 2540. Kairos – is an indefinite period of time or eternity 5550. Chronos –is our sense of time. Some of us are tied to chronos, our time. If we were to take some people’s phone, you would think we were taking their oxygen. Their schedules and numbers and appointments are all in the phone. We are so restricted to our time (chronos) we couldn’t live without our phone. In our lives, we are enslaved to our calendars and due dates. Job wrestled with this in Job 7:1: 1Is there not an appointed time to man upon earth? are not his days also like the days of an hireling?
3. Is there a due date? Job 14:5 says 5Seeing his days are determined, the number of his months are with thee, thou hast appointed his bounds that he cannot pass; – God knows when we will be born and when we will die. Job 14:13-14 says 13O that thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that thou wouldest keep me secret, until thy wrath be past, that thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me! 14If a man die, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. – In verse 13, Job asks the Lord to hide him. In verse 14, Job asks if a man dies, will he live again. He also says he will wait until his change comes. This sounds good if we knew how long “until” was…When God gives to us, it is in “due season”.
In due season we find:
a. Prophetic evidence-Faith is the evidence. The date is prophetic.
b. . Proper ethic-This is by doing while we are waiting for our blessing to come. It is sort of the same principle as the Santa Claus theology. If you are naughty, you won’t get the gift. The problem is, most of us are nice until we get the gift. After we get the gift, we become naughty again. When you can be nice just because it is right and you can be good just because it is right that’s called righteousness and your ethic is not attached to God doing. If God don’t do it, I will still do right.
c. Posture of expectancy-the promise of God comes when there is a cosmic collision. It is when there is a divine interruption between due time and the manifestation of the promise in my life. In God’s word, he has over 3000 promises. That means Satan has to throw at least 3000 distractions to get our mind off of the 3000 promises. All a child of God needs is just one promise to get them through. Hebrews 6:13 says 13For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, Numbers 23:19 says 19God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?, Hebrews 6:18 says 18That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:- We have to learn to trust the promises of God. No good thing will God withhold from them that walk upright. He promises that if we bring the tithe into the storehouse he will open the windows of heaven and pour us out a blessing that we won’t have room enough to receive. He promised that we will be like a tree planted by the river that brings fruit in your season. He promised by his strips we are already healed. He promised that he will supply all of our needs! All a children of God needs is one promise.
III. Fight to the finish
1. We have generation that is good on starting, but we do not know how to finish. Some of us are already thinking about what you are going to do in 2010. We said 2010 is going to be our year. We said we were going to do the same thing in 2009. Paul says we will reap if we faint not. Reaping is a result of perseverance.
2. To persevere you:
a. You have to plant. You can’t reap if you don’t plant.
b. You have to sow while you are preserving. You can’t reap if you don’t plant or sow anything. Galatians 6:7 says 7Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.- Keep shouting over nothing. You can’t reap if you don’t sow.
c. You got to serve. Perservance is about service. It is about doing something for somebody else and not just yourself. It is about being loyal. It is about blessing people while your blessing is on the way. You see people blessed, it is because they served. Matthew 23:11 says 11But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.- Learn how to serve.
d. You got to be spiritual-You can’t be like everyone else. Be spiritual. If you are spiritual, you shouldn’t pop pills to go to sleep and pop pills to get up! You can’t be dropping it like it’s hot and cursing and everything that everyone else does. You are spiritual waiting on the promises of God.
e. Know that the weapons of warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God pulling down strongholds. Spiritual people don’t pout while it is coming. We must praise God while the blessing is on the way. We must praise God before it is released on our life. Our fight is in our praise. David went through this. In Psalm 102:1-11 David writes. 1Hear my prayer, O LORD, and let my cry come unto thee. 2Hide not thy face from me in the day when I am in trouble; incline thine ear unto me: in the day when I call answer me speedily. 3For my days are consumed like smoke, and my bones are burned as an hearth. 4My heart is smitten, and withered like grass; so that I forget to eat my bread. 5By reason of the voice of my groaning my bones cleave to my skin. 6I am like a pelican of the wilderness: I am like an owl of the desert. 7I watch, and am as a sparrow alone upon the house top. 8Mine enemies reproach me all the day; and they that are mad against me are sworn against me. 9For I have eaten ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping. 10Because of thine indignation and thy wrath: for thou hast lifted me up, and cast me down. 11My days are like a shadow that declineth; and I am withered like grass. 12But thou, O LORD, shall endure for ever; and thy remembrance unto all generations. 13Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Zion: for the time to favour her, yea, the set time, is come.-David says he needs an answer. He said he is in pain and people don’t’ realize how much pain he is in. He said he is in so much pain, he is himself sick. In verse 6 he says he feels out of place. Verse 7-8 says that his enemies are against him. Verse 10-11 he says he doesn’t know if God is blessing him or cursing him. In verse 12, he says he recognizes that he might not know what God is up to, but we realize he is still God. Verse 13 he says he realize that God is coming at a set time which has come.
Preaching to a text:
We opened up preaching from a text, but now let’s preach to a text. Ex- There was this Mother had 3 children. Things were very bad for her around this time of year. They didn’t have clothes nor food to eat. She got frustrated, because whe didn’t have money to buy them clothes for her kids nor toys for her children. She decided because she could not provide for them that she would go home and take them out first and then herself. The kids got wind of it and ran out the house. When they hear their mother coming up the steps, they jumped out the window and ran to grandmother’s house to escape. After not finding them, the Mother decided she wanted to take her life. She took pills and woke up strapped to bed. The nurses wanted to know what drove here to this wanting to kill her kids and herself. Grandmother comes to sign some papers on her behalf and the doctors asked what could have drove her (her daughter) to this state. Grandmother said that she had been struggling and was frustrated that she could not buy the kids clothes that they needed. Grandmother said what she didn’t know is that while she was out, Grandmother had bought clothes and toys and was going to surprise her by filling her closest, but the Mother took these pills. Grandmother said if the woman had just looked in the closet she would have known that she had a surprise for her and everything would have been alright. Here’s where we preach to the text. Matthew 6:6 says 6But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.- I know you are tired, I know you are frustrated, but the answer is in your closet. If you would just spend time in your closet you will realize that God has a surprise for you in your closet! He might not come when you want him, but he is always on time!