Friendship, History, and the New York Knicks

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

So, Father, I just pray you would give me words to speak this morning. And this is not my sermon that you have given me, but just some thoughts that I'd like to convey to the church. So help me, guide me, speak to my heart. In Jesus' name, amen. Most of you probably don't care about basketball. I've been a sports fan since I was a little kid. I played all sports. And the New York Knicks, who hadn't won a championship, I think, in 57 years, won last night. And we stayed up until 12.30, and I got up at 6.20 this morning, and as I do every Sunday morning, to prepare for Sunday. And last night, as the Knicks were winning the game, I could not help but think about a brother that I really loved. We spent many, many hours together. He was a trusted brother, a trusted friend, and that was Steve Rathbun. So let me give you a little background here for a moment. Someone told me that his daughter was in the hospital many years ago. And Steve was not attending a church at the time. And I felt led of the Lord to go up to the hospital to visit his daughter, and he was there. And I introduced myself. I was a new pastor in town. Told him that I was sent here by the Lord to establish a Pentecostal church in the community. And I prayed for his daughter, and I said to him, I'd like to invite you to church. He looked at me and he said, Okay, on one condition. I said, What's that? He said, I'm going to look you over. I want to make sure you preach the word of God. I said, I have no problem with that. True to his word, because he was a man of his word, he came to church the next Sunday. And he became a very instrumental person in my life. He respected me. He nicknamed me the boss. He made a coffee cup for me. It's in my office. It says boss on it. In a good way. And last night, as the Knicks were winning that game, I had a hard time not shedding tears. Because Steve and I and my family, my son, we watched a lot of Knick games together in our home through the years. And we spent a lot of time together. And I said to myself, there's only one thing missing. And that's Steve. And uh I was in touch with his son Matt, who lives down in North Carolina, and I said, You know, your dad used to watch the games with me all the time. And he said, Yeah. He said, I was there too. When we were in the Columbian Road building, we had to leave because they were going to knock it down and build a little mall there. And we had nowhere to go. And Steve said, Well, I have a farmhouse, and he said, We can go there and we could worship God in the living room. Not having a place to go or to worship, that's where we went. Citizen News Reporter came and did the story on this group of people that were in a farmhouse in a living room worshiping God. Stayed for the sermon and the whole nine yards and put it in the newspaper. And as time would go on, we really needed a building. And Steve, being a volunteer fireman, and he uh had a lot of influence in the fire department, he asked if we could use the room in the back to worship the Lord. They said yes. We tried to pay them rent, but they sent back the first check. They said, We don't want your money. And because of Steve, we came to this building. Well, then the fire department decided that they were going to build a new building. And that meant we had to leave here. And so Steve came over one day and he flabbergasted me and he said, Boss, I said what? He said, Let's buy that firehouse. I started laughing at him. I said, You gotta be kidding. We don't have a penny to our name. He said, No, we're gonna buy this firehouse. He said, I have the faith. I have to admit, I really didn't have the faith at that time. And we uh constructed a meeting with the uh committee from the fire department here in this building in the back, and we offered them an offer, Steve and I, and they laughed at us. And the Lord spoke to my heart, and he said, I said to them, you will call me back in a few weeks, and you will ask me if I'm still interested as a church to buy this building. They laughed. I left, and a few weeks later, they called me. They said, Are you still interested? I said, Yes, I am. We came here by faith. When the overseer asked, I called the overseer because of Rick Billings, because of Rick Billings, which was the father of John, he called me in Virginia and said, Hey, they want to start a church in Auburn. Are you interested? Make a long story short. I prayed about it. I called the overseer. I told him I gave my landlord 30 days' notice. I was already packing to come to New York, because I said, I'm gonna pastor that church and I'm gonna plant that church in that community. He said, Colombo, you're crazy. You can't come here. I said, I'm coming. I said, I already gave my landlord 30 days' notice. He said, You're crazy. I said, I'm not crazy. I said, I know the voice of God. He said, There's two ministers that want to come here, and I said, they're not gonna come, they're not gonna want it. I said, you will call me back and you will ask me if I'm still interested. I told him this on the phone. I wish you had the recording. He called me back and he said, Are you interested? I said, sir, I told you I already gave my landlord 30 days' notice. I'm a man of faith. Came here with nothing. No people, no place to live. Ended up in the parking lot at Wegmans with my children, rabbits in the back. Nowhere to live. When Steve said, Let's buy this building, I said, Bud, we don't have any money. I didn't have the faith that day. He said, Pastor, we're gonna buy this building. We'll put that thermometer up, you know. Finances. That thing never moved for weeks. And the Lord said to me, Pledge $1,000. I said, Wow. We have nothing. You want me to pledge $1,000? He said, You pledge $1,000. I'll bless you. Make another long story short, the fire department accepted our offer, and we offered them $10,000 down, which we didn't have a penny. $50,000, $10,000 down, you hold a mortgage, 7%, and we'll pay you off in seven years. That was my terms. I said, I must be out of my mind. But I knew the Lord told me. We started raising money, yard sales, barbecues, make a long story short again. I had about $8,000, and I called a lawyer and I said, sir, we don't have the 10. I'm a little shy right now. He said, Reverend, no problem. He said, I'm a lawyer, I can stall things. I said, would you do that? Absolutely. Here's a man that didn't take a penny from us. He did not take a penny from us and represented us and gave us a few more weeks to raise $2,000, which we did, and we bought this building. And in seven years, never missing a payment, we paid off this building in seven years. Steve Rathbun has a lot of history here. Steve died so many years ago. And last night I could not help but think something's missing. You know, one day we're gonna get there.

SPEAKER_01 10:01

And one day we're gonna get our trophy. The crown that the Lord wants to give us that we'll throw at his feet. That'll be a great day. When I can see Jesus, my mom, my dad, my brother Steve. And let him know. In case you haven't heard, the next one. So I told you I'm all over the place here today, so you have to bear with me.

SPEAKER_00 10:50

The Lord brought us to Auburn in the worst time that a minister could come and plant a church. There was a great recession here. It was dark, depressing. Farmers were in dire straits. There was no money. Grand Avenue didn't look like it does today. It's all different. I even said to the Lord, Why have you sent me to this forsaken place? I wanted to quit. But the Lord said, I'll bless you. I want to read a verse to you. It's in Leviticus chapter 20. And this was for the twelve tribes of Israel. And God said these things. And he said in Leviticus 20 and verse 24, he said, But I have said unto you, individually and corporately, you shall inherit the land, their land, and I will give it to you to possess it, a land that floweth with milk and honey. And I am the Lord your God, which have separated you from other people. Now you hear this. We're different. I said we're different. We're different because of the blood of Jesus Christ. We're different because of salvation. We're different than the world. We were of the world, but no longer in the world. And God said, I want to bless you.

SPEAKER_01 12:43

Right.

SPEAKER_00 12:50

Jeremiah chapter thirty-three. I want to read two verses. Jeremiah chapter thirty-three and verse three. One of my favorite verses in the Bible. It says, Call unto me, and I will answer thee. And show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not. God is a revealer of things. Wisdom, knowledge, our future, our path, our journey. And if you slip down to verse number six, and you'll understand this verse even greater when I preach. Behold, I will bring it health and cure. And I know he's talking about Jerusalem. I know that. But I believe he's also talking to us. As a corporate and collective family. He says, Behold, I will bring in health and cure, and I will cure them. And I will reveal, and that's the word that I'm going to preach on today, reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth. What are you saying? I want to go to the book of Luke. Now you know I'm not a money preacher. But I just want to share something with you. Because I want to show you where we are in our history. Luke chapter 6 and verse 38. And I'm not asking you for money this morning. That's not my intent. The Lord's blessed us, and I'll show you in a moment. It says, Give and it shall be given unto you. Good measure pressed down and shaken together and running over. Shall men give it unto your bosom? For with the same measure that you meet, meet, that you give out, withal it shall be measured to you again. It shall be measured to you again. What's God saying here? In Leviticus chapter 20 and verse number 24, God said, I'm going to bless Jerusalem. But I believe God is also saying, I'm going to bless my church. He said, I will build my church. And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. This is his church. I'm just an under-shepherd and a steward. He sent me here. I don't know how long I'm going to be here. I know Jack Akers was 105 years old when he was preaching down in Virginia. He was able to get to the pulpit, but they had to help him out after he preached. But I want to read a verse to you in Matthew chapter 21. Like I said, I'm all over the place. So bear with me. Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, individually, and as a church, if you have faith, if you have faith, if you have faith, and doubt not, you shall not only do that which is done unto the fig tree, which he cursed, and it withered and died, but also if thou shalt say unto this mountain, be thou removed, and be the be thou cast into the sea, it shall be done. Okay, where are we going? Do I believe God was saying that I can go to the Appalachian mountains and tell them to disappear? Probably not. But there are mountains in our life. That in that verse, God doesn't say to pray, He says say to the mountain. You see, that's what we haven't done because we haven't allowed God to release the faith in our life because we hold back with doubt. He told the disciples. He said, You'll be able to curse that tree that gives no food. You'll be able to do those things in greater. So where are we going? Many years ago, Pastor David Wilkinson, who had the privilege of meeting, his philosophy was this pay off your debt in your church and give to missions. I esteemed David Wilkerson as a pastor of great renown, a man of God. When he spoke, the room trembled. The anointing of God that was on his life, you knew that he spent time with Jesus. I adopted his philosophy as a pastor many, many decades ago. And the philosophy was this that God, whatever you bring into this church, we will tithe back out to people who we need to help. That don't have what we have. And we started doing that. And I started realizing something. That Leviticus chapter 20 and verse 24 that I read this morning, which brought this to greater light, is God has blessed everyone in this church with money, houses, lands, promotions, titles, and he's never reneged on us. So what are you saying? I just looked up some numbers this morning. We have given 25% of our budget this year already to missions. You say, why? You could keep that, you could take that. No. That is the mainstay of this church, giving to missions. And I believe that if we would allow God to release our faith, he doesn't have a faith problem. We have the faith problem to believe. We're the doubters, he's the shouter. And he's shouting into our spirit this morning, and he's saying, Allow me to release faith in your life to believe God for what Jeremiah said, great and mighty things which thou knowest not. I've heard people say there's going to be a transfer of wealth in the last day. I don't understand all of that when they preach that, but here's what I do know. I do know that God honors his word. And collectively in this church, because we have adopted the philosophy and the theological design that Pastor Wilkinson expressed, we've been blessed. But you say, well, does God want to do more? Absolutely. I'm not prophesying this morning, but it would not surprise me if some received unexpected blessings, particularly financially. It would not surprise me that the measure that you have given will be the measure that's given back to you. Hear what I'm saying. God is a God of blessings. And you know I'm not a prosperity preacher. I'm not a money preacher. But this morning I'm saying to you, God not only wanted to bless the 12 tribes of Israel, He wants to bless the true church of God and any other church that honors Him by His Word. I've been looking at all this water that's come into our basement. It's like a river. And you know I always preach the parallel and the spiritual go side by side. And I keep saying to the Lord, help me. Never have had this experience in our home since 1993. It's crazy. It's like a river that comes through the walls. It's a flood. And all I could think of, the Holy Spirit is that river. And I'm believing that God is saying, son, don't you get it? That river that's bursting through your walls. I want to burst through your walls and the walls of this church and pour out the rivers of living water upon my children. That they would be so blessed. As God expressed, I believe, in Ezekiel chapter 47, the church, the rivers, that we'd have to put spiritual boots on not to drown. Hear what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01 23:54

Amen.

SPEAKER_00 23:56

Listen, I didn't know I was gonna say all this this morning. But I believe the Lord wants to do something greater than what he's done in this church. That's up to us. You see, you know why the Knicks won that game and the series? Not because they had great famous players, like some teams. They were a unit. They worked together. Their heads were in the game. Whether they were on the bench as a bench player or a starter, they were all in the game. We have to ask ourselves, are we in the game? Are we in the game? It doesn't matter your title, it doesn't matter whatever. Are we here to do God's bidding and do God's will to advance the kingdom of God that Jesus Christ might be revealed to us in a greater way and to people that don't know him. I believe, as in the miracle of the making of the wine and the marriage at Cana, that God is leaving his best for last. And I believe that new wine is ready to come out of the spiritual vats, the spiritual barrels in heaven to be poured out upon us that we could drink that new wine. And feel so refreshed that Leviticus, Jeremiah chapter 33, and verse 6, that our healing would take place. Listen, this church has been assaulted in the last few months. Every family has had opposition, has had hardship, trials, tribulations, sickness. And all the years that I've been here, I have never seen what I've been witnessing in the last few months. But I believe it's time. I believe it's time that we allow God to release that faith in us for healing, for healing of our body, our soul, and our spirit. That we can walk into Canaan's land, the land of milk and honey, the land of blessing, and I'll even say the land of prosperity. God's economy is well. God's economy is not down. God's economy will always be at its highest level. And when we're part of his economy, we will move in his spirit, and I truly believe that he will provide for us, Jehovah Jireh, in the days to come. I'm just asking God to release my faith like never before. To release my faith, and I'm asking you to pray the same prayer. Listen, I want to say one more thing. First John, there's a verse that says, They were with us, but they were not of us. And I explained this to my wife and Sister Rosemary the other day after prayer meeting. I believe the Lord is saying this. I used to run after people that left the church. I don't do that anymore. I just accept God's will that He said, I will build my church. I will bring people, some people for a season, and it will cause them to leave. But there's another connotation to that. You see, we could be here, but not of it. That's right. If our head is in this, not in this church, if this is where God planted you, like I preached last week, he knows the boundaries, he knows where you were born. If this is where God planted you, he didn't plant you down the road. You don't go to McDonald's and pay Burger King. Tornan. Pastor used to say that all the time. You don't go to McDonald's and pay Burger King. When we're in this, totally present, you'll see something happen. That might hurt to hear that. You see, you could be here, but your heart's somewhere else. Where your heart is, the heels will follow. We can make all the excuses in the world. And if you don't think these are the last days, my friend, you're living in a bubble. If you don't think these are the last days, you're living in a bubble. And if you don't have the spirit of earnestness in your soul, you're gonna lose. You're gonna lose out. Because the distractions of this world is gonna take you out. And it's already taken out some people. I don't want to just be here physically. I want to be here spiritually, emotionally. I want to be attached to the body of Christ that God has put in. And say, this is my church. This is my church in the Lord. This is where God put me, this is where I belong. And this is where my wife and my family have given 38 years with passion, unceasingly. Do you know that prayer meetings have been taking place between 25 and 30 years in this church every week? Rosemary used to go to work late on Thursdays just to come to a prayer meeting. Joe, Tammy. How long have you been with us, Tammy? All those years you've been in prayer meeting, Joe. Decades. I'm saying to the Lord, there's got to be dividends, Lord. I'm looking for the interest on the prayer meetings. I'm looking for the tears to be turned into joy. I'm looking for death to be turned into life. I'm looking for darkness to be turned into light. I'm looking for souls and wayward children. Give us some dividends. Prayer meeting three times a week here. It's been going on for decades. Decades. He said, I'll build my church. And that's what he's trying to do. But he needs our help. And if you ascribe to Leviticus chapter 20 and verse 24, he not only wants to bless you individually in your family, but he wants to bless this family of God. In a way that we've never known before. Are you hearing what I'm saying? I didn't intend to say all this today, but this is what the Lord has laid upon my heart. Father, I thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Lord, that a basketball game could elicit such emotion in my life. And some words that I hope make sense to those that heard. I pray that you bless this worship service, the word of God. I pray, God, that you would touch every person in this house this morning like you've never touched us before. Let that river of life flow through this building, O God, and fill us to the brim and overflowing. David said, I shall be anointed with fresh oil. Let that oil fall upon us today in Jesus' name. Amen. God bless you. We're just standing.