Watch God Work | Pastor Earl McClellan

Some things may feel sealed, delayed, or impossible—but nothing is beyond the power of God. This week, Pastor Earl reminds us that our faith isn’t contingent on God doing things our way. We can trust Him, keep marching, and watch Him work even when we don’t understand the process. Share this with someone who needs to keep believing! 

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Transcript

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SPEAKER_02 0:00

It is Miracle Sunday, and if you're okay for the sake of time, I'm jumping right into the Bible. I wanted to tell you all about my son scoring his first goal uh yesterday in soccer, but I'm not gonna do that. Did it. I want to jump right into God's word uh today. Joshua uh chapter six. Joshua is taking over for a leader of leaders. Uh, Moses uh was his predecessor. Uh he followed in Moses' footsteps. God asked Joshua to take the reins of leadership after Moses has carried the people of Israel through the wilderness for so many years. Uh Moses is the one that went to Pharaoh and said on behalf of God, let my people go. This is this leader transformed the trajectory of an entire nation of people. And now that leader, Moses, has passed on, and Joshua has been tasked to step into a position of leadership. He's got to wear a size 15 shoe, and I'm sure he only feels like he wears a size seven. This is a massive moment in his life, and just so you know, God has no problem putting you in positions where you don't feel adequate. He likes to do that. God likes to take you and put you in spots where you're like, Lord, if you don't show up, I'm gonna fail. And he goes, Exactly. I don't want you relying on yourself, I don't want you relying on your pride, I don't want you relying on your own ego or just on your degree. I'm glad you have all of that, but I've got more for you than just the letters behind your name. So Joshua is tasked to take the children of Israel into the promise. And they're coming in, and here is this major battle that they're about to face a city with fortified walls, Jericho. Uh, maybe you've been in church for a period of time and you've heard this story before. Eventually, these walls do fall down. Uh, but there were some things that God dropped in my heart that I wanted us to talk through today. So look with me again in verse number one of Joshua chapter six. It says, Now the gates of Jericho were securely barred. Uh carries the idea that they were sealed. You couldn't get in, you couldn't get out. Something wasn't opening. It it was it was stuck, if you will. Not even stuck, it actually had a a cover over it. They're saying this thing cannot be opened. Can somebody hook me up with my my Ragu real quick? Hook me up, all day. Thank you, sir. Okay, I'm not getting paid for this ad, okay? And uh I'm not a big ragu fan, I guess per se, but I I did ask for uh uh a little bottle, uh a jar of spaghetti sauce. Now, at our home, I'm sure like at your home, sometimes my wife can't get this open. And then she calls. She calls for her man. Okay, there's nothing like this feeling. There's nothing like when your wife, ladies, just so you know, just pretend you can't open it.

SPEAKER_00 3:21

Oh, I can't, I can't I can't get it open. Honey, I need you.

SPEAKER_02 3:28

Oh man. Man puts his chest out. We walk strong. Give me that jar, baby. Give me that jar. I got you, girl. I got you, I got you. And you take that jar in your hands and you don't want to pretend like you're struggling at all, but sometimes a jar will get you. You'll be like, you grab that thing and you just turn it. And this is what I heard for us. I heard that pop. Some things that have been sealed. You haven't been able to get it open, and you thought that's gonna be stuck forever. I I prayed for Miracle Sunday. I prayed that this would be a Sunday that things just pop. I prayed, I prayed. I pray that this would be a Sunday, and it's it's for a long time, for a long time, you've been like, maybe just won't open, maybe just won't open. But there's something about our collective faith, there's something about all of us coming together. All let me get that jar with you. But what you're going through in your family, let me get that jar with you. Let me let's all put our faith on that. And when God puts his hand on our faith and we grab that jar together, I just see some things popping open. This is what Jesus, this is what happened with God when he opened up the tomb of Jesus. It was securely closed. There were leaders and there were army all around, they were soldiers set up saying this tomb will stay closed forever. And then God said, I see that tomb, but I also know my power. And God says, I'm unsealing something that has been sealed. And I've been praying that over you that some things that have been sealed, business opportunities, breakthroughs, some things in your own heart, in your own mind that have been sealed, and you thought it's gonna be stuck forever today, in the name of Jesus, that this would be a day that something pops. Because every prayer you prayed has been heard. Every time you ask God to move, he's heard it. And it can feel like he hasn't heard because it hasn't changed, it can feel like you're stuck on this one jar for a really, really long time. But but there just comes a moment, there comes a time, and God's the one that determines the seasons and the moments and the opportunities. He's the one that has the timeline, he's the one that's putting everything together. I don't know why you're not married yet, but in Jesus' name I pray that something would pop. I don't know why your kid is wandering, but in Jesus' name, I pray that something would pop. I don't know why your finances are the way they are, but in the name of Jesus, I'm praying that something would just pop. It's been sealed for a long time. On this miracle Sunday. Man, God, would you do something? It would absolutely blow my mind. It would shake me. I I recognize on a miracle Sunday I I can feel this. I can feel people going, I prayed long enough. I can feel people thinking, what if it doesn't work? And our our circumstances are real, right? Because we've actually been to some funerals. We've gone to divorce court. Or a mom or a dad did not do the thing. Or a boyfriend or a girlfriend didn't suck. Like we actually have the scars where it feels like God did not answer the prayer. So I'm willing to go to church and I still believe in God. But don't ask me to really put my faith in him. I need a coast here. I don't want to call it coasting. Maybe I'm just trying to be safe. Maybe I'm just trying to say that I uh I I can't I can't believe anymore. It's weighing me down too much. So I want to acknowledge that that is real. I want to acknowledge that you might be in that place. And you can see even people in the Bible that have been there. So there's nothing necessarily wrong with you. Well, there's nothing wrong with all of us, right? We're all a little bit jacked up. But there's not necessarily something like out of the ordinary going on with you. But as your pastor, I am asking you to not think like that forever. I'm asking you to not stay stuck in that mindset. It's not healthy for you, and it's not the path that God has called you to walk on. For some of us, we think that our faith, the purpose of our faith is to get what we want. But that's not the purpose of your faith. If the idea that you have with your faith is I can use my faith to control God to do the things that I want God to do, number one, you don't understand faith, but even more importantly, you don't understand God. Because God cannot be controlled because God is the only one that can control God, and he cannot be controlled or manipulated by me or by you. If he could, then he would no longer be God. And I don't want a God that just does everything when I want him to do things. I need a God that rules above the universe and holds everything in the palm of his hand. That's who I need. But there's some theology out there today saying that we can somehow control God and manifest this and do this and do that. And I'm telling you that the God of the universe is before all things and is after all things, and this God that we are serving and worshiping and singing to, and the God of this Bible right here will not be manipulated, dumbed down, will not be disrespected by the people that He created. He is saying, I've always ruled high and above, and I still do today. So first you have to get the right picture of who God is, and then the right understanding, the purpose behind your faith. The purpose behind your faith is not to get whatever you want from God. The purpose behind your faith is that you would learn how to move closer to God and trust Him, and your intimacy with Him would grow. So if you are believing for something and you start to ask God for that thing, the asking, the faith is designed by God to make you lean and keep moving closer, and keep moving closer. Because of the lie of culture that tells you if God doesn't do what you want him to do, you now have permission to turn your back on God and go whatever way you want to. It's because you have not understood the purpose of your faith and you don't understand what God is trying to do in you because he's more interested in what's being done in you than what he just does for you. Because what he did on the cross was enough for all of us. So now he's trying to grow you. Now he's trying to build you up. I don't want us just to get loud as a church, I want us to be deep. I need us to have some roots. I need us to be a people that are steadfast and immovable, always abounding in the grace of God. I need us to be a people that say, God, I don't understand, but I trust you. I don't know what's going on, but I trust you. I don't know what's happening, but I still have my faith in you. My faith in you was not contingent on you doing the thing that I asked you to do. My faith in you is based on you and your love for me and my love for you. So I'm not going anywhere, God. And even though it hurts, even though he slay me, I still trust him. This is a miracle that many times God is trying to do on the inside of us. Now, it also says in verse number one, I'm only in verse number one. It also says, No one went out and no one came in. The the people of Jericho had heard all the things that God was doing, they had heard the miracles, they had heard how God had parted the seas and and had even the Jordan River, they had heard all how God had delivered them out of Egypt, they had heard all these miraculous signs that God had done, and the enemy of the children of God knew about the power of God, and since they knew so well about the power of God, they decided we're going to not leave, not go out, not go in, we're going to securely bar, we are going to batten down the hatches, we're not going anywhere because we've heard what their God has done. I wanted to share with you a few things that have happened here at Shoreline City that God has done. Where's my little card here? Thank you. I I the list was so long, but I still had to grab a few. I had to grab a few just to remind you of the goodness of God and that he's working in real people's lives and he's working miracles. Here's just a few of them. Juan's 19-year-old sister was in a severe car accident, bleeding in her brain, half her body paralyzed. Doctors said six months to a year in the hospital, three to four years of recovery. Juan told everyone he knew to pray. Three weeks later, she walked out on her own out of that hospital. Then she called and said, I want to come to church. She brought her boyfriend and two friends who never set foot in a church, both of whom gave their lives to Jesus that same day. Here's some stuff that God has been doing in our midst as a family on our missions trip to Kenya. Our team packed enough food for community outreach. We're gonna feed 300 people. I wanted to make sure these 300 people know God loves you. We want to feed everybody, but we're gonna feed these 300 people. We have the people sign up. We're out there in Kenya, we're ready to serve. We are present. We go through and we count it all. We got the team, we got Madeline, we got Judy, we got everybody counting everything up. We got Donamat, we're counting everything up, and we got enough food for the 300 because we're not turning anybody away. There's no way we're gonna turn anybody away. And then the 300 came and we were feeding them all, and come to find out there were another 220 people that showed up that we did not account for. And the team said no one could explain where the extra food came from. They just kept serving and it kept being enough so that every person that came got fed loaves and fishes. Oh, this is for Frisco, this is for Frisco. This happened in Frisco. Uh, Mallory, uh, who's doing a killer job, just serving on the worship team, walked through, listen to this, five or six miscarriages in a single year. Five or six in a single year. And through every loss, she kept on leading worship, kept on showing up, kept on trusting God. And I just got a picture. Next month, she's due to have her baby. I didn't get permission to show that picture. I didn't get permission because she's nine months in. She's nine months in. Okay, how about this? Oh, this down to San Antonio. Look at this. Jason and uh Alana uh they came to our church broken. This is what the campus pastor said. That's what they said. You came broken. Andrew Hannah said that years ago, and became one of its most quietly generous members, funding a church tree that Jason still waters, covering a family's mortgage, donating a vacation uh when we were raising money uh to buy the building there in San Antonio. And this year, a young father uh in San Antonio named Tim began having epileptic episodes and trying to find the cause, the doctors discovered that both his kidneys were failing. He needed a transplant fast. Jason and Alana both put their names down to be tested, and Jason was approved to donate. When asked how he made peace with the risk of surgery, Jason said, My life and my body are both the Lord's. I know who my faith is in, so the risks don't really matter to me. People in church giving kidneys. Oh my goodness. Oh, I got another one. Joel having sudden, serious heart trouble. Um, uh, serious heart trouble, doctors found in a regular rhythm and scheduled an urgent procedure for the next morning, warning it could cause complications down the road. That night, his wife, his three sons, and our church family gathered at the hospital and laid hands on him, asking God for complete healing. The next morning, prepping for surgery, doctors could find no irregularities in his heart at all. The procedure was canceled. A week later, a follow-up exam gave him a completely clean bill of health. I got I saw this one from O'Cliff. A man named Reuben asked for prayer at OCBA, sharing that colon cancer was killing him. Our team prayed over him right there. At his next appointment, doctors told him that the cancer was gone. Here is the stuff. Listen, I'm just trying to let you know that God's still working. Because you're looking at your own life, you're like, I don't see him working. I'm just letting you know he's working. He might be down the street and he's on his way to your house. He is still working. The people of Jericho, they're like, oh my goodness, the children of Israel are here. I've heard what their God can do. The enemy had an understanding of the ability of God, and I am praying that the enemy does not have a better understanding of the ability of God than the children of God. I'm saying, God, go ahead and do the impossible. Do it in my family, do it in my mind, do it in my community, do it in this nation, do it all around the world, because that's what God can do. Wanna boost your faith? Now look at this, verse number two, verse number two. Roll with me, roll with me. Then the Lord, then the Lord said to Joshua, Well, this is fun. This is fun. Watch this. Then the Lord said to Joshua, see, I have delivered Jericho into your hands. I have delivered Jericho into your hands. The only problem with that statement is Jericho was not yet in their hands. They had not yet marched. The walls had not collapsed. None of that had happened. And God says, I have delivered it. Not I will deliver it. Come on, listen. Not I will deliver Jericho. It's I have delivered Jericho. I wrestled with this one. I was like, Lord, this doesn't make any sense. How are you gonna say you have done something, but it's not done yet? I get you saying I will. I understand I ordered something from Amazon, I purchased it, it will get here. That makes sense to me. But you're saying it's here. Well, Lord, it's still in transit. And then I was, you know, doing my stuff, picking on my logos, Bible software, praying, asking God. And then I learned something that I had not heard before. And it's called the prophetic perfect. Perfect. So the prophetic perfect. And in the prophetic perfect, what happens is a verb is used that usually is used when something is already done. But God uses that verb and that word before the thing is done, because in God's perspective, it's already done, because the God that we serve is not bound by time like we're bound by time. So God is on the outside looking in, going, it's ordered, and I see it's done. So in my mind and from my perspective, I've already delivered it. You're not there yet, but I'm already where you're coming. The prophetic perfect. So in your life, you're like, I don't have it yet, I don't have it yet, I don't have it yet. And God's like, haha. I already see it. It's already done. I'm just waiting for you to get where I already am. And now, now the children of Israel are asked to do something that doesn't make a ton of sense. But this is what happens when it doesn't make sense because now God again is trying to grow your faith in him, draw you closer to him. So he's gonna ask you to do some things that might not totally compute. But if you do the thing that God is asking you to do when it doesn't compute, you're not causing the miracle, you're coming into alignment with the miracle that God already said is on the way. Man Lord help me. Verse number three. March. March around the city. March. March around the city. God, why do I have to march if you've already given it to me? And God here is now trying to develop and grow them. And he's trying to develop and grow us. The marching is the trusting. The marching is the way that you are saying, God, I might not understand, uh, I might not understand logically, but there's something in my soul that says, I will do the thing that you're asking me to do so I can come into alignment with what you said about me. So now they start marching. And every march is a trust. Every march is a trust. Okay. Okay. So yes, God has a plan for your marriage to restore it. But you're going to have to go to therapy. It's a marching. Yes, he has a plan for your emotional and mental health. But you're going to have to go to a kinetic group. It's part of the marching. It's part of the marching. Okay, yeah, yeah. He's got a plan for your finances, but you got the budget. Come on. I'm talking Bible here. I'm talking Bible. Not just tithing. Yeah, tithe, budget. I'm marching. I'm marching. I'm marching. I can't go. God, you said it's done. I'm going to sit here on my hands. That's not how God works, because God is trying to do something in you and through you that cannot totally be computed. This is why, this is interesting. Keep on going down. I can't remember the verse, but it says the the uh the priests are gonna grab some ram's horns, and that's what they're gonna blow the trumpets to the ram's horns. I saw the ram's horns, and the ram horn reminded me of Abraham. And this is when Abraham is going up the mountain. Come on, are you still with me for just a second? I'm kind of digging deep here, okay? So stick with me. We're jumping all over. But Abraham is on his way up the mountain. You can read this later in Genesis chapter 22. He's on his way up the mountain with his son Isaac, and he's supposed to go ahead and sacrifice Isaac on top of this mountain. When he gets to the top of the mountain, Abraham has his knife in his hand, he's about to sacrifice his son. When God sees that Abraham is willing to obey him even to the uttermost, God says, Abraham, you go ahead and stop. I see your heart, I see your faith, I see your trust, I see your worship. Oh my goodness, for Abraham, you don't have to kill him, but I have provided something on the other side of the mountain, and there was a ram over there that was caught by its horns in a thicket, and that was the thing that was used to be sacrificed. So here is God. I think whenever they are marching around and the priests have these trumpets of ramhorns, I think it's a little sign that when you obey when it doesn't make sense, God will give you permission provision that you didn't see coming. This is what God has the power to do. I'm obeying when it doesn't make sense, and I've got provision coming my way that I didn't even see coming. You don't know what room your name is in right now. You have no idea what God is doing behind the scenes right now. So do not dumb down God to just what you can see, because we are a people that walk by faith and not by sight. On this miracle Sunday, I'm wanting your faith to grow to say, God, I'll march. Even when it doesn't make sense. I'm preaching hard here, y'all. I apologize. First time, guests, I want to apologize. Come back next week. I'll be preaching hard again. So here, here, here. Go down with me. Go down with me to verse number 10. Look at this, verse number 10. This is important, verse number 10. I'm gonna end on time, too, so verse number 10. But Joshua in command of the army. Do not give a war cry. Do not raise your voices. Do not say a word. Do not say a word. Do not say a word until the day I tell you to shout. You don't hear a thing. And you're just marching. And God is telling you, Shut your mouth. Shut your mouth. Your mouth is getting you in trouble. Your mouth is disconnecting your heart. Your mouth is bringing in the doubt. Your w your mouth is putting a wedge in your marriage. Your mouth is putting a wedge in the place that God has called you to be. Your mouth is messing. Shut up. Shut up. Be quiet. You can't get in here. I mean, that's all they hear. I don't know. They're still marching. Keep on going around. Verse number 11, at the end of it, it says, Then the army returned to camp and spent the night there. Verse number 14, so on the second day, they marched around the city once and returned to the camp. They did this for six days. You got soldiers coming home, and their kids are asking them, Dad, what did you do today? Son, daughter, I just marched. I don't have a thing to show for it. I was just obedient. That's all I got. I wish I was coming home with gold and silver and everything was all. I wish I was coming home to tell you we're out of debt. Nope. I'm coming home to tell you I didn't get the promotion. I didn't get the email. I didn't get the text. I didn't get the phone call. I didn't get the LinkedIn. I didn't get anything. I just marched. And I did it silently. It's growing them. It's growing them. It's growing them. This is developing them. This is increasing their spiritual capacity. It's drawing them closer to God. This is what's happening during this time. And as they're beginning to grow, they don't even know all the things that God is doing in them. A few chapters later, they're gonna be in another battle. At Hazor, a place that is double the size of Jericho. Double. And as they are double the size of Jericho, they are able to defeat that city. Why? I think God had them doing some mundane things during Jericho to get them ready for a city they didn't know they were gonna have to conquer. Right now, God is forming things in you that are for a season that you've yet to walk into. And I'll say this I'm gonna talk to parents and talk to aunts and uncles for a second. Can I tell you that God has actually put you in some spots like a Jericho so that your kids and your nephews and those underneath you, come on, youth leaders, listen to me for just a second. They can watch you trust God when it doesn't make sense. So then when you get to a bigger problem, they have seen someone live a life of faith. And you thought it was just about you. You thought I got to quit because God didn't do it when I wanted him to do it. My friend, you are not seeing things from God's perspective, you are seeing things from the temporary, not from the eternal. The God of heaven is playing chess right now, and he's trying to prepare you and a generation behind you to believe him and trust him when it doesn't make sense. So now, oh man, we got a new organ. It was this I had a dream. Um I literally had a dream, I had two dreams that on Miracle Sunday there was an organ. I didn't know why. The first dream I was like, oh, whatever. And the second dream I had, and I woke up and I saw it. I saw it sitting on the platform here in Dallas, and I just was like, God, why what's that? So I was like, okay, let's get one for Miracle Sunday, and I just kind of threw that out there. And I don't know why God has asked for it, but maybe it's just the sound of an organ that can just move you in a way that other instruments can't move you. There's something in your soul that needs to be stirred that can only come when a sound from heaven begins to shake you because so many of us have just been so comfortable, we've been so stagnant, and we are like, God, you can't do the thing that you said you're gonna do. And God's like, if you'll trust me, I'm actually already, I already have it done. I already have it done. I already have it done.

SPEAKER_01 33:02

Let me stop here, let me stop here. Okay, six, six, six.

SPEAKER_02 33:11

Don't have to be afraid. Come on, we got the blood of Jesus on us. You're good, you're good. I gotta look at this number six, okay? On this number six, right here, they are told to go around the the wall six one time for six days, six days, six days, six days. And I I I could not believe this. I got a text message. A number of a few folks in our church know about this. I got a text message from this couple. Their names are Clarissa and Enzo. And Clarissa and Enzo, for the last six years, have been going through infertility. For the last six years, they have gone through ups and downs like you can't imagine. For the last six years, they've been connected like we're gonna try to adopt, and the adoptions have fallen apart. For the last six years, in the midst of all of that pain, they keep on showing up to church, they keep on giving, they keep on serving, they keep on blessing others, they keep on leading connect groups, they keep on pouring into marriage, they keep on being who God has called them to be for the last six years, and we got the text this week, and on this miracle Sunday, they are now holding their brand new baby in their arms for the very first time. I am telling you. One friend, send it this way, send it this way. Don't stop on six, don't stop on six. They never would have got to seven if they stopped on six. Don't stop on four, don't stop on three, don't stop on two, don't you dare stop on one, and don't stop on six! You keep on going, cuz God's got a day seven that he's been working on. This is what God does. Okay, Oakliff, first go Dallas, please sit down, sit down, sit down, sit down, sit down. I shouldn't have got this organ. Make sure you want to preach longer. I'm gonna tell y'all. The Lord is moving and working. Do not eject yourself, disconnect from Him, from family, what He's trying to do in your soul. You watch God work, and we're gonna see a miracle. Bow your heads at every location if you were not mine. Ask you to bow your heads, Frisco, Dallas, online, Tiva, O'Cliff, inviting your campus, pastor up now. Just bow your head for just a moment. If you are under the sound of my voice and you have never given your heart and your life to Jesus Christ, you never made him first, you never made him number one. But you're saying, I don't want to go my own way, I want to go the way of Christ. I want the finished work of the cross to change me from the inside out. Maybe there was a time you were following Jesus, but you slipped away, you've gone another direction. You're saying, I don't want to go my own way, I want to go his way. If that's you and you've never given your heart to Christ, or at one point in time you didn't, you slipped away. Today, on the count of three, I just want you to throw your hand in the air and say, Yes, that's me. I want to give my heart and my life to Christ ready. One, two, three. Just throw your hand up, you're saying, yep, that's me. I want to give my heart to Jesus. This is beautiful. Come on, friends, in the balcony on the floor. I see you, friends online. You're saying, Yep, this is me. This is me. I don't want to go my own anymore. I want to go the way of Jesus. We got, come on, teenagers, come on, adults, married people, single people, you're saying, yep, this is me. I'm gonna ask everyone to do me a favor, put your hand over your heart right now if you would not mind. I want everyone to repeat this prayer out loud after me. Say, dear Jesus, I ask you to forgive me of all my sins. I admit I've made mistakes. And today, I give you my heart, I give you my life, give me the power to live for you in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. Lift your heads up, clap your hands.