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Welcome to Life Series, a podcast from King Garden Bay Baptist Church, where we gather together to experience God's love, grow in God's love, and give that love back to each other.

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The scripture reads, When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea, Philippi, he asked the disciples, Who do people say the Son of Man is? They replied, Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and still others say Jeremiah or one of the prophets. But what about you? He asked, Who do you say that I am? Simon Peter, good old Simon. Simon always ready to talk. Simon Peter answered, You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God. And Jesus replied, Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my father. Everybody say, My father. But by my father in heaven, and I will tell you that you are Peter. And on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatever you bind on earth, some of you know this, you can help me, will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loose in heaven. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. I pray right now that you give us the opening and the opportunity to receive and the wisdom to apply what you would have me share. Lord, let self be slain today and let what comes out of me be of you and from you only. For the benefit of your people, this good house, and your kingdom. In the mighty name of Jesus. Amen. Now, like I said, I I have I got I got real history with this church. My history with with the King Adam Baptist Church goes into the days where myself and Kimberley and Nikita, I see you back then. One day uh uh uh uh Dr. Reverend Dr. Melvin Tombow uh assigned us to sing. He didn't ask if we wanted to sing, he he didn't ask if we were ready to sing. He said, I need y'all in position to sing. And Kimbley came to us and we got it together. And every second Sunday, uh led by the good honorable Melvin Mitch Tombow, we will pull ourselves together. I tell y'all, I got some history. We'll we'll pull ourselves together and we would find ourselves on this good uh uh uh stage pulpit and we will sing. And there was one good Sunday where before I came to sing, something very special was happening that weekend. You see, it was festival time, it was festival time, and I had been having a good time. I've been having a really good time. You understand? The first week went by, all the holidays hit, I was present, I was here, and you know the thing is, I'm not always here for the summer, but this time I was here, so I needed to catch everything that was going on. And that Saturday, or no, that that Friday was Carrot Bay Fest. You understand? And I had to make sure that I was at Carrot Bay Fest because if I could make it to town, I could make it to Carrot Bay. Amen. Don't say amen to that, guys. And I had a ball at Carrot Bay Fest. And y'all, because y'all are so much better than me, y'all can't relate to this. I I I started drinking from a very young age. I'll tell y'all, y'all can't relate to this. Y'all are good people. And during that evening, that good Friday evening, not the good, good Friday, but this was a good Friday for another good. You know, yeah, all right, you know. I tell him my business, I'll tell you how I get comfortable here. Man, I I drink, I drank, I shouted, I sang, I drank, I shouted, I sang, I drank, I shouted, I sang. There might have been a shot or two. Don't ask me how I was able to get these drinks at my age, that wasn't my business. My business was to enjoy myself. My point is, when I woke up on Saturday and it was time for rehearsal, I had no voice. I was in a state. And if Sister Kimbley could remember, I showed up talking like this. And you see, the special thing about that Sunday was I had a solo. I had a solo. And I showed up on Saturday, no voice, in a state, horrible state. But then God hit me with some conviction, and I understood in the moment that I could not step back from my assignment because of my irresponsibility. I could not step back from what not only I agreed to, but what I was called to because I mishandled a moment. I had to show up, I had to follow through, and if it meant that I was embarrassed in the moment, it was to be a lesson for me to recover from and live through. But I had to show up because God set things up for me to be in place. And if I were to reject what I was called to, I would be rejecting the one who called me. Amen. I followed through simply because I was assigned to. This story does not end with me waking up with my voice or stepping up and finding a way to do an amazing job. I sounded horrible. I did not represent myself well, I did not represent this ministry well. I did not do what I could have done if I remained disciplined and composed and mindful and responsible, but in following through, and because this is such a good house, not being kicked out of the place, I learned so much about selfless ministry in that moment. I learned so much about how what you do goes beyond you, because little did I know the blessing in that moment was not for people to listen to how wonderful my voice was, but the people of this good house just wanted to see young people do something for God, and that was the assignment. And I learned that that day, and I did step up in place with no shame, and I had no shame because I understood that if my father assigned me to be there, then I was exactly where I was supposed to be. We have to understand the strength of that composure, understanding if my father told me that I'm supposed to be here, I might look a bit out of place, I might not sound as well as I could sound, I might not fit the mole exactly as people expect. But if my father said I'm supposed to be there, then I am exactly where I'm supposed to be. And the conviction to accept the assignment in the state that we are in is the key to access God's covering beyond ourselves. Want to say that again? The conviction, the conviction to accept the assignment from God beyond ourselves, beyond the state that we find ourselves in, beyond what we think of ourselves, beyond what we see of ourselves, beyond what we hear about ourselves, the conviction to accept the assignment beyond ourselves is the key to access God's covering beyond ourselves. Following through with an assignment from our father gets better when we can recognize our father's voice. If I could could could could bring it down a level and and and make it a bit more relatable when it came to the young people singing in this good house every second, Sunday, when Sister Kimley came and said, This is what what Reverend said. There was no question in it because the way she said it, after listening to him Sunday after Sunday after Sunday after Sunday, the way she said it, we had no doubt where we could say, Yeah, he wants us to do this. She's not just making this up. And some of us find ourselves in church, some of us find ourselves in moments in the presence of God where someone comes to us and says, God is telling me that you are supposed to be this person. I see you moving in this area, I see God calling you to do this, but because we are so unfamiliar with the tone and the voice of God, we are unable to recognize when He's sending us a message through another vessel. So we get stuck within ourselves and we say crazy things like, Well, if God wanted me to do that, he would have told me himself. We say, we say crazy things like, Well, who do you think you are telling me what God wants? And we get stuck in our offense instead of being open to what God has and not realizing that the reason God more than likely had to send somebody else is because we are so deaf to his voice in the first place. And we think we know how he's supposed to sound, we think we know what that's supposed to feel like, we think we know what that's supposed to look like, and we block God out to the point where he has to send somebody else to get our attention because we only know some of us how to listen to other people. We don't know how to pay attention to God. Following through with an assignment from our father gets easier when we can recognize his voice. Verse 17 in the scripture that we just read said Jesus replied to Simon after he said, You are the Christ. Jesus replied and said, Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by my father in heaven. Jesus was able to hear his father's voice through another vessel because he understood the tone and the frequency of how his father operated. Jesus was able to recognize when something was coming from God because he was not stuck in the flesh, he was attentive to the spirit. Jesus was able to recognize when Simon spoke, he was able to say, What's what's coming from you right now is powerful, and I know that it's not based on flesh and blood, it is from my father. And what a lot of us have to be able to do is dig in with our connection with God. So when people talk to us, we can say, I hear you saying this, but I know it's from God. And when other people come to us saying some stuff, we can say, I hear you saying this, but that is not of God. And we don't get those two things mixed up because we know our Father. There are some words that that that that that I know my my my good my good cousins don't use. Somebody comes to me with a message and they use some of those words, I can easily say, uh-uh, Dr. Mike didn't say that. Because Dr. Mike don't talk like that. Somebody comes to me with a message I can say, uh my Mitch? My honorable Tombaugh? Nah, he didn't say that. Because he don't talk like that. And a lot of us get stuck because we really have no idea how God talks. And we don't have an idea of how God talks because we don't talk with God. Jesus heard Simon speak and he confirmed that it was of his father, and in that moment, Jesus establishes that he accepted his assignment. He accepted the assignment that God had sent for him and placed him in when Simon said, You are the Christ, and Jesus said yes. That moment he established his acceptance. I have a few questions for us to dig into as this good house continues to dig into their mission. Have you accepted your assignment? We have to start there. Have you accepted your assignment from God? Let me start off by saying a lot of us have not accepted our assignment from God. We get stuck with battling with how we accept or if we're supposed to accept our assignment from God. And one of the reasons is because instead of accepting our assignment from God, we are looking for acceptance from other people. Some of the things that God is calling us to does not fit the mold of acceptance in your immediate crowd. You can see already how your friends might walk away. You can see already how it might lead you into strange places, you can see already how you might have to break some of those promises that you made in your own strength. Because you want acceptance from other people, you block out accepting God's assignment. But the acceptance that we give, the acceptance that we give is much more significant than the acceptance that we receive. You have to understand that. While we are waiting for acceptance from others, God has already shown his approval. And God approves of us by assigning us. When God made Adam out of the dearth and he saw him and he saw that he was a good creation, the next thing he did was give him an assignment because he saw that he was fit and ready. When God looked upon the earth and he looked with regret for making man, but he saw one Noah that was that was able and fitting to carry on his name. He approved of him by assigning him to make an ark and carry on society. When God looked at Moses in his stay, even after he had committed murder, even after he had run away, God saw him and God approved of him by assigning him. When God shows up, God assigns you, and when God assigns you, he already approves of you, and we cannot make the mistake of getting the assignment and then going to look for approval. Tell somebody you're already approved. If you know already what your assignment is, you are already approved. If you already receive that word from God, you are already approved. We want God to sit down and tell us how pretty our hair is, how strong we are, how good we look, how how well we did to get through the last year. God ain't showing up to do that. If God takes the time to show up to talk to you, if God takes the time to send you a message, he has seen enough, he has heard enough, and he approves of you so he's ready to use you to do what's supposed to be done. He approves of you by assigning you. Rejecting his call is rejecting his confidence in you. When we reject the call of God, we reject the confidence that he is showing in us for us. When God says, I see you, and this is who I want you to speak with. And we turn around and we say, Well, God, I don't think I could do it. We are rejecting the confidence that He has given us. From the moment God tells us, I want you to do this, He is telling us you can do it. From the moment God puts a vision in our hearts, from the moment God gives us an assignment, He is already saying this thing is something that you are capable of. But we get caught up in ourselves. We get caught up with what we see in the mirror. We get caught up with the last job we were fired from. We get caught up about the family member that still wouldn't accept us. We get caught up. And we confuse God when we get caught up for man. And we start to answer God from a worldly perspective when He has assigned us from some from a place beyond ourselves. Our acceptance then shows our awareness. What we are willing and unwilling to accept of God shows our awareness. And as you consider your mission, if you are still considering what you think you are capable of, you are showing a limited awareness that stops at yourself. As you consider what God is calling you to, as you consider what God has placed in your hands. If there is doubt, then you are not considering God's position in it all. Who are we responding to? Better recognition equals a better response. Better recognition equals a better response. How we acknowledge or recognize something affects how we accept and receive it. How we acknowledge and recognize something affects how we accept and receive it. And how we accept and receive a thing affects how we answer and respond to it. Let me give you a brief example. If somebody walks up to me with a box, that box is broken down and dirty and some type of ripped up cardboard, and they present that to me, I myself, maybe not you, because again, you're better than me. I might step back and recoil and ask them, Well, who are you giving that garbage to? Because I don't recognize it as a gift. I recognize it as garbage. And because I recognize it as garbage, I step back and reject it. And because I take up the composure of rejection, my response is: who do you think you are given that garbage to? But if someone walks up to me with a box and it's wrapped in some nice colorful uh uh uh gift wrap with a nice bow on top of it, when I see them approaching, before they even get close to me, I'm gonna smile and say, I wonder if that's for me. And as they get closer to me, I might get closer to them, and as they get closer to me some more, I might step up some more and make myself a bit more pleasant. And as they present it to me, I will reach out my hands and say, Thank you. What is this for? And before they answer, I'm gonna start to open it because it's mine, and I receive differently because from a distance I can recognize the gift, so I am open to the gift, and because I am open to the gift, my response is gratitude. How we recognize affects how we receive, and how we receive affects how we respond, and some of us struggle with our response and our response ability because we struggle to recognize we struggle with our responsibility because we struggle to recognize when God is presenting something to us and not man. We struggle with our responsibility because we cannot recognize when God is moving among us and we think that it's just bad luck, we think that it's just good luck, we think that Dr. Mike is just having a manic moment and he wants everything to happen at once. We think that, we think that God is not with us because we can't recognize, so we reject and we reject and we reject and we doubt and we doubt and we question and we question, not knowing that in that cardboard box there is something that goes beyond our expectation. Thinking we know how God presents something. If God is telling me something, he's going to present it this way and is gonna feel this way, and I'm going to see doves in the sky, and I'm going to have a great night's sleep, and so on and so forth. We really think God is this peon, peon, petting type of fluffy thing. So when God sends us something that roughs us up, when God sends us something or presents something that can break us down and challenge us and put us to the edge of all mind state, we don't believe that is Him because God wouldn't lead me into something that could hurt me. God wouldn't lead me into something that can challenge me. We think so because we don't know him. Jesus Himself said, think not that I come to bring peace. I come not to bring peace, I come to bring a sword. Only respond. When we only respond to what we recognize on a level, we limit ourselves. Let me speak this up. The second thing we have to do is only respond to what resonates with us. Jesus, when the other disciples were given their answer, he did not respond to them. Some said this, some said that. Jesus did not respond to confirm or deny anything that they were saying, but when he heard something that resonated with him, then he responded with confirmation. We need to learn that because we spend too much time responding to things that have nothing to do with us. We spend too much time answering things and answering people that have nothing to do with us. They can't reach you, they can't touch you, they can't see you, they can't smell you. But as soon as you get a whiff of what's happening with them, what they said, how they feel we want to take up the Facebook, we want to pick up the phone, we want to show up at somebody's house, we want to show it at somebody's job and respond to things that have nothing to do with us. I'm gonna leave that there for now. This is the second, this is the next thing that we need to question. Who are we honoring? We have to know that we ought to act on the father's word. Jesus acted on his father's word once he recognized it coming through Peter. And by exercising his authority, he acted on his father's word. How did he exercise his authority? You ask a great question. Once he recognized his father's word, he understood this is a place for me to take action. We see him do a very significant thing. When Jesus put Adam into place, he said, Go out and name the animals of this land. What Jesus did falls right in line with that. Peter in that moment was of his father, so he exercised his authority by changing Peter's uh Simon's name to Peter. And what we have to do when we recognize that God is telling us something is to act in our authority. Once God assigns you, you are already approved. So all you have to do is act. Make a move. Use the authority that has already been placed in your heart, on your tongue, in your hands, in your feet, and act on the word of God. This is how we honor God. We honor God by acting in the authority that He has placed in us. Not acting less than shy or scared. We honor God by recognizing his power and recognizing his trust in us and moving forward with it. Somebody say, move forward. Now we have to ask the next question. Or better yet, we have to look at the distraction. We say to God time and time again. As we move and as we try. God, you see how they're looking. God, you see, you you you see you see what what what they're trying. God, can you hear what they're saying? And God is responding and asking you, can you hear what I'm saying? Can you see what I am doing? Do you recognize how I'm trying? Approach God time and time again with that complaint of God, they're talking about me, and God is saying, but I'm talking about you too. We have to understand that his word yesterday is still alive today. So that means that what he said is still what he is saying. The words that he put in place are still the words in operation today. And as I close, I want to leave you with the words of your father, the good people of the King Ottoman Baptist Church. The prophet Isaiah, when he was sent to the nation of Israel, referred to them as Zion and he spoke to them, encouraged them, gave them awareness. Y'all can build up behind me. Today, God has sent me to do the same thing for you as you consider the missions that you are to take on. In Isaiah 54, the prophet Isaiah refers to Zion from the person of a woman, and I speak to you as a group, as a nation, in that same life. Stand to your feet and receive this as we declare it. On your mission, for you that have considered yourself out of the picture and not good enough for you, that have considered yourself left behind, for you that have considered that you are not able and capable to do what God has already called you to do, that you do not fit the image that God has already described you to be. Come on, somebody say that. The reproach of your widowhood. For your Maker is your husband, and the Almighty in his name. The Holy One of Israel is your redeemer. He is called the God of all the earth. The Lord will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit. A wife who married young only to be rejected, says the Lord. For a brief moment, he says, I abandoned you, but with deep compassion, I will bring you back. In a surge of anger, I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting kindness, I will have compassion on you, says the Lord your Redeemer. To me, this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So now, everybody say, Now, so now I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again. Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken, nor my covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord who has compassion for you, afflicted city lashed by storms and not comforted. I will rebuild you with stones of torquise and your foundations. All your children, all your children, all your children will be established, tyranny will be far from you, you will have nothing to fear. Terror will be removed, it will not come near you. And if anyone if anyone attacks you, it will not be my doing. And whoever attacks you will surrender to you. See, it is I who created the blacksmith who fans the coals into flames and forges a weapon fit for its work. And it is I who have created the destroyer to wreak habit. No weapon for against you shall prosper, and every tongue that rises against you in judgment shall be condemned.

SPEAKER_04 40:46

I'm gonna say that again.

SPEAKER_06 41:11

So when you step out of the church, you on the strength of understanding that my father said no weapon formed against me will prosper. My father said every tongue against me will be condemned.

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My father said that I will have peace.

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So when people try to guilt you, when people try to talk you down, when people try to discourage you, you let them know that my father said that he loves me.

SPEAKER_04 42:06

My father said that he's holding me. So no matter what you say, my father said we gotta stand on the strength of what our father said.

SPEAKER_06 42:27

Jesus sat among the disciples, the ones that were walking with him, the ones that were close with him, the ones that should have known him. They should have known him, Mr. Rither, and still had all this nonsense to say about who he was. And when he finally heard something that made sense, he said, Yeah, that's what my father said. We sit down among people, we have to already know what the what what our father said. God ain't never called you dumb. God ain't ever called you, called you lesser than. Say that you're going to live alone. Your father did not say that you were meant for death and sickness. Your father did not say that.

SPEAKER_05 44:15

Oh how you and I don't know all of you. But God knows you.

SPEAKER_06 44:27

And I don't have to know you to believe what he's saying about you. Because he's my father too. And right in the state that you are in, while your voice is messed up like mine. Because I didn't handle myself appropriately. The scripture already says, You will not be put to shame by your youth. That's what the scripture said. We just read that. Uphold what your father said about you. Do not reject the call and the mission that he has set before you. And as you step forward, as you go deeper, know that you are doing it on the strength of your father's word. I want to offer a prayer for those that need help, believe in what their father said about. I want to offer a prayer for those that even right now, as I speak, you're saying, Pastor Joe, Pastor Clay, you sound good, but you talking to them, you ain't talking to me because you don't know me. You don't know what I did last week, you don't know what I did last night, you don't know how I feel, you don't know what I have to go home to, and I'm saying, Yeah, I don't know, but God knows better yet, which report would you prefer to believe? The one that breaks you down or the one that builds you up. Is there anyone that needs that prayer to receive what God is saying about them? You could just raise your hand where you are. Is there anyone? I see those hands, I see those hands, I see those hands, I see those hands. Make no mistake, my hand is lifted for this prayer too. Sometimes I look in the mirror and I'm like, who do you think you are? Talking to people about God. Is there anybody else?

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You know my faith. Is there anybody? You know my name. Is there anybody else? You know my name. Say yes, you know my name. Oh how you walk. Oh how you walk with me. Oh how you talk with me. Come on. Oh how you talk with me. Keep those hands lifted so we can find you right where you're sitting. Oh how you tell how you tell me I am your wrong I am Oh how you talk with me.

unknown 47:52

Oh how you talk with me.

SPEAKER_03 47:56

Oh how you talk, oh how you talk with me. How you tell me?

SPEAKER_06 48:05

Oh how you tell me I am Come on, as the ministers have found you, and if you raise your hand and and no one is with you, we still have ministers available here that can find you and pray with you as I see them doing. Do you need prayer right where you are? You can lift your hands before I start to pray. Do you need someone standing with you as we pray? Do you need that support as you pray? Let us pray, Heavenly Father, Lord, thank you for speaking over us before anybody else could. Lord, thank you for making us out of the mud and looking at us and saying that we are good so that we can remember, no matter how dirty we may seem, you still see us, you still love us, still call us, you still want us. Lord, I decree and declare that as we stand here today, the shackles on the spirit of the bro of the of the broken and the burdened soul will fall off, Lord. Every word that has been placed into their soul that has made them look at themselves as lesser than, made them look at themselves as something that you do not love. Made them look at themselves as something that does not belong. Lord, I decree and declare right now that your word penetrates their being and breaks every curse, breaks every word that works against them. Lord, help them to see your purpose for them, help them to receive your mission for them, help them to go deeper in you with you, Lord. I decree and declare that as they go forward, just like your word says, no weapon formed against them shall prosper, and every tongue that rises up in judgment against them shall be condemned. And as we stand here, we decree and declare together, Lord, that they are the salt of the earth, they are the light of the world, they are fearfully and wonderfully made, they are the head and not the tail above only and not beneath, Lord. The inner secrets that they hold, Lord, shed light on them so they can see the acceptance of their soul. Lord, I decree and declare that as they walk, they will find authority in their presence. Lord, as they speak, they will find authority in their voice. Lord, as they put their hands to walk, they will see the success of their hands, they will see the success of their mind. Lord, I decree and declare that they are no longer restricted by fear and doubt. I decree and declare that they are no longer restricted by the voices of naysayers, Lord. I decree and declare that they are no longer restricted by their immediate crowd. Let them rise, let them climb, let them leave others behind as they continue to live as nothing less than your child, being loved, being protected, being provided for, and most of all, being saved. In the mighty name of Jesus, amen.

unknown 51:28

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 51:33

Thank you for worshiping with us today. If you'd like to go deeper in your walk with Christ, we invite you to contact us at 284-442-4222. Or email us admin at cgbbc.org. Visit our website at cgbbc.org. Be sure to subscribe and share this podcast so others can be encouraged and blessed as well.