Purpose In Your Pain 5/3

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Transcript

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Clap of praise in this place. Lord, we just come before you right now, Father God, with a humble heart and a humble spirit, Father. And we ask for you to do what only you can do today, God, as we prepare our hearts and our minds to receive what it is, God, you are going to speak to us today. God, let us just ask you and bow our agenda and bow our minds and our hearts and what we are focusing on. Can we just bow it down before you today, Father God? Because you are holy. And God, we just ask right now, Father, we just thank you for this opportunity we have to come together, God, in your house. God, we thank you for the worship. We thank you for your presence. We thank you for our brothers and sisters in Christ. Thank you for this church family, God. And we simply ask for you to speak to our hearts, God. There is people who are here today under the sound of my voice who are on the brink of a breakthrough and they're also on the brink of a breakdown, Father God. And we pray right now that your Holy Spirit would step into this place and Father, it would mend broken hearts. It would put together broken families, God. You would restore us. You'd bring salvation. And God, we're praying for healing for so many today, Father God. We just ask your will to be done here in Versailles, Missouri, as it is in heaven. In Jesus' name we pray. And everybody said, Amen. Can we give the Lord another hand clap of praise? Amen, church. You're looking good today. You may be seated in the presence of the Lord. You're looking good today. And we're excited to get straight into the Word of God today because at the end of our service, we are not only doing our normal uh prayer time and altar time, but we are also praying for the sick. And so there's a lot of individuals, there's a lot of people who are going through different um battles and journeys in their life right now, and we want to do as scripture says, gather the elders, gather the church, and anoint with oil and pray over the individuals who are suffering, who are needing healing, who are sick in body. And so we are going to be doing that at the end of the service. But God has given me a word for somebody this morning. How many of you appreciate that God gives us a word and that he wants to speak to our hearts in 2026? Amen. He hasn't given up on mankind yet. Amen. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. He hasn't given up on us yet. And so we are just so appreciative of what God is doing. And so today's message, we're going to get right in it. It's titled Purpose in Your Pain. Look at someone and say, Purpose in your pain. As I was waiting upon the Lord this week as I as I have been busy as a pastor, have all these different things going on, and in my brain this week, it was just really hard to kind of focus in on God, speak to me, give me a fresh word for our church, for our congregation, for those who are going through different things. And sometimes you just have to wait for the craziness of life to calm down so that you can really feel like, hey, I am connecting with God through the Holy Spirit right here. And so that's exactly what happened this week when I was finally able to kind of push past some of the distractions and things that was going on. Here comes all these thoughts and points and directions and scripture and just being downloaded in my heart and mind. And so as we are beginning this sermon, I want to remind you, I want to quote you a few scriptures. Can we do that? Can I quote you a few scriptures? How many of you would be honest right now and say to me, or you would say, hey, in my life or my family, someone I love, they're going through something right now. Can you just raise your hand if that's someone you know, right? And so there's a lot of people in our church and in our community that are going through trials, a battle with their health, a diagnosis. And so here's what God is wanting to remind you today. This message is for you. Romans 8 28. And we know that God causes everything. Church, say everything. Everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. And it doesn't mean all things are good, church. It's going to work together for the good, though. Can I get an amen right there? How many of you know that sometimes things don't go the way we want them to? So not everything is good, but he's gonna make everything work together for the good because he is good. Amen. Come on, I'm ready to preach this morning, and I need a church who's ready to amen me. Come on. James chapter 1, verse 2 and 4. This is setting us up where we're gonna be going today. Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing. Come on, give him some praise. So I'm here to tell somebody this morning God can use your trials as testing for your endurance and patience and your faith. Doesn't mean it's gonna be fun. But he can use those things to make your faith strong in him so you are a mature Christian and so you can be where he wants you to be. Amen. Just like last week, we talked about heart over hype. And as Christians, we can't we can't allow our emotions to control our faith. They're connected, but they don't have to control one another. And so Jesus put it like a man who builds his house on sand. When the rains and storms and wind come, the house will be blown over because the foundation isn't strong. But then he said, it's like a man who built his house upon the rock, a firm foundation. When the storms of life come, the house will stand. So, what does that mean? What does it mean? It it doesn't mean what the doctor says. Come on, somebody. If people are talking about me, if I'm part of the gossip around town, none of those things matter because I know who holds tomorrow in the palm of his hand. I know the one who can say to the storm, calm, be still, and the waves and the storm have to listen. So this leads us to the first point today, and this sermon is going to be a little more exciting and hype. So um I need I need you to latch on to what God is saying because we're gonna be moving through a lot of good stuff, but quickly, because we got to get to time for prayer. That's the most important thing today. So, point one is this God uses storms to grow our faith. Matthew chapter 14. We're gonna read eight verses here, 14, 23 through 31. And so hang with me here as I try to read through this as smooth as I can. Immediately after this, in verse 22, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat. Everybody say, back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake. And while he sent the people home, after sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray, and night fell while he was there alone. After sending them home, he went up into the hills to by himself to pray, and night fell while he was there alone. Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves. Verse 25 about three o'clock in the morning, Jesus came toward them walking on the water. When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, It's a ghost. But Jesus spoke to them at once, don't be afraid, he said, Take courage, I am here. And then Peter called to him, Lord, if it's really you, then tell me to come to you, walking on the water. Yes, come, Jesus said. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. Sink. Save me, Lord, he shouted. Jesus immediately reached out, grabbed him. You have so little faith, Jesus said. Why did you doubt me? Now I think it's important to note there in verse 22. There's a reason we kind of repeated some of those words. Jesus sent them into the storm. Have you ever thought about that? He told them, Hey, you go ahead, get in the boat. I'll meet you there. He sent them into the storm. Why would he do that? Because God sees the bigger picture. So many times we are caught up in the missing puzzle piece in the puzzle that we are trying to put together called life. But I'm here to tell somebody that Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, He's the one who designed the puzzle. He knows the picture. He knows where every piece belongs. And this morning, wherever you're focused at, maybe you're guilty of being stuck and caught up in just one piece of the puzzle. He sees the whole picture this morning. He knows what it looks like. He knows where each piece fits together. You see, the storm wasn't punishment. Listen to me this morning. It was positioning. It wasn't punishment, it was positioning. Sometimes God needs to get us to where he wants us. Even if it requires a storm, even if it's a little uncomfortable. Listen to me this morning. Some people, this is really powerful if you'll grab a hold of this. Some people are in a storm, not because you're out of God's will, but because you're right in the middle of it. I can stand here this morning and testify, and I know several of you can as well. Sometimes you gotta go through something to get where God needs you to be. You don't learn to swim inside of the boat. You gotta get wet, amen. Peter never walked on the water without the storm. A calm sea would have never taught Peter what Jesus was trying to teach him, to trust him, to keep his eyes focused on him. So we see there's purpose in the storm. Because God uses storms to grow our faith. Our next point is this. Point number two, God uses giants to reveal our calling. We all know the story of David and Goliath, and we probably heard it in Sunday school or children's church or a vacation Bible school growing up. Maybe you had the the felt boards and the little pieces that connect, and Goliath the giant was holding God's people, Israel, captive with fear until God's anointed one, David, arrived, bringing his brothers food. He overheard the Philistine giant mocking God, mocking Israel. And there was a pivotal moment in David's story. He was already anointed to be the next king. Listen to me this morning. He was already anointed to be the next king of Israel, but now it was time to show everyone. And so in 1 Samuel chapter 17, just a few verses here, 45 through 47, it says, David replied to the Philistine, You come to me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of heaven's armies, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head, and then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord's battle, and he will give you to us. You see, David doesn't become king without Goliath. David needed this victory over Goliath to show everyone how he was God's chosen, and how God was going to use him. See, your greatest obstacle may end up being your greatest opportunity. Goliath was trying to destroy Israel and destroy David and destroy God's plan, but God let Goliath reveal who David was. What looked like opposition was actually a promotion in play. That thing coming against you may be the very thing that God uses to reveal to you who you are. Just like David, most of us we have a giant that we are fighting. Sometimes it's public and everyone knows, and sometimes it's private and only God knows. Sometimes there's a giant in your life that no one else even knows about. Maybe it's a temptation, maybe it's a generational curse, maybe it's an addiction, maybe it's something you can't shake, and you don't know if you're ever gonna be able to win the battle. Can I remind you that the battle is not yours? Can I remind you that you can't find you can't find your victory in yourself, but only with God? Can I remind you if God has allowed there to be a Goliath in your life, then that must mean that he sees a David inside of you. Can I tell you that greater is he that is in you, that he is that's in the world. Amen? And so we need some of us we need to we need to think about this like this. I'm gonna be a giant slayer. There's somebody under the sound of my voice today. You need to hear this. God is using this giant that you are up against to reveal himself to you. He is using your giant to reveal who you are. David was called to be the next king. Your calling might be the one who defeated cancer. Your calling might be the one who overcame addiction. Your calling might be the one who didn't give up on his family. Whatever your calling is, to God be all the glory. Can we give him praise? So that leads us to point three. And point three is this God is with you in the fire. Maybe you've been in a situation where you feel like everything is falling apart. Maybe you don't know how you're gonna make ends meet. Fire consumes things. And sometimes in life we experience a situation that just completely takes it out of us. And it feels like when it's all said and done, maybe there's nothing left. I've been in those situations before where after the situation happened, I didn't know where I was gonna go from there. I didn't know what was gonna happen next. I want to read you the story of the three Hebrew boys who were tossed into a blazing furnace because of their faith and their disobedience to the law of the land to worship a false God, to worship a king. So we're gonna go there in Daniel chapter 3. We're gonna be reading verses 20 through 29, and this is what it says there in Daniel chapter 3, verse 20. Then he ordered some of the strongest men of his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abindigo and throw them into the blazing furnace. And so they tied them up and threw them into the furnace, fully dressed in their pants and turbans and robes and other garments. And because the king in his anger had demanded such a hot fire in the furnace, the flames killed the soldiers as they threw the three men in. So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abinago, securely tied, fell into the roaring flames. But suddenly Nebuchadnezzar jumped up in amazement and exclaimed to his advisors, Didn't we tie up three men and throw them into the furnace? Yes, your majesty, we certainly did, they replied. Unbound, walking around in the fire, unharmed. And the fourth looks like a god. Verse 26, verse 26 says, Then Nebuchadnezzar came as close as he could to the door of the flaming furnace and shouted, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out, come here. And so Shadrach, Meshach, and Abindigo stepped out of the fire. And then the high officers, officials, governors, advisors crowded around them and saw that the fire had not touched them. Not a hair on their heads was singed, and their clothing was not scorched. They didn't even smell of smoke. Thank you, Jesus. See, God didn't keep them from the fire. Let me say that again. God didn't keep them from the fire. Let me say that one more time. God didn't keep them from the fire. He joined them in it. And you might feel like you are going through a fire today. But can I tell you that you are not alone? There is a fourth man in that fire. And I love the part that says they came out without even the smell of smoke. Whatever you're going through today, can I tell you? Can I prophesy over you that God is with you? He's going to continue to be with you. And you just need to trust him. You just need to lean upon him. You need to have that attitude that the three Hebrew boys and Lion and Daniel had. Even if. Look at your neighbor and say, even if. That even if kind of attitude that even if things don't go the way you want them to, that you know that God's got you, that it's gonna be okay. Can I remind you of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abinago? Can I remind you of their friend? You may have heard of him. His name was Daniel. Daniel 6. They try to throw him in the lion's den, and the Lord causes the mouths of the lions to be shut. Their trial, their pain became this platform that impacted kings. Your trial might be bigger than you, but God might be using your test and turning it into a testimony for someone who is watching. When we were youth pastors in Texas, and we moved from Versailles, Missouri to Houston, Texas. It was a crazy time in our life. We couldn't believe that God was doing all these things, and we just stepped out in faith. It was a hard transition. We loved being here in Ver Sales. We loved our church. We loved our pastors. We loved our youth group. And it came completely out of the blue. And so we followed God to Houston, Texas. And in 2013, we we were youth pastors down there, and we had a student, his name was Christian Beasley. He was 12 years old, and Kayla. I was talking to her just for a couple moments last night about this sermon, and she reminded me the week we found out that he was diagnosed with stage four leukemia. He had just gone to the doctor and he came to youth group, and he was standing out in the parking lot hanging out with people and friends. And we were having some sort of uh whatever event or something, and he came dressed like a hot dog. Okay. But, anyways, he's 12 years old. And in 2013, he was diagnosed with stage four leukemia. And they said, unless there's a miracle from God, this doesn't look good. And I never thought about this before until I was putting this together, but yeah, I realized his name was Christian, but just the idea of his name was Christian, because and he was a Christian. That was that was something that God was kind of revealing to me as I was putting this together. But Christian fought cancer for several years. And we went to see him in downtown Houston, where one of the world's top children cancer hospitals are, and talk about a sad place to walk into where the whole skyscraper is full of children fighting cancer. You don't want to hang out there very long. You don't want to look around very much. I know from experience. And uh we went down and visited him, and Christian was a huge Houston Texans football fan. And his favorite player was JJ Watt. And some of you will know who that is, some of you don't, that's okay. But Christian got to do the Make a Wish Foundation, make a wish thing. Is that right? Make a wish. And his wish was that he would get to meet JJ Watt. And so sure enough, this gets to JJ Watt, and he's the star of the team, the star of the city at that time. It was before some of the basketball or baseball things happened there, and they got more all-stars and things like that. And so he was kind of the big thing in town, and he decided he was going to come and surprise and visit Christian who was fighting cancer. Can I tell you that not only was this an awesome deal, but that the national news picked up that story? That that week on every major platform, this story of JJ Watt going to meet Christian Beasley was on TV. And he got to go to several NFL games, and him and JJ Watt really hit it off, and even years later, still have a connection. And there was this whole movement of people who started following him. They made fan pages of Christian Beasley and all this stuff because he was on the national news and because they were captivated how this 12-year-old was fighting cancer. And so even though he was fighting cancer, his life and his journey and his battle impacted not only a celebrity, but who knows how many thousands, maybe millions of people who watch the story on TV. Can I testify this morning, right here in Versailles, Missouri? 13 years later, Christian is healthy. He is married, and he defeated cancer. And him and his wife have a baby on the way. And he is healthy because of prayer. And can I tell somebody this morning that prayer still works? God never left him or forsaken him. And it was this amazing moment for us as his youth pastors, for him to get up in our youth group a few years later and get to speak and share about his journey and how God healed him and how he got to do all these cool things. Not only did this impact Christian and his family and our youth group in Houston, Texas, and JJ Wadd, but everyone who followed his story, cannot tell somebody this morning, God is with you in the fire. Point number four. Pressure produces what comfort never could. I want to talk to you about diamonds for a minute. And they say, and I trust them because they're the professionals, they begin to form hundreds of miles under the soil. And this is what makes them so valued and unique that a diamond requires extreme heat. You might say, well, how much heat? Over 2,000 degrees. This also requires intense pressure to form a diamond. 725,000 pounds per square inch. And it takes a tremendous amount of time to form. And then they must be cut and refined to shine. This is a process and it's a rugged one and requires lots of forms and changing from pressure and heat. And diamonds don't start off beautiful. And if I would have remembered, we were gonna bring some coal and make it kind of look like this big chunk of rock. So you could kind of sort of get a visual of what that looks like when it begins. Because it starts buried beneath the soil and all of this pressure and all of this heat and it and it develops in the dark. But what made it valuable wasn't comfort, it was process and the pressure. But what happens afterwards, you get a beautiful diamond. Okay? Listen to me. Some of you right now, in this moment, in this trial, in this storm, you feel buried. Some of you feel the pressure. But what if God isn't crushing you? What if he's creating something in you? What if he is forming you? What if you are going to learn and become something far more valuable and greater than what you could ever have thought, dreamed, or imagined? I want to read this scripture to you. And God is trying to speak to someone who has been through an ordeal, someone who is currently going through something. I want you to listen to this, and then we're gonna ask the band to come up after I get done reading this and begin to play softly. But let me read the scripture first before you come. Listen to this. 1 Peter chapter 1, verses 6 through 7. This is so powerful. Listen to this. So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead. Even though you must endure many trials for a little while, these trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold. Though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. Can somebody give him some praise this morning? As the band comes and just begins to play something softly, I need you to listen in. Don't be distracted. If we can try not to, everyone decide to jump up and use the restrooms at the same time. This is a God moment, not a you moment, not a bathroom moment. Okay? If the diamond leaves the heat and the pressure too soon, guess what? It won't fully form into what it's becoming. Even though you may be praying for a breakthrough, you may be at the point of breaking or giving up. There's a heavenly process that's happening. Listen to me. There's a heavenly process that's happening inside of you and in the spiritual realm where God is forming your purpose and who you are going to be on the other side of this. Can I just prophesy to someone this morning? Who knows how many or who you will impact with your story and your testimony? For the three Hebrew boys, for Daniel, for David killing Goliath, it impacted kings and kingdoms. For my friend Christian, it impacted probably millions of people. Because you couldn't watch the article, the clip, the scene on the news, you couldn't watch it without crying. I want you to think about this this morning. Peter and the storm, David and the giant, the Hebrew boys, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abinigo in the fire, Daniel and the lions. Listen to me. You and your situation. What's your storm this morning? What is your giant? What is your fire? I want you to take on this attitude today before we pray and before we pray for the sick, before we believe for a miracle for so many this morning. God, I may not understand it, but I trust you in it. There is purpose in the pain. Your trial is training. What feels like breaking may actually be building. So I want us to bow our heads and close our eyes because we're gonna take care of some house things that we need to do before we move into prayer. With nobody moving around or talking or doing anything. We're way early, so there's no reason to open doors or to move around or use the bathroom. It just this is just like we're preaching, but we're moving into a different part of our service. So let's pray together, let's focus. If you're here today, you say, you know what, Pastor, I don't even have a relationship with Jesus, so I don't even know that all this stuff sounds good, but I need to ask him into my heart. I need to start something at the beginning. I need to, I need to ask him to forgive me. I need to ask him to be the Lord and Savior of my life. We want to encourage you to pray a prayer of salvation today. But if that's you, nobody looking around, real quick, you need to ask Jesus to be your savior, you need to ask him to forgive you of your sins. Would you just slip up your hand and say, That's me? God, here I am. Forgive me, God, here I am, save me. Thank you for those hands. You can put them down today. We're gonna give you an opportunity to pray with us here in just a moment. Maybe you're here today and and and God is trying to show you the purpose in your pain, and you're needing prayer, you're needing a breakthrough, you're needing understanding. Would you slip up your hand and say, That's me? God's talking to me this morning. I'm going through something, I'm I'm I'm having a trial, I'm having a struggle, and I need God to intervene. I need him to show me. Thank you for hands going up all over the room. I want you to open your eyes and look back up here for a minute. Not only are we gonna open up here in a minute for prayer, for salvation, for different needs, but we're also gonna open up for prayer for the sick. We're going to anoint with oil, we're gonna pray over those who are sick and suffering in their body. You may have seen the same thing that I did this week, but there's a popular video going around because it has a really interesting point. But in John chapter 5, paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda. Jesus asks him, Do you want to be healed? Do you want to be well? The thing that kind of came out of this this clip that went viral is do we really want to change our story? Are we okay with God healing us and us leaving those things behind us so we can move forward? And my challenge with you this morning as we begin get we're getting ready to pray, and we're gonna pray for the sick, and we're gonna pray for healing, we're gonna pray for salvation, we're gonna pray for whatever your needs are. Are you ready to make a change in your life? Are you ready to see whatever it is you've been struggling with fall off of you and be left behind you? Are you sure you want to be healed? Sometimes we're guilty of getting stuck in the moment, getting stuck in an attitude, getting stuck in the woe is me. Let's get that behind us and let's allow God to do whatever he wants to do. This is what James chapter 5, verse 14 and 15 says. Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well. The Lord will raise them up if they have not, if they have sinned, they will be forgiven. I'm gonna ask our leadership, those who've been helping us pray every week. Go ahead and begin to come line up across the front of this stage, like we've been talking about. Want to make sure the whole church has an opportunity. So we need people over here, people in the middle, over here, over here. We need to spread out. And we have plenty of time because God laid it on my heart. We cut a song out, we went through things as fast as we could. We have made time for this. You don't have to be like, oh, well, this is the end of service. I'm gonna slip out of here so I can go have lunch. We're 30 minutes earlier than what we normally are. We have zoomed through this on purpose because God spoke to our hearts not only to pray for the sick, but that God is going to show results. There's gonna be healing, there's gonna be salvation, there's going to be breakthrough. So I want us to bow our heads one more time, and I'm gonna call out whoever you are, whatever it is you're going through. I don't have to know the specifics, and you don't even have to come up and tell us the specifics. It's great to call it out, it's great to shout at the devil, it's great to do that. But can I tell you the only thing that we need is faith and to cry out to Jesus? If you have some personal thing going on you don't really want to share with anybody, that's okay. We can still pray over you. I want I need you to listen. Those who are going through pain, sickness, disease, diagnosis, maybe it's cancer. God wants you to come forward this morning. Maybe you're here today and you're confused. Maybe you're here today and you're frustrated because it seems like God's saying no. God's saying come forward. Maybe you're here, and God's trying to tell you it's okay to trust him. It's okay to trust him in the storm, it's okay to trust him in the fire, it's okay to trust him against that giant because he's got you. God's telling you to come forward, and so I'm gonna begin to pray. And as I begin to pray, don't wait until after I'm done praying. They're gonna start to sing. I want you to come forward, and as soon as I'm done, I'm gonna join my wife down here, and we're gonna go to anoint people for healing. We're gonna pray over you. If you need salvation, if you need just an encouragement, whatever your need is, we want you to come pray. We want you to meet God right here, right now. So as I begin to pray, that's your sign. Don't wait until I'm done. That's your sign to step out in faith. Remember, it requires faith, but God's word says the faith, the size of a mustard seed. You can say move to the mountains and it will move. Father, right now we step out in faith. Right now, people are standing to their feet. Right now, people are coming forward, and as they do, God, I pray that you'd begin healing them as they're on their way. God, as they reach out to you, it'd be a sign of their faith that they trust you in the fire, they trust you in the storm. God, they trust you with whatever's going on. And God, we reach out, we know that all things are possible through Christ who gives us strength. Father God, we stand on your word. We believe it right now that you are going to move. And God, even if we receive an answer that we don't like, you're you have purpose in it. There's purpose in our pain. So, God, we worship you and we sing to you right now, God. We worship you and we just cry out to you, God. We lift our voices, we give this time to you in Jesus' name. Amen and amen.