SPEAKER_01: You know the word faithful means true to one's word, true to one's character, true to one's nature.
SPEAKER_01: And what better word to describe the most high God?
SPEAKER_01: Our God is a faithful God.
SPEAKER_01: And we want to take some time in this series to remind you that whatever you're going through, whether it's difficulty from your past, difficult seasons, or even a storm that you may be facing, our God is a faithful God.
SPEAKER_01: So I want you to buckle up, get your notebook out, be ready to take some good notes to be reminded of the fact that no matter what the situation calls for, your God is ready and equipped just for that.
SPEAKER_01: And also don't forget, it is school time.
SPEAKER_01: It is time for kids to get back in school.
SPEAKER_01: And if you have not yet figured out the right place for your child or your grandchild, we'd love to have you take a look at Impact Christian Academy, our pre-K through 12th grade school that really is designed to help nurture kids in the academic subjects, but also develop Christian character in their hearts as well.
SPEAKER_01: Go to ICAjax.com for more information.
SPEAKER_01: And now let's get ready for the faithful God.
SPEAKER_02: Amen, amen.
SPEAKER_02: Are you happy to be at church this morning?
SPEAKER_02: Has God been good to you this week?
SPEAKER_02: Are we celebrating how good God has been to us this week?
SPEAKER_02: Come on, let's just take a moment.
SPEAKER_02: Let's just celebrate how good He has been.
SPEAKER_02: He has been great in every circumstance, everything that we face today, and we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus, right?
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: I am so glad to be here today and so glad to be able to share with you what God has and what God's gonna do in this place.
SPEAKER_02: I always believe that when we come together, it's not by accident that you're here because God wants you to be here.
SPEAKER_02: He's here because he wants you to hear something that's gonna change your life today, right?
SPEAKER_02: So if you don't know me, I'm Pastor Brad Williams.
SPEAKER_02: I'm one of the ministers here on staff.
SPEAKER_02: Um also I don't think anybody called me by my name today.
SPEAKER_02: It was all Godfather.
SPEAKER_02: Uh so that's what they call me around here.
SPEAKER_02: And uh that one thing is as I've been given other names, I've been I've been thinking about this this morning, is there's one name that I never mentioned, and I want to mention it today in honor of Pastor Rodney, because Pastor Rodney calls me B Rad.
SPEAKER_02: It's B Rad.
SPEAKER_02: He said, like last time I did it, it's like he's like you mentioned B Rizzle, and you mentioned, but you forgot B Rad.
SPEAKER_02: So today, Pastor Rodney, it's B Rad, right?
SPEAKER_02: So we're so thankful to be with you today, and I'm I'm truly honored and thankful uh for the opportunity.
SPEAKER_02: As uh it's already been said, our pastors are away and getting so much rest that they needed.
SPEAKER_02: And today, though, we want to be talking again.
SPEAKER_02: We're starting this series, and it's called Faithful God.
SPEAKER_02: Are you ready to get into the word today?
SPEAKER_02: Come on, are you ready to get into the word?
SPEAKER_02: God's got some good things for us.
SPEAKER_02: So God has proven, though, down through the years that He is a God who can be dependent on.
SPEAKER_02: He is faithful.
SPEAKER_02: How many can say amen to that?
SPEAKER_02: Through the years, he is faithful.
SPEAKER_02: I know that um I've gone through 62 years, and I know through all of those years, God has been faithful.
SPEAKER_02: It doesn't mean that there wasn't some trying times through that, but through every bit of it, I know that God is faithful.
SPEAKER_02: God has, is, and always will be faithful.
SPEAKER_02: How many can say amen to that?
SPEAKER_02: Now, sometimes in in the in the darkest times, it doesn't seem like that.
SPEAKER_02: And you some of you are here this morning and say, Well, well, Pastor, I hear you say is faithful, but right now I'm going through a battle.
SPEAKER_02: That's okay.
SPEAKER_02: God knows you're going through a battle, but God wants to remind you that he is the same God and that he is faithful to everything that he said, every promise that he made, he is faithful.
SPEAKER_02: And I always have to remember that in my in my true north, regardless of what happens, regardless of when everything doesn't look like it aligns up with the promises of God, I stop and say, God, you are faithful.
SPEAKER_02: God, you are faithful.
SPEAKER_02: Even in the seasons where we couldn't fully understand why things worked out as they did, the blessed assurances that we are we have is knowing without a doubt he is faithful.
SPEAKER_02: But let me talk to you this morning.
SPEAKER_02: But some of you are sitting here thinking, if he's so faithful, why didn't it work out the way I expected?
SPEAKER_02: Here's the tension we don't often talk about.
SPEAKER_02: And I want you to remember this your expectancy has to stay aligned with your assignment.
SPEAKER_02: We have an assignment, but how many know when circumstances come and sometimes we don't we're not even sure that God is faithful?
SPEAKER_02: And you know what?
SPEAKER_02: It sometimes we're we're afraid to have that conversation with God.
SPEAKER_02: David had some very sincere conversations with God.
SPEAKER_02: He said, Create in me a clean heart, renew a right spirit within me.
SPEAKER_02: He already knew what God knew, but during those seasons and and during those times, we have to understand that all of us have an assignment.
SPEAKER_02: Thank you for those two amens and rights.
SPEAKER_02: We all have an assignment.
SPEAKER_02: We all have a purpose.
SPEAKER_02: If if you leave here today with anything, I want you to hear that.
SPEAKER_02: Do not let the enemy do anything to disrupt you from your purpose and your assignment.
SPEAKER_02: But you've got to get your expectancy in alignment with the assignment because a lot of times we can drift from that.
SPEAKER_02: We can drift from that assignment, and then I realize that that assignment didn't go away.
SPEAKER_02: That assignment stayed, but our expectancy has to stay in alignment with that.
SPEAKER_02: Satan will get you expecting the wrong things at the wrong time in the wrong way.
SPEAKER_02: So when it doesn't happen, you start questioning God instead of questioning what you believed.
SPEAKER_02: Let that kind of sit there just for a moment.
SPEAKER_02: We start questioning God instead of questioning God, am I in alignment?
SPEAKER_02: Am I having expectancy?
SPEAKER_02: Am I in that alignment?
SPEAKER_02: Am I aligned?
SPEAKER_02: Ever been in a car that's not aligned really well?
SPEAKER_02: And you're you're you're fighting that thing, like, what is wrong with this car?
SPEAKER_02: It's going left and I want to go right.
SPEAKER_02: And when those things are in alignment, you know you can feel it, right?
SPEAKER_02: And sometimes there's that Holy Spirit speaking to you.
SPEAKER_02: You you're out of you're out of alignment.
SPEAKER_02: But now you're discouraged, not because God failed, but because your expectation drifted from your purpose.
SPEAKER_02: It drifted.
SPEAKER_02: But even in these uncertain times that we have today, and how many know we are in uncertain times?
SPEAKER_02: How many know we need to amp up our prayer a little bit for our world and for our country?
SPEAKER_02: We are in uncertain times, but you know what we are in?
SPEAKER_02: We're in a time where God is on the throne and God is in control.
SPEAKER_02: And you know what?
SPEAKER_02: He's using us and our assignment to be able to accomplish that.
SPEAKER_02: It doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_02: I, you know, I don't get so I'm this is not even my notes, but I don't get so tied up with all these things that are happening.
SPEAKER_02: Because guess what?
SPEAKER_02: I don't even watch the news anymore.
SPEAKER_02: I got rid of my, I got rid of my channel that I can't even watch the news.
SPEAKER_02: And you know what?
SPEAKER_02: I got peace and I got freedom about that.
SPEAKER_02: I'm not watching all that mess.
SPEAKER_02: But but instead of watching that news, uh, even continue to stay in God's word.
SPEAKER_02: What does God's word say?
SPEAKER_02: But I don't sit there and watch that news.
SPEAKER_02: Oh no.
SPEAKER_02: And there's this, there's this series that that Sharon and I have been watching, and it'll come along and it'll get you know kind of bad at the end of that of that uh particular episode, and I'll say, you know what?
SPEAKER_02: It's getting worse.
SPEAKER_02: Just when I thought it couldn't get worse, it's getting worse.
SPEAKER_02: And sometimes we have to understand this our eyes in the windows of our soul, and the things that were taken in and see all that.
SPEAKER_02: I'm not telling you, listen, back in the day in the 70s, all the Christians were throwing their TVs out in the yard or throwing them out.
SPEAKER_02: And you know what they did about five minutes later?
SPEAKER_02: They went and bought another TV.
SPEAKER_02: I'm not telling you to do that, but what I'm telling you, all that stuff can come at you and you can begin to believe what is being said instead of what the word of God is saying, just because it's not completely happening right now, like you want to, does not mean it's not going to happen.
SPEAKER_02: Because God's word is true, his promises are true.
SPEAKER_02: So here's a quote: seasons may change, people may change, and opportunities may fade away, but our God remains faithful.
SPEAKER_02: Our God remains faithful in seasons of life, He is faithful.
SPEAKER_02: We've all gone through seasons.
SPEAKER_02: I've gone through a lot of seasons in my years, and every single one of them, God has been faithful.
SPEAKER_02: But you know what I've done at times?
SPEAKER_02: I've gotten the circumstances in front of God's faithfulness.
SPEAKER_02: Now, listen, all of us have done that.
SPEAKER_02: You right?
SPEAKER_02: You didn't come riding in on a chariot this morning with a glory cloud.
SPEAKER_02: We've all done that.
SPEAKER_02: We've gotten the circumstances in front of God's faithfulness.
SPEAKER_02: And I can tell you, every season, I don't care how bad it gets, God is always faithful.
SPEAKER_02: In every season.
SPEAKER_02: Come on, in every season, God is faithful.
SPEAKER_02: You say, Well, Pastor Brown, what about that season when things are really going bad?
SPEAKER_02: It didn't change the faithfulness of God, he is still faithful.
SPEAKER_02: When people change, he is faithful.
SPEAKER_02: When those people that said, I'm with you to the very end, I'm behind you, Pastor Brad.
SPEAKER_02: And then all of a sudden it comes, I'm way behind you.
SPEAKER_02: Because I I don't want to be in the way when the bullets start flying.
SPEAKER_02: But the people change.
SPEAKER_02: But you know what?
SPEAKER_02: You still got your squad, you still got your people.
SPEAKER_02: Go to your people that are with you.
SPEAKER_02: Quit going to those people that are going to plant negativity in you.
SPEAKER_02: Well, amen.
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
SPEAKER_02: Thank you, Pastor.
SPEAKER_02: That's real good.
SPEAKER_02: Opportunities fade away.
SPEAKER_02: He is faithful.
SPEAKER_02: What about that job that didn't come through?
SPEAKER_02: What about that door that closed, that window that seemed open, and then it wasn't?
SPEAKER_02: Some of you had an opportunity on the table this year and watched it disappear.
SPEAKER_02: I'm speaking to someone right now.
SPEAKER_02: An opportunity is not a promise.
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes we tie God's faithfulness to that door.
SPEAKER_02: If he closed one, he didn't close his faithfulness with it.
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes, and can I just can I just speak to the ladies here for a month, a moment?
SPEAKER_02: I'm looking over the crowd to see how many women we have as opposed to men.
SPEAKER_02: And this may be a dangerous statement.
SPEAKER_02: No.
SPEAKER_02: You think that God sent you that boaz?
SPEAKER_02: But God closed that door because the assignment that you hide is not gonna match what he's bringing.
SPEAKER_02: And you done got mad at God and trying to tell God, God, did you look at him?
SPEAKER_02: Oh my goodness.
SPEAKER_02: 6'2, come walking through the door, smelling like a oo.
SPEAKER_02: You done got a quickening up in there.
SPEAKER_02: And don't understand that God all the time was saving you because the greatness he was taking you, that was gonna make it less than what God has for you in your life.
SPEAKER_02: Come on, I'm I'm gonna do like Mitchell.
SPEAKER_02: I'm preaching better than you're saying.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Second Thessalonians, we'll read the scripture here.
SPEAKER_02: Finally, dear brothers, as I come to the end of this letter, I ask you to pray for us.
SPEAKER_02: Pray first the Lord's message will spread rapidly and triumph wherever it goes, winning converts everywhere as it did when it came to you.
SPEAKER_02: Pray too that we will be saved out of the clutches of evil men, for not everyone loves the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna stop there for a moment.
SPEAKER_02: I was reading that, and that was funny to me.
SPEAKER_02: For not everyone loves the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: And as I was reading that, I said, Lord, I got a I got a new phrase I want to use.
SPEAKER_02: Because I'm going along on the highway, and I accidentally cut somebody off, and they go by and tell me I'm number one.
SPEAKER_02: You know what I'm gonna say?
SPEAKER_02: Not everyone loves the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: Come on.
SPEAKER_02: I'm over in that Walmart self-service line because none of the other ones are open.
SPEAKER_02: And I've got my groceries, I've scanned my groceries, I'm gonna pay for my groceries.
SPEAKER_02: But I'm standing there in that line, it's a long line, and all of a sudden somebody comes in front of me and gets in front of me.
SPEAKER_02: You know what I'm gonna say?
SPEAKER_02: Not everyone loves the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: You know, that's uh, you know, sometimes we need to remember that and where we live, but we are to be salt and light, right?
SPEAKER_02: I know it's easy sometimes when when that happens.
SPEAKER_02: You're just like you're trying to decide, do I go by the flesh or do I walk in the fruits of the spirit?
SPEAKER_02: I don't know if I want to walk in the fruits of the spirit or not, God.
SPEAKER_02: It says I can smite them and turn to the other.
SPEAKER_02: No, can't do that.
SPEAKER_02: But we got to understand that faithfulness is an attribute of the character of God.
SPEAKER_02: It's not what he does, it's who he is.
SPEAKER_02: Faithful, the definition of it says strict or thorough in the performance of duty, true to one's word, promises or vows, reliable or trustworthy, one who could can be dependent upon.
SPEAKER_02: So the the first, what we're talking about today in the series starting is he's faithful in every season.
SPEAKER_02: Let's look at Psalms 138.
SPEAKER_02: It says, When I am surrounded by troubles, you keep me safe, you oppose my angry enemies and save me by your power.
SPEAKER_02: You will do everything you have promised.
SPEAKER_02: You will do everything you have promised, not some things, everything you have promised.
SPEAKER_02: Lord, your love is eternal.
SPEAKER_02: Complete the work that you have begun.
SPEAKER_02: It is important for us to understand and be reminded that God is true to his word and will do everything he promised.
SPEAKER_02: You need to hear that and you need to rehearse that.
SPEAKER_02: God will do everything that he promised.
SPEAKER_02: Every time that the enemy tries to sit there on your shoulder and tell you something different, you need to remind him, I am here today because God made me a promise.
SPEAKER_02: And I'm standing upon that promise.
SPEAKER_02: You know, the times in our life where we feel like God will abandon us, let us down, or quit on us, but no, he's faithful in every season.
SPEAKER_02: Jeremiah chapter 1, let's look at it in the message.
SPEAKER_02: Says, this is what God said.
SPEAKER_02: Before I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you.
SPEAKER_02: Before you saw the light of day, I had holy plans for you, a prophet to the nations.
SPEAKER_02: That's what I had in mind for you.
SPEAKER_02: Before he was born, God already had his purpose and his assignment.
SPEAKER_02: God has created great, God has greatness in mind when he created each of us.
SPEAKER_02: Now let's look at another quote that says, Because Satan sees God's supreme love for mankind, he tries everything to derail us from our higher calling.
SPEAKER_02: Here's some examples that sometimes we have to deal with it's illness, accidents, impoverished upbringing, dysfunctional family systems, instability, parents passing away while you were young, abandoned by father and mother, incarceration, drug addiction, illiteracy, teen pregnancy, divorce, and being molested.
SPEAKER_02: There are things that try to derail us from the calling of God.
SPEAKER_02: But listen what this says it hasn't been luck or good fortune that has brought you into this point in your life, it has been God's faithfulness in every season of your life.
SPEAKER_02: Every season.
SPEAKER_02: He was in the military.
SPEAKER_02: He was actually in the army, he was a drill sergeant.
SPEAKER_02: And he was a mean man.
SPEAKER_02: There was some trouble in and and how he he was an ultra-perfectionist.
SPEAKER_02: It's hard for him to live in this world because nothing could be good enough.
SPEAKER_02: So one day on a Sunday, on Sunday, my grandmother and three daughters went to church.
SPEAKER_02: So they went to church that Sunday, not knowing some of the things that he had planned.
SPEAKER_02: They went to church.
SPEAKER_02: They got there and had their church time.
SPEAKER_02: And when they were having church, all of a sudden in the middle of the church, getting toward the end of the service, the pastor was like, Hey, I think I want to do communion.
SPEAKER_02: So it took an extra 15 to 20 minutes of the time in a service that wasn't normally planned.
SPEAKER_02: So what happened when they when they got done with service and they came home, they saw that my grandfather had taken his life.
SPEAKER_02: Now I know that's a little heavy, but one thing you gotta understand is that his plans were to also take everyone out in 20 minutes.
SPEAKER_02: And let me tell you why I know that God is a faithful God.
SPEAKER_02: That was in 1959.
SPEAKER_02: I was born in 1964.
SPEAKER_02: Five years before I was born.
SPEAKER_02: God said, I'm gonna show you how faithful I am.
SPEAKER_02: In the midst, come on now, in the midst of all of that tragedy, yes, it was tragedy, but in the midst of that, God says, I gotta, I I need to use you, I need to preserve you, because one of those daughters was my mother, 17 years old.
SPEAKER_02: One of them was my mother.
SPEAKER_02: And let me let me tell you something.
SPEAKER_02: From that, I begin to understand God.
SPEAKER_02: You are a faithful God.
SPEAKER_02: Even before I knew I had an assignment, even before I knew I was born.
SPEAKER_02: You were faithful, you were covering me.
SPEAKER_02: There are some of you in there this morning that God has saved you.
SPEAKER_02: There are times that you don't even know what God saved you from.
SPEAKER_02: Why?
SPEAKER_02: Because God is faithful, always faithful.
SPEAKER_02: He has a purpose and he has an assignment for you.
SPEAKER_02: The reason you're still sitting here because he's not done with you yet.
SPEAKER_02: Come on.
SPEAKER_02: He's not done with you yet.
SPEAKER_02: We must understand God has an expected end for us.
SPEAKER_02: He's not making this up as he goes along, right?
SPEAKER_02: He has a destination in mind.
SPEAKER_02: Let's look at Jeremiah 29, 11, one of my favorite passages of scripture.
SPEAKER_02: He said, I alone know the plans I have for you.
SPEAKER_02: Plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster.
SPEAKER_02: Plans to bring about the future you hope for, then you will call to me.
SPEAKER_02: You will come and pray to me, and I will answer you.
SPEAKER_02: You will seek me and you will find me, because you will seek me with all your heart.
SPEAKER_02: God hasn't expected in for us.
SPEAKER_02: But this is the thing we gotta do.
SPEAKER_02: We gotta, it's time to stop settling for the life Satan is willing to let us have.
SPEAKER_02: Now, here's the sequence I want to go over with you right quick.
SPEAKER_02: This is what a lot of times happens in our lives.
SPEAKER_02: Circumstance is the first one.
SPEAKER_02: Something happens to you, not because of you, a rejection, a loss, a wound, a failure that wasn't fully your fault.
SPEAKER_02: That's part of life.
SPEAKER_02: But here's what happens in the sequence a lot of times after that is the excuse.
SPEAKER_02: You take that circumstance and turn it into a reason.
SPEAKER_02: Not a lie, exactly.
SPEAKER_02: Often it's true.
SPEAKER_02: Moses' excuse was true.
SPEAKER_02: He probably was an Apollo speaker, but true and disqualifying aren't the same thing.
SPEAKER_02: And then it turns in from excuse, it turns into a narrative.
SPEAKER_02: You repeat the excuse enough times that it stops being a one-time explanation and becomes a story you tell about who you are.
SPEAKER_02: I don't speak well.
SPEAKER_02: Turns into I'm not that kind of person God uses for something this big.
SPEAKER_02: Turns into that narrative.
SPEAKER_02: Then what happens?
SPEAKER_02: It turns into a ceiling.
SPEAKER_02: The narrative hardens into a limit as you now treat reality instead of a story you made up under pressure.
SPEAKER_02: You stop questioning it, you just build your expectations around it.
SPEAKER_02: Come on.
SPEAKER_02: Got quiet in the church.
SPEAKER_02: And then it turns into a settled life.
SPEAKER_02: You live under that ceiling, and it feels like humility or realism when it's actually just the life Satan is willing to let you have.
SPEAKER_02: But here's the good part truth replaces the excuse.
SPEAKER_02: Instead of turning the circumstance into reason, you take it to God and ask what's actually true.
SPEAKER_02: Remember, we talked about earlier?
SPEAKER_02: Turning to God, speaking to God, having that conversation with God and finding out what's really true.
SPEAKER_02: And then there's the identity that replaces that narrative.
SPEAKER_02: Instead of repeating the excuse until it becomes a story about who you are, you let God repeat something about who you are until it becomes a story that displaces the old one.
SPEAKER_02: The old one has to go.
SPEAKER_02: We are, therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature.
SPEAKER_02: Old things are passed away, and behold, all things are become new.
SPEAKER_02: That old narrative that you let the enemy put on you and rehearse, you gotta stop that.
SPEAKER_02: Quit inviting him to the rehearsal.
SPEAKER_02: Come on, quit quit inviting him to the rehearsal.
SPEAKER_02: What are you hearing?
SPEAKER_02: What are you listening to?
SPEAKER_02: And what are you allowing to do to cause you to drift off that purpose and drift off that assignment?
SPEAKER_02: Somebody is here today that needs to hear this so much that the enemy, you you, you, you went and saw somebody, it's like somebody that got in a fight.
SPEAKER_02: And you come in, you got a black eye.
SPEAKER_02: And they say, What happened?
SPEAKER_02: Man, what what and he goes, You should have seen the other guy.
SPEAKER_02: We get into that and understand, like, there's this battle is what the enemy is trying to do, but we gotta stop that.
SPEAKER_02: We have this time to put on the weapons of our warfare, it's time to put on that shield, it's time to put on the all of that armor that we can have and stand in what God has for us every single day.
SPEAKER_02: Why should we go a day where we have three days bad and four days good?
SPEAKER_02: Why can't we have seven days good?
SPEAKER_02: It's not in my notes, by the way.
SPEAKER_02: Why why why can't we?
SPEAKER_02: You know, when we determine it, David said early in the morning.
SPEAKER_02: In the morning, do you know your morning resets will reset and set your day?
SPEAKER_02: And do you also know that your brain and your mind can't think two things at the same time?
SPEAKER_02: I tried it earlier.
SPEAKER_02: Come on, right brain, left brain.
SPEAKER_02: Like, and I tried it, you know, it don't work.
SPEAKER_02: It can't be two things going on at once.
SPEAKER_02: But in the morning, we will rise.
SPEAKER_02: In the morning, we will set our day.
SPEAKER_02: You say, Well, Pastor Brad, that sounds all cute.
SPEAKER_02: That sounds like it needs to be in a Hallmark card.
SPEAKER_02: No, that's the word.
SPEAKER_02: The word will work.
SPEAKER_02: So then you have your expectation that replaces that ceiling instead of that limit.
SPEAKER_02: Instead of having a settled life, you have a sent life.
SPEAKER_02: Now you've been sent.
SPEAKER_02: We must be convinced the reality that God is trying to take us somewhere great.
SPEAKER_02: Philippians 1 6 says, There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears.
SPEAKER_02: We are a work in progress.
SPEAKER_02: Look at your neighbor and said, We are a work in progress.
SPEAKER_02: Now I've always wanted to do this.
SPEAKER_02: Now look at your second choice.
SPEAKER_02: That just kind of feels all good on the inside.
SPEAKER_02: Say, we are a work in progress.
SPEAKER_02: We are.
SPEAKER_02: Ephesians 2.10 says, for we are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
SPEAKER_02: We the word workmanship means product, tapestry, or point.
SPEAKER_02: And when it was talking about this, we are his workmanship, I was like, I've never considered myself tapestry or a point.
SPEAKER_02: But I understand one thing God doesn't make junk.
SPEAKER_02: It's impossible for him to do that.
SPEAKER_02: We are his workmanship.
SPEAKER_02: And some of you are saying that, well, I'm not like that other person.
SPEAKER_02: You're not supposed to be.
SPEAKER_02: I can't do that.
SPEAKER_02: Maybe you're not supposed to.
SPEAKER_02: But how about you do what God called you to do?
SPEAKER_02: The assignment that he's called you to do, and quit worrying about how great that looks in the kingdom of God.
SPEAKER_02: Say, mmm, that's so good, Pastor.
SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
SPEAKER_02: Because it's not about this hierarchy, it's about being obedient.
SPEAKER_02: Because when we go, when we come in heaven, they're not gonna say, Well done, thou person that worked in the parking lot.
SPEAKER_02: Well done, that person that worked in kids' ministry.
SPEAKER_02: Well done, thy good and faithful servant.
SPEAKER_02: When our lives line up with God's will, we flow like a masterful rhyme.
SPEAKER_02: The beautiful thing about life with God is that he knows all our faults and loves us anyway.
SPEAKER_02: He's not expecting us to be all that, he's expecting us to surrender all that.
SPEAKER_02: I was debating so much, he's not expecting us to be all that.
SPEAKER_02: And I was gonna throw on and a bag of chips.
SPEAKER_02: I was gonna do that, but I knew my daughters will say, Oh, dad.
SPEAKER_02: You're telling your age that's about 40 years old.
SPEAKER_02: But he's expecting us to surrender all that.
SPEAKER_02: If we give him something to work with, he can make a miracle out of all of our broken pieces.
SPEAKER_02: And the last thing we must do, we must abandon all excuses for quitting.
SPEAKER_02: Quitting is not an option.
SPEAKER_02: It's not a it's not a like I checked this and I checked quitting is not an option.
SPEAKER_02: Quit is not what God put on the inside of us.
SPEAKER_02: Come on, somebody.
SPEAKER_02: He he didn't put quit on the inside of us.
SPEAKER_02: He he said, he said, we are more than qu conquerors, which I uh I said earlier, is this because quitting is not an option that we should have.
SPEAKER_02: Sometimes it feels like it that we want to, but quitting is not an option.
SPEAKER_02: There's no excuses.
SPEAKER_02: So Moses was in the desert and it talks about, I just kind of paraphrased through here, that he was like, Yeah, but God, you did all these miracles and you did all these things, but now you want me to go speak to Pharaoh, and I I can't speak well.
SPEAKER_02: God answers back, Who made man's mouth?
SPEAKER_02: Uh-oh.
SPEAKER_02: There went that excuse.
SPEAKER_02: I can't speak well, but there was just this back and forth, and I would tell you like early on when I was in Bible school, 17 years old when I went to Bible school, my second year, I didn't talk.
SPEAKER_02: Like, I really didn't.
SPEAKER_02: I didn't talk.
SPEAKER_02: I didn't, my voice, you you you barely hear me.
SPEAKER_02: In my second year in Bible school, they decided they want to cast the spirit of timidity out of me.
SPEAKER_02: I'm like, what's wrong with y'all?
SPEAKER_02: What kind of what kind of granola bar Bible college have I gone to?
SPEAKER_02: Fruits, flakes, and nuts.
SPEAKER_02: Y'all never heard that before.
SPEAKER_02: Now you got something new.
SPEAKER_02: But I I I try to use that excuse as well.
SPEAKER_02: I can't speak well.
SPEAKER_02: And me doing this right here?
SPEAKER_02: Sharon asked before we got married, are you gonna be a preacher?
SPEAKER_02: Nope.
SPEAKER_02: Are you gonna do this?
SPEAKER_02: Nope.
SPEAKER_02: And I'm doing every bit of it.
SPEAKER_02: Because, come on.
SPEAKER_02: I say that because I want to encourage you.
SPEAKER_02: God has an assignment for you.
SPEAKER_02: Don't sit there thinking where you are is where God wants you to be.
SPEAKER_02: And quit arguing with God because God knows and God's got you.
SPEAKER_02: Some of you have been in neutral way too long.
SPEAKER_02: It's time to put that gear in race and go with everything that God has for you.
SPEAKER_02: We talk about this quote here.
SPEAKER_02: God altered the entire plan to accommodate Moses' insecurities.
SPEAKER_02: He understands who we are.
SPEAKER_02: But God will alter the plan to accommodate where we are, but he won't cancel the plan to accommodate how we feel.
SPEAKER_02: It's time to remove the excuses and understand that God is faithful in every season.
SPEAKER_02: I don't know what you're going through right now, but God does.
SPEAKER_02: God loves you, God cares about you, and He's got a purpose for you.
SPEAKER_02: If you hear anything else in the message, I want you to hear that.
SPEAKER_02: I want you to walk out of here today with your head held high, saying, I'm gonna have seven good days, not just four.
SPEAKER_02: There's some of you that are here this morning that you haven't made that commitment to Christ.
SPEAKER_02: You realize there's been things happening.
SPEAKER_02: You're you've been listening all morning, you've been in the worship, and you've been listening to the word.
SPEAKER_02: But all through that time, God's been stirring in your heart.
SPEAKER_02: And this is your moment, this is your time to be able to give your heart to the Lord and start a new journey, start a new path, and get into what everything that God has for you.
SPEAKER_02: Now I need a favor from you.
SPEAKER_02: Just a few moments.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna bow our heads, and when we do, I want you in the seat pocket that's in front of you, there's a card that looks just like this that says, Say yes to Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: And if you don't have one in front of you, one of the ushers will have one for you.
SPEAKER_02: But this is your opportunity in just a moment.
SPEAKER_02: I'm not gonna ask you to stand, I'm not gonna bring you to the front, we're not gonna embarrass you.
SPEAKER_02: This is your moment, this is your time.
SPEAKER_02: Do not let the enemy trap you, do not let him speak your allow the Holy Spirit to convict your heart because this is your moment, this is your time.
SPEAKER_02: Today is your day, and today is when we celebrate what God's gonna do in your life.
SPEAKER_02: Can we just all bow our heads and close our eyes at this moment?
SPEAKER_02: If you're here today and you say, Pastor Brad, I don't, I don't, I don't know the Lord.
SPEAKER_02: I have not made that commitment.
SPEAKER_02: But today he is here.
SPEAKER_02: He he gave his life, he rose again, that you might have eternal life.
SPEAKER_02: So just a moment, we're gonna count to three.
SPEAKER_02: And that when we count to three, I want everyone that got that card and want to commit your life to Christ.
SPEAKER_02: I want you to just raise it when we when we get to that point.
SPEAKER_02: But I want everyone to know that God loves you.
SPEAKER_02: Again, I'm not gonna ask you to front or ask you to stand or anything else.
SPEAKER_02: All I'm doing is asking you to raise that say yes to Jesus card.
SPEAKER_02: So let's get ready now.
SPEAKER_02: Ready at the point of one, two, three.
SPEAKER_02: Come on, raise that card all over.
SPEAKER_02: I see that.
SPEAKER_02: I see that card.
SPEAKER_02: Thank you, thank you.
SPEAKER_02: I see that card.
SPEAKER_02: Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_02: I see it back there.
SPEAKER_02: Anyone that come in just a moment, thank you, thank you.
SPEAKER_02: You want to give your heart to Christ.
SPEAKER_02: Go ahead.
SPEAKER_02: Don't, don't, don't let those things uh speak to you.
SPEAKER_02: You know what you need to do.
SPEAKER_02: Just raise that hand.
SPEAKER_02: Once you raise it, you can put it down.
SPEAKER_02: Thank you.
SPEAKER_02: I see that card back there.
SPEAKER_02: Now we're gonna we're gonna pray, and I want to pray with you.
SPEAKER_02: We're gonna pray over this, and we're gonna pray together.
SPEAKER_02: I want every one of us to be praying together this because we're gonna we're gonna see the lines shorten today.
SPEAKER_02: Amen.
SPEAKER_02: Let's all pray this together.
SPEAKER_02: Dear God in heaven, thank you for Jesus.
SPEAKER_02: Thank you for sending him to die in my place.
SPEAKER_02: He paid the price for my sin, but I know you raised him from the dead, and he's alive right now.
SPEAKER_02: Jesus, come into my heart, save me, forgive me, make me brand new.
SPEAKER_02: I surrender my life to you for the rest of my days, and according to the Bible, I am right now born again.
SPEAKER_02: Come on, Impact, could we give it up for what God did in the place?
SPEAKER_00: Did you just make a decision for Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the family.
SPEAKER_00: We're so excited.
SPEAKER_00: Trust me, we're clapping for you, and we believe that you've made an important decision today.
SPEAKER_00: We'd like to help you on your journey.
SPEAKER_00: So if you'll follow the directions that are on screen, there is a free book you can download.
SPEAKER_00: It's gonna take you five to ten minutes of your day for the next seven days.
SPEAKER_00: But our pastors have put together some amazing resources that we believe will help you on the journey ahead.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't want it, nobody's going to email you, text you, bother you, anything like that.
SPEAKER_00: We just want to make sure you are successful in your walk with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Now, let me tell you, one of the things you should consider is baptism.
SPEAKER_00: And if you're in the Jacksonville area, we do baptism after our first weekend service every month.
SPEAKER_00: And you can just scan the QR code that's on the screen, sign up for that.
SPEAKER_00: I'd love to be a part of that journey with you, or any of our ministers would.
SPEAKER_00: If you don't live in town, we do believe you should find a Bible teaching church and at least go get baptized, even if you're still going to watch our service.
SPEAKER_00: But download that book, it's free.
SPEAKER_00: We're excited for your journey ahead, and we can't wait to be a part of that.
SPEAKER_00: Now, this is a part of the service where we also demonstrate our generosity.
SPEAKER_00: If you're just checking us out today, you don't feel any pressure to give.
SPEAKER_00: But for those of you, this is your church, you know that we are generous is one of our core values.
SPEAKER_00: And so you can give online or you can give through our app, which I really like.
SPEAKER_00: You have the Apple Pay option right on our app.
SPEAKER_00: Just go to your Google store or your Apple store, download the We Are Impact app.
SPEAKER_00: It's also a great way to study notes that um come from the sermons that you watch on here.
SPEAKER_00: And there's a lot of events on there as well.
SPEAKER_00: But you can give through that app.
SPEAKER_00: It's super easy, and we're just grateful that you partner with us week after week.
SPEAKER_00: Well, we're so excited you joined us today.
SPEAKER_00: Hope you have an amazing weekend, and we'll see you next time.