WEBVTT 00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:05.200 You know the word faithful means true to one's word, true to one's character, true to one's nature. 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:08.480 And what better word to describe the most high God? 00:00:08.640 --> 00:00:10.160 Our God is a faithful God. 00:00:10.320 --> 00:00:20.320 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. 00:00:20.399 --> 00:00:30.480 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. 00:00:30.640 --> 00:00:32.560 And also don't forget, it is school time. 00:00:32.719 --> 00:00:34.799 It is time for kids to get back in school. 00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:50.560 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. 00:00:50.719 --> 00:00:53.359 Go to ICAjax.com for more information. 00:00:53.439 --> 00:00:56.240 And now let's get ready for the faithful God. 00:02:08.719 --> 00:02:09.840 Amen, amen. 00:02:10.240 --> 00:02:12.879 Are you happy to be at church this morning? 00:02:13.759 --> 00:02:16.159 Has God been good to you this week? 00:02:16.639 --> 00:02:20.159 Are we celebrating how good God has been to us this week? 00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:21.759 Come on, let's just take a moment. 00:02:21.840 --> 00:02:24.400 Let's just celebrate how good He has been. 00:02:24.879 --> 00:02:34.000 He has been great in every circumstance, everything that we face today, and we are more than conquerors in Christ Jesus, right? 00:02:34.560 --> 00:02:35.199 Amen. 00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:43.039 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. 00:02:43.120 --> 00:02:49.919 I always believe that when we come together, it's not by accident that you're here because God wants you to be here. 00:02:50.159 --> 00:02:55.360 He's here because he wants you to hear something that's gonna change your life today, right? 00:02:56.000 --> 00:02:58.719 So if you don't know me, I'm Pastor Brad Williams. 00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:00.960 I'm one of the ministers here on staff. 00:03:01.120 --> 00:03:04.479 Um also I don't think anybody called me by my name today. 00:03:04.560 --> 00:03:06.000 It was all Godfather. 00:03:06.159 --> 00:03:08.560 Uh so that's what they call me around here. 00:03:08.719 --> 00:03:23.439 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. 00:03:24.800 --> 00:03:25.840 It's B Rad. 00:03:26.000 --> 00:03:31.520 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. 00:03:31.759 --> 00:03:34.719 So today, Pastor Rodney, it's B Rad, right? 00:03:35.520 --> 00:03:41.520 So we're so thankful to be with you today, and I'm I'm truly honored and thankful uh for the opportunity. 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:47.199 As uh it's already been said, our pastors are away and getting so much rest that they needed. 00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:51.280 And today, though, we want to be talking again. 00:03:51.360 --> 00:03:55.199 We're starting this series, and it's called Faithful God. 00:03:55.280 --> 00:03:57.120 Are you ready to get into the word today? 00:03:57.599 --> 00:03:59.360 Come on, are you ready to get into the word? 00:03:59.599 --> 00:04:01.680 God's got some good things for us. 00:04:02.080 --> 00:04:09.199 So God has proven, though, down through the years that He is a God who can be dependent on. 00:04:09.919 --> 00:04:11.120 He is faithful. 00:04:11.360 --> 00:04:13.360 How many can say amen to that? 00:04:13.599 --> 00:04:16.000 Through the years, he is faithful. 00:04:16.160 --> 00:04:24.720 I know that um I've gone through 62 years, and I know through all of those years, God has been faithful. 00:04:25.040 --> 00:04:32.240 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. 00:04:32.879 --> 00:04:36.560 God has, is, and always will be faithful. 00:04:36.720 --> 00:04:38.319 How many can say amen to that? 00:04:38.480 --> 00:04:43.360 Now, sometimes in in the in the darkest times, it doesn't seem like that. 00:04:43.519 --> 00:04:51.279 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. 00:04:51.839 --> 00:04:52.959 That's okay. 00:04:53.600 --> 00:05:08.000 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. 00:05:08.319 --> 00:05:26.639 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. 00:05:27.199 --> 00:05:28.720 God, you are faithful. 00:05:29.040 --> 00:05:44.720 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. 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:47.759 But let me talk to you this morning. 00:05:47.839 --> 00:05:57.680 But some of you are sitting here thinking, if he's so faithful, why didn't it work out the way I expected? 00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:03.439 Here's the tension we don't often talk about. 00:06:04.240 --> 00:06:10.959 And I want you to remember this your expectancy has to stay aligned with your assignment. 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:23.199 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? 00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:24.079 And you know what? 00:06:24.319 --> 00:06:27.920 It sometimes we're we're afraid to have that conversation with God. 00:06:28.800 --> 00:06:32.560 David had some very sincere conversations with God. 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:36.720 He said, Create in me a clean heart, renew a right spirit within me. 00:06:37.279 --> 00:06:45.759 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. 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:49.120 Thank you for those two amens and rights. 00:06:50.079 --> 00:06:51.839 We all have an assignment. 00:06:52.480 --> 00:06:53.839 We all have a purpose. 00:06:53.920 --> 00:06:57.279 If if you leave here today with anything, I want you to hear that. 00:06:57.519 --> 00:07:03.759 Do not let the enemy do anything to disrupt you from your purpose and your assignment. 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:13.439 But you've got to get your expectancy in alignment with the assignment because a lot of times we can drift from that. 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:19.920 We can drift from that assignment, and then I realize that that assignment didn't go away. 00:07:21.120 --> 00:07:28.399 That assignment stayed, but our expectancy has to stay in alignment with that. 00:07:29.519 --> 00:07:35.839 Satan will get you expecting the wrong things at the wrong time in the wrong way. 00:07:36.959 --> 00:07:45.199 So when it doesn't happen, you start questioning God instead of questioning what you believed. 00:07:48.800 --> 00:07:51.199 Let that kind of sit there just for a moment. 00:07:53.120 --> 00:07:58.240 We start questioning God instead of questioning God, am I in alignment? 00:07:58.879 --> 00:08:00.800 Am I having expectancy? 00:08:01.040 --> 00:08:02.639 Am I in that alignment? 00:08:02.800 --> 00:08:04.079 Am I aligned? 00:08:04.480 --> 00:08:07.360 Ever been in a car that's not aligned really well? 00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:14.319 And you're you're you're fighting that thing, like, what is wrong with this car? 00:08:14.399 --> 00:08:16.800 It's going left and I want to go right. 00:08:17.519 --> 00:08:20.959 And when those things are in alignment, you know you can feel it, right? 00:08:21.279 --> 00:08:23.600 And sometimes there's that Holy Spirit speaking to you. 00:08:23.680 --> 00:08:26.560 You you're out of you're out of alignment. 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:38.960 But now you're discouraged, not because God failed, but because your expectation drifted from your purpose. 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:41.519 It drifted. 00:08:43.120 --> 00:08:50.320 But even in these uncertain times that we have today, and how many know we are in uncertain times? 00:08:50.799 --> 00:08:55.200 How many know we need to amp up our prayer a little bit for our world and for our country? 00:08:55.519 --> 00:08:58.720 We are in uncertain times, but you know what we are in? 00:08:59.120 --> 00:09:03.120 We're in a time where God is on the throne and God is in control. 00:09:03.360 --> 00:09:04.240 And you know what? 00:09:04.480 --> 00:09:09.840 He's using us and our assignment to be able to accomplish that. 00:09:10.080 --> 00:09:10.879 It doesn't matter. 00:09:10.960 --> 00:09:18.240 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. 00:09:18.559 --> 00:09:19.600 Because guess what? 00:09:19.759 --> 00:09:22.000 I don't even watch the news anymore. 00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:26.480 I got rid of my, I got rid of my channel that I can't even watch the news. 00:09:26.639 --> 00:09:27.519 And you know what? 00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:30.000 I got peace and I got freedom about that. 00:09:31.200 --> 00:09:33.279 I'm not watching all that mess. 00:09:33.759 --> 00:09:37.600 But but instead of watching that news, uh, even continue to stay in God's word. 00:09:37.759 --> 00:09:39.120 What does God's word say? 00:09:39.279 --> 00:09:41.039 But I don't sit there and watch that news. 00:09:41.200 --> 00:09:41.919 Oh no. 00:09:42.480 --> 00:09:55.919 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? 00:09:56.159 --> 00:09:57.840 It's getting worse. 00:09:59.679 --> 00:10:02.960 Just when I thought it couldn't get worse, it's getting worse. 00:10:03.679 --> 00:10:12.480 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. 00:10:12.559 --> 00:10:20.639 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. 00:10:20.720 --> 00:10:22.799 And you know what they did about five minutes later? 00:10:22.879 --> 00:10:24.799 They went and bought another TV. 00:10:26.080 --> 00:10:47.200 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. 00:10:47.519 --> 00:10:51.600 Because God's word is true, his promises are true. 00:10:52.879 --> 00:11:04.399 So here's a quote: seasons may change, people may change, and opportunities may fade away, but our God remains faithful. 00:11:06.080 --> 00:11:10.879 Our God remains faithful in seasons of life, He is faithful. 00:11:10.960 --> 00:11:12.399 We've all gone through seasons. 00:11:12.559 --> 00:11:21.039 I've gone through a lot of seasons in my years, and every single one of them, God has been faithful. 00:11:22.159 --> 00:11:24.559 But you know what I've done at times? 00:11:24.960 --> 00:11:30.720 I've gotten the circumstances in front of God's faithfulness. 00:11:34.080 --> 00:11:37.039 Now, listen, all of us have done that. 00:11:37.120 --> 00:11:38.080 You right? 00:11:38.480 --> 00:11:43.440 You didn't come riding in on a chariot this morning with a glory cloud. 00:11:44.320 --> 00:11:45.279 We've all done that. 00:11:45.440 --> 00:11:48.799 We've gotten the circumstances in front of God's faithfulness. 00:11:49.279 --> 00:11:56.399 And I can tell you, every season, I don't care how bad it gets, God is always faithful. 00:11:57.120 --> 00:11:58.720 In every season. 00:11:58.960 --> 00:12:00.080 In every season. 00:12:00.240 --> 00:12:02.720 Come on, in every season, God is faithful. 00:12:02.879 --> 00:12:06.480 You say, Well, Pastor Brown, what about that season when things are really going bad? 00:12:06.720 --> 00:12:11.759 It didn't change the faithfulness of God, he is still faithful. 00:12:12.960 --> 00:12:17.519 When people change, he is faithful. 00:12:18.240 --> 00:12:26.399 When those people that said, I'm with you to the very end, I'm behind you, Pastor Brad. 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:31.759 And then all of a sudden it comes, I'm way behind you. 00:12:35.360 --> 00:12:39.360 Because I I don't want to be in the way when the bullets start flying. 00:12:40.799 --> 00:12:42.639 But the people change. 00:12:42.960 --> 00:12:44.320 But you know what? 00:12:44.639 --> 00:12:48.399 You still got your squad, you still got your people. 00:12:49.200 --> 00:12:51.360 Go to your people that are with you. 00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:55.120 Quit going to those people that are going to plant negativity in you. 00:12:55.840 --> 00:12:56.480 Well, amen. 00:12:56.639 --> 00:12:56.879 Thank you. 00:12:57.120 --> 00:12:57.840 Thank you, Pastor. 00:12:57.919 --> 00:12:58.639 That's real good. 00:12:58.799 --> 00:12:59.919 That's real good. 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:03.679 Opportunities fade away. 00:13:03.919 --> 00:13:05.440 He is faithful. 00:13:05.759 --> 00:13:07.919 What about that job that didn't come through? 00:13:08.080 --> 00:13:14.320 What about that door that closed, that window that seemed open, and then it wasn't? 00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:18.879 Some of you had an opportunity on the table this year and watched it disappear. 00:13:19.039 --> 00:13:20.879 I'm speaking to someone right now. 00:13:21.759 --> 00:13:24.240 An opportunity is not a promise. 00:13:25.039 --> 00:13:29.039 Sometimes we tie God's faithfulness to that door. 00:13:30.320 --> 00:13:35.039 If he closed one, he didn't close his faithfulness with it. 00:13:38.399 --> 00:13:42.799 Sometimes, and can I just can I just speak to the ladies here for a month, a moment? 00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:48.639 I'm looking over the crowd to see how many women we have as opposed to men. 00:13:48.720 --> 00:13:50.559 And this may be a dangerous statement. 00:13:50.799 --> 00:13:51.120 No. 00:13:54.559 --> 00:13:56.879 You think that God sent you that boaz? 00:14:01.840 --> 00:14:10.720 But God closed that door because the assignment that you hide is not gonna match what he's bringing. 00:14:16.240 --> 00:14:22.000 And you done got mad at God and trying to tell God, God, did you look at him? 00:14:23.759 --> 00:14:25.120 Oh my goodness. 00:14:25.759 --> 00:14:31.679 6'2, come walking through the door, smelling like a oo. 00:14:33.360 --> 00:14:35.440 You done got a quickening up in there. 00:14:40.240 --> 00:14:49.840 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. 00:14:50.240 --> 00:14:52.159 Come on, I'm I'm gonna do like Mitchell. 00:14:52.240 --> 00:14:53.360 I'm preaching better than you're saying. 00:14:53.519 --> 00:14:53.919 Amen. 00:14:56.000 --> 00:14:58.159 Second Thessalonians, we'll read the scripture here. 00:14:58.480 --> 00:15:03.120 Finally, dear brothers, as I come to the end of this letter, I ask you to pray for us. 00:15:03.279 --> 00:15:14.960 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. 00:15:15.519 --> 00:15:23.759 Pray too that we will be saved out of the clutches of evil men, for not everyone loves the Lord. 00:15:26.159 --> 00:15:28.320 I'm gonna stop there for a moment. 00:15:29.200 --> 00:15:32.159 I was reading that, and that was funny to me. 00:15:32.799 --> 00:15:34.799 For not everyone loves the Lord. 00:15:34.960 --> 00:15:39.519 And as I was reading that, I said, Lord, I got a I got a new phrase I want to use. 00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:52.960 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. 00:15:56.000 --> 00:15:57.840 You know what I'm gonna say? 00:15:58.480 --> 00:16:01.679 Not everyone loves the Lord. 00:16:02.399 --> 00:16:03.360 Come on. 00:16:06.399 --> 00:16:12.559 I'm over in that Walmart self-service line because none of the other ones are open. 00:16:13.679 --> 00:16:18.000 And I've got my groceries, I've scanned my groceries, I'm gonna pay for my groceries. 00:16:18.240 --> 00:16:25.200 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. 00:16:25.440 --> 00:16:27.039 You know what I'm gonna say? 00:16:27.600 --> 00:16:29.759 Not everyone loves the Lord. 00:16:31.919 --> 00:16:34.240 Not everyone loves the Lord. 00:16:34.879 --> 00:16:42.159 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? 00:16:42.240 --> 00:16:44.799 I know it's easy sometimes when when that happens. 00:16:44.879 --> 00:16:51.519 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? 00:16:54.879 --> 00:16:57.919 I don't know if I want to walk in the fruits of the spirit or not, God. 00:16:58.399 --> 00:17:00.240 It says I can smite them and turn to the other. 00:17:01.919 --> 00:17:04.880 No, can't do that. 00:17:05.920 --> 00:17:10.319 But we got to understand that faithfulness is an attribute of the character of God. 00:17:10.480 --> 00:17:14.640 It's not what he does, it's who he is. 00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:31.839 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. 00:17:32.559 --> 00:17:41.279 So the the first, what we're talking about today in the series starting is he's faithful in every season. 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:43.440 Let's look at Psalms 138. 00:17:43.519 --> 00:17:53.359 It says, When I am surrounded by troubles, you keep me safe, you oppose my angry enemies and save me by your power. 00:17:53.680 --> 00:17:57.680 You will do everything you have promised. 00:17:58.799 --> 00:18:05.440 You will do everything you have promised, not some things, everything you have promised. 00:18:05.599 --> 00:18:07.519 Lord, your love is eternal. 00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:11.279 Complete the work that you have begun. 00:18:11.599 --> 00:18:22.079 It is important for us to understand and be reminded that God is true to his word and will do everything he promised. 00:18:23.119 --> 00:18:26.160 You need to hear that and you need to rehearse that. 00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:29.359 God will do everything that he promised. 00:18:29.519 --> 00:18:42.720 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. 00:18:43.039 --> 00:18:45.680 And I'm standing upon that promise. 00:18:47.839 --> 00:18:57.920 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. 00:18:58.559 --> 00:19:01.359 Jeremiah chapter 1, let's look at it in the message. 00:19:01.519 --> 00:19:03.279 Says, this is what God said. 00:19:03.519 --> 00:19:07.119 Before I shaped you in the womb, I knew all about you. 00:19:07.279 --> 00:19:14.480 Before you saw the light of day, I had holy plans for you, a prophet to the nations. 00:19:14.880 --> 00:19:19.200 That's what I had in mind for you. 00:19:21.039 --> 00:19:28.640 Before he was born, God already had his purpose and his assignment. 00:19:29.440 --> 00:19:34.880 God has created great, God has greatness in mind when he created each of us. 00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:48.400 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. 00:19:49.599 --> 00:20:13.519 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. 00:20:13.920 --> 00:20:18.000 There are things that try to derail us from the calling of God. 00:20:19.599 --> 00:20:35.039 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. 00:20:39.519 --> 00:20:40.960 Every season. 00:21:10.079 --> 00:21:11.920 He was in the military. 00:21:12.240 --> 00:21:15.119 He was actually in the army, he was a drill sergeant. 00:21:16.319 --> 00:21:17.920 And he was a mean man. 00:21:23.920 --> 00:21:29.039 There was some trouble in and and how he he was an ultra-perfectionist. 00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:35.599 It's hard for him to live in this world because nothing could be good enough. 00:21:37.200 --> 00:21:46.559 So one day on a Sunday, on Sunday, my grandmother and three daughters went to church. 00:21:47.279 --> 00:21:52.799 So they went to church that Sunday, not knowing some of the things that he had planned. 00:21:54.559 --> 00:21:56.240 They went to church. 00:21:56.640 --> 00:21:58.799 They got there and had their church time. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:09.599 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. 00:22:10.960 --> 00:22:18.319 So it took an extra 15 to 20 minutes of the time in a service that wasn't normally planned. 00:22:20.240 --> 00:22:31.759 So what happened when they when they got done with service and they came home, they saw that my grandfather had taken his life. 00:22:33.039 --> 00:22:47.279 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. 00:22:51.519 --> 00:22:54.799 And let me tell you why I know that God is a faithful God. 00:22:55.759 --> 00:22:58.000 That was in 1959. 00:22:59.440 --> 00:23:03.359 I was born in 1964. 00:23:05.599 --> 00:23:09.359 Five years before I was born. 00:23:10.079 --> 00:23:16.240 God said, I'm gonna show you how faithful I am. 00:23:17.440 --> 00:23:34.480 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. 00:23:35.119 --> 00:23:36.960 One of them was my mother. 00:23:38.079 --> 00:23:40.079 And let me let me tell you something. 00:23:40.240 --> 00:23:42.400 From that, I begin to understand God. 00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:44.799 You are a faithful God. 00:23:45.200 --> 00:23:50.640 Even before I knew I had an assignment, even before I knew I was born. 00:23:52.079 --> 00:23:54.559 You were faithful, you were covering me. 00:23:54.640 --> 00:23:57.599 There are some of you in there this morning that God has saved you. 00:23:57.759 --> 00:24:00.720 There are times that you don't even know what God saved you from. 00:24:01.039 --> 00:24:01.519 Why? 00:24:01.839 --> 00:24:05.519 Because God is faithful, always faithful. 00:24:05.680 --> 00:24:08.319 He has a purpose and he has an assignment for you. 00:24:08.559 --> 00:24:12.160 The reason you're still sitting here because he's not done with you yet. 00:24:13.759 --> 00:24:14.640 Come on. 00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:17.279 He's not done with you yet. 00:24:20.319 --> 00:24:24.160 We must understand God has an expected end for us. 00:24:24.640 --> 00:24:27.359 He's not making this up as he goes along, right? 00:24:28.319 --> 00:24:30.400 He has a destination in mind. 00:24:30.559 --> 00:24:34.960 Let's look at Jeremiah 29, 11, one of my favorite passages of scripture. 00:24:35.279 --> 00:24:38.240 He said, I alone know the plans I have for you. 00:24:38.559 --> 00:24:41.839 Plans to bring you prosperity and not disaster. 00:24:42.000 --> 00:24:47.599 Plans to bring about the future you hope for, then you will call to me. 00:24:48.240 --> 00:24:51.839 You will come and pray to me, and I will answer you. 00:24:52.079 --> 00:24:59.440 You will seek me and you will find me, because you will seek me with all your heart. 00:25:00.240 --> 00:25:03.039 God hasn't expected in for us. 00:25:03.759 --> 00:25:05.359 But this is the thing we gotta do. 00:25:05.440 --> 00:25:12.480 We gotta, it's time to stop settling for the life Satan is willing to let us have. 00:25:14.079 --> 00:25:17.279 Now, here's the sequence I want to go over with you right quick. 00:25:17.359 --> 00:25:20.640 This is what a lot of times happens in our lives. 00:25:21.359 --> 00:25:23.200 Circumstance is the first one. 00:25:23.279 --> 00:25:33.119 Something happens to you, not because of you, a rejection, a loss, a wound, a failure that wasn't fully your fault. 00:25:33.839 --> 00:25:35.519 That's part of life. 00:25:35.759 --> 00:25:40.640 But here's what happens in the sequence a lot of times after that is the excuse. 00:25:41.599 --> 00:25:45.359 You take that circumstance and turn it into a reason. 00:25:46.000 --> 00:25:47.359 Not a lie, exactly. 00:25:47.599 --> 00:25:49.119 Often it's true. 00:25:49.519 --> 00:25:51.759 Moses' excuse was true. 00:25:52.000 --> 00:25:58.799 He probably was an Apollo speaker, but true and disqualifying aren't the same thing. 00:26:00.079 --> 00:26:04.079 And then it turns in from excuse, it turns into a narrative. 00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:14.160 You repeat the excuse enough times that it stops being a one-time explanation and becomes a story you tell about who you are. 00:26:15.839 --> 00:26:17.440 I don't speak well. 00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:22.720 Turns into I'm not that kind of person God uses for something this big. 00:26:26.319 --> 00:26:28.319 Turns into that narrative. 00:26:28.559 --> 00:26:29.599 Then what happens? 00:26:29.680 --> 00:26:31.359 It turns into a ceiling. 00:26:32.000 --> 00:26:40.880 The narrative hardens into a limit as you now treat reality instead of a story you made up under pressure. 00:26:41.839 --> 00:26:46.799 You stop questioning it, you just build your expectations around it. 00:26:47.680 --> 00:26:48.480 Come on. 00:26:48.799 --> 00:26:50.720 Got quiet in the church. 00:26:52.480 --> 00:26:54.559 And then it turns into a settled life. 00:26:54.720 --> 00:27:04.640 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. 00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:11.599 But here's the good part truth replaces the excuse. 00:27:13.759 --> 00:27:18.880 Instead of turning the circumstance into reason, you take it to God and ask what's actually true. 00:27:19.200 --> 00:27:20.720 Remember, we talked about earlier? 00:27:21.200 --> 00:27:27.200 Turning to God, speaking to God, having that conversation with God and finding out what's really true. 00:27:27.759 --> 00:27:31.920 And then there's the identity that replaces that narrative. 00:27:32.160 --> 00:27:45.200 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. 00:27:45.759 --> 00:27:47.599 The old one has to go. 00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:52.160 We are, therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. 00:27:52.319 --> 00:27:56.400 Old things are passed away, and behold, all things are become new. 00:27:56.559 --> 00:28:02.079 That old narrative that you let the enemy put on you and rehearse, you gotta stop that. 00:28:02.640 --> 00:28:04.880 Quit inviting him to the rehearsal. 00:28:08.880 --> 00:28:12.160 Come on, quit quit inviting him to the rehearsal. 00:28:12.480 --> 00:28:13.759 What are you hearing? 00:28:13.920 --> 00:28:15.279 What are you listening to? 00:28:15.440 --> 00:28:22.559 And what are you allowing to do to cause you to drift off that purpose and drift off that assignment? 00:28:23.759 --> 00:28:34.240 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. 00:28:35.519 --> 00:28:38.240 And you come in, you got a black eye. 00:28:39.119 --> 00:28:40.720 And they say, What happened? 00:28:40.880 --> 00:28:44.400 Man, what what and he goes, You should have seen the other guy. 00:28:48.079 --> 00:28:54.880 We get into that and understand, like, there's this battle is what the enemy is trying to do, but we gotta stop that. 00:28:55.119 --> 00:29:08.400 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. 00:29:08.559 --> 00:29:12.720 Why should we go a day where we have three days bad and four days good? 00:29:12.880 --> 00:29:15.279 Why can't we have seven days good? 00:29:17.279 --> 00:29:19.119 It's not in my notes, by the way. 00:29:19.359 --> 00:29:21.279 Why why why can't we? 00:29:22.079 --> 00:29:27.359 You know, when we determine it, David said early in the morning. 00:29:28.640 --> 00:29:34.880 In the morning, do you know your morning resets will reset and set your day? 00:29:35.680 --> 00:29:40.880 And do you also know that your brain and your mind can't think two things at the same time? 00:29:42.640 --> 00:29:44.720 I tried it earlier. 00:29:46.799 --> 00:29:49.200 Come on, right brain, left brain. 00:29:49.440 --> 00:29:51.759 Like, and I tried it, you know, it don't work. 00:29:52.400 --> 00:29:55.039 It can't be two things going on at once. 00:29:55.599 --> 00:29:58.480 But in the morning, we will rise. 00:29:58.799 --> 00:30:01.039 In the morning, we will set our day. 00:30:01.359 --> 00:30:03.839 You say, Well, Pastor Brad, that sounds all cute. 00:30:03.920 --> 00:30:06.240 That sounds like it needs to be in a Hallmark card. 00:30:06.880 --> 00:30:08.240 No, that's the word. 00:30:09.279 --> 00:30:10.799 The word will work. 00:30:12.880 --> 00:30:19.440 So then you have your expectation that replaces that ceiling instead of that limit. 00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:25.359 Instead of having a settled life, you have a sent life. 00:30:26.240 --> 00:30:27.440 Now you've been sent. 00:30:27.599 --> 00:30:33.359 We must be convinced the reality that God is trying to take us somewhere great. 00:30:33.759 --> 00:30:48.799 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. 00:30:50.640 --> 00:30:54.400 We are a work in progress. 00:30:55.119 --> 00:30:59.599 Look at your neighbor and said, We are a work in progress. 00:31:01.680 --> 00:31:03.200 Now I've always wanted to do this. 00:31:03.279 --> 00:31:05.119 Now look at your second choice. 00:31:06.880 --> 00:31:09.599 That just kind of feels all good on the inside. 00:31:10.480 --> 00:31:12.720 Say, we are a work in progress. 00:31:13.680 --> 00:31:14.319 We are. 00:31:15.119 --> 00:31:26.400 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. 00:31:28.000 --> 00:31:33.200 We the word workmanship means product, tapestry, or point. 00:31:33.839 --> 00:31:41.519 And when it was talking about this, we are his workmanship, I was like, I've never considered myself tapestry or a point. 00:31:42.640 --> 00:31:49.039 But I understand one thing God doesn't make junk. 00:31:50.480 --> 00:31:54.079 It's impossible for him to do that. 00:31:54.319 --> 00:31:57.279 We are his workmanship. 00:31:57.839 --> 00:32:01.359 And some of you are saying that, well, I'm not like that other person. 00:32:02.160 --> 00:32:03.839 You're not supposed to be. 00:32:05.519 --> 00:32:06.960 I can't do that. 00:32:07.680 --> 00:32:09.599 Maybe you're not supposed to. 00:32:10.640 --> 00:32:13.759 But how about you do what God called you to do? 00:32:14.400 --> 00:32:21.759 The assignment that he's called you to do, and quit worrying about how great that looks in the kingdom of God. 00:32:23.279 --> 00:32:25.200 Say, mmm, that's so good, Pastor. 00:32:25.279 --> 00:32:25.920 Yeah. 00:32:27.839 --> 00:32:32.880 Because it's not about this hierarchy, it's about being obedient. 00:32:34.640 --> 00:32:43.119 Because when we go, when we come in heaven, they're not gonna say, Well done, thou person that worked in the parking lot. 00:32:44.240 --> 00:32:47.119 Well done, that person that worked in kids' ministry. 00:32:47.759 --> 00:32:53.119 Well done, thy good and faithful servant. 00:32:55.359 --> 00:33:01.519 When our lives line up with God's will, we flow like a masterful rhyme. 00:33:02.319 --> 00:33:07.839 The beautiful thing about life with God is that he knows all our faults and loves us anyway. 00:33:09.680 --> 00:33:16.000 He's not expecting us to be all that, he's expecting us to surrender all that. 00:33:18.799 --> 00:33:22.640 I was debating so much, he's not expecting us to be all that. 00:33:23.680 --> 00:33:27.039 And I was gonna throw on and a bag of chips. 00:33:29.680 --> 00:33:35.359 I was gonna do that, but I knew my daughters will say, Oh, dad. 00:33:37.359 --> 00:33:40.799 You're telling your age that's about 40 years old. 00:33:41.920 --> 00:33:44.480 But he's expecting us to surrender all that. 00:33:44.559 --> 00:33:51.680 If we give him something to work with, he can make a miracle out of all of our broken pieces. 00:33:52.480 --> 00:33:57.200 And the last thing we must do, we must abandon all excuses for quitting. 00:33:57.359 --> 00:33:59.039 Quitting is not an option. 00:33:59.759 --> 00:34:03.759 It's not a it's not a like I checked this and I checked quitting is not an option. 00:34:04.000 --> 00:34:06.559 Quit is not what God put on the inside of us. 00:34:06.720 --> 00:34:08.000 Come on, somebody. 00:34:08.159 --> 00:34:10.639 He he didn't put quit on the inside of us. 00:34:10.719 --> 00:34:19.440 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. 00:34:19.760 --> 00:34:24.639 Sometimes it feels like it that we want to, but quitting is not an option. 00:34:24.880 --> 00:34:25.760 There's no excuses. 00:34:25.920 --> 00:34:39.679 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. 00:34:41.280 --> 00:34:44.320 God answers back, Who made man's mouth? 00:34:45.599 --> 00:34:46.159 Uh-oh. 00:34:47.280 --> 00:34:48.960 There went that excuse. 00:34:49.760 --> 00:35:04.480 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. 00:35:04.800 --> 00:35:06.079 Like, I really didn't. 00:35:06.239 --> 00:35:07.440 I didn't talk. 00:35:08.000 --> 00:35:10.880 I didn't, my voice, you you you barely hear me. 00:35:11.199 --> 00:35:17.599 In my second year in Bible school, they decided they want to cast the spirit of timidity out of me. 00:35:19.039 --> 00:35:21.039 I'm like, what's wrong with y'all? 00:35:21.360 --> 00:35:25.440 What kind of what kind of granola bar Bible college have I gone to? 00:35:25.840 --> 00:35:27.760 Fruits, flakes, and nuts. 00:35:29.440 --> 00:35:31.440 Y'all never heard that before. 00:35:33.519 --> 00:35:35.440 Now you got something new. 00:35:38.159 --> 00:35:40.800 But I I I try to use that excuse as well. 00:35:41.679 --> 00:35:43.199 I can't speak well. 00:35:43.920 --> 00:35:45.599 And me doing this right here? 00:35:46.000 --> 00:35:48.480 Sharon asked before we got married, are you gonna be a preacher? 00:35:48.719 --> 00:35:49.519 Nope. 00:35:50.159 --> 00:35:51.119 Are you gonna do this? 00:35:51.280 --> 00:35:52.079 Nope. 00:35:52.800 --> 00:35:54.960 And I'm doing every bit of it. 00:35:56.880 --> 00:35:58.320 Because, come on. 00:35:59.199 --> 00:36:01.280 I say that because I want to encourage you. 00:36:01.440 --> 00:36:04.639 God has an assignment for you. 00:36:05.519 --> 00:36:10.159 Don't sit there thinking where you are is where God wants you to be. 00:36:11.679 --> 00:36:18.000 And quit arguing with God because God knows and God's got you. 00:36:18.639 --> 00:36:22.000