I don't know if you can hear me, but I can hear you.
I can hear you.
I think that's it for announcements.
We do have place to take notes on the back.
We will have brother Rafti lead us in another song.
say
Oh
oh
Oh
Amen for a scripture eating please open your Bibles to the book of Matthew Matthew chapter 14
Matthew chapter 14, and we will only be reading verses 22
down to verse 32
Matthew chapter 14 verses 22 down to verse 32
Please say amen if you were there
Amen
Matthew chapter 14 verse 22 and
Straight way Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship and to go before him into the other side
well, he sent the multitudes away and
When he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray and when the evening was come
He was there alone
But the ship was now in the midst of the sea tossed with waves
But the wind was contrary and in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went into them walking on the sea and
When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled saying it is a spirit and they cried out for fear
But straightway Jesus spake unto them saying be of good cheer
It is I be not afraid and Peter answered and said Lord if it be thou bid me come into the underwater
And he said come
And when Peter was come down out of the ship he walked in the water to go to Jesus
But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid and beginning to sink he cried saying Lord save me
And immediately Jesus stretched for the sand and caught him and said unto him. Oh thou little faith
wherefore didst thou doubt and
When they were coming to the ship the wind seized bless the reading of God's Word. Let us pray
Lord God in heaven and thank you Lord for this day. It's given to us for the Lord
It's with peace plaster of this day for our events Lord for this day and I was so good
Especially I've heard a lot of truth
Please bless the preacher the peachy go over this day
Give us an understanding heart and fill us with the Holy Ghost for this day. And just let me pray. Amen
All right, we're here in Matthew chapter 14
The name of the sermon is stepping out in faith stepping out in faith, and this is a very famous story
I'm just gonna quickly go through the story and then give us three points to apply later on about stepping out in faith
Matthew 14 verse 22 the Bible reads and straight way, which means immediately
Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship and to go before him on to the other side while he sent the multitudes away
When he had sent the multitudes away
He went up into a mountain apart to pray and when the evening was come he was there alone
So we see that even our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ
He got alone sometimes to get close to God and to talk to God and this ought to be part of our daily routine
We're basically we set aside everything else in our lives just to spend personal time with God reading the Bible
Praying talking to God and we see that the Lord did this here in verse 23 verse 24
But the ship was now in the midst of the sea
Tossed with waves for the wind was contrary and in the fourth watch of the night
Jesus went on to them walking on the sea and when the disciples saw him walking on the sea
They were troubled saying it is a spirit and they cried out for fear now
It's hard to really tell what the disciples are thinking, you know, it's like they say it's a spirit
I don't know if they think it's the devil or it's like it's a ghost or something like that
But I suppose if you're in the middle of a ship and you see somebody walking out on the water
You're like, I don't know what this is right, you know, my worst nightmare come true now
They are very afraid in this situation and you know
Whenever you're really afraid in life the smallest little thing makes you afraid
You have you ever been home alone when you're growing up and there's like a small little noise in the house and you're like
Paranoid that somebody broke in and they're gonna harm you or something like that
They're already afraid and realize a lot of these men are professional fishermen
You see if I was out on a ship and we're being tossed about of course
I'd get afraid pretty quickly because I really haven't been out on a ship before
But if you're a professional fisherman, you're gonna really know whether or not it's a scary situation or not
You're gonna know how to deal with these sorts of situations. They are very afraid verse 27
But straightway Jesus begging them saying be of good cheer at his eye be not afraid and Peter answered him Lord if it be thou
Bid me come on to thee on the water
And he said come and when Peter was come down out of the ship
He walked on the water to go to Jesus and so Peter has this great faith because he's like if it's really you Lord
Tell me to come out on the water and
Jesus says come now. I was going soloing one time and
This person used this example this story and he said this shows how hard it is to be saved
He's like even Peter started walking on the water and he didn't make it the whole way to Jesus
It's like do you think Peters in hell? I mean, like what are you saying? Right? This is not about salvation
This is about drawing close to God and if you want to draw close to God come
Now for salvation it come on to me
I will give you rest but after salvation if you want to come close to God draw an eye to God
He's gonna say cleanse your hands purify your hearts. He doesn't mind you come
Right get your sin out of your life read the Bible pray. He wants us to draw close to him, right?
For our bulletin I was trying to find a nice picture
It was hard to find one without a long-haired Jesus out on the water. So this is what we got for our bulletin
Okay, I looked at a lot of pictures. I'm like, I'm not gonna spend an hour finding the perfect picture
Right, but Peter comes out on the water and starts walking to Jesus
but when he saw the wind boisterous he was afraid and
Beginning to sink he cried saying Lord save me once again
This is not spiritual salvation fact the word save in the Bible is usually in reference to physical not spiritual
this is just physically being saved from dying and
Immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him and said unto him. Oh thou of little faith
Wherefore didst thou doubt and when they were coming this ship the wind ceased now
Look, you could focus on the failure of Peter
But what we should really focus on is the success of Peter
The idea that he actually made it closer to Jesus than the rest of them, right?
I seriously doubt I would have gone out on the water. I
Hope I'm wrong
But quite honestly I doubt it because there's a lot of great people that are probably much better than me and they didn't go
Out on the water at all. And so Peter had great faith to go
But once the obstacle came all the sudden he just ended up getting scared and he starts to sink
And of course Jesus saves them immediately. Okay, what you're seeing is that Peter is stepping out in faith in his life
And that's the name of the sermon stepping out in faith. Go to Hebrews 11
Hebrews 11
Hebrews chapter 11
We'll look at one more verse before we get into the main points here
And
Look when you preach a sermon about stepping out in faith
Your goal is to make people feel uncomfortable at church because I'm trying to encourage you step out in faith
Right and we see here in Hebrews 11 verse 6, but without faith it is impossible to please him
You cannot please God without faith
Okay, there are two aspects of this faith for he that cometh to God must believe that he is
That is in reference to salvation
You must believe that he is you must understand Jesus is the Messiah. Jesus is the Christ
Jesus is the way to heaven and if you don't believe that you don't please God not a single
Muslim in this world pleases God not a single one not a single Buddhist not a single Hindu
Not a single person who's unsaved pleases God you must believe that he is but here's the thing
Just simply believing that he is the Savior the Christ and that you've believed on him and you're saved
That does not mean that you please God either. I
Mean look my kids are a hundred percent my kids no matter what they do. It doesn't mean I'm always pleased with my kids
Right. It says also and that he is a rewarder of them that
Diligently seek him and one aspect of pleasing God is you're seeking after God you're searching God you're serving God
See when a person gets saved
They take a leap of faith when they get saved
Right when I heard the gospel what I'm thinking in my head is it's too good to be true
All you have to do is believe
You don't have to change your life
You don't have to do any good works and look I'm sure that's the way most of us felt
You know, maybe maybe not a young child because you know, they haven't believed a false religion
They're just kind of learning these things at a young age
but if you grew up and you didn't get saved until you're a teenager in your 20s or 30s and
The first time you heard the gospel you probably were thinking in your head. That's too easy. I
Mean, of course, you got to repent of your sins
Can't just drink and go to heaven
I mean, what are you talking about? And isn't that the way people react to us and we give them the gospel sometimes
They think it's too good to be true. And you know, I remember, you know hearing the gospel and I
Argued it and and I
Debated with my friend and then I just couldn't get it out of my mind though
And it's it's just like, you know, I'm like man it really I mean he showed me what the Bible said
I mean John 3 16. It's a famous verse
It's not some random verse in Ezekiel and you took a leap of faith to get saved didn't you?
You made that decision. You know what I believe it, right?
But here's the mistake
Some people think there's that leap of faith to put your faith on Jesus and believe and you think that's all
The only leap of faith God ever wants you to take see that's not the reality
God wants you to get out of the ship where you do not feel comfortable
I mean if your Christian life is too easy and too comfortable
God wants to shake it up a little bit put you in a storm to force you to take an extra step
He wants you to step out in faith where you do not feel comfortable
And my goal is to make everybody feel uncomfortable in the sermon
I want to just kind of shake you up and try to encourage you to take a step past which you feel comfortable doing
Okay, go in your Bible
to mark 16
mark 16
mark chapter 16
See if your life's too easy you can rely on yourself
God doesn't want you to rely on yourself
He wants to force you to rely on him
Right. He doesn't want you to rely on yourself
I mean obviously for salvation you got to quit trusting or relying on yourself and put your trust on Jesus in your life though
God wants to force you not to trust in your own way
But to trust in the Lord
Right and trust in his path and you know some things you take by faith you read in the Bible
And it's like I got to quit trusting what I think or what I've been taught and I got to rely on God
God wants to put you in that position. We're gonna rely on him with your life one area, which I
Probably preach on too much, but I don't apologize for it is so winning
God wants you to
Step out of your comfort zone and be a soul winner and you know
praise the Lord that most people at our church are soul winners and
Here's the thing if you're a soul winner, you certainly step out of your comfort zone when you first started going so winning
Right. None of us
Naturally are just like oh, this is the easiest thing ever. Of course. I'll just you know, go and talk to random people
No, that's out of our comfort zone. I mean, we don't feel comfortable doing this mark 16 verse 15 and
He said unto them go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature
Go ye ye is plural saying everybody go out and preach the gospel to every creature
He said brother sucky
When do I get to quit?
When everybody's heard the gospel
Has everybody heard the gospel? I
Mean for those of you that went so winning over the last week you ran into a lot of people that had never heard the gospel
Now we're always excited when we run into people that we talked to that got saved
You know, my wife ran into someone at Nepal Park yesterday
She's like, yeah, I talked to this American guy at Astro and you know, he was right on the money with salvation, right?
But here's the thing. There's a lot of people they've never heard this before
They've never heard somebody give him the gospel
I mean I was I was 18 years old the first time I heard a clear presentation of the gospel
You know what that means if I had died at 17 16 15 14 13
I'd be in hell forever
Yeah
There are people out there that are even even within a range of our church because on certain days we go so winning near the church
Because we have a function or something like that and we still run into people around here
That we get saved just right by the church building even though we've knocked these doors 55 times
Right. They don't say man. It's the Jehovah's Witnesses around here. They say man. There's the Verity Baptist Church again
Because we've knocked these doors many times
But yet we still get people say we don't get as many as going to a park
But we still get people say when we go nearby
Why there's still people that have never heard a clear presentation of the gospel
It seems like you talk to everyone and we've been here for four years, but then people are four years older
So we started a five-year-old probably too young to get I mean five-year-olds can get saved
But if you talk to them one time probably not gonna get saved, but now they're nine now they're reachable
Maybe you couldn't reach him at five six seven eight now, they're 19 11 12 now
It's like there's somebody else to talk to right always gonna be people to talk to
Here's the thing God commands you to go so winning he's not going to command you to do something you can't do
It's not like hey, you know what I command you to dunk a basketball. I
Can't do that. I'm not tall enough
Right
I mean, it's like it's not like God's commanding you to do something that you could not possibly do
Everybody could go so winning and the proof that is he commands everybody
verse 20 and they went forth and preached everywhere the
Lord working with them and
Confirming the word with signs following. Amen. See when we go so winning. We're not going by ourselves and here's the thing
God will not command you to do something you can't do but
He will command you to do things you cannot do in your own flesh
Do you understand the difference of what I just said?
He will not command you to do something that you could not possibly do but he will command you to do something
That you would never do on your own
But when you rely on God, then you're able to do them
Because we talked to me when they first go so winning I could never talk to people and in their own flesh they couldn't
That's not their personality they're shy they're nervous I remember the exact words
I told to the person who got me saved because he's trying to get me to take that next step
He's like, hey, we gotta talk to one person every day about Jesus. It's like not me Mike
I say I can't do that. I don't have the personality for that. I was like, I'm not outgoing. I'm shy right?
It's just not my special gift
That's what I said. A lot of people say that right a lot of us
Probably said something very similar
When we first started going sewing, but here's the thing if God's commanding you to do it
You can do it if the Lord is working
With you go to 2nd Corinthians 5
2nd Corinthians 5
I
Remember how nervous I was when I first started giving the gospel
I told these stories yesterday at church and I got reminded because I I had these stories in the back of my mind
But I kind of forgotten so I got saved at 18 and I joined a bunch of Christian groups in college
I would not recommend that because when I say Christian, it's this non-denominational you can believe whatever you want
So a lot of people are unsaved. It's a mixture of everything
I was in I was part of Campus Crusade for Christ
Which is the biggest organization in the United States and they have a missions trip every year to the beach
Okay, and so there's nothing inherently wrong about the beast but when women are all dressed in bikinis
It's not exactly the best atmosphere for soul winning, right?
But that is where I first started, you know
Trying to talk to people and I started as a silent partner and I remember the first time I gave an invitation
And then I was like, you know what that wasn't as hard as I thought it would be
You know, sometimes you have this big fear to do something and then you do it and you're like
What was I afraid of it wasn't that bad?
But the reason why I had the power to do it is because God was helping me
Right now as I said, I wouldn't recommend going to the beach around women like that to preach the gospel
but I'm just saying I do believe God helped me give that invitation to step out of my comfort zone and
Then I started to get a little bit more bold a couple weeks later
And this is when I was growing as a Christian. I was at a rock concert. Once again, I'm not recommending this
But I remember I got up the courage to give somebody an invitation say hey in the back
It tells you how to get to heaven right and I was stepping out of my comfort zone
Look, I don't go to rock concerts now
Okay, I've changed in 20 years
All right, but I'm being honest with you when I was 19 years old it's like obviously I was a lot different
I'm sure all of you were a lot different at the age of 19 also. Hey
But here's the thing in my own personal flesh I don't consider myself to be an outgoing person
You might think of me as an outgoing person
I don't know, but that's because you don't really know who I was 20 years ago
When I first got saved I would have never thought I would have never imagined before I got saved
I would be a preacher. I
Majored in math. It's like math engineering Microsoft Excel you stay inside an office all day
You go home on a mountain away from everybody. That's that's who I was
It's my personality my natural personality
But I've stepped out in faith because of the fact you get saved you want to see other people get saved
You don't want to see them go to hell and you step out of your comfort zone when I first started going soul-winning
I stepped out of my comfort zone when you first started going soul-winning
You stepped out of your comfort zone for those in this room that have not started going soul-winning
I get it that first step is hard
We know that
You first start it's like
We're from Verity Baptist Church
Right well
This is also why you start off with a partner if you're just getting into it and they can help you out if you
Struggle, I mean many times I've taken over a conversation for someone who's new because they first start and they get nervous
And it takes them some time. We have two young men at our church in Pampanga. They just started actually winning souls
They've been working up to it and the last couple weeks. They've started to get people safe and it's exciting, isn't it?
It's that leap of faith
That you take it's hard. And if you're not a regular soul winner, here's the thing I get it. It is hard
But the people that are successful at soul-winning it's not naturally outgoing people what I've noticed is it's the opposite and
I think I understand why
Naturally outgoing people are not used to feeling uncomfortable
in situations
They show up anywhere. They're the life of the party
If you're not naturally outgoing, you're used to feeling uncomfortable and you got to just do it. Anyway
Everybody when they first start going soul-winning feels uncomfortable and to someone who's outgoing a lot of times
People that I used to think man, they're gonna get on fire for God now that they got saved
They're like the most outgoing person ever and they don't go so any they never learned to go so any because they're afraid
They're not used to that feeling it's not necessarily who you would think that becomes a dedicated soul winner second Corinthians 5 verse 18
And
All things are of God who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation
It is our job to reconcile people to the Savior
Verse 19 to wit that God was in Christ
Reconciling the world unto himself not imputing their trespasses onto them
And hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation
Now then we are ambassadors for Christ as though God did beseech you by us
We pray you in Christ dead be reconciled to God the Bible says we are
ambassadors for Christ an
Ambassador by definition is in an accredited diplomat sent by a country as its official representative to a foreign country
We are the official
representatives of God here on earth
That's what we are
We are
Jehovah's Witnesses
Jehovah's ambassadors is probably a better way to say that right we are the representatives of God here on earth
nobody else is
Now here's the thing an ambassador. They have a specific message that other people don't know you see if an ambassador goes out
They're gonna go out with the crew of people, but the ambassador knows what needs to be said and here's the thing in this world
It's safe people that know what needs to be said
We are the ambassadors we have a direct message from God
And he says go you into all the world and preach the gospel man
How can I do that the death burial and resurrection of Jesus?
Obviously learn some verses on that memorize the verses, but we're explaining something simple
right
Turn your Bible to Exodus 4 Exodus 4
Exodus chapter 4
All of us know this that goes soul winning when we first started we were nervous and sometimes
You know me reminiscing this past week for the sermon it kind of reminded me, and it's good to do that because you know
Sometimes we can maybe be too harsh with people that are just trying to get into soul winning and forget about the fact
That first leap of faith is
Terrifying it is scary. We want to make it seem as easy as possible like hey
Why don't you just come with me? You don't have to say anything. It's no problem
You know you don't have to worry
You know it's it's it's very easy not a big deal
Try to make it exciting try to make them think that it's very easy because honestly it isn't that bad once you do it
You realize that?
But it seems very terrifying to people before they do it, and we all know that feeling right
But see God wants us to step out in faith
He wants to put you on uncertain ground where you got to rely on him and pray say God
Please help me. Please help me. Give me boldness
Exodus 4 verse 10 and Moses said unto the Lord oh my lord
I am not eloquent neither heretofore nor since thou has spoken unto thy servant, but I am slow of speech and of a slow tongue
now was Moses slow of speech or of a slow tongue you know he feels that way and
Maybe he started off that way, but he became a mighty speaker, but he's like I can't do this
I don't have the ability to speak and talk and the Lord said unto him who hath made man's mouth
Or who make it the dumb or deaf or the seeing or the blind have not I the Lord
Now therefore go and I'll be with my mouth and teach thee what thou shalt say look if you say brother Stuckey
I don't have the gift of soul winning
Who made man's mouth?
Not billions of years of evolution
God made your mouth, and he said you can do it, and if God says you can do it you can do it
Right I mean he wouldn't command you to do something that you can't possibly do
But it does require you to rely on God to get the job done
I under understand that trust in the Lord with all thine heart lean not under that own understanding
You need to trust and rely on God to get the job done verse 13
And he said oh my lord send
I pray thee by the hand of whom thou wilt send and the anger of the Lord was kindled against Moses
And he said is not Aaron the Levite thy brother
I know that he can speak well and also behold he cometh forth to meet thee and when he seeth thee he will be glad
In his heart and thou shalt speak unto him and put words in his mouth
And I'll be with thy mouth and with his mouth and will teach you what you shall do and he shall be thy
Spokesman unto the people and he shall be even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth and thou shalt be to him
instead of God
Right it's a great story
We use to say you know what hey Moses started as a silent partner with the speaker, and then Moses does most of the speaking
Great example to use for soul winning
but is that really the context of
Exodus 4 is
in the context of soul winning
Not at all. It's a great example. We can use for soul winning. What's really the context?
preaching sermons right
Go in your Bible first Samuel 10 first Samuel chapter 10
Say I preach on on soul winning and a lot of you're saying amen amen now
I'm preaching about preaching sermons and a lot of you're like oh, no
Can't we go back to the first sermon no, it's the men's turn
This is brother Chris's sermon from Wednesday. You know part two
right
That's the context so of Exodus 4 it's not really about you know soul winning, but preaching sermons right
First Samuel 10
verse 19 and
He had this day
Rejected your God whom self saved you out of all your adversities and your tribulations
And you have said unto them nay
but said a king over us now therefore present yourselves before the Lord by your tribes and by your thousands and
When Samuel caused all the tribes of Israel to come near the tribe of Benjamin was taken there
They're selecting the king to rule their country, which the Lord God was their king and they reject the Lord God now
they're selecting a man as
The leader as the king now. This is not the same thing at all, but it's something that pops into my mind
I remember when Pope Francis was selected and
Basically, there's millions of people in the streets waiting for the new Pope and then he gets carted out and all the Catholics are excited
Right, not the exact same thing, but here's the thing. They're waiting who's gonna be the king who's gonna be the king?
Who's it gonna be? They don't know
Who's gonna be the king? They're excited
Verse number 21
when he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families the family of matri was taken and saw the son of
Kish was taken and when they saw him
He could not be found
They're waiting for the king
Said where is he?
Right, they're waiting the crowds waiting. Where's the king? Where's the king? Where's it? He they can't find him
Therefore they inquired of the Lord further so they're praying to God saying where's the king
I mean there you said there's gonna be a king. Where is the king?
If the man should yet come neither
So they're praying I mean is he gonna come out and the Lord answered behold he hath hid himself among the stuff
They're waiting for a king. Where is he and souls like?
He doesn't want to be seen
He's scared
That's what you see in this earth. This is perhaps the funniest story in the Bible to me. They're waiting for the king
They're excited. It's like they're asking Lord, you know, cuz Samuel's, you know, right, you know presenting it
We're gonna have the new king. Where is he and they're like
Waiting we're waiting waiting then they inquired of the Lord further
I mean, is he gonna come there there is he gonna come out and then God's like he's hiding
It's like whoops
scared to death
To come out as the king
Why he's shy
right
He's shy
Where you can get confused is that you know King Saul ends up becoming very arrogant, but that's not how he started
He's shy he's afraid to come out
He hid himself among the stuff and they ran and fessed him thin saying hey, we got to fix this situation
They run they get him. Come on out King
And
When he stood among the people he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward they forced Saul to come
Out cuz he's scared. He's just kind of hiding like I don't want to do this, right and
Samuel said to all the people see ye him whom the Lord hath chosen
That there is none like him among all the people and all the people shouted and said God saved the king
Samuel is trying to save the situation. I mean, it's embarrassing
They're trying to pull out the king Saul doesn't want to come out
It's like look at who God chose and the people end up saying him because he's really tall
Right. Well, thankfully Saul was tall because otherwise they would have been like look he was hiding. That's her king
That's gonna be the person that leaves our country and he's hiding among the stuff
I don't know. I just I say this and people don't necessarily understand it
My favorite character in the Bible is King Saul because his stories are hilarious
Right. They're really interesting. I mean you see this story
It's like he's hiding and this is the king. This is the leader of the country
But he's shy
He's not outgoing
Go to verse 9 first Samuel 10 verse 9
first Samuel 10 verse 9
And it was so that when he had turned his back to go from Samuel
God gave him another heart referring to Saul God gave him another heart and all those signs came to pass that day
and when they came here that vither to the hill behold a company of prophets met him and
The Spirit of God came upon him and he prophesied among them
By the way, when we get saved we get in dwell with the Holy Spirit of God
we can still get filled with the Spirit of God in 2023 and
It fills you with the spirit to do things you would not do in your own flesh gives you boldness
Verse 11 and it came to pass when all that knew him knew King Saul before time saw that
Behold, he prophesied among the prophets
I mean he's preaching and the people said one to another what is this that has come unto the son of Kish is Saul
also among the prophets
It's like that's the last guy. I
Would have ever expected to be a preacher like Saul
Really? I mean this guy's shy
He's not outgoing
Right. I remember my my second year of college
One of my friends from high school was coming up to visit, you know, various friends and you know what?
He was you know, I went out to eat with him with a group of people and then of course I brought up
Salvation and then all of a sudden I remember what he told me and he's like brother sucky. I heard that you got religious
He's like you are the last person I ever
expected
Right now, I don't know I don't know I mean I've always believed in God
So I don't it was kind of a surprising statement
But I guess he just never expected that that I would do that. I would say in my own flesh
No, I wouldn't have been the person to become a soul winner. But what happens is God can give you another heart
God can make you a new man, right go to Ephesians 4
Ephesians 4
Ephesians chapter 4
The mistake you make is
You maybe look at someone that has preached for years and years and you think man. This is just so easy for them
That's actually not the way it is. I
Had a desire to go in the ministry very early on after I got saved
But I
Wasn't really a public speaker and I remember I'd be excited to preach and then the moment would come would be like within 15 minutes
I'm getting up to preach and I'm just thinking oh no
No, is there any way I can get out of this? I'm like, can you send an earthquake?
There'd be a volcano something as I can't do this
I mean literally I was scared in my chair and I'll tell you inside my head. I was praying so hard to God
God, please help me God, please. Please help me not make a fool of myself. I can't do this
That happened to me the first several times I preached now. I don't get nervous when I preach now
But
That's because I've been doing it quite a bit for a long time
When I started you better believe I got nervous. I was scared to death. I was like man, what am I gonna say?
It's just I'm gonna mess up. I'm gonna make a fool of myself. I was very scared and nervous to do it
But see God likes you to have that feeling why it forces you to rely on him
It's not something you can just get up here and just hey, I can just wing it and sound awesome
That's not the way it works. You got to be filled with the Spirit of God to do it
Here's the thing anybody you consider a bold and mighty preacher. They did not start that way
Example I like to give who in this room has seen the first sermon from Pastor Steven Anderson
We've seen a lot of people have seen that in this room, right?
I think it's great that he I don't know if it's on YouTube now because YouTube's whatever I hate I
I thought it was amazing that he put that on because you know, it shows humility because he's showing you. Hey, I'm not just some you know
Naturally just amazing because you know, he is very shy in that sermon
Whereas one of the churches where you stand up to read the Word of God, he forgot to tell people to sit down
Right for those that saw the sermon you remember that he's just like and then the pastor's like hey
You can let him sit down now after a couple minutes. You say why because when you first start you're nervous
You're shy now nobody would listen to Pastor Anderson now and say man, he's a nervous shy person
But when his first sermon was there, he certainly was shy. He certainly was nervous. He said why cuz it's new
Anytime you do something, you know, it's gonna make you nervous when I first started preaching. Yeah, you know, I was very nervous
I just thought man, I I'm not a public speaker. I don't know if I can do this
Now many of you think I preach too quickly now. You should have heard me in my first couple sermons
Man it was it was like, you know
Right because I was nervous. It's like I I turn I got a one-hour sermon into like 15 minutes
It's like we read 55 million verses and it's just like in the beginning God created the enemy of the earth
The earth was without form and void. It's just like really fast because I was like scared to death
right
Nobody starts off where it's just so easy. It's not hard at all
Actually you start off where it's like man I have to rely on God because I cannot do this in my own flesh
Ephesians 4 verse 22 that you put off concerning the former conversation the old man
Which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts and be renewed in the spirit of your mind and that you put on the new man
Which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness
Look, this should be a daily thing in our lives that we put on the new man
The old man is corrupt the old man is sinful
This is similar to God gave him another heart you put on the new man you get filled with the Spirit of God
This is a daily thing
that you should strive to do I
Will say this also though if you preach several times a week
I mean, I've preached three different sermons, but five sermons overall every week
Obviously sometimes you preach you're more filled with the Spirit of God than other times
right
When there's times that maybe I'm slightly backslidden
It's a lot harder to preach. I'm sure the men that preach sometimes would say the same thing like yeah, there's sometimes man
I'm filled with boldness. I'm encouraged. I'm fired up and times. Maybe you're a little bit backslidden. It's harder
You say why because you're doing it in your own flesh and it gets very hard
When you're filled with the Spirit of God
It's pretty easy
Why because the Spirit of God gives you boldness to do things you could not naturally do in your own flesh
Look when you get filled with the Spirit of God it can give you the ability to do things that you do not believe
That you can do go to Matthew 6
Matthew 6
Now here's the thing when it comes to the sermons on the weekend
You know what unless I'm sick unless my wife is is in labor or something extreme or whatever
It's like I'm gonna preach the sermons with rare exception where I might give a man an opportunity to preach because obviously as I don't
Preach the midweek sermons here. I think it's important for me to preach the weekend sermons quite honestly. I like preaching
There's always a lot to preach on there's a lot to say you know I've got my preaching schedule very organized
There's a lot of things where it's like man. I want to preach on this and this and this and this
There's not gonna be a lot of opportunities on the weekend, but quite honestly we could use more men that preach on Wednesday nights I
Agree with what brother Chris preached recently we could use more men that preach on Wednesday nights
Right you know we do when it comes to men having the desire to go in the ministry at our church
There are men that have the desire and those are the men that preach on Wednesday nights
So what if we ordain them and send them in the ministry?
Well we need somebody on Wednesday nights
Right you say brother Saki you're trying to make me feel uncomfortable yes
That's what I said at the beginning. I want you to step out in faith
That's that's the purpose. Yes. I'm trying to make you feel uncomfortable
And here's the thing it doesn't need to be like every week, but what about once a month?
What about once every two months?
Just from time to time right lighten the burden of their and here's the thing when you first start preaching sermons
You're not trying to preach the greatest sermon in the world
Preach on soul-winning
Three reasons you should go soul-winning preach on salvation preach on something you know preach on something basic
That's all you have to do you don't have to preach the most complicated thing and look. I'm not trying to negate the fear factor
I would just state though that I also felt very scared when I used to preach
And and you know I gave this example yesterday
And you know we have a men's preaching coming up in Pampanga and my goal
If I'm ready is to preach Mike Lee on Buhai in only Tagalog. I will be nervous I
Will be scared
It's something I'm gonna have to really practice and be filled with the Spirit of God
It's like I'm gonna be very nervous and shy to do it
You say why because you know although I preached the gospel in Tagalog
It's like yeah, I've done that a lot of different times
But preaching something where I'm gonna have to start really thinking during the sermon what to say and everything it's gonna be hard
Now I don't know for sure I'm gonna be ready for it
But it's like that is my goal to preach that sermon just in it's just a 10-minute one
It's not super long or whatever, but it's like I will be nervous
I will be shy that will be me stepping out on the water
We're basically no English at all you know what that's intimidating to me
That's scary to me say what it's the first time it would be the first time I've ever preached a sermon in Tagalog
So I'll be nervous
I'll be shy, but I also I want to push myself into uncertain territory to try to encourage others also to do that
I don't want to try to tell you to do something that I'm not willing to do
It's something that I and you know what after this I do plan to start writing
Sermons once I'm able to do this one in Tagalog from time to time
To be able to start preaching and one thing is to just kind of lead as an example
Let us all just get out of the ship a little bit
Let us all go on some shaky ground where you know what we're a little bit uncomfortable
Right and if anything you do for the first time is going to be difficult. It's gonna be hard
Go to Matthew 6 Matthew 6
And one thing I forgot you know we were talking about this at church yesterday when the church in Pampanga started I
I
Did not preach all the sermons
Right most of you or at least a lot of you were at a church at that time because when we first started that church
Plant to be honest is a bit of a crazy idea
Right, but sometimes you got to step out on the water and go for it. It works right a bona fide church
You know we get lots of people save the church. We have families that love God and very thankful for the church
I did not know if I would be able to preach five sermons a week. I
Was like I don't know if I can do it
It's just a lot of preaching and you know every once in a while you hear me like it was about a month ago
Where I lost my voice my voice was lost for like a month because when you're regularly preaching sermons
It's hard to get your voice back
so I just didn't know if I could possibly preach five sermons and so I
Was preaching every other week there, and then we'd have other men take turns to basically preach
Here's the thing I like that model for a new church being started
Because there's areas where there's people that maybe they're ready for a church
But not necessarily ready for someone to preach jump into it three times a week
That is a model we might use in the future to start a church where basically we have guys taking turns
Preaching and look I'm not going to preach more than five sermons a week
I'm not going to start preaching seven or eight or whatever sermons a week
So if that's the model we use we're going to need men that are going to be able to take turns preaching
I'm not saying we're going to do this, but it is a possibility
Here's the thing isn't it better to get the practice ahead of time to be ready for that
Because I'll tell you what the people in Pampanga
They talked about the blessing it was that of all the men that came down to preach sermons
And here's the thing you might not think that you did a great job, but everyone in Pampanga said it was great
They didn't mention anything about repentance of sins for salvation
It was correct doctrine and what if it's correct doctrine even if it's not like bold and loud
It's like it's encouraging for people to love God
I'll tell you what if there's a group of like 20 people in an area that we start a church one day
You know what they want they want correct doctrine and soul-winning. That's what they want
It's okay. You're not you're not in competition as I've said recently I am very aware
Pastor Jimenez is better at preaching than me, and I probably will never be as good as him
but I'm not competing against pastor Jimenez and
That is perfectly fine to me
I don't care if other people get more YouTube viewers because their sermons are better because I'm still preaching the truth
we're still a soul-winning Church and
Like if somebody you know starts a church if we ordained someone they go out look it doesn't matter if they're doing better than brother
Stuckey or worse than brother Stuckey if they're preaching the truth amen
So what right I?
Believe that could be a good model in the future to start churches where he might have people just taking turns
If we had a group of eight men
It's like basically you preach one sermon per month because you have two sermons on you know a Sunday
So basically two guys go down then two different guys or whatever that would be a great model for church in the future, but
You need people to be able to preach and be willing to preach
And I am saying I do believe that you have the ability
But maybe not in your own flesh
Maybe you are a very shy and outgoing person you know quite honestly in you know what I know brother Chris and Matthias
You know pretty decently
But I don't know them from a long time ago neither one of them strikes me as really outgoing naturally
I could be wrong
But I don't know that either one of them would describe themselves as that sort of person, but God can give you a new heart
You can be filled with the Spirit of God
And you can do things that you would not normally do at your own flesh and and here's what I'm saying
You know what if you would be willing to step out of the ship a little bit
You could just message me and let me know say brother Stuckey
I would be interested in preaching a sermon on a Wednesday sometime. I'm not going to force you say okay this Wednesday
You're doing it
I
Will allow you to prepare and be ready and it might be two months down the line or three months or whatever
But I would certainly give you that opportunity
Right now I promise you the guys that preach on Wednesday
They're happy to preach because if they have the desire to go to the ministry they enjoy preaching
But at the same time we also want to see the next generation the next group of people and I'll tell you what
One of the most encouraging things with soul winning is seeing people go soul winning
That are new at it, right?
The two guys that I mentioned in Pampanga they were so excited to get somebody saved yesterday
I mean they were in such a great mood
It's like they're like man. We were nervous. We were shy we were scared
And it's it's more encouraging than anybody else going so any because you know, they're stepping out on the water
Right and so look if you're newer at preaching, you know what it will actually really encourage people
You don't have to worry man. I got to preach an hour-long sermon. It's okay if it's shorter. I
Consider Wednesday nights is a bona fide church service, but at the same time we don't have as big of a crowd
Honestly, I have no problem if we sang more songs that night or if the service was shorter and the sermons
20 minutes
25 minutes. I have no problem with that. Okay. Now my sermons are not going to be 20 minutes
Just is what it is
But I have no problem on a Wednesday night. You say I couldn't preach a 40-minute sermon
Maybe not but you can preach it 20-25 minutes. We can sing extra songs. That's fine
It will really encourage people and you know what it is a need right number one soul winning
If you're not so winning, I want to make you uncomfortable right now
Preaching sermons now look if you got really if you're a lady in here and you got really encouraged by the last point
You're not preaching on a Wednesday night
Not gonna happen
Point number three
Financial issues one of the big things that requires faith in our lives is things regarding finances
The Bible says in Matthew 6 verse 24
No
Man can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or else he will hold to the one and despise
The other he cannot serve God and mammon. You cannot serve God and money
Therefore I say unto you take no thought for your life
What you shall eat or what you shall drink nor yet for your body what you shall put on is
Not the life more than meat in the body than raiment
Behold the fowls of the air for they so not neither do they reap nor gather into barns yet your heavenly Father feedeth them
Are you not much better than they?
Verse number 27
Which of you
By taking one thought can add one cube by taking thought can add one qubit onto a stature and why?
Why take you thought for raiment consider the lilies of the field how they grow they toil not neither do they spin and
Yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these
Wherefore if God so clothed the grass of the field which today is in tomorrow's cast in the oven
Shall he not much more clothe you oh ye of little faith
Faith right you know what God promises here is that you're gonna have food in raiment
That's God's promise
Right you know I've given the gospel to people that do not have a lot of money
You know I remember story recently where I gave the gospel to a group of the the Bajau people in
Pampanga, it's it's the poorest conditions. I've ever seen in my life, but they had clothing and obviously they have food because
You know you have to have food to survive
They didn't have much
But they did have food and clothing how much more you
That are a servant of God and love God. You're God's child look
I don't want my children to starve to death and look this is not the prosperity gospel
You know I'm not saying hey you serve God God's gonna
Give you the biggest house in the world, but at the same time
Let's have a proper balance on things if you serve God God's not gonna be like you know what you're gonna starve to death
No, I mean God is gonna provide your needs
He might not provide your once
But he will provide your needs I
Don't think there's many people if any in a room that are really scared to death. What am I gonna eat tomorrow? I?
Mean you really think about it
Cuz you know I don't know how much we spend on money a day and food
But you know probably most of us are able to have a balanced diet of various fruits and vegetables a meat
Right if you had to go you had no money whatsoever
I mean you could just eat a bowl of begas every day, and you could survive
You could just buy 50 pieces of pandesal in a day or 25 pieces, and that's all you eat now
That's not the diet. I'm gonna choose if I can get a balance of things although. I love pandesal
personally
But I'm saying you could do that and you could survive
I doubt most of us are doing that with our daily food
You know we're able to have things now of course that doesn't mean that you're able to buy the most expensive
Salmon or steak or whatever there is out there, but you know what you're still actually able to eat various different things
You're not going for meal to meal saying I'm gonna starve to death
Now I will say in other parts of the world and throughout human history there have been people at that point
I doubt that in this room that you're at that point and
Here's the thing you know what honestly we can serve God and God will step in and provide our needs in our lives
But it takes faith
You say why look you start having children children are expensive
You know how much diapers cost?
Cost a lot of money
Right some of the some of the guys with with young babies are thinking that's right
It's I'm amazed how much money we spend now that we have young kids like I'm amazed
I mean it they eat a lot of it's like Ezra. Are you done eating? I mean do you need more?
I mean come on right
It's expensive
But here's the thing you know what serving God takes faith, and you put God first
You put God first. I mean you're here at church today. You're putting God first
You know there are many men at our church that have told me before they asked me to pray for a job situation
And they had an opportunity to take a job. We're basically
They wouldn't really be able to be at church every Sunday. I mean big salary increase, and they turned it down
People that had opportunities for jobs overseas or whatever make it a lot more money
They said no you know I don't want to do that. I want to be in church
I want to be around God's people it takes faith because obviously especially as guys
The fact that our job is to be the providers for our homes. There is that stress level of providing quite honestly
It's probably a different feeling than ladies have
Inside of yourself you're like man
It is my job, and you know what it can be very frustrating and stressful because you know what life's expensive
But here's the thing God doesn't actually want you to feel fully comfortable financially
He wants you to actually rely on him now
Let's be honest all of us would love to just you know get that inheritance from a relative of 50 million pesos
And you never have to worry
Is that what God wants though?
What about the story of the prodigal son? Was that money good for the prodigal son? No?
I mean, it's a parable, but it's still proving a point
Destroyed his life. God actually wants to force you to rely on him
You know what God will provide our needs easy to preach harder to actually do because it takes faith
Let's just close up here verse 31
Therefore take no thought saying what shall we eat or what shall we drink or wherewithal shall we be clothed for after all these
Things that the Gentiles seek for your heavenly father knoweth that you have need of all these things
But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added on to you
Take therefore no thought for the morrow for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself
sufficient on the day is the evil thereof
Rely on God first and he will provide your needs. Let me just give you a quick conclusion
So how do you do this because Peter starts to take that leap of faith?
He doesn't make it
Point number one in the conclusion focus on the need
Focus on what needs to be done
Point number two
Don't focus on the obstacle and obviously those go hand in hand because Peter was fine
until he focused on the boisterous
Wind right looked at the storms and they're you know, the waves are there and look this is a professional fisherman
It's probably pretty scary
Have you ever seen those videos, you know those short little clips where someone will show you like a storm or whatever and it looks
Terrifying and the waves are crashing against the ship
It's like this is a lot more fun to watch on YouTube than to experience in real life
right
Focus on the need don't focus on the obstacle and point three pray
Pray for the boldness very simple, but that's what we need to do
Pray that you can reach a point you pray that God will give you that ability
Right and look all of us have been there because all of us if you're a soul winner
When you first started going so winning you had to do this
I'm sure when you first started you were praying saying God, please help me. Please help me because you were nervous about it
You were shy about it. What takes place is you reach a point where now you're comfortable. You don't get scared going so winning
Well, God doesn't want you to stop
He wants you to step out on in faith a little bit more and get a little bit scared
Now it's like no not for the ladies, but for the men
It's like, you know preach sermon maybe from time to time do go out step out in faith a little bit
There's many examples you could give I'm just kind of giving you a basic example
But you see that when Peter focuses on the need he's able to do it when he focuses on the obstacle
He's not able to do it
Our lives are meant to always be stepping one step closer to the Savior and with every step. It's difficult
It's hard. All of us want to feel comfortable
Except God
God doesn't want you comfortable
He wants you to be forced to step out in faith. Let's go to prayer dear Heavenly Father
Thank you for allowing us be here today and just thank you for having such a great crowd here on a Sunday and a group
of people that
Love you and want to serve you and they are serving God with their lives God help all of us including myself
help us to take one extra step and step past the point where we feel comfortable and
And help us just be able to rely on you God help us to do things that we could never do in our own flesh
We pray this in Jesus name. Amen
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Page number 63
Salud
Persons are ready saying
Oh
See
Everybody
Oh
It's been a lot of space for closing the hill and there's some
Salamat
Salaam
Amen