You
Let's sing
Oh
Foes may hate and friends may shun me show thy face and all is bright
Men may trouble and distress me
Till the drive me to thy breast
Life with trials far may press me
And
Me
Praise to glory
Armed by faith and winged by prayer
and
eternal
days before
Thee
God's own hand shall God be there
Soon shall close thy earthly mission
Swish shall pass thy pilgrim taste
Old shall change to laugh through mission
Pray to sight and prayer to praise
Amen we'll open with a word of prayer
Heavenly Father we just thank you for this day that we are still able to gather together and sing out praises and learn from your word
I just pray that we wouldn't take this for granted and that we would honor and cherish how great of a blessing that is to have a church where we can gather together
Lord I pray that for today you would just incline your ear to us as we continue to sing praises out to you
I pray that you'd fill pastor with your spirit and that you would just have him boldly preach
What message you've laid on his heart and open our ears as well to the message lord these things we pray in jesus name. Amen
For our next hymn this morning if you would go ahead and turn to number 10 hymn number 10 near the cross
hymn 10 near the cross
Let's sing
Jesus keep me near the cross
There a precious mountain free to all a healing stream flows from Calvary's mountain
In the cross, in the cross be my glory ever
Still my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river
Near the cross, a trembling soul, love and mercy found me
There the bright and morning star sheds its beams around me
In the cross, in the cross be my glory ever
Till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river
In the cross, O Lamb of God, bring its scenes before me
Help me walk from day to day with its shadows torn weak
In the cross, in the cross be my glory ever
Till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river
Near the cross, I'll watch and wait, hoping, trusting ever
Till I reach the golden strand just beyond the river
In the cross, in the cross be my glory ever
Till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river
Amen, good singing this morning.
Good morning, thank you so much for coming to Steadfast Baptist Church.
If you need one of the bulletins, Brother Fuhr or Brother Cameron can get that to you.
On the front we have our Bible memory passage Isaiah 53 verse 3 and on the inside service
time soul winning times.
We are starting a new nursing home ministry and so if you'd like to participate talk to
Brother Fuhr about that.
We have several people wanting to help out with that and that's definitely a great opportunity.
Get some extra preaching and just administer to those who probably don't get a lot of fellowship
these days.
So that's a great opportunity.
Also our stats are there below on the right.
We have the list of events and we have a fellowship on June 4th barbecue as long as it's Texas
barbecue then it's okay.
Also men's preaching July 29th, weekly homeschool class Mondays 530 Piedmont Park and then some
upcoming events.
June 2nd is a homeschool field trip to the Stafford Air and Space Museum so if you'd
like to participate in that June 17th men's paintball July 13th you're going to have a
guest preacher Pastor Steven Anderson is going to be coming here and preaching for you guys.
I guess last year you got a double feature you got him for Sunday but this year is going
to be Thursday and so please try to make sure to be here and accommodate that.
He's actually going to be preaching I think in Oklahoma I'm sorry he's going to be preaching
in pure words first and then that Sunday of that week and then he's going to come preach
for us and DFW on Wednesday and then he'll kind of follow up coming up here and preaching
on Thursday he said he's doing his trip in reverse this year so he's kind of going like
last year you kind of got him first and then funneled down and so but a great opportunity
to hear some really good preaching also Thursday August 17th through the 19th is going to be
our mighty men's conference that we do every single year so if you want to put that on
your calendar usually we go down there on Thursday morning and then we leave Saturday
morning as well and if you for whatever reason can't make Thursday either the morning or
even that day you're still welcome to attend even if you could only make one portion of
the event so just that that way some people know of course we'd love to have you for the
whole thing but I understand especially with working schedules and stuff if you can only
make portion of the conference we'd still love to have you eventually we'll have a sign-up
sheet where you can start signing up for that as well one other thing it's not in the bulletin
but I just want to announce we are having a fire-breathing Baptist fellowship conference
in the fall again in the Dallas Fort Worth area and it's going to be October 12th 13th
and 14th so if you if you want to come down you can we have a lot of great preachers they're
gonna be coming for us pastor Bruce Mejia is gonna be coming out and preaching for us
pastor Stephen Anderson is gonna be preaching for us pastor Roger Mena is gonna be preaching
for us and a lot of others so I believe my friend pastor Thompson's coming and he's gonna be
preaching for us and so we have a lot of great preachers that are coming out and it'd be a lot
of fun again so if you would like to participate I just put that on your calendar it's pretty much
all that's in the bulletin I brought a few things with me today back here is some shirts
for the preserved Bible and so we want everyone to get one and we we got an order if for some
reason there's a mistake or the size is wrong or what anything like that please just let Vangelis
for know and we'll get him more sizes or or a different shirt or whatever it is because we
want to make sure everybody gets one and everything like that we do have some kid
shirts they don't go all the way down to like baby like really small toddler but you know we
have some extra small kid shirts and some of those that we brought so hopefully we can accommodate
you pretty well also we have a couple other items for sewing we have a couple little movie tickets
that we made and one is for the preserved Bible film and the other one is the sodomite deception
so if you'd like to use those when soul winning they're a great tool to just say hey we got free
movie tickets that we're handing out you can watch the film online whenever you'd like also
I even just personally just use these as my only invite on the door you know especially for our
church you guys could still leave your your card on the door and everything like that but you know
so we hand out all of it and everything don't be shy about handing that stuff out give them to
whoever you want and if you want to leave the movie tickets on the door please please feel free
to do so also we made DVDs of the Preserve Bible film and they they're kind of in the slim format
I like the DVD case but other people want these like slim ones so they can carry them for so
winning a lot more easily and it's it's a great opportunity to at least strike up a conversation
after you get someone saved or even if they are saved just ask them about that I usually just say
like do you have a DVD player and about 50% don't for sure but I just say you can still scan the QR
code you're gonna watch it in fact some people still say I want it anyway it's like okay sure
and I just give it to them but a couple extra things that you can hand out we got them on the
shelf there for you for soul winning and so please please use that material we'd like to pass it out
disseminate it and everything like that if they want to watch either those films the QR codes take
them to the website where they can watch those movies online for free as well and it's actually
technically a little bit better quality okay because you can get 1080p online that you can't
get that on a DVD a DVD is limited to 720 but so how's the film and it's still it's still high
qualities you're gonna get in a DVD so thank you so much for continuing to be steadfast and it's
great to see all you guys I brought my family with me and we're really grateful to be up here and do
with you guys for today how did the what was the results from yesterday's marathon nine total
salvation that's great and you had about 20 soul winners so thank you so much to everybody that
participated in that event as well that's pretty much all I have as far as announcements this
morning we'll go ahead and sing our third song 22 are you washed in the blood song 22 all right
him number 22 are you washed in the blood him 22 are you washed in the blood
are you fully trusting in his grace this hour are you washed in the blood of the lamb are you
washed in the blood in the soul cleansing blood of the lamb are your garments spotless are they
white as stone are you washed in the blood of the lamb are you walking daily by the Savior's
side are you washed in the blood of the lamb do you rest each moment in the crucified are you
are you are you are you are your garments spotless are they
are you are your soul be ready for the mansion right
and he watched in the blood of the lamb are you in the soul-cleansing blood
are your garments spotless are they white as snow are you washed in the blood of the lamb
lay aside the garments at our state listen and we watched in the blood of the lamb there's a
fountain floating for the soul unclean only watched in the blood of the lamb are you
in the blood in the soul-cleansing blood of the lamb are your garments spotless are they
white as snow are you washed in the blood of the lamb amen John MacArthur can't sing that
one can he while the offering plates are going around turn if you would to 1st Corinthians
chapter number 15 1st Corinthians chapter number 15 good morning 1st Corinthians chapter number 15
first Corinthians chapter number 15 the Bible reads moreover brethren I declare unto you the
gospel which I preached unto you which also ye have received and wherein ye stand by which also
ye are saved if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you unless ye have believed in vain for I
delivered unto you first of all that which I also received how that Christ died for our sins
according to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he rose again the third day
according to the scriptures and that he was seen of Cephas then of the twelve after that he was
seen of above five hundred brethren at once of whom the greater part remain unto this present
but some are falling asleep after that he was seen of James and then of all the apostles and
last of all he was seen of me also as of one born out of due time for I am the least of the apostles
that I'm not meet to be called an apostle because I persecuted the Church of God but by grace of God
I am what I am and his grace also was bestowed upon me was not in vain but I labored more
abundantly than they all yet not I but the grace of God which was with me wherefore rather it were
I or they so we preached and so ye believed now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead
how say some among you that were that there is no resurrection of the dead but if there be no
resurrection of the dead then is Christ not risen and if Christ be not risen then is our preaching
vain and our in your faith is also vain yay and we are found I'm sorry yay and we are found false
witnesses of God because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ whom he raised not
up if so be that the dead raised not rise not sorry or if the dead rise not then is not Christ
raised and if Christ be not raised your faith is vain ye are yet you're yet in your sins then they
also which are falling asleep in Christ are perished if if in this life only we have hope
in Christ we are of all men most miserable but now is Christ risen from the dead and become the
firstfruits of them that that sleep for since by man came death and by man came also the resurrection
of the dead for as for as an Adam all die even so in Christ shall all be made alive but every
man in his own order Christ the firstfruits afterward they that are Christ that is coming
then cometh the end when he shall have delivered up the kingdom of God even the father then when
he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power for he must reign till he hath put all
his enemies under his feet the last enemy that shall be destroyed his death for he hath put all
things under his feet but when he saith all things are put under him it is manifest that he is except
accepted which did put all things under him and when all things shall be subdued unto him then
shall the son also himself be subject unto him that put all things under him that God may be all
in all else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead if the dead rise not at all why are
they then baptized for the dead and why and why stand we in jeopardy every hour I protest by your
rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord I die daily if after the manner of man I have fought
with beasts at Ephesus what advantage of it what advantage is that me if the dead rise not let us
eat and drink for tomorrow we die be not deceived evil communications corrupt good manners awake to
righteousness and sin not for some have not the knowledge of God I speak this to you to your shame
but some but some man will say how are the dead raised up and with what body do they come thou
fool that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die and that which thou sowest thou
sowest not that the body that shall be but bare grain it it may chance of wheat for or of some
other grain but God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him and to every seed his own body all
flesh is not the same flesh but there is one kind of flesh of men other other flesh of beasts
another of fishes and other birds there are also celestial bodies and bodies terrestrial but the
glory of the celestials is one and the glory of the terrestrial is another there is there is one
glory of the Sun and another glory of the moon and another glory of the stars for one star differth
from another star in glory so also is the resurrection of the dead it is sown in corruption
it is raised in in corruption it is sown and this in dishonor it is raised in glory it is
sown in weakness it is raised in power it is sown a natural body it is raised a spiritual body there
is a natural body and there is a spiritual body and so it is written the man that the first man
Adam was made a living soul and the last Adam was made a quickening spirit how be it that that was
not I'm sorry how be it that was not first which is spiritual but that which is natural and after
and afterward that which is spiritual the first man is of the earth earthy the second man is
the Lord from heaven as as is as is the earthy such are they also that are earthy and as as is
the heavenly such are they also that are heavenly and as as we have borne the image of the earthy
we shall also bear the image of the of the heavenly now this I say brethren that flesh
and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God neither death corruption inherit
incorruption behold I show you a mystery we shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed in a
moment in a twinkling of an eye that at the last trump where the trump shall sound and the dead
shall be raised in incorruptible and we shall be changed for this corruptible must put on
incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality so then so when this corruption
shall have put on incorruption I'm sorry for this corruptible shall put on incorruption
and this mortal shall have put on immortality then should then shall be brought to pass the
saying that is written death is swallowed up in victory oh death where is thy sting oh grave
where is thy victory the sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is law is the law
but thanks be to God which giveth us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ therefore my
beloved brethren be steadfast unmovable always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as
ye know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord heavenly Father Lord we just thank you so
much that we could gather together this morning and just hear your word preach we're so thankful
for first Corinthians chapter 15 and would just pray that you'd give pastor a special blessing
and just help him to preach just give him the words to say help this congregation to focus on
what you'd have for us and lord we thank you in Jesus precious name we pray amen amen
first Corinthians chapter 15 is a famous chapter on the resurrection
and the apostle Paul is making it very clear that it's necessary to believe in the resurrection for
salvation but he makes a couple statements here in the beginning portion of the chapter
that I wanted to focus on and it's not really about the resurrection entirely
the apostle Paul says in verse number nine for I am the least of the apostles that I'm not meet
to be called an apostle because I persecuted the church of God and the apostle Paul is making note
of a few things about himself he's being self-reflective he's saying that he is an
apostle but in his own estimation his own opinion he's the least of all apostles and it's related to
his past related to the fact that in his past he had persecuted the church of God now he then makes
the statement in verse 10 but by the grace of God I am what I am now that's a really powerful
sentence or phrase what is grace unmerited favor something that you don't deserve so by the apostle
Paul's own admission is he even saying I deserve to be an apostle or what he's trying to say is
I don't even deserve to be an apostle you know I shouldn't even be in this position
I shouldn't even be where I am but I am what I am and I think that what's really unique about
this particular phrase here is that for all of us even if we're not the apostle Paul even if
we're not an apostle we all at the end of the day we are what we are right I am what I am and
you can't really escape reality and I feel like our society and our culture and the world today
is constantly trying to escape reality they don't want to embrace who they are and
I really just want to use this as my starting point for the sermon but the sermon is simple
the title is I am what I am and I want you know that sounds almost like overly simplistic like
well of course you are what you are but many people still struggle with the embrace of who
they are and I have three points today and when I think about this phrase point one is this you
need to embrace yourself the apostle Paul embraced who he was he embraced himself he embraced who he
was and he embraced the past that he had he didn't hide from the past that he had he didn't allow
the fact that he might even be the least apostle to stop him from continuing to do the work but
rather he just embraced it and I think that for all of us we need to embrace who we are and not
try to be something that we are not Govee would to Philippians chapter number three
it's just to the right a little bit Philippians chapter number three
but when it comes to our position in life there are some things you can change
but most of it is is kind of you're just put in the environment you are and you're not really
going to be able to escape that reality I think of the parable of the talents where
one guy's given 10 talents another guy's given five talents another guy's given one talent
that's an inescapable reality you know you could be the guy that was given one talent
and say well I wish I was the guy with 10 but you you don't have 10 and if you really wanted more
you know you could work on that think about this the guy with five he ended up becoming the guy
with 10 because he traded ended up getting five more so then he finally had 10 right but you
cannot escape the reality of who you are and what you've been given the position that you're in the
past that you have the status of life that you're in but a lot of people don't want to embrace or
accept their present reality or really their past and you can kind of look at this embracing
and a three-port component your past your present your future when you're going to embrace who you
are you have to first embrace your past your past is what it is you can't change it none of us can
change any of our past whatsoever and what you have to do is you have to embrace that
then you have to work in the present the future but let's let's still think about the past for a
moment look what the apostle Paul says in Philippians chapter 3 verse number 13
brethren I count not myself too apprehended but this one thing I do forgetting those things which
are behind and reaching forth under those things which are before so the apostle Paul is is trying
to help us get a specific mindset and he wants us to realize that there's no point in dwelling
on the past or continuing to to allow your past to dictate your future but rather to forget those
things and notice what he's focused on he's focused on the things which are before meaning
he's more focused on what's ahead of me in my life rather than what's behind me verse 14 I press
toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus now again a calling and
this is not a sermon on calling calling is simply just opportunities that have been given to you
is another way to kind of word that so a calling is just simply what God has in store for you in
your life the apostle Paul is trying to make it clear that I want to achieve the highest
opportunity that God has before me whatever God has called whatever the best version of myself is
I want to achieve that I want to achieve the highest calling that God has set before me
as opposed to being down on myself depressed or even just simply just not embracing who you are
and going down another path and and really when it comes to this sermon if there was just one phrase
that really kind of encompasses the goal of a sermon like this or what you should really
be thinking is we should always strive to be the best version of ourselves we need to be motivated
to be the best version of ourselves but often before being the best version of ourselves
we have to admit acknowledge and accept our past we have to acknowledge where we're at
and to acknowledge where we're at is often acknowledge how you got there and the apostle
Paul has to acknowledge and admit hey I got here on a pretty rocky path I got saved in the middle
of persecuting the church of God I was against God's people I was consenting under the death
of Stephen and that's a pretty rough past that's a pretty bad past he admits to himself in other
places in scripture that he believes he's the chief of sinners now I believe when he says that
it's a little bit hyperbole he's not truly he's not Judas Iscariot okay Judas Iscariot is probably
the worst person that's ever lived he just feels that way he just kind of feels like
of people that are probably redeemed and saved man I just feel like I was probably the worst
because look at what I did I persecuted God's church you know of course Judas did too he
betrayed the Lord Jesus Christ but you know Judas never got it right Judas never believed in Jesus
Judas is worse for sure okay but in his own mind he's willing to accept hey I have a pretty rough
past and I shouldn't even be an apostle like I'm not even it's not even it's not meat for me to be
called an apostle what does meat mean of course I'm thinking of barbecue but the word meat m-e-e-t
is synonymous with suitable fit appropriate that's kind of another way to word that particular word
and so he's saying it's not really appropriate or suitable it's not necessarily the best that
I'm an apostle considering my past it would have been better for someone else to potentially be in
my office or my position they should have a better pedigree and I myself think I've found
I've been in positions where that's probably true I've interviewed for jobs where you look at the
resume or you look at the qualifications of that job and I didn't match up I wasn't I wasn't
qualified I didn't have enough of a petty degree I didn't know as many things I should for that
particular job but they hired me anyways because frankly speaking they couldn't find anyone else
and so I got to be in a position where it was not neat for me to have that particular title or job
or position but I am what I am and you can sometimes rise to the occasion even though
well you really shouldn't be there but we're giving you grace anyways or you find yourself
in a position that you don't really deserve and yet you're there anyways another one that's very
evident very clear that I don't deserve is being the husband of my wife I don't deserve that degree
I don't deserve that role but by God's grace I am what I am and I can rise to that occasion
I don't deserve the wonderful wife I have I don't deserve the children that I have I don't deserve
to be in my mind I don't really even deserve to be a pastor of all these churches I you know when
I became the pastor of steadfast you could argue very easily that I didn't match up on paper to be
the pastor of all these churches and you know I'd only been pastoring for several months or for a few
months and you know I certainly didn't have a strong grasp on how to do all of these different
church plants and you know there's a lot of things that I was probably inadequate and on paper I
think you could even say it may not have been the most meat or the most suitable or the most
appropriate but by the grace of God I am what I am and it wasn't like there was 10 other people
knocking down the door ready to step in and tackle the problems and face the issues of the day
I at least met the qualifications of a bishop so sure I met that standard
but just saying should I really be pastoring four churches with 300 plus people as members
you know maybe it wasn't the most meat for me to be in that position someone could have been more
experienced or had a better pedigree or better history or better past but you know what I was
put in that position let no man despise thy youth and you can you can do what God has put you in the
position for and rise to that particular occasion and we should have the same idea you know many
people they can't accept who they are and I thought of a carnal example that would be really
bad but in football what if the offensive lineman or the offensive tackle is like I don't want to be
I want to be the quarterback you know that's not going to really work out for the team because
usually those big fat guys probably can't even throw the ball very far okay they certainly can't
get out of the pocket right they're not gonna be able to run and someone needs to block that giant
defensive tackle or linebacker coming down the pike and so he needs to do his job right he needs
to embrace who he is and he needs to embrace that you know his body is not really the body of a
quarterback let's just be honest the offensive linemen are not quarterbacks you know and as a
result of eating a lot of food okay and as a result of who he is you know he needs to accept
that past and say you know what I am what I am and I may not be the quarterback but you know what
I can block this guy because I'm giant I'm a big you know I'm a I'm a big guy and I'm gonna stop
him from coming and advancing on the quarterback because you know not everybody gets to be the
quarterback and that's okay that you can't win in that particular game or sporting event if you have
13 or 12 quarterbacks on the field or whatever I mean you gotta you need to have all the different
positions and skills you need to have the wide receiver you need to have the running back
and the same is applied in the bible itself I'm not going to go there for the sake of time but
the bible talks about how we're the body of Christ and not everybody's going to get to be the eye or
the ear or the elbow or the nose or the head or the feet but we need all of those parts to function
as they are and to embrace who they are so that we can be successful but
our culture and our world does not want to accept reality do they but let's let's
think about a few foundational statements for a moment all of us are a creation of God
whether you like it or not God is your creator and there's only one God and we're all his creation
just on that single point alone how many people have already rejected their their reality I mean
how many people in this world are not even willing just accept that they're a creation of God you are
God's servant whether you like it or not not only that here's another one that a lot of people won't
accept you're either a man or a woman whether you like it or not I mean isn't that isn't that
a reality that is being challenged in America today for some reason people can't even just
accept hey God made you a man or God made you a woman and you need to be that and we have such
a gender-bending society today where people just can't embrace who they are they can't embrace the
reality that they have they want to change their reality you know where that comes from it comes
from the devil because the devil can't accept being an anointed cherub he wants to be God
he can't be the offensive tackle he has to be the quarterback he can't be the the second place guy
he has to be the number one guy and he has he wants to be the most high of course he's the
anointed cherub that covered he was already high he was a great position great status had a very
important job he has musical instruments built into him the bible describes him as being wiser
than Daniel I mean this guy had a great position was set up and created to be something really
great but he rejected his position in life he rejected his role in this world and decided to
take an alternative role now of course God's going to use that rebellion for his glory in a certain
way but be it known it was rebellion still and rebellion is going against what God's will was
God's will for the devil or God's you know perfect will or ideal will or highest calling for the
devil was not to be the father of lies was not to do all these wicked things but through his
rebellion through his rejection God will still have an alternate plan for the devil and the same
as with us that God has a very specific calling on your life God has a very specific opportunity
for you and he wants you to embrace that but in order to embrace that reality or that present you
have to you have to accept your past okay I was created by God now I'm a man or I'm a woman you
can't change that you have to accept your your your parents who your parents were and what kind
of house you lived in and frankly speaking because of our culture being in such moral decline
most people if not almost all of us have a very sordid past you have issues you have parents that
maybe didn't always make good decisions I mean most people in here were probably not raised
to be the most godly spiritual independent fundamental Baptist soul-winning King James
I mean most people are not raised that way and that's okay but let's let's react let's face the
reality that you know hey I might have some issues because I wasn't already started on the right path
so I might have to make some course corrections in my life and I have to embrace that my past
was not necessarily the best plan or future for my children there was some things in my past there
are some decisions that my family made that are not the best and I'm not necessarily going to go
down those same pathways for my family and for my children I'm going to accept that that was wrong
just like the Apostle Paul had to accept my upbringing was wrong if anybody had a bad
upbringing the Apostle Paul admits it even counts his entire past as being done you know he's just
saying wow I have to forsake and reject my entire past many people are unwilling to do this how many
people do we get saved at the door and they've been going to church the whole life and it's
like well now you need to reject your church like you need to not be a Pentecostal anymore
you need to be you can't be a Catholic anymore you shouldn't be going but how many people are
willing to accept that reality accept that past as being that kind of a past and moving on to a new
future very few are willing to do this here's another thing you can't really change you're
an American I think so I mean I don't know you have to be careful where you preach this okay
go to Houston it's kind of like dicey but also you're probably you know from Oklahoma
right you can't really you can't really change that if you're presently a resident of Oklahoma
you know you have to embrace that and that might not be the best past I get it okay but you have
to embrace the fact that you're from Oklahoma how about you might just have to embrace the fact
that you're married some people just can't handle the even the fact of being married because they
don't like their spouse right you know you have to embrace the past of you know some people are
childless I know couples that are childless and and very old in the sense that they're they're
maybe close to passing the childbearing days or they might be past the childbearing and they
don't have a child or or maybe they had a child and they lost the child or there's people that
only have one child and you have to embrace that past you know some people have told me you know
what we had a child and then we had surgeries and now we can't have any more kids and I really
regret that decision there's people that have 10 children and they regret having 10 children
they're like thinking like wow I wish I only had one you know this is rough but you know what I
notice is that no matter what situation or reality you are in almost everybody can be disgruntled
with that and often many people are often it's it's funny the people that have one say I wish I
had 10 and then the people have 10 to say they wish they had one and the people that are married
say uh sometimes I wish I was single the people that are single like I wish I was married the
people that live in Oklahoma say I wish I lived in Texas I don't have an alternative to that one
I'm just kidding no some people are like I want to live in Oklahoma right I mean but it's like
the grass is always greener people can't accept the reality people can't accept their past
they're always well I wish I had a different spouse okay but guess what you can't change that
biblically you have to wait from the die okay but don't be praying for your spouse to die okay all
right you could say I wish I had a different job in life I wish I had done this when I was younger
I wish I had gone this route I would I mean you could play this game all day long you don't think
the apostle Paul couldn't have played that game I'm sure the apostle Paul is looking in retrospect
to the decisions that he made in his life and can see the error of his ways can see how he has many
faults can see how he has a sorted past can see that he has a lot of problems I'm sure he wished
that he wasn't consenting under the death of Stephen anymore I'm sure he wished that you know
what I wish I had been right there on the shores of Jesus and followed him for those three years
so many years of his ministry for sake of argument three and a half years I don't know exactly how
long Jesus ministry was but I'm sure having been physically alive and not partaking in it you would
have regrets later and say like man I wish I had just decided to follow Jesus from day one and how
many people that are Christians now say wow I wish I had gotten saved younger I wish I had been
saved earlier in my life or even people that are saved I wish I had served God earlier in my life
I wish I had been dedicated to church or made different decisions of my past but again I am
what I am go to first Corinthians chapter number seven go backwards a little bit first Corinthians
chapter number seven can we just embrace who we are and I think that I think that we're so we
live in a society that wants to detach itself from reality you know you have all these different
things social media movies tv are constantly trying to tell people to be things that they're not
and pretend and you know I'm not against pretending or imagine you know imagination or
make-believe if kids want to play up and be a you know whatever a dinosaur I don't care but
we have to stop being a child at some point and say sure that was a fun game that I played but
right now I'm I'm a real person with a real purpose I'm a real creation of God God really
wants me to do something with my life and I need to embrace that particular reality
first Corinthians chapter number seven look at verse 17 but as God has distributed every man
as Lord has called everyone so let him walk and so ordained I and all the all churches is any
man called being circumcised let him not become uncircumcised is any called and uncircumcision
let him not be circumcised circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing but the keeping of
the commandments of God let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called art thou
called being a servant care not for it but if thou mayest be made free use it rather free
that is called in the Lord being a servant is the Lord's freemen likewise also he that is called
being free is Christ's servant you're bought with a price be not ye the servants of men brethren
let every man wherein he is called therein abide with God so notice what is being communicated
here is that whatever circumstances you find yourself in in life you need to embrace that
and just say you know what I'm still sir I'm a servant of God wherever I'm at and not trying
to be something that you're not he brings up this idea of of being circumcised not becoming
uncircumcised now that might be a challenging verse for a lot of people because you're thinking
like how is that physically possible the answer is it's not okay but I think what he's trying
to communicate here and and the essence is someone that was raised a Jew or in this is a Jew
frankly speaking to not try to become a Gentile and someone that's a Gentile not trying to become
a Jew you know the Apostle Paul brings us up later in some portions Galatians and other places where
you have Gentiles being Judaized like trying to become a Jew getting circumcised and it wasn't
for any reason other than mixing up the Bible or false teachers coming in trying to make them
follow the law you don't have to follow the law to be saved it was a free gift by faith in Jesus
Christ number one but secondly even then don't try to be something that you're not there's no need
you don't have to be quote a Jew to be a Christian and you don't have to be a Gentile to be a
Christian you could be Jew or Gentile it doesn't really matter just like you don't have to be a
Texan to be saved or be a Christian you could be from Arizona you could be from Canada you could be
from China and of course I think with American imperialism you see a lot of churches going into
foreign countries and it's like they're trying to make those people Americans it's like you don't
need to be an American you need to be a Christian you need to be saved right but you could still be
Filipino you could still be Russian you could still be African you can still be whatever
who you are and your culture and and of course as long as your culture is not in violation of
scripture it's fine but don't try to be something that you're not embrace who you are and embrace
the reality you're in you know I've mentioned this a lot of times but to me it's a very
uh appropriate example is there's a guy named Fernando who speaks Spanish and he wants to be
a missionary to Japan and I'm like do you speak Japanese and he's like no and I'm thinking like
you're not embracing who you are your name is Fernando not Konnichiwa okay not whatever it's
like sure can you love Japanese people yeah you can do it and you know don't I'm not trying to
discourage anybody from preaching the gospel to someone that's not of their ethnicity what I'm
saying is that really the highest calling that God has for you is to go to Japan and struggle
to learn Japanese for seven years when you could just go and immediately start witnessing to
millions and millions of Hispanic people that need the gospel right so to me that's almost like
someone not accepting their past or accepting who they are wishing to be something that they're
really not and we don't want to have this mentality where we're not willing to accept who we are we
want to accept who we are what we are good bad and ugly good bad and ugly you know we all have
some talents I believe that there's not a person in this room that doesn't have some good things
going for them but we also probably if not all of us have some bad things going for us too
and sometimes we just have to accept the bad about ourselves you know I have issues and I
have things that I'm not the best at and frankly speaking I don't have to be the best at every
single thing you know I'm not very good at remembering lyrics to songs so you know that's
okay I could sing the same song a million times and I'll still forget the lyrics you know and
and that's I can accept that that's just part of who I am but I don't need to then you know say
like I'm gonna just start singing everything by memory I'll look at the hymnal okay whereas some
people they can get up and sing and whatever and they can do a better job than I could perhaps
because they can not necessarily have to look at the music or something like that but hey that's
who I am here's another thing if I play a piano song to play the piano for me I have to practice
that song a bunch some people can just sit down and just play a song like the first time or they
can just read music they're more gifted in that particular area but you know what I'm not going
to say well I'm not as gifted to that person so I just won't even learn any songs no I can accept
who I am and what it takes for me to particularly play a song and I put in more effort more practice
more energy right so the same could be applied to you in every area of life just because something
might be harder for you or more difficult or you have problems don't let that stop you from still
accomplishing what God has for you or being the best version of yourself am I going to be the best
piano player in the world no but can I be a decent piano player sure am I going to be the
best preacher in the world no but could I be a good preacher yeah you know am I going to be the
best husband or father I mean am I going to be the best at anything probably not I'll never be
the best at anything you know what I can still be good at something I feel like a lot of single
people struggle with this and you know sometimes I think some people just don't realize who they
they're not embracing who they are so that they can move forward there's a lot of young single
people that want to be married and I'm thinking yeah you could be married it would be very easy
for you to be married but they don't have a realistic acceptation of who they are so they're
they're striving to be married to someone that doesn't exist for them you know and it's like
look if you're not the the best looking guy in the world don't think that you're going to
necessarily get the and you have no money you have no job you have no skills don't think that
you're just going to get the best looking gal right I mean it's just kind of silly where I see
these young single guys and I'm thinking like there's a there's a somewhat attractive young
lady and I'm thinking like hey what about talk to her and it's like oh no I'm not interested
they go what do you mean you're not interested she's out of your league bro like you know you're
kind of like you're kind of like looking at it and you're like dude you you have a bad image
self-image have you looked in the mirror maybe let's buy you a mirror okay it's like let's
look at your bank account for a minute right let's look at your skills here for a moment
and it's like why are you passing this opportunity up same could be said for females right maybe a
young female is not the most attractive doesn't have a lot of things going for maybe he's getting
older and it's like don't just pass up every single guy because he's not the most handsome
I always use Brad Pitt my wife says it dates me I don't know who to use just he's not the most
attractive guy David Beckham right is he he's older too I don't know he's not he's not like
some superstar athlete that makes a lot of money or whatever and it's like but let's be honest
would that guy even be interested in you and it's like probably not and it's like the reason why so
many young single people aren't even getting married in my opinion is because they they're
not accepting who they are they're not even accepting what they have to offer and they have
an unrealistic expectation for the future you know and they're they're also not even realistic
about their past so many Americans today have a lot of baggage already like they've committed
all kinds of fornication they've they've committed all kinds of horrible sins they have like a really
bad past and then it's like okay so what are you really expecting from marriage then like are you
really expecting for some young stud to want to be a you know with some girl that's committed
all this fornication and just been like a whore her whole life and it's like no no guy's gonna
even most guys probably won't even want to marry that girl and so what's gonna happen in America
is you're gonna see a giant section of a population of young single females that never get married
because they have an unrealistic expectation about their past and their present and they've
already ruined themselves for the future you know the way that America's headed is not good
we're not striving we're not going to have a lot more marriages and a lot of children
and and frankly speaking those people are going to die off and their genes aren't going to ever
be re you know reproduced you're looking at the next generation because we're actually having
children you know we're actually you know and not only having children but raising children that
want to have children because there is a lot of our populations having children but those children
aren't even having children and they're being raised in a reprobate culture and in a bad
position and they're going to just die out they're going to be slaughtered by natural selection
through their own devices they're going to destroy themselves and sometimes what we have to do is we
just have to be realistic about who we are what we bring to the table what kind of past we have
what kind of future that beholds for us you know some guys will come up to me being upset about
their career and they want a different career and this will be guys that are 30 40 50 i mean i have
pretty much every age i've had and they come up to me they're like man i want to you know i'm
35 or i'm 40 and i'm still making 17 an hour 18 an hour and i'm just he's like i want to be making
you know six figures or i want to be making this and it's like okay you can but you know what you
can't make it tomorrow and you can't make it one year from now and you can't make it probably three
years from now i mean if you really want that you're gonna have to accept the fact that your
past from a career wise is terrible like you have no skills you didn't work hard you have a bad
resume like if you actually want to make good money or have a good career then you need to
start putting in the work now right what if someone neglected their health their whole life
and then all of a sudden say hey i want to be healthy and fit and in shape and look good
it's like well okay you can but not tomorrow you know you're gonna have to accept the reality of
who you are what's going on with you and if you want to get to that position in the future you're
gonna have to work on it this is the same with spiritual issues if you say hey i want to be
someone that's a great soul winner that's going to church and my family's very spiritual but you
haven't been doing that in the past well that's not gonna happen tomorrow you're gonna have to
start putting in the work you're gonna have to embrace your past and say okay we're gonna have
to start making some serious changes we're gonna have to start reading the bible we're gonna have
to start going to church faithfully we're gonna have to start going out and memorizing the verses
and and trying to do a lot of a soul winning and putting in the effort and energy you know nothing
comes easy maybe your marriage is not very good and i say this because frankly speaking as a
pastor i have people coming to me for marriage advice all the time tons and tons of people
and it's it's always the same it's it's really it's not like anybody's really that unique everybody
thinks their situation is unique and it's like it's usually not everybody thinks their situation's
the worst it's not unfortunately uh the sad reality is your situation is usually not even
close to the worst or anywhere close to even i'm serious people like we have the worst and
you're like not even close you know it's just like you don't even realize okay but but let's
be real are you gonna have the greatest marriage tomorrow if your marriage has sucked for 20 years
no that's unrealistic you kind of have to embrace hey i've been neglecting this or not been a very
good husband or not been a very good wife or not been putting much effort and energy in this
relationship so if you actually want to have a good relationship you're going to have to embrace
what you've been doing in the past accept the present and say i'm going to start working
towards that in the future and maybe i'm not even meet to be a husband or a wife like maybe
i've been such a terrible person or a terrible father even or a terrible mother i'm not even
meet to be called that but you know what i can accept the past and embrace the future
and start being the best version of myself now you know i've not been the best christian in my life
and so what i want to try and do is be the best version i can now and try to strive to be pleasing
unto god and when you accept who you are and accept the roles that you have you know you're
going to have success if if your elbows trying to be your eye it's never going to work and just
like men that are trying to be women in our society it doesn't work they're they're ugly
as sin every guy is super ugly they've never isn't that what they're all trying to do isn't
this trans movement trying to make guys look like women they still haven't done it it still is
obvious and it's still the ugliest thing you've ever seen in your life because it's just never
going to work you're never going to make a guy look as beautiful as a woman it's just not going
to happen and you're never going to make a woman be as manly and tough and strong as a dude they
can try to get close but you know if you are a man then dress like one if you are a man act like one
if you're a woman dress like a woman and isn't it funny that these transvestites know what women
look like because don't these transvestites they're always wearing dresses and skirts and
have long hair and putting on lipstick and stuff like that they apparently know what it means to be
a woman why is it that christians today don't know what it means and we live in a society where
everybody's becoming like androgynous it's it's gross it's like everybody's just wearing leggings
even the men you know he's like you go to the gym and it's like guys are wearing like short
these tiny short shorts or like leggings and you're like what are you wearing and then that's
what the women are wearing and it's just like and they just we all have the same t-shirt and the
same leggings and you're just like what is it you know it's gross it's like why can't men look
different than women you know that's what god actually designed for us and it was it was nice
when we lived in a society kind of like that it's crumbling at the seams at this point but you know
as the church of god is the house of god we can still have normalcy here it's insane out there
but at least can we just have a few hours of the week where it's normal here and where we are
normal and where we are trying to embrace who we are and say hey i'm not afraid i'm not ashamed of
being a man and why don't we have women today saying you know what i'm not ashamed of being a
woman we have there's so much pressure from feminism for women to just not be a woman anymore
like to just hey i submit to my husband i have children i obey him i dress like a woman i act
like a woman you know i i allow my husband to lead me oh you know all the things i'm saying right now
are just so scary to the world today but it's like that's who you are you know just like in any
aspect of life if you're the designated follower be the designated follower right how how successful
do you think it would be if me and my wife get in the car today and we're going to drive home
which we'll do later tonight and i'm sitting in the driver's seat and she says you know what
i'm sick of not driving i'm going to drive now and she just starts trying to grab the steering wheel
and drive from the passenger seat that's going to be terrible not because my wife's a bad driver
folks she's a great driver right but because you shouldn't be driving from the passenger seat
she can't even reach the pedals from over there how's that going to work right and this is like
women trying to be men today don't be trying to drive in the passenger seat just embrace being in
the passenger seat isn't there benefit to being in the passenger seat you know what the benefit is
you don't have to drive i mean when you're driving you're constantly having to pay attention make
decisions you you're focused on that hey in the passenger seat you could read you could sleep i
mean man that's great i would sleep okay but i'm just saying like you have all these other
opportunities right and being a wife and being a mother you have all these unique opportunities
that are for you why wouldn't you embrace that embrace your past embrace the fact that you are
what you are embrace who you are embrace your past don't let your past get you down you know some
people are divorced and that's a terrible past but okay why not still be the best version of yourself
some people are divorced remarried and they have a lot of baggage a lot of issues but it's like
embrace it you know just continue to go down that path continue to be the best version of yourself
you know some some men uh have disqualified themselves from ever being used by god in an
official ordained position but you know what okay does that mean you can't still serve god and be a
great asset to god i mean how many people in the bible are one of these ordained positions anyways
the whole testament none of them were and none of them virtually none of them would even meet
the qualifications let's be honest i mean moses let's look at your resume oh you killed somebody
uh yeah sorry hi right i mean samson he's got a pretty good pedigree oh so you like you like
prostitutes um you never cut your hair yeah uh we're gonna pass on you as well right i mean but
didn't get greatly used by god and even the apostle paul i mean the apostle paul it would
never be a pastor the apostle paul would never be a deacon but you know what he was a great apostle
wasn't he and all of us no matter who you are you're an evangelist because whether you're
ordained or not is in that position you all have the capability of preaching the gospel
and evangelizing people and reaching people and you know what that's the most important job
anyways he even tells the pastor hey do the work of evangelists because that's more important
i mean getting people saved and doing this you know getting people to be pulled out of the fire
there's nothing more important than anyways and you always have the most important job preaching
the gospel and getting people safe and so we sometimes just have to embrace where we are in
life embrace the future that we have and just say hey i'm not going to be discouraged by
where i'm at or what i've done or who i am i'm just going to say if i'm a servant i'll be a
servant if i'm free then i'll be free right but wherever i'm at whatever position i find myself
in i'm willing to accept who i am go if you go to first samuel chapter 30 go to first samuel
chapter 30 here here's another one just accept your the relationships you have and i think this
one's a hard one because you know the bible talks about how christ didn't come to bring peace but a
sword but i i know somebody that's admitted to me they say look my my mom's a reprobate and i think
my dad is too and i'm like that's rough and we're not talking about like maybe we're talking about
like actual like child molestation homosexual reprobates they're telling you this is your
parents and you're just like that's terrible i mean like what do you say i'm sorry that's awful
right you have no but you know what isn't it important for that person to just accept the
reality of who their parent is and then say but okay i can't change that but i can still serve
god in my life and you know even if you don't have that maybe you have a parent that's not like that
at all but they're just toxic anyways and so you just have to avoid that particular individual
you're not around them that much i mean frankly speaking how many of us are just hanging out with
our parents all the time anyways you know like i don't get to see my family that much anyways
so if for god forbid one of them were so toxic or so bad i had to just completely stay away from
them that would change like two days of my life per year you know it's like okay oops wow but you
know what do i really want to then say you know what i don't like that truth from the bible i'm
just going to go and hang out with them and be with them all the time and just not serve god
no that would be a bad decision and you know i've had family members i've heard family members say
this uh it's all it's it's very universal but i've there's this doctrine out there that says you
should never move away from your parents and it's it's funny because uh you know i've talked with
my dad a lot about this and my dad's a great great dad but he he kind of had this idea a long time
ago and i remember my brother he he moved away and they moved to dallas and uh then my brother
had like a really bad event he like got his car stolen and his golf club stolen and all this bad
stuff happening and then my my dad's like joe's friends coming up like didn't i tell you and i'm
just thinking like that's that's not a good application of that i mean that and that's kind
of crummy to like rain on top of someone that just lost all this stuff and all these bad things
happen and it's like that's not even biblical i mean how many times is god telling people
literally separate from their family it's like hey abraham hey abram leave your father's out leave
come to the promised land right so is there anything wrong with living next to your parents
no i think that that's great if you have that opportunity you know i would love to be close
with every single one of my family members jesus's mother was there at his crucifixion
hey that i'm sure that was that meant something to him that his mom was still there and john the
beloved was still there i'm sure he appreciated that and that was really special to him but let's
be honest how many people are even like that it's rare to have that particular circumstance
and sometimes you just have to accept you know some people have to accept that their spouse
is not the best spouse and you know what that sucks that's like that's probably the worst
that's way worse than parents but you know what i'm not going to not serve god just because my
spouse isn't the greatest spouse ever or my spouse doesn't want to serve god as much as i do you know
i can still make that work think about all the men in the bible a lot of them didn't have the
best spouse ever either you know moses's wife is throwing foreskin's at him you know come tell me
that and then we'll talk right you know you talk about your marriage being bad i haven't had that
one yet okay that one's pretty rough kind of a marriage you know david and mike how they have
some serious issues and we're talking about david here so so you men you think like oh man i can't
believe my wife doesn't respect me you're not david if david's wife doesn't respect him she
sure isn't going to respect you all the time either buddy okay and let's be real how many
times are you perfect with god never virtually okay so so don't have this expectation for your
wife but some people they're like i i hear this my spouse is holding me back from serving god
you're a liar you know who's holding you back from serving god you you're the only one holding you
back that's a silly thing in fact i guarantee your spouse is helping keep you on track
because they're helping keep you focused on the fact that you're not so awesome all the time and
keeping you grounded and helping you pay attention to things that you wouldn't necessarily pay
attention to not getting into sins that you would get into if you didn't have the spouse that you
have i mean it's just a dumb idea to think that even if your spouse isn't the most spiritual
person that somehow without them you'd just be so much better you you sometimes don't really
appreciate what you have but the apostle paul again is someone who embraced his his terrible
upbringing bad decisions that he made and he's like by the grace of god i am what i am you know
what he's not ashamed of being an apostle he looks at the job of being an apostle as a high calling
and we too should not be ashamed of who we are don't be ashamed of being from oklahoma
don't matter no matter what pastor silly says you know what embrace it right just don't embrace the
beans in your chili okay but embrace these things and and when you find yourself looking at the
ugliness of the the reality of who you are not just that you're physically ugly but you know
maybe just whatever problems you have you know couldn't you be upset that you're old
be upset that your glory days are behind you or be upset i mean we could all we could all
look at the things that we have in our life and just be disappointed in who we are you know what
embrace who you are because you only get to be old once and you know you only get to be a grand
parent once you know you only get to do these things and this is your opportunity to shine as
an older person and plenty of people didn't do anything great until they're old so you know look
at first samuel chapter 30 verse 6 here's a bad day in david's life and david was greatly
distressed for the people spake of stoning him now you know when you're having a bad day when every
single person in your life that you care about wants to kill you and they're talking about it
like let's let's kill brother fur you know what if we were all in the room just like we're so
mad at tanner we're like we're all going to just kill you like that would be a pretty bad day not
only that he just lost his wife and his children too he just and he's been rejected by he lost his
job brother fur got fired he lost his job he lost his wife he lost his kids and then the whole
church was ganging up wanting to kill him and stone him to death that's a pretty rough day right
and yet he has to embrace that past he's there he's in the this is his physical reality his life
is really happening this really all happened to him but what is what does the bible say
he says because the soul of all the people is grieved every man for his sons and his daughters
but david encouraged himself in the lord so so point one is that i am what i am i need to
embrace that but number two i am what i am i need to encourage myself in the lord not just look at
well poor me this is this isn't fair you know is it really david's fault that they lost all
these people no if you understand the story just enemies came and did evil unto him it's not his
fault he's trying to serve god is it his fault that he loves god and saw was envious of him and
drove him out of the land no is it david's fault that even though he was obedient and a good
servant under the philistines they didn't want to use him no david really hasn't done anything wrong
but you know what david's having a bad day and yet he finds the courage through encouraging himself
in the lord you need to learn this attribute you need to learn how to encourage yourself when
you're down but you know you you can't really do it all on your own you need the lord's help but
you don't need another person's help you know you don't need your spouse to give you encouragement
you don't need your parents to give you encouragement you don't need children to
give you encouragement you don't need your pastor to give you encouragement you know you need to
give encouragement the lord you can read the bible on your own and encourage yourself no
matter what situation you have no matter what past you have no matter what circumstances you
are no matter how ugly you are i mean if you're ugly just read proverbs 31 where it says beauty
is vain and just memorize that verse beauty is vain right you know yeah if you're old be like
childhood and youth is vanity right i mean you could just you could just whatever circumstance
you're in you know you can just find a way to encourage yourself and say guess what i am what
i am i am where i am and even if i failed as a leader even if the people around me are rough
i mean go back to chapter 22 for a second it's kind of interesting
because you could argue i mean david kind of he can feel like a failure too
i mean didn't he he's the one that drug all these people out there he's the one that's going through
this situation is the leader and the people that came to him aren't even the best people
look look what it says in first samuel chapter 22 verse 1 and this is the group that that he leads
david therefore departed thence and escaped to the cave of dolom and when his brethren and all
his father's house heard it they went down further to him and everyone that was in distress and
everyone that was in debt and everyone that was discontented gathered themselves into him
and he became a captain over them and there were with him about 400 men
his group's a bunch of sorry bunch of people everybody that's distressed and debt i mean this
is it it's nice to be around people that are positive happy and have a lot of money you know
the people that are sad depressed and broke it's like oh man another one of you like this isn't fun
to be around all these people to have to lead all these people you know couldn't couldn't pastors or
people in churches be like man i wish i had better church members or i wish the other the
people in my church were better people or i wish we had all these great people in the church and
it's like okay but can't you just accept the church you have or or accept the family that
you have or accept you know whatever you are and encourage yourself and say okay well these people
are kind of rough let's make them better maybe your kids are rough make them better maybe you
and your spouse are rough make yourselves better encourage yourself in the lord and pick yourself
up through the strength of the bible and become better go to first timothy chapter number one go
to first timothy chapter one instead of instead of just wishing things were different why don't you
just make things be different by being the best version of yourself well i wish this were not the
case okay well embrace the things that you can't change and work on the things that you can you
know i can't change the fact that i'm married i'm a father i have five children i can't change the
fact that i'm a pastor i can't change the fact that i live in texas right now i can't change
a lot of these these things but why not be the best husband then and be the best pastor and be
the best texan and that's why i don't put beans and chili because i'm gonna be the best texan
okay i'm gonna be the best version of myself and when i have a hard day or i have things that
aren't the best or you know you have issues encourage yourself and say well i am what i am
you know i'm here's some other things about me i'm really hated online you know i have basically
the worst reputation you could ever want online people don't really like me i can't even necessarily
go public with my address for my church because i have so many people that hate me and want me to
die and kill me and everything like that but should i just sit here and be like oh my life's
so bad oh i can't do anything or just say hey you know what i am what i am right you know but i
identify as a love preacher so you can't call me a hate preacher because it's whatever i identify
as right and i identify as a love preacher so you know what nuts do you guys call me a hate
preacher out there but look at first timothy chapter one verse 12 and i thank christ jesus
our lord who has enabled me for that economy faithful putting me in the ministry who is before
blasphemy blasphemer and a persecutor and injurious but i obtained mercy because i did it ignorantly
and unbelief and the grace of our lord is exceeding abundant with faith and love which is
in christ jesus this is a faithful saying and worthy of all expectation that christ jesus came
into the world to save sinners of whom i am chief albeit for this cause i obtained mercy that in me
first jesus christ might show forth all long suffering for a pattern to them which should
hereafter believe on him to life everlasting he's saying you know what i'm encouraged that
my life can be a pattern for others to go from a really bad past to going to a really bright future
that i could go from being arguably the hardest person to get saved to getting saved
well then how about other people you haven't even persecuted the church of god you should get saved
right and he's saying hey he showed all long suffering unto me so that i could be saved so
that he can also show long suffering to other individuals that probably shouldn't get saved
or a hard case or whatever the issue is and the same could just be applied to your life maybe
you could be an example of someone that made a radical transformation in your life
so that other people could be encouraged to also be able to make a radical transformation in your
life if you go to second timothy chapter two you know if if you say i'm not very spiritual and my
my spouse isn't very spiritual or my kids aren't very spiritual why don't you just become spiritual
and pray that that would be an encouragement to others so they might be later you can't always
force people to do things but you know what you can inspire them by encouraging yourself
and being a good example of encouraging others and saying well i am what i am but i'm going to
be the best version of i i can now and i've seen i've seen this a lot with our church with our
style churches and our friends that we reach a lot of people that were not reached before
and so they have bad paths and maybe they got saved later in life and they're thinking well
i got saved and i want to be different now but my spouse is lagging behind me and and i'm thinking
okay but you know you didn't change in five minutes either why don't you be stable and
consistent for a long time and doing the right thing and and maybe that'll actually win over
your spouse you know the bible talks about in first peter chapter three the wife
winning over her husband husband with her chase conversation while they behold your chase
conversation and that could actually make a big impact in your husband's life that can make a big
impact in your your wife's life or your children's life or other people's lives when you make this
radical transformation and look what the apostle paul did is he inspired all kinds of people
to follow in his footsteps to follow his pattern second timothy chapter two look at verse one
there thou therefore my son be strong in the grace that is in christ jesus and the things
that thou has heard of me among many witnesses the same commit thou to faithful men who shall
be able to teach others also thou therefore endure hardness as a good soldier of jesus christ
so point one is you need to embrace who you are number two is you need to encourage yourself
and number three is you need to endure yourself you need to endure yourself and you know
read romans chapter seven the apostle paul has to endure himself his old man doesn't he
and the problems and the mistakes he has and some of us you know once you open a door to
a particular area of your life it's hard to close that that door you know i'm going to be
a video game addict for the rest of my life because that's just that's just who i am right
and i i have to endure all kinds of different things about myself and yet i have to also in
verse one notice what it says be strong in the grace that is in christ jesus what why
what does that mean to be strong in the grace well when you're in a position that you don't deserve
to be in you can still have two different attitudes about it you could continue to have this
well i just shouldn't even be here or just say hey i'm here so i'm gonna do the job like i was
hired to be a senior developer for a particular company and i probably didn't fit the pedigree
but instead of walking around being like i shouldn't even be here i shouldn't make any
decisions it's like hey i'm here and here's the decision we're gonna make here's what we're gonna
do here's how we're gonna go forward and it's like i can be strong in the grace right and it's
like do i deserve to be the christian that i am or the husband or the pastor the father or the
brother or whatever no but by god's grace i'm here so i might as well be strong in that grace
and whenever i do falter have problems or go through difficulty just endure and hang on
to the position that i have if you're not qualified for a particular position
and you get into it don't you think you'll probably make a few mistakes and not know some
things but you know what you just endure through that and you just continue to be steadfast through
that and endure even yourself so that you can go and get there right if i have let myself go
and i want to end up being better at golf or or working out or anything like that i might have to
endure a lot of difficulty to get back to that climb and i've run 5ks in the past and i guarantee
right now i would be in really bad shape to run a 5k i probably wouldn't be able to beat a time
that i did in the past but if i want to get there i would have to endure going through a lot of that
pain and suffering to get back to where i need to be or to improve or sometimes i have to endure
different aspects of who i am enduring my past you know someone that's been divorced and remarried
you know what they're going to have to endure that divorce for the rest of their life they
might have to endure child support or alimony they might have to endure and i use this example
it's the baggage you know we use the word baggage right i hate checking bags at the airport who hates
checking bags therefore okay at least there's a lot of a couple other safe people here i love to
just only do carry on because man just having to go to the terminal and wait and wait and i remember
one time i like came home and i'm excited to see my wife and she made dinner for me and i have to
wait for like an hour for the stupid bag to come to the terminal and i'm just like i hate this
okay but you know what i brought the bag so i have to wait for the bag i have to wait for the stupid
bag and then i have to get it and then i have to carry it too right and isn't it is annoying when
you have all this heavy luggage and you have to carry all of it all around you know what you
brought it with you so you gotta you gotta carry it along right and so it's like hey i have this
child out of wedlock but guess what carry that child with you through the airport check the bag
right you know lug the bag around don't just be like well i didn't want to you know i'm just gonna
leave that bag someone else can have that bag no no it's baggage for a reason but carrying around
embrace embrace and endure the past that you have you know if you have issues if you if you've been
in a particular area i preach things that i disagree with now it's like okay what if someone
brought that up to me well just endure it just be like yeah you know what i made a mistake there
yeah i have that problem yeah i did this but you know what we need to be willing to endure that
and not allow that to stop us to keep moving forward and say man well if i do that won't
people constantly bring this up and throw it in my face hey in my college days when i hang out
my buddies i did a lot of other things anytime i see them they're always bringing that up it's
like okay but just endure it i mean don't you think there are some people rubbing in paul's
face who he was in the past and he had to kind of endure his past constantly endure who he was
but instead of just being like you know what i'm sick and tired of everybody
getting on to me about this he's just like yeah i am yeah yeah i'm the guy that persecuted them
and it wasn't right you know what i did it and that's my life also doesn't he embrace his
infirmities like i said you know i might not be the best at uh you know i'll still lead songs
even though i forget them and i have to re-rehearse them but i can embrace that infirmity right i may
not be the best piano player i have to practice more or work harder but i can embrace that
infirmity you know you may not be the best at something you might have to work harder you might
have to put in more effort you might even be sick or have struggles you know i'm sure being older
is harder for soul winning but if you still go out there you drag yourself out there
go through your routine you do the work how about enduring persecution go to second simothy chapter
three right there look at verse 10 but thou has fully known my doctrine manner of life purpose
faith long suffering charity patience persecutions afflictions which came to me came unto me at
antioc at iconium at lyster what persecutions i endured but out of them all the lord delivered me
you know the path that you have forward might be full of difficulty you know being a being a
christian you're going to potentially have a lot of persecutions that you have to endure but why
don't you just say what i am what i am i'm a christian so the road that god has asked me to take
i have to take this road just like you know when i go on vacation i'm thinking like well i wish that
my kids could carry all this luggage you know i have to carry all this heavy luggage you know
what i'm the father and my job's harder my job is more difficult i i have to embrace that particular
role in my life hey being a soul winner your life's going to be harder you're going to get more
persecution if you want to serve god i mean what does the next verse even say yea and all that will
love godly in christ jesus shall suffer persecution why don't you just embrace that and say you know
what that might not be the the easiest road but it's the road that god wants me to walk down
and while you might think that it's not the easiest it's way easier than living a life
of transgression the way of transgressors is hard we often look at it and think that looks harder
but it's it's not harder but will you still have to endure things yes go to second corinthians
chapter one we'll finish okay you know the apostle paul said they endured all things
for the elect's sake why do we do the things that we're doing why embrace who you are
well so that i can get people saved even in fact you have to do that to even get saved right don't
you have to embrace your center you have to say hey i am a sinner and i deserve hell but you know
what you can encourage himself by saying you know what jesus died for me and he loves me and he
wants me to save and then you can endure yourself and say now that i'm saved i'm still centered
though i still have the old flesh i still have the the problems and i need to work on that and
i need to endure unto the end not to be saved but to have the high calling to have god be pleased
with me to do the the full task that god has because god doesn't want you to get saved he wants
to get baptized he doesn't want you to just get baptized he wants you to learn the whole bible
he doesn't want you to learn the bible he wants you to do the whole bible he wants you to fulfill
the great commission and don't aren't you appreciative of other people having embraced
their past encouraging themselves and enduring things for you because i guarantee whoever got
you saved i'm sure you're appreciative of that person the person that gave you the god and what
kind of difficulties that they have to go through in their life second corinthians chapter one look
at verse six and whether it would be afflicted is for your consolation and salvation which is
effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer or whether we be comforted
it is for your consolation and salvation and our hope of you is steadfast knowing that as
your partakers of the sufferings so shall ye be also of the consolation for we would not brethren
have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in asia that we were pressed out of measure above
strength in so much that we despaired even of life you know the apostle paul had to endure the
idea the apostle paul wanted to die he had to endure that but don't you think the people that
got saved after this experience were appreciative that paul endured that or do you think they wish
well i wish the apostle paul just kind of given up and just stopped swimming in the ocean and just
died just around he was like this is tough because you know he was shipwrecked in the deep for 24
hours a night today but he could have easily just been like i'm sick of this because you know he's
sitting there enduring and he's probably thinking like you know if i get out of this i'm gonna stop
to walk into the next town and get stoned again like i could just i could just be like i'm done
you know just kind of be like nah i'm good and really who in here would say you know my life
is harder than swimming and freezing water fighting for my very essence of life and constantly
getting gasps of water in my mouth that are salt water just drink salt water it's terrible
i mean you're just sitting there in ocean i mean sharks right all kinds of fish all kinds of
weird things the waves and you just and there's no certainty if someone said you have to do this
for 24 hours you're like okay but think about it after four or five hours you don't even know how
long you've been there you don't know how long you're gonna be there i mean every single second
i'd be thinking like i'm ready to quit and that's what he's thinking he's like i'm ready to die
like i don't even want to live anymore my life is so terrible you know what i'm aren't we glad that
he continued but we had the sentence of death in ourselves that we should not trust in ourselves
but in god of praise of the dead who delivered us from so great a death and doth deliver in whom we
trust that he will yet deliver us he also helping together by prayer for us that for the gift
bestowed upon us by the means of many persons thanks may be given by many on our behalf and
that's that's a mouthful but this is what he's saying saying you guys were praying for us
so that we could be delivered from this evil from the the struggles and the trials that we
had in our life and by us enduring and getting through that we ended up reaching other people
and getting them saved and those people are appreciative and thankful of you for having
prayed for us so he's like it's full circle it's like tanner was praying that i would survive so i
could get cameron saved and then cameron's thankful to brother fur for praying for me
that's what he's saying in essence in this chapter and it's like so we're so thankful
that the apostle paul accepts who he is for the elect's sake and why are we here this morning
well you're a servant of god you're a child of god you're saved but you know what we need to
embrace who we are and encourage ourselves in who we are and endure who we are so that we can
get other people saved so that our families can be pleasing into god so that we can be pleasing
into god so that we can do that which is right but you know the whole reason of having a good
marriage and going to church and reading the bible and praying and going through difficulty
the whole reason is so that someone won't burn in hell for all of eternity
i mean if you just saved one more person from burning in hell for all of eternity isn't that
worth it you know people will give up on marriage and drag them out of church they'll give up on the
persecutions and get drug out of church people will quit reading their bible and quit praying
and quit doing these things and it'll draw other people out of church and when you leave church
other people will be like well i don't want to go to church because they're not going to church
anymore and they're not serving god and i don't want to go soul-winning because they're not going
soul-winning and i don't want to read my bible because they're not reading the bible and then
what happens is less people get saved and less people get pulled out of the fire let us embrace
who we are and embrace our past and embrace the job we have and not be the offensive tackle that
says you know what i'm not the quarterback you block him and just let the just let the devil
run right through and and tackle the quarterback in our lives and tackle the running back and just
and give up on the team no no embrace who you are and no matter what role you have
be the best version of yourself let's close in prayer thank you heavenly father for giving us
these these chapters to encourage ourselves thank you for giving us so much grace so that we could
be used of you even when we have a sordid past even when we have difficulty even when we have
struggle when we have infirmities when we have when we're not meet to be called the things that
we are i pray that we would use the gifts that you give us that we would see the purpose of our lives
we would see that you have a role for us you have a high calling for us and that when we go through
difficulty we can endure those things realizing that there is a reason why we do the things that
we do so real souls are on the line there is a real heaven there is a real hell and people are in
the the balances here they're in the they're in the crosshairs of the devil and for many of them
we're their only hope save people are their only hope and i'd pray that we wouldn't get discouraged
by the difficulties or struggles we have the past that we have the issues that we have but rather
we would embrace them and use the gifts you've given us and the grace you've given us to reach
the loss in jesus name we pray amen we'll go ahead and turn for the last him this morning
him number 36 in your hymnal him number 36 christ arose
36 christ arose
let's sing
oh
and he lives forever with his saints
faithfully they watched his bed jesus my savior
jesus my lord up from the grave he arose
he arose
hallelujah
and
he tore the
way
victor from the dark
amen with that you are dismissed we do actually have a