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You You You You You You You You You You You You Let's sing Oh 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