1 00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:08,080 And the church said, Amen, stand with me tonight. 2 00:00:08,080 --> 00:00:10,120 If you're not standing, let's read the word of the Lord 3 00:00:10,120 --> 00:00:13,920 together, the book of First Corinthians 15 and 10. 4 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:19,040 While you are preparing that tonight, give honor to our 5 00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:24,640 pastor and our Bishop, youth pastor, Next Gen. directors 6 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:30,120 courage hasn't officially clicked over that date yet, but 7 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:33,080 we went ahead and celebrated it because the season gets so busy. 8 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:38,240 December's a bit of a tough month, but it's coming soon. 9 00:00:38,240 --> 00:00:40,240 I will celebrate again on December 4th. 10 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:42,320 Make no make no mention about it. 11 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:47,000 It will happen, but so very happy and and honored to have 12 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:50,720 her as my life's partner tonight. 1st Corinthians 15 and 13 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:52,280 10. My isn't the presence of the 14 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:57,320 Lord in this house tonight and we are so, so, so grateful for 15 00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:00,040 that. The the Bible says, but by the 16 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:05,280 grace of God, I am what I am. And his grace which was bestowed 17 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:10,600 upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than 18 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:15,200 they all, yet not I, but the grace of God, which was with me 19 00:01:15,960 --> 00:01:19,960 a few moments tonight. I probably won't hold you long, 20 00:01:19,960 --> 00:01:21,920 but I'll hold you hopefully just right. 21 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:25,680 I want to minister on this thought tonight with God's help. 22 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:31,800 Hope comes by grace. Hope comes by grace. 23 00:01:31,800 --> 00:01:33,400 Could you lift your hands one more time? 24 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:35,800 We're we're a praising God group of people. 25 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:38,000 Let's lift our hands and ask him to help us tonight. 26 00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:41,040 Mighty God, we're we're so grateful for your presence. 27 00:01:41,040 --> 00:01:43,680 We're grateful for who you are in our lives. 28 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:46,920 And we ask you to touch and anoint tonight this word of God 29 00:01:46,920 --> 00:01:51,000 as we speak it by faith in the name of Jesus, help me to 30 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:54,400 minister with wisdom and clarity tonight, and we'll give you the 31 00:01:54,400 --> 00:01:56,880 praise and glory and honor for it in the name of the Lord 32 00:01:56,960 --> 00:01:59,480 Jesus. And the church said, Amen. 33 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:02,080 You may be seated. May God bless you. 34 00:02:02,080 --> 00:02:03,760 That is a courtesy, not a command. 35 00:02:04,560 --> 00:02:12,080 Hope comes by grace. I believe it's important this 36 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:16,920 evening to start by defining what the word grace means, 37 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:23,640 because it's a word that can be overused in some context, and as 38 00:02:23,640 --> 00:02:28,800 a result we can forget just exactly how powerful and real it 39 00:02:28,800 --> 00:02:34,480 really is. Webster's defines grace as 40 00:02:34,480 --> 00:02:40,040 unconstrained and undeserved. Divine favor or goodwill? 41 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:49,400 God's loving mercy displayed to a man for the salvation of his 42 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:55,360 soul. I've often heard the word grace 43 00:02:55,360 --> 00:03:07,120 defined as not getting what you deserve because there's a 44 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:12,640 penalty that I deserve. I could echo the words of the 45 00:03:12,640 --> 00:03:16,840 Apostle Paul this evening and say, O wretched man, that I am 46 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:25,840 nothing good in me. Some people wanted to say Amen 47 00:03:25,840 --> 00:03:28,000 really loud to that, and you restrained yourself. 48 00:03:28,000 --> 00:03:30,560 I appreciate that. Nothing good in me. 49 00:03:31,920 --> 00:03:38,640 Nothing good in in the physical nature of of me, my, my 50 00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:41,920 thoughts, my actions, my attitude. 51 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:45,160 Nothing really good naturally about it. 52 00:03:46,320 --> 00:03:49,200 So there's a penalty that I deserve for the things that I 53 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:51,840 have done, the things that I have thought, the things that I 54 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:56,000 wish I had done. There's a penalty for that. 55 00:03:57,800 --> 00:04:07,040 Grace is what has positioned me in this life to not have to 56 00:04:07,040 --> 00:04:12,640 suffer that penalty. I deserve something, but grace 57 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:20,120 says not happening. Love that reaches up is 58 00:04:20,120 --> 00:04:24,080 adoration. Love that reaches the cross is 59 00:04:24,080 --> 00:04:28,920 affection, but love that reaches down is grace. 60 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:34,120 Grace will get in the dirt and see divine purification take 61 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:37,680 place just like Jesus did with the woman at the well. 62 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:40,840 Many Christians are shocked by sin. 63 00:04:41,760 --> 00:04:46,360 We should all be staggered by the power of God's grace and the 64 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:50,280 the the reality that he he gives us. 65 00:04:50,400 --> 00:04:54,880 He's not giving us a free pass, but He's giving us a repentant 66 00:04:54,880 --> 00:04:59,800 pass that when we obey his word that He will not hold us 67 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:02,640 accountable for those things that we have done. 68 00:05:04,120 --> 00:05:07,880 To more fully understand the grace of God, we must also 69 00:05:07,880 --> 00:05:11,800 attempt to understand His compassions because they are 70 00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:15,400 extended to us as well. And we we read in the book of 71 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:20,520 Lamentations chapter 3 and verse 22 that it is of the Lord's 72 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:28,080 mercies that we are not consumed because his compassions fail 73 00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:37,520 not. They are new every every every 74 00:05:38,080 --> 00:05:43,080 morning. When I wake up at 5:00 tomorrow, 75 00:05:43,080 --> 00:05:48,880 Brother Malone, after I've hit the snooze a couple of times at 76 00:05:48,880 --> 00:05:55,320 5:00 tomorrow morning and I my feet hit the floor, I can thank 77 00:05:55,320 --> 00:06:01,080 God because the 24 hour cycle renewal of His compassions has 78 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:04,840 just kicked in every morning they are new. 79 00:06:04,840 --> 00:06:09,120 The Bible says great is thy faithfulness in the writing of 80 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:11,480 lamentations. Jeremiah said the Lords 81 00:06:11,480 --> 00:06:15,680 compassions fell not he says that the Lords compassions are 82 00:06:15,680 --> 00:06:19,840 new every morning. Jeremiah qualified, was 83 00:06:19,840 --> 00:06:23,920 qualified to speak these words. If we look at the list of 84 00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:28,160 Jeremiah's calamities in the book of Lamentations, and I'll 85 00:06:28,160 --> 00:06:32,280 take you through a list of them as efficiently as I can. 86 00:06:32,280 --> 00:06:35,440 But in verse 1, he felt the rod of wrath. 87 00:06:35,800 --> 00:06:38,680 In verse two, he was led Into Darkness. 88 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:41,760 Verse three, he felt that the Lord's hand was turned. 89 00:06:46,200 --> 00:06:50,040 He said he had been committed. Verse 7, he'd been hedged about. 90 00:06:50,040 --> 00:06:53,880 Verse eight, that his prayers had been shut out. 91 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:57,120 In verse nine that his paths had been made crooked. 92 00:06:57,320 --> 00:07:00,840 In verse 10 that a lion and a bear was after him. 93 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:03,680 Verse 11, that he had been desolate. 94 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:08,320 Verse 12, that he had been made the mark for the archer's arrow. 95 00:07:08,560 --> 00:07:12,360 Verse 13, that he had arrows enter his reigns. 96 00:07:12,640 --> 00:07:17,160 Verse 14 that he was ridiculed and became a mock of the people. 97 00:07:17,400 --> 00:07:20,680 Verse 15 that he had been filled with bitterness. 98 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:25,000 Verse 16 that his teeth had been busted out with stones. 99 00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:28,560 Verse 17, that he had forgot about prosperity. 100 00:07:28,840 --> 00:07:33,360 Verse 18 that his strength and his hope were both gone. 101 00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:38,040 Yet he continues to take the pen to paper and write and leads us 102 00:07:38,040 --> 00:07:44,400 to Lamentations 3 and 21 and says this I recall to my mind, 103 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:52,240 therefore I have hope. What did he recall? 104 00:07:52,600 --> 00:07:56,800 He recalled the calamities of verses one through 20. 105 00:07:57,000 --> 00:08:01,440 The list, the exhaustive list of terrible things that he had 106 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:04,400 encountered and endured in his life. 107 00:08:04,720 --> 00:08:08,560 That's what he was recalling. And it was the memory of those 108 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:13,560 things that was causing him to recollect the very fact that 109 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:18,560 because of those things, he still had hope. 110 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:22,840 How could he do this? It sounds quite strange because 111 00:08:22,840 --> 00:08:28,400 in our modern day list of trials and tribulations that we often 112 00:08:28,400 --> 00:08:32,600 go through, it is not the first thing that we think of whenever 113 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:36,840 we have problems. It's not the first thing that we 114 00:08:36,840 --> 00:08:41,159 think of whenever we have situations that are remotely 115 00:08:41,159 --> 00:08:43,400 similar to what Jeremiah went through. 116 00:08:43,760 --> 00:08:47,320 Now, I will tell you that I've not had my teeth busted out with 117 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:51,640 stones. I've not been publicly mocked 118 00:08:51,640 --> 00:08:53,680 and ridiculed. Maybe behind my back, I don't 119 00:08:53,680 --> 00:08:55,520 know. But to my face, I've not been 120 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:58,640 publicly ridiculed. I've not been made a mockery of 121 00:08:58,640 --> 00:09:01,560 people. I've not had my bones broken. 122 00:09:03,320 --> 00:09:05,080 I've not been LED into the wilderness. 123 00:09:05,080 --> 00:09:07,120 I've not felt the rod of His wrath. 124 00:09:07,400 --> 00:09:10,000 I've not felt. I have felt occasionally like my 125 00:09:10,000 --> 00:09:13,680 prayers were not getting anywhere, but I don't think I've 126 00:09:13,680 --> 00:09:16,560 officially ever had my prayers shut out. 127 00:09:18,400 --> 00:09:20,000 I've never had a lion and a bear. 128 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:22,120 If they did, but it hasn't happened. 129 00:09:22,520 --> 00:09:25,960 I've not been in a situation that I can fully say with 130 00:09:26,000 --> 00:09:33,080 honesty that I am desolate. I have went through things in 131 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:34,880 this life that I thought were pretty bad. 132 00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:38,560 I have went through things in this life that I, I thought 133 00:09:38,560 --> 00:09:41,200 actually were pretty horrible. They were pretty painful. 134 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:43,240 They were bothersome. They were troublesome. 135 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:46,440 And I will tell you tonight it with with honesty and clarity 136 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:49,200 that the first thought of my mind each morning when I would 137 00:09:49,200 --> 00:09:52,320 wake up going through that season in that trial was not 138 00:09:52,320 --> 00:09:53,720 that. Those things gave me hope, 139 00:09:53,720 --> 00:09:58,440 right? Come on, that wasn't what I was 140 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:02,080 thinking, but Jeremiah was thinking that because of what we 141 00:10:02,080 --> 00:10:06,120 find in the following verses of Scripture tonight in 142 00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:11,520 Lamentations 3 and 22, he says it is of the Lord's mercies that 143 00:10:11,520 --> 00:10:15,160 we are not consumed. All of these horrible things, 144 00:10:15,360 --> 00:10:19,440 all of these, these, these, these, these horrific things 145 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:24,600 that are happening in my life now serve as a reminder because 146 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:28,480 it's all about perspective today that I'm still here. 147 00:10:28,680 --> 00:10:32,960 I'm not consumed in spite of these problems because God's 148 00:10:33,080 --> 00:10:39,440 compassions, the Lords compassions, fail not the 149 00:10:39,440 --> 00:10:43,000 apostle Paul said, if only I had hope in this life, I would be of 150 00:10:43,000 --> 00:10:46,280 all men, most miserable. We have more than hope today. 151 00:10:46,560 --> 00:10:48,840 Our hope is not just in this life. 152 00:10:49,120 --> 00:10:52,960 The reason why we are living this life, the reason why I have 153 00:10:52,960 --> 00:10:56,320 this lifestyle that I live, living for God, is so that I 154 00:10:56,320 --> 00:11:00,280 don't have just hope in this life, so that my hope doesn't 155 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:04,160 expire at the grave. I have hope today that goes 156 00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:07,200 beyond tomorrow. You have hope in this house 157 00:11:07,200 --> 00:11:12,520 today that goes beyond tomorrow. His mercy, His compassion, His 158 00:11:12,520 --> 00:11:16,880 grace are a demonstration of the love and the power of Almighty 159 00:11:16,880 --> 00:11:20,760 God. Somebody shout a man, the very 160 00:11:20,880 --> 00:11:25,200 same God tonight that was before the foundation of the world. 161 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:28,440 The very same God who was the Word made flesh. 162 00:11:28,760 --> 00:11:33,440 The very same God who walked among men who was 100% God and 163 00:11:33,440 --> 00:11:36,880 100% man. But that was the Ancient of 164 00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:39,560 days. The very same God in flesh who 165 00:11:39,560 --> 00:11:44,200 said before Abraham was. I am the very same God tonight 166 00:11:44,200 --> 00:11:49,120 who was and is and is to come. The Almighty sees us in full 167 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:52,040 transparency. He knows every failure. 168 00:11:52,200 --> 00:11:55,520 He knows every thought. He knows every time you trip and 169 00:11:55,520 --> 00:11:57,920 fall. He has a clear understanding of 170 00:11:57,920 --> 00:12:03,840 how wretched we can be, yet He longs to be in relationship with 171 00:12:03,840 --> 00:12:07,840 us. The Apostle Paul wrote to the 172 00:12:07,840 --> 00:12:11,840 Church of Ephesus in Ephesians 2 and 8 for bike race. 173 00:12:12,200 --> 00:12:22,760 Are you saved through faith? Bike race that not of 174 00:12:22,760 --> 00:12:25,960 yourselves? That's a clear indicator tonight 175 00:12:25,960 --> 00:12:29,160 in the language that there's not a single thing that I can do to 176 00:12:29,160 --> 00:12:32,640 earn it. I can't come before God in some 177 00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:36,560 formula and say if I do this and if I do that, and if I give to 178 00:12:36,560 --> 00:12:40,320 the poor and if I'm nice and if I pay my offerings and if I pay 179 00:12:40,320 --> 00:12:44,920 my tithe, all good things, all biblical things, but those are 180 00:12:44,920 --> 00:12:49,880 not, not earnings that we earn some type of goodness with God 181 00:12:55,680 --> 00:12:59,840 because wretchedness of sin is so bad. 182 00:13:00,520 --> 00:13:04,000 There isn't a single thing that we can do to earn God's grace. 183 00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:10,040 So God had, if he was going because of his love and if he 184 00:13:10,040 --> 00:13:13,600 was going to have people that was going to be saved, He had to 185 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:21,720 give compassion to us through grace so strongly that it would 186 00:13:21,720 --> 00:13:24,280 overcome the fact that there's nothing we can do to make it 187 00:13:24,280 --> 00:13:28,320 better. And I don't know why tonight. 188 00:13:29,080 --> 00:13:30,840 I don't have a clue why. I really don't. 189 00:13:30,880 --> 00:13:33,480 I don't understand why He loves us the way that he does. 190 00:13:34,760 --> 00:13:38,440 I really don't. But I'm so thankful, I'm so 191 00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:41,320 thankful today that He loves us because it is true. 192 00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:45,960 In Ephesians 2 and 8, that verse closes with it is the gift of 193 00:13:46,000 --> 00:13:49,360 God. I was a dead man walking 194 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:54,560 destined for failure, destined for eternal, eternal punishment. 195 00:13:54,960 --> 00:14:02,000 But God's grace because of his mercy, I experience his 196 00:14:02,000 --> 00:14:04,680 compassions. It is not because of my 197 00:14:04,680 --> 00:14:08,560 perfection. Let me let me tell you something 198 00:14:08,560 --> 00:14:13,680 tonight as as this service has been great and, and, and God's 199 00:14:13,680 --> 00:14:16,840 presence has been here and I, I believe my observation tonight. 200 00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:21,080 You have felt that and you have witnessed to that, but that 201 00:14:21,080 --> 00:14:23,760 alone is not going to stop you from making a mistake tomorrow. 202 00:14:28,000 --> 00:14:30,400 It's not going to stop you from making a mistake six months from 203 00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:32,880 now. And after you've served God for 204 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:41,480 45 years, it's possible. I meant from now. 205 00:14:43,920 --> 00:14:45,520 You're still going to be making mistakes. 206 00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:50,400 And I'm, I'm not writing you a blank check to send, I'm just 207 00:14:50,400 --> 00:14:53,600 telling you in your humanity, you are not going to get so 208 00:14:53,600 --> 00:14:55,520 close to God that you don't make mistakes. 209 00:14:58,160 --> 00:15:00,800 You are going to mature where you're not making the same 210 00:15:00,800 --> 00:15:03,360 mistakes over and over and over and over and over again. 211 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:07,560 That does happen. And you may not think it can 212 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:10,320 happen, but it you, you just hold on and have faith it does 213 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:14,120 happen because I don't struggle with the same things I used to 214 00:15:14,120 --> 00:15:19,920 struggle with. To me is you've made a mistake. 215 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:22,960 You tripped over yourself, you didn't get it right. 216 00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:27,800 Just stop now. It sounds so simple and it 217 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:31,400 honestly sounds so stupid that in 2024 that that's still his 218 00:15:31,400 --> 00:15:34,880 trick, but it must still be effective because he still uses 219 00:15:34,880 --> 00:15:41,240 it. Now I've come to declare tonight 220 00:15:41,240 --> 00:15:47,640 that it is his grace. I didn't earn it and I, I 221 00:15:47,640 --> 00:15:54,400 admittedly do not deserve it, but His grace is so, so powerful 222 00:15:54,400 --> 00:15:57,680 because of that. Not just one time, not just a 223 00:15:57,680 --> 00:15:59,840 single event, but every single day. 224 00:16:00,680 --> 00:16:03,440 And this opens the door for grace to operate in my life, in 225 00:16:03,440 --> 00:16:05,920 your life. We need the grace of God to 226 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:10,280 bring hope into our lives. We need it in our relationships, 227 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:12,360 our individual lives, in our homes. 228 00:16:12,800 --> 00:16:15,200 We need it in our marriages. We need it with our children. 229 00:16:15,520 --> 00:16:18,000 We need it in our with our parents and in our schools and 230 00:16:18,000 --> 00:16:20,600 on our jobs and our companies. We need it in our church. 231 00:16:25,200 --> 00:16:28,280 You know, we will often extend grace to people we don't know 232 00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:29,840 faster than people that we do know. 233 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:37,720 That wasn't in my notes, so I won't charge you for that one. 234 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:43,360 We we need to be a compassionate people. 235 00:16:44,760 --> 00:16:47,720 We don't need to be like the the man in the Bible that was 236 00:16:47,720 --> 00:16:53,360 forgiven his debts and turned around and charged those that 237 00:16:53,360 --> 00:16:55,320 were indebted to him without mercy. 238 00:16:57,480 --> 00:17:00,120 Because the apostle Paul said it right when he gave a whole list 239 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:03,120 of things that people did and sins that he had experienced in 240 00:17:03,120 --> 00:17:04,920 his past. And he said, such were some of 241 00:17:04,920 --> 00:17:14,040 you. Hope is delivered by grace 242 00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:22,440 because we first received grace and then hope comes in after 243 00:17:24,800 --> 00:17:28,920 hope comes by grace there. There is a lot of hopelessness 244 00:17:28,920 --> 00:17:33,640 in this world today. And I believe that the 245 00:17:33,640 --> 00:17:38,080 foundation of that hopelessness is founded in a lack of grace 246 00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:43,000 and a lack of compassion. Hope is delivered by grace. 247 00:17:43,320 --> 00:17:45,120 There are people that have lost their hope. 248 00:17:45,520 --> 00:17:47,640 There are people who believe they've done too much and 249 00:17:47,640 --> 00:17:50,480 they've gone too far from God for him to love them. 250 00:17:52,720 --> 00:17:55,320 And if they'll, if they'll finally accept the fact that 251 00:17:55,320 --> 00:17:58,440 he'll love them, then the next trick of the enemy is to tell 252 00:17:58,440 --> 00:18:02,440 them, well, God might love you, but he's done using you because 253 00:18:02,440 --> 00:18:08,080 you did too much. They don't see a hope of 254 00:18:08,080 --> 00:18:11,080 effectiveness in their life. I've come to tell somebody 255 00:18:11,080 --> 00:18:13,880 tonight, that's wrong. That's a lie of the enemy. 256 00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:17,720 God's grace covers all sin, not just one sin. 257 00:18:18,040 --> 00:18:23,040 God's grace covers one day of my past, but it also covers one 258 00:18:23,040 --> 00:18:26,560 year, one decade, one lifetime of wrong. 259 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:29,960 God is able to cover that with His blood. 260 00:18:31,280 --> 00:18:35,680 God is able to say, I don't even remember the mistake you made. 261 00:18:35,880 --> 00:18:38,680 You might think it's bad, but I don't remember it. 262 00:18:38,800 --> 00:18:42,040 So why don't you just come on and sit at the table for a while 263 00:18:42,320 --> 00:18:53,240 and allow me to use you? Because if the Apostle Paul, 264 00:18:57,800 --> 00:19:03,040 come on, think about it, I know we some of some of maybe not 265 00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:05,520 everybody, because he was blunt and kind of in your face and up 266 00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:08,800 in your grill. You're going to heaven, you're 267 00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:14,240 going to hell. He, he, he told it in a way that 268 00:19:14,400 --> 00:19:23,640 is not 2024, correct. But that's ministry Apostle. 269 00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:35,680 Let's not forget who he was. He was the man that was so 270 00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:40,720 wrapped up in, I'll call it ferrisology. 271 00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:46,920 But this Pharisee spirit of how things are supposed to be and 272 00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:49,560 these Jesus people don't don't adhere to that. 273 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:57,360 Just go ahead and kill him. Let's not forget that and I'm 274 00:19:57,360 --> 00:20:01,280 not I'm not saying this in a way that I want you to not take his 275 00:20:01,280 --> 00:20:03,960 teachings. I'm trying to prove a point 276 00:20:03,960 --> 00:20:08,320 tonight that who he was and what we read in the word of God and 277 00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:12,720 who he was before was two different people, not just the 278 00:20:12,720 --> 00:20:15,080 name change. That was the reason he changed 279 00:20:15,080 --> 00:20:17,480 his name is because the church wouldn't accept it. 280 00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:27,600 Now this is Mason One O 1. But I I think it's a tragedy 281 00:20:27,840 --> 00:20:30,720 that Saul had to change his name to Paul to be accepted by the 282 00:20:30,720 --> 00:20:43,280 church. It's a tragedy because such were 283 00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:47,320 some of you. Well, I never killed anybody. 284 00:20:47,960 --> 00:20:49,480 You dogged the reputation real good. 285 00:20:49,480 --> 00:20:51,520 You can kill them without sticking them with a knife. 286 00:20:55,840 --> 00:20:57,960 He changed his name because the church wouldn't accept him 287 00:20:57,960 --> 00:21:04,200 because he had done so much. But the the the last laugh was 288 00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:09,560 Paul's. Because when he committed to 289 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:17,560 Christ, when he accepted that his hope came by grace, when he 290 00:21:17,560 --> 00:21:21,000 realized there was, there was no, no law, there was no, there 291 00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:24,760 was no statute, there was no conformity that he could 292 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:27,760 exercise that would make him good enough. 293 00:21:27,960 --> 00:21:31,480 And he realized that he needed the love of Jesus in his life. 294 00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:38,800 Grace was the change maker and I believe tonight and I believe 295 00:21:38,800 --> 00:21:41,800 that this, the foundation of my statement that I'm about to make 296 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:45,840 is in the word of God. I believe that when Paul started 297 00:21:45,840 --> 00:21:52,400 ministering on behalf of God and the church, I believe God had 298 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:56,600 been true to his voice, true to his word, and he didn't remember 299 00:21:56,600 --> 00:22:04,240 who Saul was because we're told, we're told that in forgiveness 300 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:09,560 he buries our sins in the sea of forgetfulness. 301 00:22:11,240 --> 00:22:14,000 God, it's not that God has a memory lapse. 302 00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:16,840 It's not that God's getting old and he's having a hard time 303 00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:18,840 remembering like some of us might be getting. 304 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:22,200 It's, it's not that God's having difficulties and he's losing his 305 00:22:22,360 --> 00:22:25,840 authenticity or his power. God's making a conscious choice 306 00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:30,520 to say what you did yesterday in your yester life no longer 307 00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:32,320 matters. I'm not worried about it 308 00:22:32,320 --> 00:22:33,520 anymore. I have. 309 00:22:35,880 --> 00:22:41,280 I have covered you by my grave. Therefore I have hope. 310 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:46,720 Oh, could you lift your hands and magnify Jesus together? 311 00:22:48,800 --> 00:23:05,990 I have hope tonight, he says. This, I recall to my mind, 312 00:23:08,520 --> 00:23:16,880 therefore, because of all of these problems in all of this 313 00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:23,880 history, I have hope how that applies to you tonight. 314 00:23:23,880 --> 00:23:31,000 This is whatever your past is. This is whatever your 315 00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:33,240 circumstances. Yeah, but yeah, but yeah, but 316 00:23:33,240 --> 00:23:35,000 you, you, you, you don't, you don't. 317 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:38,240 You don't know what I where I was, and you don't know where 318 00:23:38,240 --> 00:23:39,880 I've been and you don't know what I've done. 319 00:23:40,160 --> 00:23:42,400 And, and I'm not trying to be disrespectful tonight. 320 00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:49,120 I don't need to because His word is just as good without me 321 00:23:49,120 --> 00:23:53,080 knowing the details as it is with me knowing the details. 322 00:23:53,360 --> 00:23:57,120 And that is just a simple fact tonight that once you are blood 323 00:23:57,120 --> 00:24:01,200 bought, once you are blood covered, once you have have the 324 00:24:01,200 --> 00:24:04,400 blood applied to your life and over the past sins that you had 325 00:24:04,680 --> 00:24:09,760 and you commit to a a life in Him, there is nothing, nothing, 326 00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:13,440 nothing that can separate you from the love of God. 327 00:24:18,160 --> 00:24:26,560 We haunt our self over our past. God's not the author of that. 328 00:24:30,080 --> 00:24:35,520 Therefore I have hope because of this. 329 00:24:36,280 --> 00:24:42,160 We don't have to surrender to hopelessness because of this. 330 00:24:43,160 --> 00:24:44,360 Somebody shout it with me tonight. 331 00:24:44,360 --> 00:24:46,960 I have hope. I have hope. 332 00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:49,040 Come on, say it like you mean it. 333 00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:54,240 I have hope because people are hopeless. 334 00:24:55,040 --> 00:25:00,880 They have a fear of the future. Matthew 634 says take therefore 335 00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:03,280 no thought for the Morrow, for the Morrow shall take thought 336 00:25:03,280 --> 00:25:08,240 for the things of itself. People who don't have hope are 337 00:25:08,240 --> 00:25:12,480 haunted by regrets. First, John 1 and 9 says if we 338 00:25:12,480 --> 00:25:17,680 confess our sins, this is the formula back to hope. 339 00:25:18,880 --> 00:25:26,480 He is watch this now faithful and just to forgive us our sins 340 00:25:27,400 --> 00:25:36,400 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 341 00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:40,280 People who don't have hope feel shame from their past, but 342 00:25:40,280 --> 00:25:45,040 second Corinthians 517 says therefore, if any man be in 343 00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:52,400 Christ, he is a new creature. Come on, you know it, Apostolic, 344 00:25:52,520 --> 00:25:58,120 All things are passed away and behold, all things are become 345 00:25:58,520 --> 00:26:03,120 new yesterday doesn't matter. The things you did doesn't 346 00:26:03,120 --> 00:26:06,720 matter as long as you've put them under the blood, as long as 347 00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:10,880 you've confessed them to God. He is faithful, He is just. 348 00:26:11,040 --> 00:26:15,400 He will forgive and He will make you a new creature in Him. 349 00:26:19,280 --> 00:26:21,000 I've come to give somebody hope tonight. 350 00:26:23,360 --> 00:26:27,600 I've come to preach hope tonight because we need hope in a Dark 351 00:26:27,600 --> 00:26:30,520 World. We need hope and the darker the 352 00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:33,080 world gets, the light or the bright of Christ and the church 353 00:26:33,080 --> 00:26:36,200 needs to shine. We need to be the hope of life 354 00:26:36,360 --> 00:26:38,760 for this community and for this world. 355 00:26:47,030 --> 00:26:54,230 Hope because grace. Grace is not the agent that 356 00:26:54,230 --> 00:27:06,680 saves you. Grace doesn't save his blood's. 357 00:27:06,680 --> 00:27:13,840 What saves grace doesn't save. Grace is the passageway by which 358 00:27:13,840 --> 00:27:19,640 the blood flows. When the when the blood covering 359 00:27:19,640 --> 00:27:23,280 is applied to my life, grace is the conduit that allows that 360 00:27:23,280 --> 00:27:25,880 blood to flow and cover over my life. 361 00:27:26,040 --> 00:27:36,000 Because the Bible says for by grace are you saved? 362 00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:47,320 Oh Hallelujah, hope, hope comes by grace. 363 00:27:49,160 --> 00:27:53,800 We are often, we are often our own limitations. 364 00:27:53,800 --> 00:27:59,440 Yes, absolutely, absolutely. We are often our biggest 365 00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:09,680 limitation. You want to teach Sunday school 366 00:28:09,680 --> 00:28:10,840 class? I don't think I could do that. 367 00:28:10,840 --> 00:28:16,520 You want to sing in the praise team? 368 00:28:16,520 --> 00:28:19,920 I don't think I could do that. Play musical? 369 00:28:19,920 --> 00:28:21,080 No, I don't think I could do that. 370 00:28:21,120 --> 00:28:27,560 You want to be an usher? I'm not sure I could do that. 371 00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:30,280 We are often our biggest. Those are just examples, but we 372 00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:33,280 are often often our biggest limitation. 373 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:36,840 It's not God that's telling us we can't do certain things 374 00:28:38,880 --> 00:28:42,400 because he sees you as he saw the apostle Paul, not as he saw 375 00:28:42,400 --> 00:28:42,800 Saul. That's right. 376 00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:43,120 Amen. Amen. 377 00:28:47,320 --> 00:28:49,080 Fleas. I don't want to make anybody 378 00:28:49,080 --> 00:28:54,040 itch here. Stay with fleas Have one of the 379 00:28:54,040 --> 00:28:59,400 highest vertical leaps of any living insect based on their 380 00:28:59,400 --> 00:29:06,280 size. A flea has a vertical jump that 381 00:29:06,280 --> 00:29:19,680 is 60 times it's height, 60. I know a couple football teams 382 00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:25,240 that could use that. Right now, if you capture a 383 00:29:25,240 --> 00:29:31,680 flea, put it in a jar, and put a lid on the jar, that flea still 384 00:29:31,680 --> 00:29:39,200 has the ability to jump 60 times it's height, but it has a 385 00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:44,800 limitation. So it'll start jumping inside 386 00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:51,560 the jar and it jumps in the jar because it's jump is 60 times 387 00:29:51,560 --> 00:29:55,480 its height and the size of the common jar would be smaller than 388 00:29:55,480 --> 00:30:00,840 that with the lid on. The flea is hitting the lid. 389 00:30:01,560 --> 00:30:06,560 It's jumping. I don't know that that's the 390 00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:08,720 sound it makes, but that's my effects. 391 00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:16,280 And it will hit its head or its body, whatever, over and over 392 00:30:16,280 --> 00:30:21,560 and over and over again so much that it will finally get tired 393 00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:26,280 of hitting itself on the lid. And it will start making 394 00:30:26,280 --> 00:30:31,640 adjustments to its jump to jump to the height of its limitation. 395 00:30:35,800 --> 00:30:40,560 So then the flea reduces his jump just high enough that he 396 00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:49,080 almost touches the lid, but he doesn't hit it all in an effort 397 00:30:49,960 --> 00:30:52,840 to not get knocked back down again. 398 00:30:56,520 --> 00:31:00,680 Some people have been knocked down so many times they've 399 00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:09,000 stopped trying to reach up. Some of us have adjusted our 400 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:19,960 reach in life to a safety zone that is limited, and it's based 401 00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:23,200 on a limitation, a limitation that we are putting on 402 00:31:23,200 --> 00:31:27,840 ourselves. It's not about what we can do, 403 00:31:29,880 --> 00:31:32,840 it's about us forgetting what God can do. 404 00:31:34,400 --> 00:31:36,600 Because God never put a lid on you. 405 00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:44,880 God's not the one capping your limitation. 406 00:31:47,200 --> 00:31:53,960 We do that ourselves. Watch this now, because here's 407 00:31:53,960 --> 00:31:56,440 Here's the danger of hopelessness. 408 00:31:58,800 --> 00:32:02,600 Hopelessness. Hopeless people duplicate 409 00:32:02,600 --> 00:32:13,160 hopelessness If those fleas in the jar have baby fleas while 410 00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:18,160 they're in the jar. The baby fleas are born with the 411 00:32:18,160 --> 00:32:21,720 same vertical ability to jump 60 times their height. 412 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:28,280 But because they're in an environment where they only see 413 00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:32,320 other fleas jumping to the limitation of the lid, they 414 00:32:32,320 --> 00:32:36,000 duplicate the behavior they see, and they never fulfill their 415 00:32:36,000 --> 00:32:39,640 fullest physical potential to jump beyond the lid. 416 00:32:44,080 --> 00:32:53,800 We have hope, We have hope. You have hope, but the hope can 417 00:32:53,800 --> 00:32:59,880 be rendered useless if we don't effectively trust God and accept 418 00:32:59,880 --> 00:33:03,360 the hope that He has given us by His grace. 419 00:33:04,680 --> 00:33:08,040 Grace that is given to us and our musicians can come tonight. 420 00:33:08,760 --> 00:33:11,640 Grace that is given to us. It's not simply is worth it 421 00:33:11,640 --> 00:33:20,160 today in tonight, but by grace. Are you saved? 422 00:33:21,960 --> 00:33:27,400 I've come to challenge somebody tonight to take the lid off of 423 00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:31,000 your limitations. I've come to challenge someone 424 00:33:31,000 --> 00:33:34,920 tonight in the Lord to stop telling God what you can't do 425 00:33:34,920 --> 00:33:37,240 whenever God's trying to tell you what you can do. 426 00:33:40,320 --> 00:33:44,360 And if you're under the guidance of your pastor, and if you're 427 00:33:44,360 --> 00:33:49,240 under the approval of your pastor, take the lid off. 428 00:33:53,560 --> 00:33:55,720 Well, it's scary. Of course it is. 429 00:33:57,800 --> 00:34:00,680 I'll tell you what I tell people that work for me whenever it 430 00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:05,000 comes to public speaking. We work in a big company, and 431 00:34:05,000 --> 00:34:07,320 for some of us, it requires getting up and talking in front 432 00:34:07,320 --> 00:34:12,239 of a very large group of people. You never get comfortable doing 433 00:34:12,239 --> 00:34:18,080 something that you don't do. It's normal to be nervous. 434 00:34:18,080 --> 00:34:20,280 I've got a group of students that I'm teaching on Monday 435 00:34:20,280 --> 00:34:23,480 nights and tomorrow night they have to give a presentation. 436 00:34:23,480 --> 00:34:25,440 It's the last night of the class and they have to give a 437 00:34:25,440 --> 00:34:26,960 presentation. They only have to give a 438 00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:29,480 presentation. Minimum requirement is 6 439 00:34:29,480 --> 00:34:35,360 minutes. Minimum requirement maximum is 440 00:34:35,360 --> 00:34:36,800 8. I've learned the hard way to set 441 00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:39,639 a maximum. Some people like their 442 00:34:39,639 --> 00:34:43,560 opportunity. Minimum requirement is 6 443 00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:46,280 minutes. Last week class I opened the 444 00:34:46,280 --> 00:34:49,719 class stated in front of them. I said anybody have any 445 00:34:49,719 --> 00:34:52,400 questions with next week is presentation week? 446 00:34:52,400 --> 00:34:54,800 Anybody have any questions? And everybody's hand went up. 447 00:34:56,159 --> 00:35:04,120 Oh boy, all of them but one. He's the one. 448 00:35:04,120 --> 00:35:08,240 I'm glad that I've set a limit on all of them. 449 00:35:08,400 --> 00:35:12,760 We're saying the same thing. I don't know if I can last 6 450 00:35:12,760 --> 00:35:15,560 minutes. I don't have that much to say. 451 00:35:16,560 --> 00:35:19,360 I'm too nervous. So I started coaching them 452 00:35:19,360 --> 00:35:21,360 through some things that aren't really related to what we're 453 00:35:21,360 --> 00:35:23,640 talking about tonight, but trying to help them ease their 454 00:35:23,640 --> 00:35:26,840 nerves and and figure out how to do what they needed to do for 455 00:35:26,840 --> 00:35:31,600 just 6 minutes. But I told them I realized this 456 00:35:31,600 --> 00:35:34,200 may be out of your comfort zone and it may be something that 457 00:35:34,200 --> 00:35:37,080 your current job doesn't require you to do on a daily basis. 458 00:35:38,640 --> 00:35:42,800 I respect that, I really do. But it's OK to be nervous 459 00:35:42,800 --> 00:35:45,160 because you never get good at anything that you don't ever do. 460 00:35:46,840 --> 00:35:53,280 Every master was once an amateur, and that's OK. 461 00:35:54,840 --> 00:35:59,200 But you never master something. You never get better at 462 00:35:59,200 --> 00:36:03,240 something until you take the step to actually do it. 463 00:36:06,200 --> 00:36:09,120 I had no preconceived intentions tonight of turning this into a 464 00:36:09,120 --> 00:36:13,600 recruitment message, but I'm very sincere whenever I tell you 465 00:36:13,600 --> 00:36:16,960 tonight I'm challenging you to take the lid off of your life. 466 00:36:19,400 --> 00:36:22,000 There are some God callings in this house tonight that I 467 00:36:22,000 --> 00:36:24,080 believe are remaining unfulfilled. 468 00:36:25,800 --> 00:36:30,280 I felt that for years. I'm not telling you what they 469 00:36:30,280 --> 00:36:32,560 are because I don't know the specifics, but I'm just telling 470 00:36:32,560 --> 00:36:34,240 you what I feel prompted to tell you. 471 00:36:34,480 --> 00:36:37,720 I believe there are some God callings in this house that have 472 00:36:37,720 --> 00:36:42,720 gone for years and days and months unfulfilled because of 473 00:36:42,720 --> 00:36:48,600 self-imposed limitation lids. I can't do this because I can't 474 00:36:48,600 --> 00:36:54,080 do that because I can't do that. Because the Apostle Paul would 475 00:36:54,080 --> 00:36:56,720 have never wrote 2/3 of the New Testament that we have and 476 00:36:56,720 --> 00:37:00,600 appreciate and love today if he had never accepted the fact that 477 00:37:00,600 --> 00:37:03,600 the church might not love me. People may not love me, but God 478 00:37:03,600 --> 00:37:11,710 has called me. Hope comes by grace. 479 00:37:14,070 --> 00:37:20,360 Grace, the gift of God. This altar is open tonight. 480 00:37:20,360 --> 00:37:22,920 Would you just lift your hands? If you want to come, come. 481 00:37:23,320 --> 00:37:25,320 If you want to kneel at your seat, please pray. 482 00:37:25,680 --> 00:37:28,480 But let's take this opportunity right now to consecrate some 483 00:37:28,480 --> 00:37:30,800 things to him. Let's seal this word in our 484 00:37:30,800 --> 00:37:34,400 heart tonight because we live in a world of hopelessness and we 485 00:37:34,400 --> 00:37:37,400 need to be the hope and the light of God for somebody. 486 00:37:38,920 --> 00:37:41,520 And that may not happen if we've got a lid on our life. 487 00:37:42,160 --> 00:37:45,400 We need to take the lid off tonight in Jesus name and allow 488 00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:46,760 God to minister to us.