1 00:00:03,040 --> 00:00:05,560 Thanks for checking out the Anchor Faith Message podcast 2 00:00:05,560 --> 00:00:06,920 from St. Augustine, FL. 3 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:16,720 Now enjoy this message. Tonight I'm going to kind of 4 00:00:16,960 --> 00:00:21,760 jump into it a little bit. Pastor actually asked me last 5 00:00:21,760 --> 00:00:24,200 Wednesday. And so as I was chewing on it, 6 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:28,520 on what I was going to minister tonight, actually kind of got a 7 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:30,400 little bit from Kingdom Institute. 8 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:32,600 I teach in our Kingdom Institute class and I was going through a 9 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:34,760 class and I was like, man, I think this is something I'm 10 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:37,160 going to expound upon. So I'm pretty excited about 11 00:00:37,400 --> 00:00:39,400 tonight. So I don't know if you know 12 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:41,440 this, but in Kingdom Institute we teach for about, you know, 70 13 00:00:41,440 --> 00:00:43,760 minutes. So goal's not that long tonight, 14 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:46,680 but we'll see how it goes. You know, be prepared, right? 15 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:50,560 So tonight I want to talk about make yourself useful. 16 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:55,000 Make yourself useful. I don't know about you guys, but 17 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:58,920 I've been really excited about what's going on at Anchor Faith 18 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:01,280 Church. For those of you who've been 19 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:04,040 around for a while, you've experienced a lot with us. 20 00:01:04,040 --> 00:01:06,560 And for those of you who haven't, I hope that you'll get 21 00:01:06,560 --> 00:01:08,800 to experience a lot with us, right? 22 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:12,920 And so we just celebrated 20 years of ministry here. 23 00:01:15,040 --> 00:01:17,200 And if you know anything about Anchor Faith Church, you know 24 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:21,200 that we are what always advancing, which means the day 25 00:01:21,200 --> 00:01:24,040 20 passed, we started setting our sights on what's to come, 26 00:01:24,880 --> 00:01:27,360 right? You know, it's not by accident 27 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:31,000 that we received a word over the church for branches just a 28 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:33,320 couple weeks before we were going to get into our couple 29 00:01:33,320 --> 00:01:35,160 months, I guess before we're going to get in, that kind of 30 00:01:35,160 --> 00:01:37,960 laid a foundation for where we believe Anchor Faith Church is 31 00:01:37,960 --> 00:01:40,800 going as a whole, right? That our roots have been 32 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:43,600 established, our trunk is growing, and now it's time for 33 00:01:43,600 --> 00:01:45,840 us to start branching out into other things. 34 00:01:45,840 --> 00:01:49,560 And so with that, I think it's a great time for us as a body, 35 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:53,480 body as a whole, to start examining ourselves, right? 36 00:01:53,680 --> 00:01:58,600 To start examining where our part to play in this is, right? 37 00:01:58,800 --> 00:02:01,800 For some of us, maybe you've been here for 20 years, maybe 38 00:02:01,800 --> 00:02:04,160 you've been here for 15, maybe you've been here for 10, maybe 39 00:02:04,160 --> 00:02:07,520 been here for five, whatever that is where last pastor 40 00:02:07,520 --> 00:02:10,680 ministered 2 Sundays ago. We're stepping into phase three, 41 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:14,720 which means you want to start looking at where do I see myself 42 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:18,280 in this phase, right? And for some of you, maybe 43 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:20,640 you've been serving in areas of ministry and for some of you, 44 00:02:20,640 --> 00:02:23,240 maybe you haven't. And so with this message, I hope 45 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:26,200 that we can kind of set a good foundation and, and realize some 46 00:02:26,200 --> 00:02:29,520 things that we're going to be able to step into here in the 47 00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:31,240 future. So I want to start in a second. 48 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:38,360 Timothy, 222nd Timothy, 220 through 21. 49 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:42,600 And it says Now in a large house there are not only gold and 50 00:02:42,600 --> 00:02:47,680 silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and 51 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:50,000 some to honor and some to dishonor. 52 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:54,840 Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from these things, he 53 00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:58,600 will be a vessel for honor. Sanctified, useful to the 54 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:03,560 master, prepared for every good work. 55 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:08,000 Prepared for every good work. That word, sanctified means to 56 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:15,800 render or acknowledge, to separate from profane things and 57 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:22,800 dedicate to God, to separate from profane things and dedicate 58 00:03:23,160 --> 00:03:26,520 to God, right? God is looking for a dedicated 59 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:29,680 people. God is looking for people who 60 00:03:29,680 --> 00:03:35,480 are sanctified and dedicated to Him and to His Word, right? 61 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:39,280 He's looking for someone who who isn't just doing what the world 62 00:03:39,280 --> 00:03:42,720 is doing, but is willing to step out into the way he's placed in 63 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:45,520 front of us, right? That word purify there means to 64 00:03:45,520 --> 00:03:51,200 cleanse externally, right? To purify or, or the to be free 65 00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:54,880 from guilt of sin. It's an internal purification by 66 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:58,640 renewing of the mind, by renewing our mind. 67 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:01,720 And I'm setting the foundation. We're going to go somewhere, 68 00:04:01,720 --> 00:04:06,480 don't worry. And the word useful there is 69 00:04:07,000 --> 00:04:10,120 easy to make use of or easily used. 70 00:04:11,920 --> 00:04:16,800 Easy to make use of or easily used, right? 71 00:04:16,959 --> 00:04:21,200 So it is our job to make ourselves useful. 72 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:23,200 Amen. Amen. 73 00:04:23,200 --> 00:04:28,880 It is our job to make ourselves useful, right? 74 00:04:29,160 --> 00:04:34,920 We have to, as believers, get ourselves in a position to make 75 00:04:34,920 --> 00:04:37,280 ourselves useful. So when we talk about Anchor Bay 76 00:04:37,280 --> 00:04:39,360 Church and we talk about this 20 years, and then we talk about 77 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:41,960 branches and we talk about extending and all these things, 78 00:04:41,960 --> 00:04:46,080 you have to ask yourself, have I made myself useful? 79 00:04:49,120 --> 00:04:52,440 Right? Because that is our job to do, 80 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:56,840 right? It says if anyone cleanses 81 00:04:56,840 --> 00:05:02,640 himself, if anyone cleanses himself, this isn't something 82 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:04,840 that's just going to magically happen to you just 'cause you 83 00:05:04,840 --> 00:05:08,000 walk through the doors. This isn't something that you're 84 00:05:08,000 --> 00:05:10,080 just going to accidentally fall into. 85 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:15,480 No, it's a process that you have to do and decisions and choices 86 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:17,560 that you have to make. Now, the church is here to help 87 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:20,440 pull things out of you and to bring you somewhere. 88 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:25,440 But in the end, the decisions to cleanse yourself comes from you. 89 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:30,440 You have to choose to make yourself useful. 90 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:36,240 You have to make that choice. Second Timothy 222 if we 91 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:39,680 continue reading down, it tells us back back in verse 21, it 92 00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:41,760 says everyone cleanses themselves from these things. 93 00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:43,280 Where here's those, these things. 94 00:05:43,280 --> 00:05:48,080 It says now free from now. Flee from youthful lust and 95 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:54,560 pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace with those who 96 00:05:54,560 --> 00:05:57,520 call on the Lord from a pure heart. 97 00:05:57,520 --> 00:06:02,720 But refused foolish and ignorant speculations, knowing that they 98 00:06:02,720 --> 00:06:06,240 produce quarrels. The Lord's bondservant must not 99 00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:11,200 be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach patient when 100 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:13,960 wrong with gentleness, correcting those who are in 101 00:06:13,960 --> 00:06:18,240 opposition, if perhaps God may grant them repentance leading to 102 00:06:18,240 --> 00:06:21,520 the knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses 103 00:06:21,520 --> 00:06:25,120 and escape from the snare of the devil, having been held captive 104 00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:31,600 by him to do His will right. We have to make the decision to 105 00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:37,520 flee from the youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, which 106 00:06:37,560 --> 00:06:40,560 means we have to get to a place that we start to mature. 107 00:06:40,560 --> 00:06:43,680 And this isn't just a physical youthful thing like, Oh well, 108 00:06:43,680 --> 00:06:45,440 he, he's rash or he makes quick decision. 109 00:06:45,680 --> 00:06:52,400 This Is Us fleeing from our spiritual youth as well, meaning 110 00:06:52,400 --> 00:06:55,560 we can't continue to live spiritually youthful. 111 00:06:56,120 --> 00:07:00,760 We have to mature our spirit past those youthful decisions. 112 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:06,440 To make ourselves useful means we have to make ourselves of 113 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:09,040 gold and silver. We have to make ourselves a 114 00:07:09,040 --> 00:07:13,200 vessel that is honorable, something that is set out for 115 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:16,960 the most prime time, the the best situation. 116 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:21,320 God says, man, I'm going to call on this because this is my best, 117 00:07:21,840 --> 00:07:23,280 right? I've always told people when 118 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:26,120 we're in Kingdom Institute that my goal when I got connected to 119 00:07:26,120 --> 00:07:29,680 the vision for me personally was I want to be somebody that if 120 00:07:29,680 --> 00:07:33,920 Pastor Earl calls on, he knows Chase will get it done and he'll 121 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:38,080 get it done. Like I would have to think I can 122 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:41,480 faithfully hand this to him and I know he will see it through 123 00:07:41,480 --> 00:07:44,280 just as I saw it through. Why? 124 00:07:44,280 --> 00:07:46,760 Because I want to be a vessel of honor. 125 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:50,800 I want to be something that can be used when it's most 126 00:07:50,800 --> 00:07:53,320 important. When I served, I lived in 127 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:57,560 Valdosta and I served at Cheddar's for a couple years. 128 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:01,480 And when I went to go get hired, the manager, I was her, it was 129 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:03,840 her first time hiring. And so she was like, look, I'm 130 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:05,640 going to be honest, I've never hired someone before. 131 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:08,960 So I know you know, whoever I pick, it's going to be like a 132 00:08:08,960 --> 00:08:12,600 big deal with the other managers you have no experience serving. 133 00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:14,240 Like what makes you think you're going to be able to do it? 134 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:15,920 And I looked at her and I said, look, if you hire me, I 135 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:17,680 guarantee you it's going to be the best decision you make. 136 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:21,840 Make it cheddar's like I promise you, you will not regret this, 137 00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:24,040 right? So she hired me on. 138 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:27,400 I came, I started learning how to learn the whole menu, had it 139 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:29,440 memorized. I knew everything right, knew 140 00:08:29,440 --> 00:08:32,039 all the sides, didn't need to look at it, knew exactly what 141 00:08:32,039 --> 00:08:32,559 was going on. Why? 142 00:08:32,559 --> 00:08:35,679 Because no matter what I did, I wanted to do it at a level of 143 00:08:35,679 --> 00:08:37,120 excellence. So I remember it was only a 144 00:08:37,120 --> 00:08:40,120 couple weeks in my first or I guess my very first night was a 145 00:08:40,120 --> 00:08:42,400 Friday night. I'm serving, someone gets mad 146 00:08:42,400 --> 00:08:43,799 because they order this big dessert. 147 00:08:43,799 --> 00:08:45,720 It's called the monster cookie. It comes out in this little 148 00:08:45,720 --> 00:08:47,960 crock pot pan and it fills the whole pan. 149 00:08:47,960 --> 00:08:51,120 They eat the whole thing and then asked for a manager because 150 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:53,240 they're like, hey, my Monster cookie was too small. 151 00:08:55,320 --> 00:08:57,240 And she was like, well, you ate it all. 152 00:08:57,240 --> 00:08:59,440 I can't really like what do you want me to do about it? 153 00:08:59,440 --> 00:09:01,360 And she was like, well, I want you to comp my meal. 154 00:09:01,360 --> 00:09:03,200 And she's like, well, I won't comp your meal, but I'll comp 155 00:09:03,520 --> 00:09:05,480 the cookie like it's fine, I'll take that off. 156 00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:07,440 No, no, I want the whole table comp. 157 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:08,800 It's like 8 people at this table. 158 00:09:09,560 --> 00:09:11,000 She's like, look, I mean, we're not doing that. 159 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:13,920 That's not happening, right? And so she turns around. that 160 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:16,400 Lady chunks a plate at her, busts on the wall. 161 00:09:16,400 --> 00:09:17,520 And I'm like serving next to him. 162 00:09:17,520 --> 00:09:21,560 She's like, what is going on? It's my first night. 163 00:09:21,560 --> 00:09:23,240 I walk back there. I look at him like, is this how 164 00:09:23,240 --> 00:09:25,480 Friday nights normally are? Because this is wild. 165 00:09:27,400 --> 00:09:29,840 Maybe you will regret hiring me. I ain't going to take a plate to 166 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:31,280 the face for you, you know what I'm saying? 167 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:35,680 Like right, But through time after a couple weeks, a a fight 168 00:09:35,680 --> 00:09:37,320 broke out at one of the big party tables. 169 00:09:37,320 --> 00:09:39,560 It's like 12 people. Something happens and the waiter 170 00:09:39,560 --> 00:09:41,240 says something. Guy stands up, punches the 171 00:09:41,240 --> 00:09:43,440 waiter in the face. It's like full blown brawl. 172 00:09:44,160 --> 00:09:46,400 Cops show up, they pull these people out. 173 00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:49,800 Manager walks up to me and she goes, hey, I'm going to need you 174 00:09:49,800 --> 00:09:52,360 to take over the the party section tonight. 175 00:09:53,480 --> 00:09:56,000 I was like some guy just got punched in the face. 176 00:09:56,600 --> 00:09:58,720 What do you mean you want me to take over the party section? 177 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:01,320 So I was like, all right, no problem, I'll do it. 178 00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:04,520 So I went from just serving like, you know, 24 top tables to 179 00:10:04,520 --> 00:10:07,600 serving like the Big 12, you know, 16, and then had a couple 180 00:10:07,600 --> 00:10:09,560 other tables, right? And then after that, I never 181 00:10:09,560 --> 00:10:11,040 went back. I just stayed at the party 182 00:10:11,040 --> 00:10:12,920 section and became a shift lead, right? 183 00:10:13,120 --> 00:10:16,600 Then when the managers, our cheddar's, ended up being one of 184 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:18,040 the best cheddar's in the nation. 185 00:10:18,040 --> 00:10:21,160 So then they brought other managers to come and view our 186 00:10:21,160 --> 00:10:24,440 Cheddar's, and then they would see those managers in my section 187 00:10:24,440 --> 00:10:26,840 so that I would be the one serving them, right? 188 00:10:26,840 --> 00:10:30,080 Because they realized, Man Chase serves like what we want, so 189 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:33,000 let's put him there, right? Then one time I remember I had a 190 00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:35,840 table and it was like a small table of two. 191 00:10:35,840 --> 00:10:37,440 And they were kind of giving me a problem. 192 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:39,320 You know, it was late on a Friday night and they're kind of 193 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:41,080 being an issue. And so then they asked this 194 00:10:41,080 --> 00:10:42,480 week, my manager was like, yeah, no problem. 195 00:10:42,480 --> 00:10:43,720 They're like, yeah, he messed up our order. 196 00:10:43,720 --> 00:10:44,880 He forgot this. He did this. 197 00:10:44,880 --> 00:10:46,600 And my manager looked in the face and was, I'm not comping 198 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:48,720 anything. This guy's never once messed up 199 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:49,880 a table. There's only two of you. 200 00:10:49,880 --> 00:10:51,640 There's no chance any of this happened. 201 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:53,040 Why? Why? 202 00:10:53,040 --> 00:10:54,920 Because she was confident in my ability. 203 00:10:54,920 --> 00:10:58,040 Because I proved myself right. I took myself into something. 204 00:10:58,040 --> 00:11:01,240 I said I'm going to make myself as useful as possible. 205 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:03,520 I want to be in a position that when they think, man, I need my 206 00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:05,520 best person on this tonight, right? 207 00:11:05,520 --> 00:11:09,400 When a busload of like 50 volleyball players showed up, it 208 00:11:09,560 --> 00:11:11,680 was like a softball team or something showed up. 209 00:11:11,680 --> 00:11:14,520 They're like, Chase can run this, right? 210 00:11:14,520 --> 00:11:18,480 Because I made myself useful. I did the work behind the 211 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:20,480 scenes. I put in the work to know the 212 00:11:20,480 --> 00:11:22,600 menu, I put in the work to know the specials. 213 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:25,000 I put in the work to make sure I was up on everything. 214 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:25,920 That was changing. Why? 215 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:29,400 Because AI wanted to make money and BI wanted to be good. 216 00:11:29,400 --> 00:11:31,560 And if you were shift lead, then you'd have to tip out at the 217 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:33,560 other night. So it was like an extra $50 or 218 00:11:33,560 --> 00:11:36,040 something that you got to keep. That's a big deal when you're a 219 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:37,680 server. I like, I keep my $50.00 so then 220 00:11:37,680 --> 00:11:41,240 I can pay $5 to one of the small sections to come clean my 221 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:43,680 section because I didn't have to do that, but they didn't make as 222 00:11:43,680 --> 00:11:45,520 much money where they needed it more than I did. 223 00:11:45,520 --> 00:11:52,400 You're like help win win, right? But it was through time of 224 00:11:52,400 --> 00:11:57,760 making myself useful and doing what was required behind the 225 00:11:57,760 --> 00:12:02,600 scenes that it manifested in front of them, right? 226 00:12:02,600 --> 00:12:05,560 So we want to make sure that we're doing what's required 227 00:12:05,720 --> 00:12:09,560 behind the scenes, that we're fleeing from the youthful lust, 228 00:12:09,560 --> 00:12:12,560 that we're staying in the word, that we're not allowing 229 00:12:12,560 --> 00:12:16,120 ourselves to stay in a cycle that that keeps us from 230 00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:22,000 maturing, right? It's our responsibility to make 231 00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:25,880 ourselves useful. So if you feel like you're not 232 00:12:25,880 --> 00:12:29,840 being used, then you need to ask yourself, Am I useful? 233 00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:39,920 Psalms 119 Nine says, How can a young man keep his way pure? 234 00:12:40,200 --> 00:12:42,880 By keeping it according to your Word. 235 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:45,480 With all my heart I have sought you. 236 00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:50,280 Do not let me wander from your commandments, Your Word I have 237 00:12:50,280 --> 00:12:53,920 treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against you. 238 00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:57,920 Bless are you, O Lord, teach me your statutes. 239 00:12:59,680 --> 00:13:05,880 Are we putting ourselves in a position, in a heart posture 240 00:13:06,160 --> 00:13:13,160 that we want to follow the Word at all costs, right? 241 00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:16,760 If we want to make ourselves useful, then we've got to put 242 00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:20,280 ourselves in a position that we're following the statutes. 243 00:13:20,280 --> 00:13:23,880 God's place that we're seeking His Word daily, that we're 244 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:30,640 putting His Word first in our life, right? 245 00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:33,960 Because you're never going to obtain to a higher level of the 246 00:13:33,960 --> 00:13:36,600 Word if you don't get into the Word. 247 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:43,960 You'll never obtain to something greater if you don't start doing 248 00:13:43,960 --> 00:13:49,200 greater. So we have to put ourselves in a 249 00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:54,000 position to grow. Romans 12/1 and two says, 250 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:59,160 Therefore, I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to 251 00:13:59,160 --> 00:14:03,760 present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to 252 00:14:03,760 --> 00:14:06,680 God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 253 00:14:07,560 --> 00:14:11,280 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the 254 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:15,680 renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of 255 00:14:15,680 --> 00:14:20,280 God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. 256 00:14:21,920 --> 00:14:24,000 Do not be conformed to the world. 257 00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:28,920 The Bible constantly tells us that if you want to be useful, 258 00:14:28,920 --> 00:14:32,600 if you want to be righteous, if you want to be holy, if you want 259 00:14:32,600 --> 00:14:36,280 to be sanctified, you can't continue to do the things the 260 00:14:36,280 --> 00:14:44,360 world is doing. The the church has allowed way 261 00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:49,800 too much mixture of culture with the world. 262 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:58,680 Way too much. We've started to allow because 263 00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:02,800 we want people to get involved. So we allow a little bit of this 264 00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:04,640 because I want to see them connected. 265 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:09,800 No, there's a standard at which we should obtain to and which we 266 00:15:09,800 --> 00:15:15,000 should help people obtain to, right? 267 00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:19,720 It's our job to make our self useful, and that means we're 268 00:15:19,720 --> 00:15:22,760 going to have to put ourselves in a position to do something 269 00:15:22,760 --> 00:15:25,040 different. We have to make ourselves 270 00:15:25,040 --> 00:15:26,840 useful. And once we make ourselves 271 00:15:26,840 --> 00:15:29,480 useful, we have to present ourselves useful. 272 00:15:32,680 --> 00:15:34,680 We have to present ourselves useful. 273 00:15:35,120 --> 00:15:38,360 We have to make ourselves available to be used. 274 00:15:39,680 --> 00:15:42,440 Because here's the thing, if you make yourself useful, make no 275 00:15:42,440 --> 00:15:45,080 doubt Anchor Faith Church will use you. 276 00:15:48,840 --> 00:15:53,120 If you make yourself useful, we will find A use for you. 277 00:15:56,120 --> 00:16:02,680 But Anchor Faith Church doesn't allow mixture, which means you 278 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:06,760 have to do the first step of making yourself useful. 279 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:12,200 You have to take the time to say, I'm going to seek God and 280 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:16,560 separate myself and live in accordance to His Word and live 281 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:20,200 in right standing to the King and pull myself out of what I 282 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:23,200 used to do in my youthful thinking in the way I once was 283 00:16:23,360 --> 00:16:26,720 and start aligning myself to what the Word says. 284 00:16:31,080 --> 00:16:33,080 So you got to present yourself useful. 285 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:42,320 We have to be available to be used, open to be used, Galatians 286 00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:46,520 513 says. For you were called to freedom, 287 00:16:46,520 --> 00:16:52,040 brethren only. Do not turn your freedom into an 288 00:16:52,040 --> 00:16:59,200 opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 289 00:17:01,600 --> 00:17:07,800 Do not turn freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but 290 00:17:07,800 --> 00:17:20,880 through love serve one another. See, we will all come to places 291 00:17:21,040 --> 00:17:28,359 in our own where we have to decide if we're going to do our 292 00:17:28,359 --> 00:17:37,720 thing or God's thing, right? With freedom comes the choice or 293 00:17:37,720 --> 00:17:45,360 the opportunity for the flesh or for the love and serving of 294 00:17:45,360 --> 00:17:52,700 others. We're going somewhere. 295 00:17:54,540 --> 00:17:59,280 Isaiah 1/19/20 says If you are willing and obedient, you shall 296 00:17:59,280 --> 00:18:03,680 eat the good of the land, but if you refuse and rebel, you shall 297 00:18:03,680 --> 00:18:08,200 be devoured by the sword, for the mouth of the Lord has 298 00:18:08,200 --> 00:18:14,000 spoken. See, once we make ourself 299 00:18:14,000 --> 00:18:17,200 useful, we need to present ourself useful. 300 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:25,400 Because making yourself useful is not enough if you then refuse 301 00:18:25,400 --> 00:18:31,360 to be used. It's not just enough to know the 302 00:18:31,360 --> 00:18:35,840 word and not do the word. It's not just enough to know the 303 00:18:35,840 --> 00:18:38,360 statutes but not live the statutes. 304 00:18:39,360 --> 00:18:43,240 It's not just enough to have everything you need to be useful 305 00:18:43,240 --> 00:18:46,000 but then refuse the opportunities of use. 306 00:18:49,920 --> 00:18:51,920 We have to be willing to be used. 307 00:18:51,920 --> 00:18:54,000 We have to present our self useful. 308 00:18:54,000 --> 00:18:56,520 We've all heard this said before that there's three things you 309 00:18:56,520 --> 00:19:01,320 can sow your time, your treasure, and your talents. 310 00:19:03,120 --> 00:19:06,240 You can sell your time. You can sell your money, and 311 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:08,080 then you can sell your gifts and abilities. 312 00:19:11,760 --> 00:19:17,440 Your level of usefulness will cap at whichever one of those 313 00:19:17,440 --> 00:19:22,040 you cap. Meaning when I get to a place 314 00:19:22,040 --> 00:19:26,640 that I say I'm no longer willing to sow this much time, my 315 00:19:26,640 --> 00:19:31,480 usefulness will stop there. God can only use you as much as 316 00:19:31,480 --> 00:19:38,440 you're willing to be used. If you say I'm going to cap how 317 00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:40,520 much I give, I will only give this much. 318 00:19:40,520 --> 00:19:42,840 Then guess what? You'll cap how much God can 319 00:19:42,840 --> 00:19:48,840 bring to you, because if I'm only willing to give this, then 320 00:19:48,840 --> 00:19:52,560 God knows I can't bring just more that he's unwilling to do 321 00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:57,400 anything with. If we cap our time, our treasure 322 00:19:57,400 --> 00:20:00,600 or our talents, then we'll cap our usefulness. 323 00:20:04,360 --> 00:20:07,120 If we have a, a gift or ability, we're like, oh man, you know, 324 00:20:07,120 --> 00:20:09,320 yeah, I can do that, but I do that all week. 325 00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:11,800 So, you know, I kind of like to not have to do it on Sundays. 326 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:20,320 We put a cap on our gifts and callings, and I'm going to tell 327 00:20:20,320 --> 00:20:21,400 you something about gifts and callings. 328 00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:23,920 Those were placed in you by God to be used. 329 00:20:26,880 --> 00:20:30,920 So you basically slap your purpose in the face by saying 330 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:40,930 the very gift you gave me. I refuse to honor you with your 331 00:20:40,930 --> 00:20:43,090 time, your talent, and your treasure. 332 00:20:45,000 --> 00:20:48,320 We have to get to a position that we realize I can't have 333 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:51,520 limits on how much I'm willing to give, how much time I'm 334 00:20:51,520 --> 00:20:54,360 willing to sell, how much of my gift I'm willing to pour out. 335 00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:58,160 I get to a place myself personally so much that I'm 336 00:20:58,160 --> 00:21:00,320 willing to learn new gifts to give out. 337 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:06,280 I'm willing to pick up something I've never done before because 338 00:21:06,280 --> 00:21:07,280 I. See a need. 339 00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:11,400 I tell people all the time I'm apartment to play guitar. 340 00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:17,000 I learned lead guitar to fill a need. 341 00:21:18,600 --> 00:21:22,720 I enjoyed it, but it was never the ultimate calling of my life. 342 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:25,560 If anyone's talked to Chris Castro, our drummer, for half a 343 00:21:25,560 --> 00:21:29,320 second, you realize that drumming is the ultimate passion 344 00:21:29,320 --> 00:21:32,640 of that dude's life. I think I had to tell him once. 345 00:21:32,640 --> 00:21:35,080 I was like, look man, I love you, but I just don't love music 346 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:42,280 as much as you love music. I just don't because it wasn't 347 00:21:42,280 --> 00:21:44,040 something that I knew I would do forever. 348 00:21:44,040 --> 00:21:46,400 It's something that I said I'll learn to feel. 349 00:21:46,520 --> 00:21:48,920 And God met me and said I'm going to get you where you need 350 00:21:48,920 --> 00:21:51,840 to get to be productive at it, to be useful at it. 351 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:53,960 Because I was willing to be used. 352 00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:58,200 Because like I said, if you put yourself to be willing to be 353 00:21:58,200 --> 00:22:02,680 used, we will use you. God will find use for you. 354 00:22:06,400 --> 00:22:11,080 We can't cap our gifts, we can't put a cap on our talents. 355 00:22:11,720 --> 00:22:14,920 We can't put a put a spot that say, I'm not even willing to try 356 00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:19,280 something new. You know what makes me think of 357 00:22:19,520 --> 00:22:21,640 like Pastor Mark? Pastor Mark Brady knew he was 358 00:22:21,640 --> 00:22:25,160 called to ministry when he came here, always had a desire to 359 00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:27,960 start a church, but wasn't the biggest fan of kids. 360 00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:31,800 And for those of you know, know Pastor Mark, he was our 361 00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:38,000 children's pastor. His heart changed towards kids, 362 00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:42,760 but at the time he had to be willing to do something he never 363 00:22:42,760 --> 00:22:49,640 saw himself doing. He put himself to use in an area 364 00:22:49,840 --> 00:22:53,160 that he didn't see as his calling or his best gift. 365 00:22:53,360 --> 00:22:58,720 But he said, I'll feel a need. So when we talk about 20 years 366 00:22:58,720 --> 00:23:01,200 and we're talking about what's this next phase and we're 367 00:23:01,200 --> 00:23:03,960 talking about branches and we're talking about what's next, we 368 00:23:03,960 --> 00:23:06,720 need to start assessing where do we see ourselves? 369 00:23:08,840 --> 00:23:11,240 I know some of us during the 20 years, we got to look back and 370 00:23:11,240 --> 00:23:13,000 we're like, wow, we've done so much together. 371 00:23:13,160 --> 00:23:15,520 And I even heard a couple of people who were newer and like, 372 00:23:15,520 --> 00:23:17,640 wow, they did so much. And you feel like what is like 373 00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:19,440 what? This is so new to me. 374 00:23:19,640 --> 00:23:21,720 Guess what? You get to be a part of the next 375 00:23:21,720 --> 00:23:25,120 20 years because Anchor Faith Church ain't going nowhere. 376 00:23:29,200 --> 00:23:31,160 But we got to make ourselves useful. 377 00:23:32,760 --> 00:23:34,720 We got to present ourselves useful. 378 00:23:35,120 --> 00:23:41,000 Colossians 323 says whatever you do, do your work heartedly As 379 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:45,080 for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord 380 00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:47,640 you will receive the reward of the inheritance. 381 00:23:48,760 --> 00:23:51,280 It is the Lord Christ whom you serve, right? 382 00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:53,760 Amen. Right. 383 00:23:53,760 --> 00:23:58,000 When we present our self useful, we have to realize that we're 384 00:23:58,000 --> 00:24:03,680 going to do this unto the Lord. It's not for my personal gain. 385 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:07,080 It's not for my own thing. It's because I've put myself in 386 00:24:07,080 --> 00:24:09,680 a position that I want to be used by God. 387 00:24:09,840 --> 00:24:12,560 So God's going to use me and I'm going to do it for him. 388 00:24:14,120 --> 00:24:18,840 I'm going to seek opportunities to continue to do service for 389 00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:26,080 Him. You know, we talk about our 390 00:24:26,080 --> 00:24:27,880 time, we talk about treasures, we talk about talents. 391 00:24:27,880 --> 00:24:30,600 And those tend to be, you know, three things when it comes to 392 00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:33,120 usefulness that most people will obviously struggle with at some 393 00:24:33,120 --> 00:24:36,120 point is they have to feel like they have to find balance of 394 00:24:36,120 --> 00:24:37,560 their time. And then they have to feel like 395 00:24:37,560 --> 00:24:40,320 they have to find, you know how, you know, how can they give me 396 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:41,800 money's tight in a season or whatever. 397 00:24:41,800 --> 00:24:44,240 Then they have to find like, what am I even good at to sew 398 00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:45,920 into? Maybe some people have obvious 399 00:24:45,920 --> 00:24:47,960 gifts, maybe other people have gifts that need to be pulled a 400 00:24:47,960 --> 00:24:51,640 little bit, right? But when we present ourselves 401 00:24:51,640 --> 00:24:55,200 useful, we understand that this is what the church is for. 402 00:24:56,080 --> 00:24:59,640 It's for equipping the Saints. It's to find those gifts. 403 00:24:59,640 --> 00:25:02,920 It's to pull out those gifts. It's to pull out all of this 404 00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:08,560 stuff that's inside of you and then put it to use, right. 405 00:25:08,720 --> 00:25:13,240 You know, the, the number one question I get when I travel out 406 00:25:13,240 --> 00:25:16,240 with pastor and I do different things, especially from other 407 00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:18,720 like creatives and other people in the ministry. 408 00:25:18,720 --> 00:25:21,720 Because once we start listing how much Anchor Faith Church 409 00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:25,600 does, a lot of other churches just you realize, aren't doing 410 00:25:25,800 --> 00:25:29,560 what we're doing, especially from a creative team standpoint, 411 00:25:29,920 --> 00:25:31,200 right? You know, a lot of churches have 412 00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:34,080 maybe a Wednesday night service. Most aren't doing that anymore. 413 00:25:34,080 --> 00:25:36,520 So they really only have like a Sunday morning service and then 414 00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:38,760 they maybe do like a first Wednesday or whatever. 415 00:25:38,760 --> 00:25:41,480 Then like a scattering of like random group nights, right, 416 00:25:41,680 --> 00:25:44,560 Obviously. And then that's it, right. 417 00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:47,920 Like that's, you know what they probably minister in a year. 418 00:25:47,920 --> 00:25:50,080 We cover in about 3 weeks at Incubate Church, right? 419 00:25:50,080 --> 00:25:52,920 You know what I'm saying, right. So we have a lot that we put our 420 00:25:52,920 --> 00:25:54,600 hands to just from a ministry side. 421 00:25:55,120 --> 00:25:57,120 But then obviously you've got Treasure Harbor Preschool, 422 00:25:57,560 --> 00:26:02,120 you've got Washington, you've got a Keenum Institute. 423 00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:05,000 We've got a huge list that you know, was presented at the 20 424 00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:08,040 years of all the things that we've grown in and done that 425 00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:10,520 creative overseas. Because the rule here at Anchor 426 00:26:10,520 --> 00:26:13,480 Fay Church with Creative is that another eye sees it. 427 00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:18,400 It goes through creative, right? If anyone's eyes but yourself is 428 00:26:18,400 --> 00:26:20,520 going to see it, then creative is going to have their hand on 429 00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:21,680 it. All right, because we have a 430 00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:23,440 level of excellence we want to obtain to you. 431 00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:26,080 So when you look at all of the areas of ministry and actually, 432 00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:28,520 you know, I got a fun little stat from Josh, I'll share it. 433 00:26:28,720 --> 00:26:34,000 So far this year, from from the beginning of the year to now, we 434 00:26:34,000 --> 00:26:39,040 have received 546 creative requests. 435 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:44,320 Now those, this is a deceiving number because it's actually 436 00:26:44,320 --> 00:26:47,360 probably significantly higher than that because one request 437 00:26:47,360 --> 00:26:51,480 might contain 10 projects, right? 438 00:26:51,480 --> 00:26:54,280 It might be like a slide, a graphic, a poster, a this, a 439 00:26:54,280 --> 00:26:56,920 this and whatever. So that's just within a couple 440 00:26:56,920 --> 00:27:00,160 months what we managed. You know, I was talking to 441 00:27:00,160 --> 00:27:01,920 another creative and they were like, man, I want to build a 442 00:27:01,920 --> 00:27:03,040 system. You know, we're starting to 443 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:03,960 grow. We're starting to get a lot. 444 00:27:03,960 --> 00:27:05,560 And like, I was like, well, how many requests are you kind of 445 00:27:05,560 --> 00:27:06,440 managing? He was like, yeah, you know, 446 00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:08,600 we're managing probably like, you know, like 30 a month. 447 00:27:08,600 --> 00:27:14,800 And I was like, OK, that's manageable. 448 00:27:14,880 --> 00:27:17,840 Trust me. You know, we all started 449 00:27:17,840 --> 00:27:20,160 somewhere, so I get it. But at the same time, right? 450 00:27:20,160 --> 00:27:22,560 So then the question becomes they're like, So what do you do 451 00:27:22,800 --> 00:27:25,880 with your time? How do you manage your time? 452 00:27:26,360 --> 00:27:28,240 If you guys are overseeing that much, how many of your time? 453 00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:33,800 Let's say, first of all, when it comes to time, I manage purpose 454 00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:36,920 and my purpose takes all of my time. 455 00:27:39,320 --> 00:27:42,320 No time doing purpose is wasted time. 456 00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:47,720 There is no amount of time I can sow into God's purpose for my 457 00:27:47,720 --> 00:27:49,640 life that I will regret sowing into. 458 00:27:50,520 --> 00:27:52,320 So then comes the obvious follow up question. 459 00:27:52,560 --> 00:27:57,520 What about your family? You bring your family into your 460 00:27:57,520 --> 00:28:01,800 purpose and there's the trick, right? 461 00:28:02,120 --> 00:28:04,760 W Augustine need to help out. I got to go take pictures. 462 00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:06,440 Guess what? My kids get to watch a football 463 00:28:06,440 --> 00:28:11,080 game, they get to come hang out with their dad while he takes 464 00:28:11,080 --> 00:28:13,920 pictures and serves, and they get to learn what serving looks 465 00:28:13,920 --> 00:28:16,760 like and be a part of something, you know, especially W oxing. 466 00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:19,200 That's an easy 1/2 of you guys are taking your kids to sports 467 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:21,280 events and missing Wednesday nights or something anyway, so 468 00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:23,600 you might as well take them to the other ones that help serve. 469 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:29,800 And that's a pretty easy one, right? 470 00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:33,920 What do we do? We find ways to bring everything 471 00:28:33,920 --> 00:28:36,960 else we're doing into our purpose. 472 00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:40,960 When I look at my time, I'm willing to cut anything that 473 00:28:40,960 --> 00:28:45,880 doesn't serve purpose out to make time for more purpose. 474 00:28:49,680 --> 00:28:52,520 I'll cut any of it out in any season. 475 00:28:53,120 --> 00:28:56,200 Some of you follow me, you know I'm not some like robot. 476 00:28:56,200 --> 00:28:58,360 Obviously, I do things. If you follow him on Instagram, 477 00:28:58,360 --> 00:29:00,600 you saw I just got an Xbox, got a new Xbox. 478 00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:02,480 Wife surprised me. Gift, little nostalgia. 479 00:29:02,480 --> 00:29:04,240 I had a little fun, so I played it. 480 00:29:05,240 --> 00:29:07,640 It's not like I don't play it, but there's seasons of which I 481 00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:09,920 don't touch the thing for months at a time. 482 00:29:11,160 --> 00:29:14,120 I can specifically think at one time that I cut one on, and the 483 00:29:14,120 --> 00:29:16,080 minute I cut on Alyssa was like, Hey, I need. 484 00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:19,960 And I was like, Yep. And you're done. 485 00:29:20,080 --> 00:29:22,040 Like that was it. That was it for the week, right? 486 00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:24,040 Why? Because in anything I'm willing 487 00:29:24,040 --> 00:29:28,840 to cut out the things that don't serve my purpose to continue to 488 00:29:28,840 --> 00:29:33,040 advance my purpose. Because no time and purpose will 489 00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:35,240 not yield anything but extra fruit. 490 00:29:35,400 --> 00:29:38,160 No time and purpose will not make me feel worse. 491 00:29:38,320 --> 00:29:41,560 God will manage anything you have any relationship he will 492 00:29:41,560 --> 00:29:46,600 make up time with if you're serving purpose right? 493 00:29:46,600 --> 00:29:50,240 So if we present our self useful, we can't then start to 494 00:29:50,240 --> 00:29:52,360 complain once we're getting used. 495 00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:58,480 We do our work wholeheartedly unto the world, not to the world 496 00:29:58,480 --> 00:30:06,080 unto the Lord, right? Once we begin to get used, we 497 00:30:06,080 --> 00:30:09,560 then can't just be like, oh, now they're using me so much. 498 00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:13,760 That's the whole point of being useful, right? 499 00:30:13,760 --> 00:30:17,520 Because once you find something that's really useful, you use. 500 00:30:17,560 --> 00:30:20,680 It. Right, Everyone knows when you 501 00:30:20,680 --> 00:30:22,960 get on to something new and you like really like it for a 502 00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:25,080 season, maybe it's like a new meal that you tried and you love 503 00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:25,800 it. Then all of a sudden you're 504 00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:28,320 eating like every other night until like you can't have any, 505 00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:30,480 right? You start doing something very 506 00:30:30,480 --> 00:30:32,200 consistent because like this is great. 507 00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:34,600 This is useful. I love this. 508 00:30:34,600 --> 00:30:36,920 It is helps my life. I can continue to do this. 509 00:30:37,160 --> 00:30:38,760 And the same thing should happen for you. 510 00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:41,880 When you make yourself useful, expect to be used. 511 00:30:41,880 --> 00:30:46,080 And the goal should be that I can be used to help make things 512 00:30:46,080 --> 00:30:49,080 easier. And. 513 00:30:49,080 --> 00:30:54,840 Usefulness, obviously can, can, can come in sometimes seasons 514 00:30:54,840 --> 00:30:57,200 where maybe you're being used a lot more, maybe a little bit, 515 00:30:57,200 --> 00:30:59,680 yes, But I'm always being usable. 516 00:31:01,600 --> 00:31:05,720 I'm always presenting myself for usefulness. 517 00:31:08,200 --> 00:31:10,680 It's always surprising to me how easy it is. 518 00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:13,240 For us. To discount our service to the 519 00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:20,000 Lord because we have something else planned, we need to get to 520 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:24,840 a mindset of realizing that our service to the Lord is the most 521 00:31:24,840 --> 00:31:31,800 important thing we can do right Because there was a time in 522 00:31:31,800 --> 00:31:32,640 your. Life. 523 00:31:33,040 --> 00:31:34,880 That you're not where you are today. 524 00:31:34,880 --> 00:31:41,440 And then you came to Anchor Faith Church and somebody served 525 00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:45,040 as a greeter and you felt welcomed, and someone served in 526 00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:46,760 the parking lot and you were assisted. 527 00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:50,840 And someone served in sound, and you got to worship and the band 528 00:31:50,840 --> 00:31:53,000 served on stage and you got to sing. 529 00:31:54,040 --> 00:31:57,120 And their service pulled usefulness out of you and got 530 00:31:57,120 --> 00:32:03,520 you to a place that you are now. So why would we hold that in 531 00:32:03,600 --> 00:32:07,280 when somebody coming through that door needs your service? 532 00:32:07,280 --> 00:32:12,800 I don't know how many times we've heard testimonies at 533 00:32:12,800 --> 00:32:15,440 Anchor Faith Church of Man. My marriage was changed. 534 00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:19,360 Why? Because we invest in it. 535 00:32:19,760 --> 00:32:21,400 There's marriage conference coming up. 536 00:32:21,400 --> 00:32:23,600 There was one month ago. Guess what that takes? 537 00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:29,560 People serving, and they're serving you and they're serving 538 00:32:29,560 --> 00:32:34,920 your marriage. So how dare I say I'm not 539 00:32:34,920 --> 00:32:41,840 willing to serve, to hold back a gift that could change someone 540 00:32:41,840 --> 00:32:46,480 else's life? Who knows what your smile and 541 00:32:46,480 --> 00:32:48,240 handshake could do at the front door? 542 00:32:52,760 --> 00:32:57,640 But are we willing to be used or are we putting caps on our time? 543 00:32:58,080 --> 00:32:59,880 Are we putting caps on our treasure? 544 00:33:00,400 --> 00:33:03,120 Are we putting caps? And then you can justify. 545 00:33:03,120 --> 00:33:05,720 Well, I do a lot. I spend a lot of time, so I 546 00:33:05,720 --> 00:33:10,360 don't need to give this. Well, I don't invest my money, 547 00:33:10,360 --> 00:33:13,200 but I do invest my time, Your cap in your treasure. 548 00:33:14,160 --> 00:33:16,360 Well, I invest a lot of money so I don't have to. 549 00:33:16,400 --> 00:33:18,840 Like I'm busy making the money to invest, so I don't have time 550 00:33:18,840 --> 00:33:20,600 to serve here. So you're capping your time. 551 00:33:22,080 --> 00:33:24,960 This isn't a trade off system of trying to make something work. 552 00:33:24,960 --> 00:33:28,120 It's a I'm willing to serve when service is needed. 553 00:33:31,120 --> 00:33:34,640 Because I'm telling you now, when you find your calling and 554 00:33:34,640 --> 00:33:38,360 your gifting and your purpose, it all becomes easy and exciting 555 00:33:38,360 --> 00:33:43,400 anyways. Because the other thing I always 556 00:33:43,400 --> 00:33:45,080 tell people is like, how do you manage your time is like, well, 557 00:33:45,080 --> 00:33:50,240 it's pretty easy. I love what I do, so it doesn't 558 00:33:50,240 --> 00:33:56,080 bother me to do it. I fully love what I do. 559 00:33:57,720 --> 00:34:01,560 So to come home and edit photos from a Sunday morning or 560 00:34:01,560 --> 00:34:04,640 Wednesday night while I'm still at home before I go to bed, I 561 00:34:04,640 --> 00:34:07,320 enjoy it. I love looking at them. 562 00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:09,360 I love seeing all the photographers grow. 563 00:34:09,480 --> 00:34:11,480 I like laughing at somebody else's faces you make. 564 00:34:13,639 --> 00:34:18,679 I get joy from it. I love putting things together. 565 00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:21,520 I love training other people. You know, we got Connor 566 00:34:22,159 --> 00:34:24,600 somewhere who you came on staff with us. 567 00:34:25,239 --> 00:34:27,800 He put together that that testimonial video. 568 00:34:28,320 --> 00:34:34,880 It was amazing. You said in service we see these 569 00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:38,800 things, why we do this as service and because we love what 570 00:34:38,800 --> 00:34:43,880 we do, it becomes easy. So when you love what you do, 571 00:34:43,880 --> 00:34:48,679 you're not you're willing to put time into it first. 572 00:34:48,679 --> 00:34:53,159 Peter 410 says as each one of us has received a special gift, 573 00:34:53,719 --> 00:34:58,600 employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold 574 00:34:58,600 --> 00:35:03,600 grace of God. Whoever speaks is to do as one 575 00:35:03,600 --> 00:35:05,320 who is speaking the utterance of God. 576 00:35:05,320 --> 00:35:09,360 Whoever serves is to do as one who is serving by the strength 577 00:35:09,360 --> 00:35:13,440 which God supplies, so that on all things God may be glorified 578 00:35:13,440 --> 00:35:17,400 through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion 579 00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:20,120 forever and ever. Amen. 580 00:35:21,200 --> 00:35:24,040 We want to place ourselves as vessels of honor, right? 581 00:35:25,320 --> 00:35:28,000 So that we can be used. And when we're used, it's 582 00:35:28,000 --> 00:35:31,920 because we know I've made myself the best for this area. 583 00:35:31,920 --> 00:35:35,600 Amen. When they call me in, they're 584 00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:39,240 calling in the best. When they call me and I'm going 585 00:35:39,240 --> 00:35:42,960 to give them the best, I'm going to present them with the 586 00:35:43,000 --> 00:35:46,000 absolute best I have. I'm going to present myself 587 00:35:46,280 --> 00:35:49,560 honorable of this position. I'm going to present myself 588 00:35:49,640 --> 00:35:52,680 worthy of being here. I'm going to present myself as 589 00:35:52,680 --> 00:35:57,920 someone who knows their value, right. 590 00:35:58,080 --> 00:36:01,200 If we're going to strive to be these vessels of honor, then 591 00:36:01,200 --> 00:36:03,080 we've got to. We've got to not only make 592 00:36:03,080 --> 00:36:06,480 ourselves useful, present ourselves useful, but then we 593 00:36:06,480 --> 00:36:13,920 have to keep ourselves useful. Because here's the thing, once 594 00:36:13,920 --> 00:36:18,760 you start getting used, if you don't maintain your usefulness, 595 00:36:20,000 --> 00:36:25,800 you'll wear out. And it's a pretty easy trick to 596 00:36:25,800 --> 00:36:28,400 maintain your usefulness because it's the same thing you had to 597 00:36:28,400 --> 00:36:31,640 do to make yourself useful. You stay in the word. 598 00:36:32,040 --> 00:36:35,640 You keep yourself righteous because the last thing you want 599 00:36:35,640 --> 00:36:40,400 to do is become seasonally useful, right? 600 00:36:40,400 --> 00:36:42,320 Because the verse says, look, there's plates of gold and 601 00:36:42,320 --> 00:36:43,320 silver, then there's earthenware. 602 00:36:43,320 --> 00:36:45,600 But I also want to say there's a third set of plates. 603 00:36:45,880 --> 00:36:48,560 There's your Thanksgiving plates, there's your holiday 604 00:36:48,560 --> 00:36:52,000 plates, There's those plates that you pull out for a season 605 00:36:52,200 --> 00:36:57,160 and then you put in a box. Some of us have made ourselves 606 00:36:57,160 --> 00:36:59,480 seasonally. So I'm, I'm good in the fall, 607 00:36:59,680 --> 00:37:01,840 but when winter comes, I hibernate. 608 00:37:02,720 --> 00:37:05,880 Oh, it's summer, I'm busy. Block out the whole month. 609 00:37:09,960 --> 00:37:14,920 OK, We don't want to become seasonally useful. 610 00:37:14,920 --> 00:37:19,360 All right, the Bible alert says be ready in season. 611 00:37:19,360 --> 00:37:23,440 And meaning I'm willing to step into something because here's 612 00:37:23,440 --> 00:37:26,440 the thing about seasonal plate. They get put up, they get dusty. 613 00:37:27,040 --> 00:37:29,800 That means when they go out they got to be re cleaned, re 614 00:37:29,800 --> 00:37:33,200 cleanse, re purified, ready to be used again. 615 00:37:33,280 --> 00:37:35,560 There's a little bit of time you can't you don't just pull those 616 00:37:35,560 --> 00:37:36,840 things out and throw them on the table. 617 00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:39,360 No, there's prep work that has to go back into it. 618 00:37:41,240 --> 00:37:43,160 And the other thing about seasonal places, they're 619 00:37:43,160 --> 00:37:46,120 seasonal, which means what look good one Thanksgiving come 620 00:37:46,120 --> 00:37:48,040 around, right? My wife's big seasonal direct, 621 00:37:48,520 --> 00:37:50,520 you know, decorator. She loves decorating for fall 622 00:37:50,520 --> 00:37:53,280 and all these kind of things. And every time she tells me that 623 00:37:53,280 --> 00:37:55,960 will be good for next fall. But next fall comes and 624 00:37:55,960 --> 00:37:59,240 Pinterest says what we had last year is no longer good this 625 00:37:59,240 --> 00:38:03,720 year. So I kept my fall decorations in 626 00:38:03,720 --> 00:38:07,360 a box for no reason because now I'm getting new fall 627 00:38:07,360 --> 00:38:11,800 decorations. So if we become seasonal 628 00:38:11,800 --> 00:38:14,720 workers, then we might find ourselves at a season that we're 629 00:38:14,720 --> 00:38:19,160 no longer needed because we've pulled ourselves out of 630 00:38:19,160 --> 00:38:23,120 something. Let me come back home. 631 00:38:23,120 --> 00:38:24,680 I'm ready to, you know, I'm here again. 632 00:38:25,840 --> 00:38:29,000 Oh, well, we move. You're out of season, we've 633 00:38:29,000 --> 00:38:30,560 moved on. You're out of style. 634 00:38:30,560 --> 00:38:35,200 It's going to take some time for you to get back in this thing, 635 00:38:35,720 --> 00:38:42,480 rework yourself, right? If we're going to keep our self 636 00:38:42,480 --> 00:38:46,880 useful, then we have to make sure that we're staying in the 637 00:38:46,880 --> 00:38:49,880 word constantly. Right, this is the. 638 00:38:49,880 --> 00:38:53,400 Great thing about Anchor Faith Church, every message you might 639 00:38:53,400 --> 00:38:56,480 miss will come out before the next message is preached. 640 00:38:57,920 --> 00:39:02,160 So get on the podcast, get on YouTube, get on Spotify, 641 00:39:02,280 --> 00:39:04,760 anywhere you can find the audio we have it. 642 00:39:06,600 --> 00:39:08,120 Why? That's so you can continue to 643 00:39:08,120 --> 00:39:13,480 help keep yourself useful. It's so that you can continue to 644 00:39:13,480 --> 00:39:16,560 put yourself in a position because God will honor your 645 00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:18,320 service. So make no mistake, if you're 646 00:39:18,320 --> 00:39:22,280 serving in kids and something happens in here, you don't miss 647 00:39:22,280 --> 00:39:27,360 out when you actually take time to listen to it again, God will 648 00:39:27,360 --> 00:39:35,800 honor that time you served. God will not call you to do 649 00:39:35,800 --> 00:39:41,280 something and say, ah, sorry, no, He's gonna honor those 650 00:39:41,280 --> 00:39:43,800 things. So if we're going to keep 651 00:39:43,800 --> 00:39:47,160 ourselves useful, then we have to make sure we take on 652 00:39:47,160 --> 00:39:50,480 ourselves the time required to stay full. 653 00:39:52,200 --> 00:39:55,800 Because once you're being used, there's wear that comes with it. 654 00:39:57,240 --> 00:39:59,760 I love boots. A big boot guy. 655 00:39:59,960 --> 00:40:02,280 I have a lot of boots. Some boots way nicer than 656 00:40:02,280 --> 00:40:03,880 others. The good thing about a nice real 657 00:40:03,880 --> 00:40:06,680 leather boot? There's a break in period. 658 00:40:08,120 --> 00:40:09,760 Right. There's time that you just got 659 00:40:09,760 --> 00:40:13,360 to wear them every day and break them in and then they start to 660 00:40:13,360 --> 00:40:17,920 form and it hurts a little bit. And then couple days in you 661 00:40:17,920 --> 00:40:20,080 question like, why did I do this? 662 00:40:21,080 --> 00:40:23,240 You know, I went on a trip once and brought a brand new pair of 663 00:40:23,240 --> 00:40:24,840 boots and I was like, I'm breaking boots all the time. 664 00:40:24,840 --> 00:40:27,360 I'll be fine. About day three, you're like, 665 00:40:27,360 --> 00:40:33,960 man, that was a decision that was made and now we're here with 666 00:40:33,960 --> 00:40:38,240 just this one pair of boots, right? 667 00:40:38,400 --> 00:40:41,240 But then they get broken in, they get formed, they're being 668 00:40:41,240 --> 00:40:43,840 used, they're nice, they're soft, they're easy to take on 669 00:40:43,840 --> 00:40:45,400 and off. They've got this good feel. 670 00:40:45,400 --> 00:40:47,600 It feels like just a regular pair of socks and it's just 671 00:40:47,600 --> 00:40:49,880 nice. But then maintenance is required 672 00:40:49,880 --> 00:40:55,320 to keep them that way, right? I got back from a trip, I then 673 00:40:55,320 --> 00:40:58,360 have to take them off and I put some leather oil on it and I 674 00:40:58,360 --> 00:40:59,800 clean them up and I take care of why? 675 00:40:59,800 --> 00:41:01,160 Because I wanted to serve a long time. 676 00:41:01,160 --> 00:41:03,400 Because when I spend money on boots, I got to convince my wife 677 00:41:03,400 --> 00:41:05,240 that I'm going to have them for a long time. 678 00:41:09,440 --> 00:41:11,760 You know, I'll never forget the first pair I actually got rid of 679 00:41:12,200 --> 00:41:16,440 cried a little shed of tear. So I just got a message there 680 00:41:16,440 --> 00:41:18,240 like he could have resold him. I was like it was time. 681 00:41:19,840 --> 00:41:23,600 Had to let him go. They had duct tape on the bottom 682 00:41:27,920 --> 00:41:31,080 right. But if we take the proper care 683 00:41:31,280 --> 00:41:35,320 of the things, then it will last through seasons, through storms, 684 00:41:35,440 --> 00:41:39,160 through trials, through tests, through long journeys. 685 00:41:43,320 --> 00:41:46,760 But it's the maintenance that we require because as we're pulled 686 00:41:46,960 --> 00:41:51,680 on, you have to have something in you to then give out. 687 00:41:53,000 --> 00:41:57,360 Most of the burnout comes from not having enough inside of you. 688 00:42:01,280 --> 00:42:03,800 So the key is burnout doesn't really come from man, I've been 689 00:42:03,800 --> 00:42:04,920 used too much. I'm burnout. 690 00:42:04,920 --> 00:42:08,400 No, you didn't keep yourself full enough to be used. 691 00:42:13,120 --> 00:42:14,920 I tell creatives all the time, they're like, you know, do you 692 00:42:14,920 --> 00:42:16,480 ever get to a point where you're just creative block? 693 00:42:16,480 --> 00:42:18,080 I'm like, no, because I stay in the word. 694 00:42:20,080 --> 00:42:22,520 If you don't stay in the word, you're going to supply the 695 00:42:22,520 --> 00:42:27,560 cement for your creative block. You're building this wall 696 00:42:27,560 --> 00:42:29,280 yourself that you've got a bust through. 697 00:42:32,120 --> 00:42:35,520 No, we have to maintain our usefulness. 698 00:42:36,440 --> 00:42:39,760 We have to keep our self useful. We have to put in the work 699 00:42:39,760 --> 00:42:43,160 required that in, even in a season of pouring out and 700 00:42:43,160 --> 00:42:46,040 pouring out, that we're making sure we're putting more in. 701 00:42:48,760 --> 00:42:52,000 Because as long as I continue to put more in, I'll always have 702 00:42:52,000 --> 00:42:58,800 something to give out. We have to keep ourselves 703 00:42:58,800 --> 00:43:06,720 useful. 2nd Corinthians 47 says, But we have this treasure in 704 00:43:07,040 --> 00:43:10,840 earthen vessels, so that the surpassing greatness of the 705 00:43:10,840 --> 00:43:14,120 power will be of God and not from ourselves. 706 00:43:16,040 --> 00:43:19,600 We make ourselves useful, but the power of which we use comes 707 00:43:19,600 --> 00:43:26,400 from God. And if we continue to pull on 708 00:43:26,400 --> 00:43:30,360 God and on his word and his power, it will be available to 709 00:43:30,360 --> 00:43:33,720 us to give out to place where needed so that we can continue 710 00:43:33,720 --> 00:43:37,400 to sow and continue to serve and continue to be honorable and 711 00:43:37,400 --> 00:43:39,920 continue to be something that's presentable and continue to be 712 00:43:39,920 --> 00:43:42,160 something that's great, right? I tell people all the time, 713 00:43:42,160 --> 00:43:44,640 there's another scripture I pulled out and I didn't use, but 714 00:43:44,640 --> 00:43:47,480 it says, you know, you want to be, you know, the the plates 715 00:43:47,480 --> 00:43:50,920 that are used for honorable, not like the trash can, right? 716 00:43:51,200 --> 00:43:55,400 But then obviously we also think every part is important, right? 717 00:43:55,640 --> 00:43:58,040 And so you're like, maybe you're not a plate, maybe you are a 718 00:43:58,040 --> 00:44:00,360 trash can. Then guess what be the best 719 00:44:00,360 --> 00:44:04,440 trash can in the world be the one that's got recycling and 720 00:44:04,440 --> 00:44:06,120 then trash. And then when you push the lid, 721 00:44:06,120 --> 00:44:08,280 it goes down slow so it doesn't slam. 722 00:44:09,520 --> 00:44:12,080 It's got that stainless steel that doesn't get smudges on it 723 00:44:13,920 --> 00:44:18,560 right In whatever you're calling is you want to put myself in the 724 00:44:18,560 --> 00:44:23,480 position to be the best of it, to be the most honorable use of 725 00:44:23,480 --> 00:44:25,520 it. I don't want to be something 726 00:44:25,520 --> 00:44:27,560 that that we hide behind the corner. 727 00:44:30,320 --> 00:44:32,000 I call man. We want to use this guy, but 728 00:44:32,000 --> 00:44:37,840 definitely don't put him up somewhere, no. 729 00:44:37,880 --> 00:44:39,880 We want to in every position, make. 730 00:44:39,880 --> 00:44:42,720 Ourselves as useful as possible because even behind the scenes 731 00:44:42,720 --> 00:44:46,840 are not behind the scenes. I don't tell you no matter what 732 00:44:46,840 --> 00:44:49,320 position you think you serve it even if you think it's behind 733 00:44:49,320 --> 00:44:50,920 the scenes it's not behind the scenes. 734 00:44:51,920 --> 00:44:55,880 I got guys who come in here in a dark room wearing all black and 735 00:44:55,880 --> 00:44:57,640 I still get people who talk to us about them. 736 00:44:59,600 --> 00:45:03,240 No, the church come in now your your camera guys are so good. 737 00:45:03,240 --> 00:45:07,400 What do you do to train them? How did you get like, what did 738 00:45:07,400 --> 00:45:09,400 you like? Do these guys work in this 739 00:45:09,400 --> 00:45:12,560 industry? Had that question before. 740 00:45:13,400 --> 00:45:17,400 No, I've got a team that said I'm gonna make myself useful, 741 00:45:17,640 --> 00:45:19,880 that I've never worked on a camera before, but I'm gonna 742 00:45:19,880 --> 00:45:24,720 learn a gifting and I'm gonna put my hand to this thing and 743 00:45:24,720 --> 00:45:27,880 I'm gonna practice. I was so blessed by one of our 744 00:45:27,880 --> 00:45:30,040 team members who texted me was like, man, I just want to come 745 00:45:30,040 --> 00:45:32,760 up and just practice the camera stuff a little bit. 746 00:45:34,480 --> 00:45:37,040 Is that alright? Absolutely. 747 00:45:38,320 --> 00:45:41,080 Just get up here, get my hands on it again, practice a little 748 00:45:41,080 --> 00:45:43,280 bit more. Why? 749 00:45:43,280 --> 00:45:45,840 Because they, they're recognizing that they want to 750 00:45:45,840 --> 00:45:49,960 continue to grow in something, they want to continue to learn 751 00:45:49,960 --> 00:45:53,480 in something, they want to continue to get themselves 752 00:45:53,480 --> 00:45:56,280 somewhere. And that required an investment 753 00:45:56,280 --> 00:46:01,960 on their time, right? We have to make ourselves 754 00:46:01,960 --> 00:46:04,160 useful. We have to present ourselves 755 00:46:04,160 --> 00:46:06,160 useful. We have to keep ourselves 756 00:46:06,160 --> 00:46:08,360 useful. And all three of those things 757 00:46:08,360 --> 00:46:11,880 will require our time, our treasure and our talents. 758 00:46:15,000 --> 00:46:17,840 And like I said, anchor faith. Let's not get to a place that we 759 00:46:17,840 --> 00:46:24,320 cap any of them. We want to be a people that 760 00:46:24,320 --> 00:46:27,120 says, man, the vision is worth it. 761 00:46:31,560 --> 00:46:35,040 The vision is worth it because there was a time that these 762 00:46:35,040 --> 00:46:37,400 people serving is what changed my life. 763 00:46:37,560 --> 00:46:41,120 And now I get to step into a season where my serving can 764 00:46:41,120 --> 00:46:45,280 change someone else's. I get to step into a moment 765 00:46:45,360 --> 00:46:47,960 where we're going to look back in 20 more years and I'll be 766 00:46:47,960 --> 00:46:50,400 able to be like, man, I was a part of that. 767 00:46:52,440 --> 00:46:55,800 I saw that thing through. I put my hand to that. 768 00:46:56,200 --> 00:46:59,520 I remember when when I was just getting, but now I'm I'm 769 00:46:59,520 --> 00:47:05,920 running. We have to make ourselves 770 00:47:05,920 --> 00:47:08,880 useful. We have to present ourselves 771 00:47:08,880 --> 00:47:12,240 useful. We have to keep ourselves 772 00:47:12,240 --> 00:47:22,880 useful. See the seasons coming in 773 00:47:22,880 --> 00:47:29,080 everything with the church as a whole that we have to make a 774 00:47:29,080 --> 00:47:35,880 decision that we're gonna press into this thing, right? 775 00:47:35,880 --> 00:47:38,120 Because it says in the end, the times will get darker and and 776 00:47:38,120 --> 00:47:40,400 things will happen. So how much more do we have to 777 00:47:40,400 --> 00:47:48,040 press as a body of believers to be light, which means we have to 778 00:47:48,040 --> 00:47:50,080 put ourselves in positions to shine. 779 00:47:50,200 --> 00:47:52,680 We have to put ourselves in positions for our light to be 780 00:47:52,680 --> 00:47:53,920 seen. We have to put ourselves in 781 00:47:53,920 --> 00:47:55,840 positions that we can continue to grow. 782 00:47:55,840 --> 00:47:58,240 See, the church is to be the port and the pillar of truth. 783 00:47:58,240 --> 00:48:01,680 The church is to equip you to go out and to continue to grow 784 00:48:01,680 --> 00:48:05,160 outside of those things. Our job is to pull usefulness 785 00:48:05,160 --> 00:48:08,080 out of you so that then you can go and bring more people in to 786 00:48:08,080 --> 00:48:10,960 make them useful so that you can continue to go out. 787 00:48:11,040 --> 00:48:12,720 You know, I tell people all the time, like, yeah, we love to 788 00:48:12,720 --> 00:48:15,480 pray and get people born again, but the ultimate goal would be 789 00:48:15,480 --> 00:48:18,120 that you go get them born again out there and we just get them 790 00:48:18,120 --> 00:48:19,320 in here and start building them up. 791 00:48:20,120 --> 00:48:23,400 Because as a believer, we're all called to go minister the gospel 792 00:48:23,400 --> 00:48:27,480 to those around us. We're all called to go out and 793 00:48:27,480 --> 00:48:29,680 minister to people. So you don't have to have a 794 00:48:29,680 --> 00:48:32,440 platform to do it. You're going to reach places 795 00:48:32,440 --> 00:48:35,720 I'll never reach. You'll go into places I'll never 796 00:48:35,720 --> 00:48:38,720 step into, right? A part of my purpose class, I 797 00:48:38,720 --> 00:48:42,280 tell people the way you think and process and the way you 798 00:48:42,280 --> 00:48:45,640 communicate is specifically designed to impact a group of 799 00:48:45,640 --> 00:48:48,960 people that the way I think and process and communicate won't 800 00:48:48,960 --> 00:48:54,600 impact, right? It's like the constant 801 00:48:54,600 --> 00:48:57,320 difference between generations, right? 802 00:48:57,320 --> 00:48:58,520 You got the Boomers, you got Gen. 803 00:48:58,520 --> 00:49:00,040 X, you got Millennials, you got Gen. 804 00:49:00,040 --> 00:49:01,760 Z. And they each have their own, 805 00:49:01,760 --> 00:49:04,640 like, little slangs and sayings and things and all this kind of 806 00:49:04,640 --> 00:49:06,000 stuff. And then every once in a while, 807 00:49:06,160 --> 00:49:08,760 you know, I get on Instagram and I get some humor that's like 808 00:49:08,760 --> 00:49:09,560 Gen. Z humor. 809 00:49:09,560 --> 00:49:12,680 And I just look at him like, this is the dumbest thing I've 810 00:49:12,680 --> 00:49:16,360 ever seen. Like, I do not understand. 811 00:49:16,560 --> 00:49:18,680 Like, I never feel older than when I get a Gen. 812 00:49:18,680 --> 00:49:22,200 Z reel. And I'm like, I do not get this. 813 00:49:23,600 --> 00:49:26,640 I've officially entered into that stage of being like, what 814 00:49:26,640 --> 00:49:33,200 are these kids doing? Right? 815 00:49:33,640 --> 00:49:37,280 So there's somebody out there who will communicate to them the 816 00:49:37,280 --> 00:49:42,160 way they need it communicated to, to make the most impact in 817 00:49:42,160 --> 00:49:49,000 their life when they hear it. So don't shortchange yourself 818 00:49:49,240 --> 00:49:51,440 thinking, well, I, you know, I'm, that's not me. 819 00:49:51,440 --> 00:49:57,960 No, that is you. Some of you are here because the 820 00:49:57,960 --> 00:50:01,960 people from this church worked their job, did their thing, and 821 00:50:01,960 --> 00:50:04,400 communicated to you in whatever way they did. 822 00:50:04,400 --> 00:50:06,920 And it resonated in you enough that got you here. 823 00:50:08,400 --> 00:50:10,760 And so now you grow in something, and you go out and do 824 00:50:10,760 --> 00:50:17,320 it. And that's service, right? 825 00:50:17,320 --> 00:50:19,480 Our goal is to serve unto the Lord. 826 00:50:19,480 --> 00:50:21,800 Our goal is to continue. To press into. 827 00:50:21,800 --> 00:50:25,760 Greater things to see something new happen to be light into the 828 00:50:25,760 --> 00:50:28,320 world, and it's not going to come if we're not staying in the 829 00:50:28,320 --> 00:50:29,720 word. If we're not willing to step 830 00:50:29,720 --> 00:50:30,960 out. If we're not willing to take 831 00:50:30,960 --> 00:50:32,800 chances. If we're not willing to be used. 832 00:50:32,800 --> 00:50:34,360 If we're not willing to slip or fall. 833 00:50:34,360 --> 00:50:36,920 If we're not willing to do something different. 834 00:50:39,200 --> 00:50:42,280 If we're not willing to let someone pull something out of 835 00:50:42,280 --> 00:50:48,320 us, you've got to be willing to let someone pull you to 836 00:50:48,320 --> 00:50:52,800 somewhere else. That's what's great about the 837 00:50:52,800 --> 00:50:55,800 church is they'll see something in you that you didn't see 838 00:50:55,800 --> 00:50:59,280 yourself. There were seasons. 839 00:50:59,280 --> 00:51:01,800 Pastor came to me and said, I want you to do this and pulled a 840 00:51:01,800 --> 00:51:04,280 gift out of me that I didn't realize was there. 841 00:51:04,480 --> 00:51:07,160 That I never would have stepped in myself, that I never would 842 00:51:07,160 --> 00:51:11,400 have saw myself going down. But it took someone investing in 843 00:51:11,400 --> 00:51:14,720 me and seeing worth in me outside of what I saw. 844 00:51:17,760 --> 00:51:20,280 But you still have to be willing to allow it to happen. 845 00:51:21,000 --> 00:51:23,280 See, all throughout the Bible you have people who step into 846 00:51:23,280 --> 00:51:25,080 their destinies. Moses, David, all these things. 847 00:51:25,080 --> 00:51:26,880 What were they doing? They were just doing their 848 00:51:26,880 --> 00:51:31,600 general purpose of loving God, worshipping God, serving God, 849 00:51:31,600 --> 00:51:34,160 serving their land. And then destiny came upon them 850 00:51:34,160 --> 00:51:37,040 and pulled them out from where they were and set them into 851 00:51:37,040 --> 00:51:40,080 greatness. I guarantee you David, counting 852 00:51:40,080 --> 00:51:42,680 sheep, didn't see himself on a throne one day. 853 00:51:45,240 --> 00:51:48,280 There was no line at which he saw his course. 854 00:51:49,080 --> 00:51:52,120 It's not like, well, if my brother's uncle's aunt's mom 855 00:51:52,120 --> 00:51:55,960 dies without a kid, then, you know, maybe I could be a king 856 00:51:55,960 --> 00:51:59,400 one day. No, he was just doing the Word, 857 00:52:00,680 --> 00:52:06,960 loving God, serving God, putting his hand to work when Destiny 858 00:52:06,960 --> 00:52:09,120 came upon him and took him somewhere else. 859 00:52:11,520 --> 00:52:16,120 Some of our breakthroughs might be hiding behind the Time 860 00:52:16,120 --> 00:52:22,800 Treasurer talent we've decided to cap, Which means some of you 861 00:52:22,800 --> 00:52:25,760 might be just a couple service hours away from stepping into 862 00:52:25,760 --> 00:52:28,720 Destiny. Some of you might be a couple 863 00:52:28,720 --> 00:52:30,680 checks away from stepping into Destiny. 864 00:52:30,840 --> 00:52:33,680 Some of you might be a couple giftings away from stepping into 865 00:52:33,680 --> 00:52:41,760 Destiny, but are we willing to step out into Him? 866 00:52:42,880 --> 00:52:45,760 Are we willing to put ourselves somewhere that it can be pulled 867 00:52:45,760 --> 00:52:51,280 and drawn out? I would hate to think that at 868 00:52:51,280 --> 00:52:57,240 the end I look back on my life and God goes, man, if you just 869 00:52:57,240 --> 00:52:59,960 would have give me a little more time, I could have got you 870 00:52:59,960 --> 00:53:04,280 somewhere. If you would have just given me 871 00:53:04,280 --> 00:53:06,440 a little more time, we could have broken past this thing. 872 00:53:09,080 --> 00:53:11,680 But I was, I was hindered by the amount of time you were willing 873 00:53:11,680 --> 00:53:15,560 to give me. The calling for my life on you 874 00:53:15,560 --> 00:53:17,360 was hindered by the amount of time you were willing to give 875 00:53:17,360 --> 00:53:23,440 me. So you look at Samson's life and 876 00:53:23,440 --> 00:53:25,120 he wasted his anointing, wasted his talent. 877 00:53:25,240 --> 00:53:26,880 And then in his last moment he pushes down the pillars. 878 00:53:26,880 --> 00:53:29,880 And it says in that moment he did more for God than his entire 879 00:53:29,880 --> 00:53:35,920 life before. So when you think about all that 880 00:53:35,920 --> 00:53:40,280 he could have accomplished had he just been willing to put the 881 00:53:40,280 --> 00:53:44,640 time in to live according to the statues that he was supposed to, 882 00:53:47,880 --> 00:53:49,440 are we willing to put in the time? 883 00:53:51,360 --> 00:53:52,840 Are we willing to put in the treasure? 884 00:53:53,720 --> 00:53:55,280 Are we willing to put in the talents? 885 00:53:56,960 --> 00:53:59,040 Some of your financial breakthroughs are being held 886 00:53:59,040 --> 00:54:06,920 because you're holding. Some of you might have a gift on 887 00:54:06,920 --> 00:54:09,440 your life that you don't even know, but you're not willing to 888 00:54:09,440 --> 00:54:17,580 try something new, right? Just like Pastor Mark didn't 889 00:54:17,580 --> 00:54:21,060 realize that if he just stepped into this kids, it was going to 890 00:54:21,060 --> 00:54:22,700 open the door for the rest of his life. 891 00:54:23,580 --> 00:54:30,820 What if he had said no, right? We have to be willing to not set 892 00:54:30,820 --> 00:54:37,560 boundaries on our purpose, right? 893 00:54:37,560 --> 00:54:40,320 We look into phase three, we look into this next section. 894 00:54:40,320 --> 00:54:42,480 We look into these branches. We look into what's happening 895 00:54:42,480 --> 00:54:46,560 and what's coming up. Are we willing to, to do what's 896 00:54:46,560 --> 00:54:53,640 necessary to be of service, right? 897 00:54:53,640 --> 00:54:56,840 My, my whole word tonight as even I prayed, right? 898 00:54:56,840 --> 00:54:59,320 Because, you know, I remember when we were building up for 899 00:54:59,320 --> 00:55:01,200 this 20 year anniversary, initially was just going to be 900 00:55:01,200 --> 00:55:02,720 kind of this fun, like hang out, celebrate. 901 00:55:02,720 --> 00:55:05,320 Because we do push a lot here. We don't do like a tons of just 902 00:55:05,320 --> 00:55:08,400 like fun, like only things We still always want to bring, you 903 00:55:08,400 --> 00:55:10,600 know, great word content. Initially we're like, let's just 904 00:55:10,600 --> 00:55:12,760 look back. And then pastor like 2 weeks 905 00:55:12,760 --> 00:55:14,200 before was like, no, I'm going to preach. 906 00:55:14,240 --> 00:55:16,280 I got a word And then like he told me the word and I was like, 907 00:55:16,280 --> 00:55:18,760 Oh, no, you're not just bringing a word, you're bringing like a 908 00:55:18,760 --> 00:55:22,680 word. This just went from like fun 909 00:55:22,680 --> 00:55:26,440 look back to like course correcting of the next section. 910 00:55:26,440 --> 00:55:29,520 Like this just wasn't a minor shift. 911 00:55:30,160 --> 00:55:31,320 Like, oh, yeah, you know, I'm going to preach. 912 00:55:31,800 --> 00:55:35,880 No, this was like, oh, we're preaching, right? 913 00:55:37,320 --> 00:55:39,240 And so then I look back over the year, I'm like, man, this was a 914 00:55:39,240 --> 00:55:43,240 year of capacity, right? This was a year for us to assess 915 00:55:43,240 --> 00:55:46,400 our lives and say, man, what is our capacity? 916 00:55:46,560 --> 00:55:51,040 And this is the thing about capacity is capacity isn't about 917 00:55:51,160 --> 00:55:53,240 getting rid of something to get something. 918 00:55:53,240 --> 00:56:00,200 Capacity is how much more can I handle, right? 919 00:56:00,200 --> 00:56:04,600 If I have £25, a 25 plate on each side of a, a bar to do 920 00:56:04,600 --> 00:56:07,440 bench press and I take it off and put two 10s and A5 on, I 921 00:56:07,440 --> 00:56:09,920 haven't added more capacity. I've just changed the 922 00:56:09,920 --> 00:56:16,400 arrangement of it. I've just made it look 923 00:56:16,400 --> 00:56:19,880 different. Capacity is know how much more 924 00:56:20,040 --> 00:56:23,600 can I handle? How much more in this season can 925 00:56:23,600 --> 00:56:26,840 I step into? Where is the limit to which I 926 00:56:26,840 --> 00:56:30,920 can continue to run effectively and serve effectively, which you 927 00:56:30,920 --> 00:56:34,040 know what that means. The more I handle, the more I 928 00:56:34,040 --> 00:56:37,360 have to maintain. The more wear and use that comes 929 00:56:37,360 --> 00:56:40,480 in, the more that's going to be required of me to keep myself 930 00:56:40,480 --> 00:56:42,400 full. The more that's pulled, the more 931 00:56:42,400 --> 00:56:48,840 that has to be replenished. And am I willing to make that 932 00:56:48,840 --> 00:56:53,840 sacrifice? Am I willing to put myself in a 933 00:56:53,840 --> 00:56:57,280 position that I know I'm going to have to increase not only my 934 00:56:57,280 --> 00:57:00,880 usage, but also my, my, my refilling? 935 00:57:04,240 --> 00:57:07,120 I increase my usage. I increase my maintenance, 936 00:57:11,200 --> 00:57:13,000 right? We want to look at ourselves and 937 00:57:13,000 --> 00:57:17,000 we got to think, where do I see myself in the next 20 years of 938 00:57:17,000 --> 00:57:23,800 this vision? Where do I see myself? 939 00:57:23,800 --> 00:57:26,520 Am I going to continue to progress here? 940 00:57:26,680 --> 00:57:29,520 Am I, am I going to cap myself in this moment or am I going to 941 00:57:29,520 --> 00:57:32,280 step into something bigger? Am I going to continue to push 942 00:57:32,440 --> 00:57:34,320 into something bigger? Because it's not always about 943 00:57:34,320 --> 00:57:37,320 doing something new. Sometimes it's about extending 944 00:57:37,320 --> 00:57:39,560 and doing more in what I'm already doing. 945 00:57:39,680 --> 00:57:42,520 How can I take where I'm at and do more with it? 946 00:57:42,600 --> 00:57:45,240 How can I take what I've been doing and become better at it? 947 00:57:45,400 --> 00:57:48,600 How can I take where I was and get it to the next place? 948 00:57:48,600 --> 00:57:54,040 That's right. That's what we're talking about, 949 00:57:54,040 --> 00:57:55,800 incapacity. That's what we're talking about 950 00:57:55,800 --> 00:57:58,600 and making our self useful. We're saying, man, I'm not going 951 00:57:58,600 --> 00:58:00,920 to set limitations to my usefulness. 952 00:58:02,880 --> 00:58:06,360 And I encourage each and everyone of you to just do like 953 00:58:06,360 --> 00:58:10,800 David and say search my heart. Is there any area that I'm, I'm 954 00:58:10,800 --> 00:58:15,400 limiting my usefulness in? Is there any area that I'm 955 00:58:15,400 --> 00:58:18,160 unwilling to continue to progress in? 956 00:58:20,520 --> 00:58:29,000 Is my destiny right behind a block because I'm willing to 957 00:58:29,000 --> 00:58:31,040 step into something? New and you can come. 958 00:58:33,800 --> 00:58:39,920 I'm willing to put myself wherever I need to be to be in 959 00:58:39,920 --> 00:58:42,560 the best position to be used by you. 960 00:58:44,080 --> 00:58:47,720 And like I said before, make no doubt if you make yourself 961 00:58:47,720 --> 00:58:51,320 useful, Anchor Faith Church will find use for you. 962 00:58:55,000 --> 00:58:59,520 If you make yourself available, we'll put your hand to work. 963 00:58:59,880 --> 00:59:03,120 If you make yourself available, God will give you something to 964 00:59:03,120 --> 00:59:07,920 do. But we have to step into it. 965 00:59:08,120 --> 00:59:09,920 We have to place ourselves there. 966 00:59:11,920 --> 00:59:23,440 Amen. Thank you so much for listening 967 00:59:23,440 --> 00:59:25,920 to this message. If you want more, subscribe to 968 00:59:25,920 --> 00:59:29,280 our message podcast on iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, and 969 00:59:29,280 --> 00:59:31,320 SoundCloud. Rating and leaving a comment 970 00:59:31,320 --> 00:59:33,480 will go a long way with helping our messages get better 971 00:59:33,480 --> 00:59:35,760 circulation. If you'd enjoy watching our 972 00:59:35,760 --> 00:59:39,080 weekend messages, visit youtube.com/anchorfaith. 973 00:59:39,880 --> 00:59:42,320 We'd love it if you'd subscribe, leave a comment or a like on the 974 00:59:42,320 --> 00:59:44,240 messages. If you'd like to find out more 975 00:59:44,240 --> 00:59:46,800 information about us and how we're influencing the world and 976 00:59:46,800 --> 00:59:49,320 help support the work we're doing by giving, just visit 977 00:59:49,320 --> 00:59:50,520 anchorfaith.com.