Thanks for checking out the Anchor Faith Message podcast
from St. Augustine, FL.
Now enjoy this message. So I'm going to ask some
questions probably 100 times as we get into this.
OK. I'm going to ask some questions
a whole bunch. How have you been living the
last few months? What have you been saying the
last few months? Have you been reigning or have
you been blaming? And so tonight I want to talk
about the blaming spirit. So if you will turn over to
Philippians Chapter 2, verse 14, that's where we're going to
start tonight. Philippians chapter 2, verse 14
and it says here do all things without grumbling or disputing.
The New Living Translation says complaining or arguing, do all
things without complaining or arguing.
Pastor Marcus stole my line. We could stop right here and I
could probably talk for an hour about this.
Do all things without grumbling or complaining.
Do all things without without grumbling or complaining without
disputing, without arguing. That means when Pastor Earl asks
you to do something or when Pastor Earl says gets up here
and he's cast a vision for the year and he says we're going to
do a Christmas float in the Christmas parade again, We need
to rally around that and we need to be excited for that Christmas
float because you know what? Some people could see that
Christmas float and be like, hey, wait a second, what in the
world are they doing? Come to Anchor Faith Church and
they receive the Kingdom message in their life would be forever
changed. What Pastor Earl does not need
from us is, ah, man, we've done Christmas parades before.
I I think that's a waste of time.
No. Do all things without grumbling
or complaining. Do all things without grumbling
or complaining. You know, I've had these
thoughts plenty of times. Pastor Marcus he.
He's our worship pastor. You guys know him.
He asks me every once in a while to play keyboard, and there are
prevailing thoughts that will hit my brain as he requests that
on planning center or we'll be having a conversation in the
office and there will be thoughts and you know it.
It hasn't happened a whole lot recently, thank God.
But I'll have thoughts of like I'm going to be stuck behind a
keyboard. All worship.
I can't move. Around over there, I can't move
around behind the keyboard. I'm just like.
My hands out. What am I supposed to do?
I want to have a guitar in my hand.
I I don't want to be tied to something.
I want to be able to move around the head bang, 'cause I'm
passionate when it comes to worship.
I want to get into it or I'll have thoughts of inadequacy that
might come up. And I'm thinking, man, I'm not
as good as Tabitha. Tabitha's amazing.
What if the Holy Spirit's like, hey, we need to go to this old
hymn and Tabitha has this amazing anointing and gifting to
just pull this song out of nowhere?
And she plays it perfectly every time.
And you know, it's funny because every time that I'm playing
keyboard, the Holy Spirit doesn't move that way.
Because the Holy Spirit knows, hey, Todd.
You don't know the courts to this old hymn that was written
in the 1800s. And that's OK because I'm not
going to move that way today. But it is a waste of my time.
It's a waste of Pastor Marcus's time.
It is a waste of the worship team's time for me to try to
fire back and argue I can't be on the keyboard.
Come on, let me move. Let me display my passion as an
example. Let me display my passion.
But you know what? We have depth.
We have flexibility as a team. Come on, say that.
Say I am flexible in Jesus. Name I am.
Flexible in Jesus name, but we are supposed to do all things.
Without grumbling or complaining, I decided to look
up that word in the Greek all just for fun.
I usually teach in our Kingdom Institute, so I I'm looking up
Greek words all the time. The Greek word for all is the
word pass. I'm probably not saying that
right. I don't know.
Reverend Randy can correct me later.
But the Greek word there is pass.
And guess what it means? Bingo.
You guys are so sharp. It also means any or each, every
the whole, collectively. It doesn't matter what it is,
Paul saying. It doesn't matter what it is.
Do all things without grumbling
or complaining. Do all things without arguing,
without disputing. Because we're sons of God,
according to Romans 517, and we're supposed to be reigning in
life, right? Well, when we decide to complain
and we decide to grumble, we decide to blame stuff.
We're not raining. That's not what raining looks
like. And man, I've been there.
There was a period of time that we were working 12 hour shifts,
six days a week. There was a month that we
literally are staff. We were working 6:00 AM to 6:00
PM Monday to Saturday for a little bit.
Pastoral had gave us, had prefaced us.
He had said, hey guys, we're going to have a crazy season for
the next 30 days that we worked Monday through Saturday, 6:00 AM
to 6:00 PM. But you know what we did as a
staff? We said yes, Sir, because the
vision is bigger than our own comfort, our own time.
It's no big deal because you guys have heard this.
Chase has been up here talking about the testimony that with
Scotty was just born and he's. And he had the confession.
He said, you know what, No. Even though we're gonna be
working more hours, Lord, I pray that the time that I would have
with with this brand new daughter wouldn't multiply.
And he's testified that that bond that he has with Scotty,
it's like nothing. Else from his other kids, 'cause
the Lord was able to work because we were all, we all
decided, you know what? It's not my own comfort.
I'm not gonna complain. I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna
argue about this 'cause it's not like when Pastor Earl came to us
telling us about. This.
That he was like, way crazy excited that we were gonna be
doing this. But you know what we did?
We we picked up that burden, we picked up that mantle and we ran
with. It, you know, and we, we all
learned a whole bunch of crazy things.
We all learned a whole bunch of goofy stuff.
But I get it. I've been there.
I'm having a, you know, 12 hour shift, a 13 hour shift.
You know what, man? You show up.
You've just worked 14 straight hours.
You've been building walls and putting sheetrock on stuff.
You've been running reports of every which way.
You've been purchasing all kinds of stuff to make the company run
around. You get home and you're
thinking, I'm going to eat some dinner.
I'm going to take a shower and I'm going to just chill.
But you walk in your wife who's staying at home.
Mom, you've got two kids under 2.
She's got dinner all prepared on the table.
You're so excited. You're playing with the kids,
you're eating, and while you're eating your wife looks at you
and she says, I'm so sorry, but I couldn't get the kids to nap
at the same time. So I wasn't able to nap.
And you know that last night because of the feeding schedule
and the crying schedule, because let's be real with with kids
under 2, sometimes you have a crying schedule in the middle of
the night. I wasn't able to sleep at all,
so I already gave the kids a bath.
Can you just put into bed and do the dishes and clean up the
kitchen and stuff so I can go to bed early?
And you know what? In those situations, if you as a
man, you're looking at your wife and you're thinking, woman, I
have just worked 13 hours. I have just slaved for our
family. I'm going to eat, I'm going to
shower and I'm going to just kick my feet up.
I'm going to play Xbox. I'm going to watch Netflix.
That is the most selfish. Awful.
Thing and if I ever hear about somebody that has gone through
318 doing something like that. Oh man, I'm gonna take your
sword and somehow I'm gonna break that thing in half.
I'm. Gonna break it in half because
we're supposed to do all things it says here.
This was not some suggestion. Come on.
It says do all things. That means if it's the dishes at
night. If it's some.
Brand new project Pastor Rose asked us to rally around doing
Dining with Dignity or Rick's family Christmas or West
Augustine. All these outreaches, whether
you get scheduled to Nautilus again for the third week in a
row because those kids need examples.
Whether you're waking up early for the gym or you're working on
Kingdom Institute essays, you need to do all of it.
Without complaining or arguing that, the New Living Translation
says. And you know what, guys?
Look, I'm not saying we all need to be a bunch of yes men, but
you know what we need to be? We need to be people passionate
about the vision. That Pastor Earl has given to
that he's he's given to us that God has given him for this
house, 'cause it's not just what he wants to do, 'cause there's
been plenty of stuff that we've done that he's like, I never
wanted to do this, but here we are, 20 years later, doing more
than we ever thought we would do.
Let's continue on Philippians Chapter 2, verse 15.
Why are we supposed to be doing this without complaining or
grumbling? It says right here, so that you
will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent children
of God above reproach, in the midst of a crooked and perverse
generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world,
holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of
Christ I will have reason to glory, because I did not run in
vain, nor toil in vain. The message says it this way,
starting in verse 14. No bickering or second guessing.
No second guessing. Oh allowed.
I love that. No second guessing allowed.
Go out into this corrupted world.
A breath of fresh air in this squalid and polluted society
provide people with a glimpse of good living and of the living
God. The word squalid there means
filthy or degraded because of neglect or a lack of money.
We know what this looks like. You all have probably seen those
nasty gross videos on Instagram, on Facebook, TikTok.
I'm not on TikTok, but I'm sure they're on there of those crazy
nice people that show up and clean an entire hoarders house
for free. And you see the videos where
there's trash and garbage and waste just piled up over the
windows and there's no daylight in the house and they have to
Burrow through garbage to get anywhere in their house.
You've all seen the videos. I know you have.
Don't be shaking your heads at me like I'm crazy up here
talking about this. But we see those videos and you,
you can just smell it through your screen.
You can smell it through your screen.
I've smelled stuff like that before because I've been to
slums in Haiti. I've been to slums in in India.
But this is that picture that Paul's trying to paint here,
that we're supposed to do all things without complaining, that
we're not putting blame on something.
We're not arguing because we're to be a breath of fresh air out
in the midst of this filth that is beyond these four walls,
because it's no surprise to walk downtown and you start to hear
some conversations. I mean, it's nasty.
The things that people talk about, the things that prevails
all over social media, It's nasty.
It's awful, the propaganda that is just all over our television
screens. I don't care what channel you're
watching, so much of it is just propaganda.
We are to be a breath of fresh air in the midst of all of this.
A breath of fresh mountain air, if you will.
When we aren't complaining about this life that God is trying so
desperately for us to see is an absolute blessing, there's
opportunities of purpose abounding.
When we aren't complaining about this life, we become a breath of
fresh air in the midst. Of a slum.
You know, I love going to the beach with my family.
My wife, she loves going to the beach.
That's like her happy place. You know, it's funny.
We don't get to go to the beach nearly as often anymore, as you
know, we always did when we didn't have kids.
It's funny how that happens, but we always have a good time every
time we go to the beach. But one thing I really love is
during those certain months of the year that 'cause we like to
go down to Saint Augustine Beach, everything that's, you
know, they're down A1A. Because as you walk up the
boardwalks or there's dunes and stuff, they have all those dunes
and you can't quite see the ocean yet.
But it's like once you get to the top of it, you all of a
sudden just get hit with a breeze.
And if it's the right time of year, it's like the best salt
smelling, ocean smelling, sand smelling and it just hits you
and you're like, Oh yeah, it's beach time and it's just a
wonderful aroma. But the problem is, certain
months out of the year when seaweed gets washed up and it
just sits there and sits there for days and weeks and it starts
to rot. You get up to that dune and all
of a sudden you just get hit in the face with just this putrid,
awful rotting smell. And guess what?
That's what the world is like. And we are meant to be that
fresh, clean ocean air, that we're not supposed to do things
without complaining or arguing. So after you've worked that 1516
hour shift that you would serve your spouse, that you would let
God shape you in those times of you just wanting to do what your
flesh wants to do. But we're called to reign.
That we're called to reign over our thoughts of selfishness.
Because when we reign over those thoughts of selfishness, our
spouse is going to see that, and we're they're going to see the
light in the darkness. They're going to see living
proof of God. They're going to see that
glimpse of godly living. Your kids are going to see that
in you. Your friends will recognize it
in you, your fellow employees, wherever you work, because we
just need to have. Like a supernatural tenacity and
work ethic. When it comes to this, whether
we're serving here at Anchor Faith Church or we're at our
workplace because we've talked about it before, you know,
obviously we're not. You know, if you work a secular
job, which I'm every single one of you, I'm sure does, besides
those that are employed here by Anchor Faith Church or Treasure
Harbor Preschool or Washington Classical Christian School or
Dexios or King's Development. Group who?
That list gets along because the vision's big and it needs every
single one of us. But when?
You're working. You're obviously, you know, not
there to be an evangelist 24/7. What you're called to be is an
example that you would honor your employer.
That you would honor your boss. That you would honor your fellow
employees. That through you doing things,
that is asked of you, that is commanded of you, that is
required of you. That you wouldn't bicker, You
wouldn't complain. You wouldn't be talking about
the boss behind his back. That you would say?
Yes, Sir. I'm going to do that right away.
Yes Sir. I'm going to do that as soon as
I have accomplished these other two things.
Cause hey guys, guess what? I get it.
I have 156 to Do's right now on our project management software.
I have 156 things list items. And you know what?
They're not all just one singular thing, 'cause, you
know, making a slide for an event that could take an hour or
that could take. 40 hours. But that also doesn't equate to
the same thing as making a booklet for something like our
Building the Believer class, which you should absolutely be
attending with Reverend Rainey on Sunday mornings.
That. 60 page booklet is a lot more involved, but you know
what? That 156 To Do List doesn't stop
from happening either. Chase, who is our creative
director because I work for the creative team, I don't think I
said that earlier. That doesn't stop.
Chase, who's our creative director, coming to me and
saying, hey man, we really need to do this additional thing real
quick, can you fit that in some way?
Or Pastor Earl coming to me and saying, hey, I've already talked
with Chase, I need to talk to you, Can you make this happen?
And there's plenty of times that I'm thinking, I'm a brain.
I have this ongoing list of things that the Ministry is
requiring to happen. So that we can continue to
function at fullness. There's those thoughts could
totally come into my brain, and I'm sure they do.
And you know, what needs to stop is I don't need to say I can't
do that. That's not what Chase That's not
what Pastor Earl needs. In those moments when Pastor Tim
comes and says, hey, can you serve this Sunday in Nautilus?
He doesn't need you to say ah, and I'm too busy, 'cause I just
want to come. Sit in service and listen.
'Cause I don't want to miss out on service that gets.
That's like the biggest thing that people will say is I don't
want to miss out on service. And you know what?
Melanie Clay has a phenomenal revelation on this that you need
to get when you're serving in another area.
You're not missing out on what God's doing in here.
Because you're exactly where God needs you to be in this
building, so you're not missing out on something.
So when Pastor Tim comes to you and says, hey, can you serve
this Sunday, 'cause we had a couple call outs, unfortunately,
and you're available, you're not scheduled anywhere else.
You don't have anything else going on.
You need to say yes, I'm going to do that because you know
what? The vision is bigger than us in
our own time and the our own desires, the own things, our own
things that we want to do. But we need to have a
supernatural tenacity to do what's asked, to do what's told,
to do what's commanded in God's word, but then also to go above
and beyond 'cause there's plenty of times that pastoral comes,
and he says, hey, we need to do this.
Chase comes and says, hey, we need to do this.
And I have to say, OK, there are priorities that are already in
the queue. How do you want me to fit this
in? That is the better conversation
than saying, Nah, I can't do that because then we're finding
we can do it, we're going to do it, we're going to accomplish it
one way or the other, and we're going to figure out how can we
fit this in, what things are actually not priority coming up
that's due. Within the next few weeks that
we can just bump, we can move things around, We can have
conversations. That's what your employer's
looking for you to do. That's what our ministry
coordinators are looking for you to do when they're asking you to
serve. When your your employer's asking
you to work more hours, he's not looking for you to complain and
say that's me. Time.
He's looking for you. Or or she's looking for you to
say, OK, sure, I can absolutely do that.
I'd be happy to help. I'd.
I'd be happy to pick up this deficit.
Because we're supposed to do all things.
I told you we could camp on this for an hour, do all things
without grumbling or complaining.
Verse 17 in Philippians 2 continues on.
But even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the
sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and I share my
joy with you all. Paul's saying here, even if he
is to die, even if he's going to die, he's going to rejoice
because he poured it all out to him.
He poured it all out to him. Do you have that kind of
contentment? At the end of the day, do you
have that kind of contentment that your head would hit the
pillow? And you're like, I did
everything I needed to do today? I poured it all out today.
I did all things without grumbling, complaining.
I did all things exactly the way that I needed to do them today.
I gave it all out. I was the influence I needed to
be. Do you have that kind of
contentment? Because apparently we can have
that kind of contentment because the Apostle Paul did.
You didn't. Complain to those in authority
over you. You didn't bicker when Pastor
had to correct you in a meeting. Because Pastor corrects us.
Because he loves us. Because the Bible says that God
corrects those that he loves. And if you don't like
correction, the book of Proverbs says you're stupid.
So when you don't want to be corrected, you're being stupid.
Don't be stupid. Do all things without
complaining, without grumbling. Don't be blaming pastor saying,
oh, he's not using me, he's not letting my gift come out.
You probably just need to be faithful.
You probably just need to be faithful to the vision and wait,
guys, I've been here since 2012. This is my second time ever on
this platform speaking to Y'all. I get to teach in Kingdom
Institute all the time. I get to teach in life class all
the time. And you know what?
I probably wasn't ever ready to be up here.
And that's. OK, because you know what?
I There was a time I was telling Alyssa and Bradley upstairs.
There was a time that I was like, yeah, man, I would love to
minister, I'd love to preach. But, you know, after a while I
was just like, whatever pastor's going to ask me when he asks me,
it's not a big deal. I'm going to just do my part
with the vision. I'm gonna do my part with the
vision because I have this somewhere later in my notes.
Our staff, as I was talking about Pastoral having to come to
us and say, hey, we're gonna have to work 12 hour days.
You know, it's gonna be crazy. But it's just a season.
All of us on staff, all of our Pastoral staff, our leadership
staff, we're really just the whatever team.
We've got, our youth ministry team, we've got our Treasure
Harbor preschool team, we've got our creative team.
But we're all really just the whatever team that whatever the
vision requires, we're just going to shut up.
We're going to do it and we're going to see the vision come to
pass. Because it's not my time.
It's not my time. It's not Pastor Earl's time.
Because he said it. All the time.
This is not his church. His name is not out on the sign.
If he had to step away a senior pastor tomorrow because the Lord
told him to, he would do it in a heartbeat and hand it off to
whoever the Lord told him to. Because it's not his church,
it's the Lord's. And if we all would rally around
this scripture, this commandment to do all things, what would
anchor Faith Church look like in six months?
What would anchor Faith Church look like in 12 months?
But do all. Things, and I'm not saying that
you're not going to have to do's to do 'cause, man, there ain't
no way I'm going to accomplish 156 to do's in one single day.
There ain't enough hours in the day.
I have dreams I have. There's other purposes that I
ain't going to accomplish that in 24 hours.
But if by some horrible, awful, terrible, no good, very bad
reason I were to die tomorrow, do I feel contentment that I
have poured it all out in the last 24 hours?
Do I have contentment that the last week I have poured it all
out? Where was I at?
Oh my gosh. When we aren't arguing, when we
aren't complaining, we show people who God literally is.
We show God. We show people who God literally
is. We show people that there's a
better way to do life. We show people that, hey, you
don't have to just be a United States citizen.
I represent a Kingdom. I represent a whole other
government that is functioning right now in the world.
It's got a better healthcare system.
It's got a better financial system.
It's got better currency 'cause there's no inflation, there's no
exchange rates. But the the passion says they're
to live a cheerful life. Live a cheerful life.
But don't just be happy. Get joy, 'cause it's the fruit
of the spirit, right? Joy supersedes happiness and
cheerfulness. And that sounds a lot like
Philippians Chapter 4, verse 4. You guys all know this.
It's King James Version. Rejoice in the Lord always and
again. I say rejoice.
Rejoice in the Lord Always, man. Pastor Marcus was all over this
earlier. You have to choose to rejoice.
We have to choose not to bicker. We have to choose not to
complain. We have to choose instead to
rise up in joy and rejoice and say thank you, Lord.
Then I was walking up in the middle of the night because my
daughter came to the side of the bed having peed her bed.
And then she threw up because she was sick.
And I got up to clean and I realized that my cat threw up in
the middle of the hallway. And then I go to get towels and
cleaning supplies and my dog threw up by the back door and
the other dog pooped all over the living room.
Thank you, Lord. Then I get to clean all this up,
rejoice in the Lord always. Just laugh about it.
We talk about that often, that you just have to have joy,
because you know what? It's not going to help my wife
out. So I can help my kids out to
just get frustrated and be angry, turn all the lights on.
You're screaming. Yelling.
Thankfully something quite to that magnitude has never
happened in our home. It's come very close at one
point. I know some people that actually
aren't in this room. Unfortunately, that it has
almost happened too. And it's rough.
But in those moments, you have to rejoice when you're getting
ready for work. You walk outside and all of a
sudden you realize that your vehicle has four flat tires.
What are you going to do? Are you going to go yell at
somebody? You're going to go be.
Mad about it. You know what?
You can be mad, but you know what?
Rejoice and say thank you Lord. You have to buy me 4 new tires
Now. You got a bill that just showed
up. This wasn't a suggestion, guys.
Rejoice. What's coming out of your mouth?
Are you blaming your situations and circumstances or are you
reigning over them? Are you blaming them or are you
reigning over them? This isn't a suggestion.
Just like Philippians 214, it's a commandment to us.
Rejoice when you get asked to work more hours, 'cause you know
what that means. That's more finance in your
pocket so you can give more money.
There's more opportunities to give and you're also at your
job. More to be a light to the those
fellow employees. More rejoice when extended
family comes to town for the holidays.
And you're thinking to yourself, uh, oh, there might be a whole
bunch of bickering and planning going on, But don't jump right
in with them. Don't jump right in with them.
Rejoice. When your child comes to you at
8:00 PM and says I have a giant project that's due tomorrow and
it's worth 75% of my entire yearly grade, and I haven't done
any of it, but I've known about it since the very beginning of
the year. But I didn't tell you and I
never gave you the slips that they sent home with me that
notified you. I'm so sorry.
Rejoice. Because you know what?
You're gonna be pulling an all nighter with your kid relish in
that crazy time, 'cause you know what?
That's gonna build a crazy, goofy, silly memory that you're
gonna be able to laugh on at in years to come.
Rejoice when something like that happens because you ain't gonna
help your child out by getting mad and frustrated at him.
You're not helping nobody out. Rejoice.
Like Pastor Marcus was saying, we have to choose to rejoice.
Are you reigning over those thoughts that are gonna come to
your mind? Because, man, it's like, oh,
it's 8:00 PM. Well, target's open for another
two hours. Walmart's open maybe until 11.
We gotta go right now. We gotta go.
You got a shopping list? We're gonna make a shopping
list. OK, What are we getting?
We're getting poster boards. We're getting construction
paper. We need more glue 'cause we
ain't got anything. We have to rejoice, 'cause we're
Kingdom citizens. We don't blame reigning kings.
Don't blame circumstances. They see those circumstances and
they say no, I'm going to fix that with the word of God.
They see those bad situations and they say no.
You have to line up with the word of my king.
So when you get a bad diagnosis, are you instead saying, ah, the
word of my king? Actually says by his stripes I
was healed. When you have those four flat
tires, are you saying the Lord supplies all my needs according
to his riches and glory in Christ Jesus?
When you get asked to teach a life class and you've never
taught a life class before, are you rejoicing and saying, Lord,
I thank you that I am apartment to teach?
I'm well able. You're going to speak through me
that it's not going to be my own words, but it's going to be the
word of the Holy Spirit speaking through me.
That's my prayer every time I get up to speak in life Class or
Kingdom Institute because I, you guys don't need the words of
Todd Fouchet. The words of Todd Fouchet are
gonna be empty and dumb and just really stupid if I'm being
honest. I have a college education, but
you know what? Like, who cares?
I had to make that joke just for Josh and Chase, and they're not
even here. But rejoice when you get asked
to speak to our teenagers. Oh, and you need to pray for
Pastor Brandon in April. I've smelled your teenagers.
Y'all. I have seen the angst that just
pours off of them. I've gone to camp with them and
smelled them after they haven't showered for five days.
You need to pray for Pastor Brandon and April.
You need to pray for their their leaders back there.
But if you get asked to speak to them, you need to pour it all
out. You don't need to.
You don't need to beat around the Bush.
You need to tell them like it is because Pastor Brandon in April.
I mean, you heard Pastor April last week.
That's exactly what she and Pastor Brandon administer every
single Wednesday to your teenagers.
I make their life class booklets.
We see the material that they're teaching our teenagers and it's
great stuff. It's the word of God.
You need to pray for them 'cause those teenagers, they need the
fire of the Holy Ghost more than they need a fire emoji on their
latest TikTok. But you need to rejoice because
Paul rejoiced and guess what? He wrote this letter to the
Church of Philippi from a prison with his arms chained above his
head and he was waist deep in human fecal matter and sewage
and waste and gross stuff that rats would run around the on top
of it and run all over the arms and the chains and they would
eat at the flesh of the prisoners.
That's where Paul is having to dictate this to someone, to
write it down, saying rejoice. And again I say rejoice where
he's saying do all things without bickering or complaining
he's waist deep in sewage. Guys, if anybody had an
opportunity to complain, to blame his circumstances, to
blame God. God, you sent me here.
But he didn't do it. He didn't do it.
He instead decided, you know what?
No, I'm a king. I'm gonna rejoice.
Because Paul was content with
little, he was content with much, and he had.
Every right to complain. But he didn't.
Come on, Look at the life of Joseph.
Pesaro wrote a whole book on this, and it's powerful.
It's amazing. You need to go buy it.
You need to read it cover to cover.
It's called Cows, Crows and Constellations.
Joseph had every right to complain, to blame his brothers,
to blame his father for showing way too much favor on him,
'cause guess what he was. Left for dead, he was sold into
slavery. Then he was servant to a master
that he tried his best to honor that guy.
And then guess what happens? He got falsely accused and
thrown in prison. He's forgotten about, and I'm
sure he probably had plenty of thoughts at every turn, every
turn. Man, what is happening?
But he put those thoughts away. He He shut them up and instead
he held on to the dream. He held on to the purpose.
He held on to the vision that God had given him all those
years prior. He chose to not bicker or
complain. Are you blaming or are you?
Reigning the passion of Philippians 4 Four there says in
every season of life. Be cheerful with joyous
celebration in every season of life.
So that means no matter if you have a little, no matter if you
if you have a lot. And every season of life,
rejoice when you're having to work more hours, when you when
it feels like all chaos is coming at you.
And your kids have 17 things due in the next two weeks with
school, and you have to take them to every sporting event and
every activity that you signed them up for.
You did this yourself. Don't complain.
Don't start complaining about the very promise that God has
given you, because I bet you every.
Single one of y'all. Believe God for kids in here.
Don't start complaining about those kids now because of the
choices you made to sign them up for yet another sports events,
another sports event, another sports team, another activity to
do. Holy moly and the apostle Paul,
he had every right guys. Especially early in ministry,
right? Because Paul was unacclaimed
Christian killer, he said. I was a Pharisee of Pharisees.
Paul was present at the stoning of Stephen.
They all laid their cloaks at the feet of of Saul.
At the time. The guy literally haunted down
Christians. So what kind of thoughts?
Do you think was coming into his brain whenever he was having to
go and talk to the disciples, whenever he's having to seek out
James and seek out Peter to talk to them about what Jesus had
said to him on the road to Damascus?
What kind of thoughts were having to come to him?
Are you complaining or are you reigning and the enemy's crafty
about this too, guys? He'll wrap up thoughts in
beautiful wrapping paper with silver ribbon with beautiful
ornate bows on top. Thoughts that sound like this.
Ah, Pastor Tam. Pastor Vanessa, I'm so sorry.
I'm not gonna be able to come do the blitz on Saturday.
I really just have to spend time with my family that day, 'cause
that's that thought can sound so noble.
That can sound so noble, guys. But.
Why all of a sudden would we think that it's just the kids
ministry. We can we can neglect it.
They don't need my gift. If you're serving in there, if
you're a part of that team, they need your gift.
You're needed there. Rick's family Christmas.
We did this past. Christmas.
It's the first year we did it. We were asked to do it.
We had like a few months of preparation and stuff, and I
remember there was something that was happening.
Somebody was supposed to be there to get coverage for photos
and videos. I don't remember exactly what
was happening, but something fell through.
That chase came to me and Josh and Connor at the time and was
like, hey, so sorry. One of us is going to have to
get scheduled for this and it's on Christmas Day and I remember
in my in my brain thinking Christmas.
Day we're going to have to work. On Christmas Day, those were
thoughts that immediately came in my brain, and I let that sit
for probably about 24 hours. But I finally said to my wife, I
was like. How dare I think to myself that
my own personal time is worth more than what God would want to
be doing through our people. How dare I have that attitude
that I would think that my own personal time is worth more than
that. Cause man, I was so excited to
see everybody that showed up, that families that made it their
morning, that made it their Christmas celebration.
And I thought that's exactly what I would have done.
I would have carted my entire. Family with me so that I could
take photos, take videos, and everybody that was there had an
absolute blast serving those people.
And I was just so ecstatic that I was able to just be like, no,
if Chase needs somebody, if Pastor Earl needs somebody to be
there, I'll be the one that needs to.
Be there if it's asked, and I'm gonna be fine with it, I'm gonna
be excited to be there, 'cause you know what?
My kids wake up at like 5:00 AM anyway, it's later on in the
morning. No big deal.
We will have opened all of our presents.
We will have ate breakfast and then we could have gone there
and it would have been no big deal.
But these are the thoughts that they can sound so noble guys
that you're thinking, man, that's my vacation day, that's
my personal time. But all of that is just rooted
in selfishness. Are you blaming or are you
reigning 'cause our life's not our own guys if we're kings of
God's Kingdom. That means he owns us.
If he's our Lord, that means he owns us.
James, chapter One, verses 2 through 4.
Consider it all joy, my brethren, my brothers.
When you encounter various trials, consider it all joy,
knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance.
And let endurance have its perfect results so that you may
be perfect and complete, lacking and nothing.
Tough situations show up. They create the perfect
opportunity for you to be made perfect.
For you to be made lacking in nothing.
It says here. Lacking in nothing, count it all
joy because faith means endurance.
We can't be like the children of Israel.
Heading out of Egypt, coming into the promised land.
First John, Chapter 5 verses 3 through 4.
Pastor Andrew read this on Sunday.
First, John, chapter 5, verses 3 through 4.
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.
And his commandments are not burdensome because we've been
empowered by grace. For whatever is born of God
overcomes the world, and this is the victory that overcomes the
world, our faith. So when we aren't doing, when
we're doing things without bickering and complaining, when
we're deciding to let these tough.
Situations perfect us and mold us and shape us.
When it's we're letting those times build our faith, it's
helping us overcome the world. It's helping us overcome
adversity. Don't give in to thoughts of.
Defeat. Don't give in to thoughts of
lack and chaos and distractions, 'cause they're everywhere.
They're on our phones, they're on our tablets.
I I work on it on a. Computer screens are everywhere.
You go to Bailey's gym and there's TV's everywhere with
every single news station and like other channel just playing
stuff and it's just all a distraction.
Count it all joy. Are you blaming or are you
reigning? We're in a new and better
covenant when we stoop to this level, guys.
When we stoop to this level, we're no better than the
children of Israel and we're in a new and better covenant.
Romans 1513 it says Now may the God of hope fill you with all
joy and peace and believing so that you will abound and hope by
the power of the Holy Spirit. We've been learning how to
control our willpower, how to control our thoughts.
But what good is it being filled with joy, being filled with
peace if you're not speaking it out?
That's why I asked you, what are the things you've been saying
the last few months? Are you blaming circumstances?
Are you blaming situations? What are you saying to yourself
when you're all alone at the end of the day?
What are you saying to yourself after you leave a meeting?
After you and your spouse have made-up?
After an argument? What are you saying after that
'cause we always have said that it's the meeting after the
meeting that is really important.
What are you saying to yourself? Are you Are you having thoughts,
prevailing thoughts of bickering?
Complaining you're having prevailing thoughts of It's
terrible. I can't believe the outcome of
this meeting. Or are you choosing to reign
over those thoughts, Shove them out of your your brain?
Say no. I have the peace of God.
I have the joy of God. Are you choosing to operate in
joy, 'cause when we complain about the very thing we believed
God for, we look like defeated people.
When we complain about the very thing that we believed God for,
we look like the people God wanted to destroy and utterly
wipe out. Go to Romans chapter. 13
Hopefully I can end this year. I have so much more scripture
right now. We're gonna see what happens.
Numbers, Chapter 13, Numbers Chapter 13.
Starting verse 25. They've got it.
When they returned from spying out the land at the end of the
at the end of the 40 days, they proceeded to come to Moses and
Aaron, to all the congregation of the sons of Israel in the
wilderness. Paranic Kadesh.
They brought back word to them and to all the congregation, and
showed them the fruit of the land.
And thus they told him and said, We went into the land where you
sent us, and it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and
this is its fruit. Nevertheless, the people who
live in the land are strong and the.
Cities are fortified and very large and moreover.
We saw the descendants of Enoch there.
They saw giants skip down to verse 30.
Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said we should
by all means go up and take possession of it, for we are
sure we will surely overcome it. But the men who had gone up with
him said, we're not able to go up against the people, for they
are too strong for us. So they gave out to the sons of
Israel on a a bad report of the land which they had spied out
saying. The land through which we have
gone and spying out is a land that devours its inhabitants,
and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great size.
There are there. We also saw the Nephilim, the
sons of Anac. We became like grasshoppers in
our own sight and we were in their sight.
So wait a second, So they just told all the people that it's a
land flowing with milk and honey and here's this fruit, this
great fruit. And Caleb has said we're able to
take this land. But then they decided to go out
from saying all of this stuff and they decided to twist.
They decided to twist this word and they said no, we can't take
these people. There's giants there.
We can't defeat them. Their cities.
Are heavily fortified. But this was the same word that
God gave to Moses in Exodus chapter 3, verse 17.
He said, I will bring you out of the affliction of Egypt, to the
land of all these people, to a land flowing with milk and
honey. It's the same word that God had
gave Abram in Genesis 15. The Israelites were very
familiar with this word that this was a land flowing with
milk and honey, that they were able to take it.
God was bringing them to this land.
But the spies, they twisted this report.
And Caleb there in verse 30, he's trying to rally the troops.
He's like guys we can do this but let's read on.
This story continues in chapter 14.
Cause the Bible's not written in chapter and verse.
We just split it up for referencing.
It says in chapter 14 numbers chapter 14, verse one.
Then all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried and
the people wept. That night all the sons of
Israel grumbled against Moses and.
Aaron and the whole congregation said to them, would that we had
died in the land of Egypt. Or would that we had died in
this wilderness? Why is the Lord bringing us into
this land? To fall by the sword?
Our wives and our little ones will become plunder.
Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?
So they said to one another, let us appoint a leader and return
to Egypt. They let the.
Spy's false witness resonate within them.
All night they cried out their voices.
All night they were grumbling against their leaders.
You better watch out if you start to grumble against those
that God has placed you under. You better watch out when you're
second guessing the words, especially the word that is
preached from this platform because pastor says that all the
time. Study the scripture, study it
out yourself, he says. If I'm wrong, show me in
scripture. He says that all the time
because pastor loves having conversations about the word.
If you have a question about something, schedule a meeting.
He loves to dissect it. He loves to just let's talk
about this thing. We do it in staff meeting all
the time. It's called iron sharpen iron.
It's awesome, 'cause we'll bring up the craziest stuff and we'll
just talk about it from scripture.
But oh, you better watch out if you're grumbling, saying, saying
like I said earlier, pastor's not using me.
He's not using my gift. When's my time?
Be faithful?
Just serve with the babies and Nautilus Junior.
Just serve with those smelly teenagers in the current.
Just serve faithfully. As a part of our worship team.
Because all of that just it just sounds so selfish.
When's when's my time. Why won't pastor use me?
And pastors are just gonna he's gonna give you the same answer.
Be faithful, be faithful. Cause the Bible says be faithful
with little. And then you can be faithful
with much, But we'll try to justify things with our own
opinion. Don't be justifying.
Don't be trying to justify your opinion, especially if your
opinion is. It ought with the word that is
coming from our pastor. The lies of these spies cost
them the purpose of God, this entire generation that was
rescued out of Egypt. This purpose of God, that he
said I'm calling you out of the affliction of Egypt into a land
that I promised you, that I promised your father's, that I
promised Abraham, that I promised Isaac, that I promised
Jacob. And they let this focus of
sight, this lie about we were like grasshoppers.
We were like grasshoppers in their sight.
Man, they don't know. They didn't talk with them.
They had no idea. You could be having thoughts of
inadequacy, thinking, man, I'm just not good enough for this
promotion at work, but I really want it.
I'm just not good enough. And all the while you're you're
superiors thinking, man, I really wish they would just kind
of get a little more confidence because by all accounts, they're
qualified. And all the while you're just
thinking, oh, I'm just not good enough for it.
And the Holy Spirit's saying, come on.
You're a king. You're a queen.
Rise up in boldness. Just stick with the word.
That's what the Israelites should have done.
But they let these lies, they let this discord sow doubt.
They let this discord sow unbelief in what God's word was
for them. Let them this discord sow doubt
and unbelief in their leaders that their leaders, they're
they're complaining against their leaders saying why would
you lead us here just to die? Why would Pastor Earl lead us to
outreach at West Augustine just to sweat all day long?
In the hot. Florida Sun, because families
lives matter. Because those young boys that
are playing football, those young girls that are part of
their cheerleading teams, the parents of all of those kids,
they matter to our king because they have a purpose.
They have a destiny that they would just grab a hold of what
the Kingdom says about them, what the Kingdom says is
possible with their life. They would shake their families.
They would shake their communities.
They would shake Saint Augustine.
And Saint Johns County. We just have to stick with the
word. Don't believe the lie.
Continuing on in verse five, it says.
Then Moses and Aaron fell on their faces in the presence of
all the assembly, and the congregation of the sons of
Israel, Joshua the son of Anon, and Caleb the son of Jebna, of
those who had spied out the land, they tore their clothes,
and they spoke to all of the congregation of the sons of
Israel, saying, the land which we pass through to.
Spy out is an. Exceedingly good land.
If the Lord is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this
land and give it to us. A land flowing with mocha and
honey only. Do not rebel against the Lord.
Do not fear the people of the land, for they will be our prey.
I love that they will be our prey.
Their protection has been removed from them, and the Lord
is with us. The Lord's not with all these
other people. The Lord's not with those that
are lost in your workplace. The the Lord is not with all of
these people that try to come against the Church.
The Lord is with us. The Lord is with us.
Do not fear them. But all the congregation said to
the Said to stone them with stones, stone them with stones.
Then the glory of the Lord appeared in the the tent of
meaning to all the sons of of Israel.
God's word is true. It's what Joshua and Caleb are
trying to tell them. Guys.
It's exactly what God promised us, guys.
It's exactly what we have heard. It's exactly what God has
promised us. God has promised you something.
God wants to take you to another level.
There might be a new promotion at work, a new house 'cause you
need to expand your family. You find out there's a new
private school in town called Washington Classical Christian
School and the Holy Spirit's. Leading you to these things, the
Holy Spirit's nudging you saying, hey, this promotion for
you at work, it's gonna, it's gonna open up whole new
opportunities for you with this company if you just will
continue to apply these leadership principles that
you've learned. We've got people in our church
that have done these things and they've been promoted crazy
amounts. A new house because you need to
expand. You realize, man, this is
exactly what God. What God put on our heart.
This new private school, you find out, Oh my gosh, this
classical Christian. Oh, they're spirit filled.
Oh, they're associated with Rhema.
And this the spirit of faith. Oh, they preach the.
Kingdom of God. But all of a sudden you hear a
different report. That promotion's not all it's
cracked up to be. The neighborhood the house is
in. There's some really sketchy
people, some sketchy stuff that goes on the private school.
They correct their students, no. And you begin to meditate on
these, these reports, these murmurings, these complaints,
these excuses, these blames. And all of a sudden you get
passed by on that promotion, that housing contract you had
falls through. You put your kid in public
school much to your demise. Not demise.
Not the word I'm looking for there.
But all the while the Holy Spirit was saying this is what I
promised for this next level. This is what I promised for this
next level, and instead you you let grumblings, you let
complaining, you let blame get in the way for you.
It's like Romans chapter 6, verse 15.
What then? Shall we sin because we are not
under the law but under grace? May it never be.
That's like saying, being under grace, should we keep listening
to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons 'cause
that's exactly what that kind of that kind of stuff is, guys.
When discord and arguing, complaining, grumbling is being
sown, that's deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.
Should we complain about our children, our work, our leaders?
May it never be, may it never be.
We should do all things without grumbling or complaining.
Romans 10/17 says so. Then faith comes by hearing and
hearing by the word of God. So the opposite must be true.
So then fear comes from hearing and hearing the word of the
enemy. This is what we see in Numbers
13 and 14. They're bickering, they're
complaining, they're second guessing.
They're arguing against their leaders.
It produced fear in their hearts.
It's so doubt and unbelief in their leaders.
It's so doubt and unbelief for God's promises, for their very
lives. And an entire generation missed
out on what God had promised. Them they went parading and
plundering out of Egypt, excited to be free of slavery, slavery.
And they're sitting there on the.
Precipice of God's promises, saying it would have been better
if we had died in Egypt. What?
You're on the precipice of another level with God on
another level in life. And God's saying, just apply my
word to it. Just apply my word to it.
But then you just decide.
But what about all this other stuff I've been hearing?
I don't. I'm not.
OK, I don't need that additional
responsibility at work. I don't need that additional
influence over people's lives to be an example of God's Kingdom.
Are you blaming or are you reigning?
What are you saying when you're leaving these four?
Walls, What are you saying when symptoms show up in your life?
Because if you're constantly saying, man, I'm sick, I'm
always getting sick. I'm always getting sick.
I always have a cough. I'm always sneezing.
Well, guess what first, Peter 224 and Isaiah 53.
Five. Those aren't gonna work in your
life because there's no faith to work in your life.
There's no faith that can be attached to God's word.
We've been given this Kingdom that cannot be shaken.
We've been given the very word of the King of Kings.
To equip us, to give us faith, to overcome the world.
But we have to choose. We have to be the ones that
decide. I'm not going to bicker.
I'm not going to complain. I'm not going to whine.
And my kids, they whine. Isley needs to hear this message
tonight because me and Brianna, we're having to tell her all the
time when we put food on the table and she's like, I don't
want to eat this. Too bad.
It's what's for dinner. We had to finally tell her.
You know what? If you're going to whine about
food, you're going to immediately get a spanking.
Cause guess what? We spank our kids.
Sorry if you don't spank your kids, but it's in the word of
God and the people that are trying to prevail, deceiving
spirits and doctrines of demons, of saying it's not our false
teachers. I'm gonna say it right now.
We call it like it is. We tell her you're gonna get a
spanking. So put on a happy face and eat
the food. And you know what?
Happens. She starts to eat the food and
then she's like oh mommy, daddy, I like this food.
It's so delicious. And then she eats the entire
plate and we're like Oh my God, if you would just eat the food,
don't whine and cry to us 'cause that's it.
We look like little 4 year old children to God when we we say
God, why did you do this to me? Why did you say that I need to
have this promotion? They gave me all this other
responsibility and I have to work more.
All the while God's saying I'm setting you up so that this
entire department is going to be handed over to you so that
you're the one calling the shots for all this stuff, so that all
of that finance. Then you can start to funnel
things to those employees so that you can start giving those
other employees raises. So then you can start to make
more money so that you can help to sow into the things that
we're doing around the world. Are you blaming or are you
reigning? I'm gonna close with this verse.
Proverbs Chapter 18, verse 21. You guys should all know this.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue.
And those who love it will eat its fruit.
Our lives are not our own anymore.
Well, pastor La Mercier away. We need to be diligent.
We need to be diligent to do everything to pick up any slack.
That's that. That gets let out, that we would
pick up any batons that get laid to the side.
And we need to do all things without grumbling or
complaining. We need to serve one another.
And when we do, we reign and we exemplify the Kingdom of God.
Let's pray Thank you so much for listening to this message.
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