Faith in Action -- Derek Grier
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00:00The seed didn't do its part until Moses did his part.
00:07The seed did not part until Moses stretched out his hand.
00:11Almost 100% of the time that God has done anything
00:15in my life, he asked me to do something too.
00:20This is really important.
00:22We want to just magically come down from heaven,
00:25but the Bible calls us co-laborers with Christ.
00:30Meaning, God will go with us, but he won't go for us.
00:33Pay attention.
00:34And a lot of times we try to replace action
00:37and sometimes confrontation and risk with prayer.
00:42But action actually puts feet and flesh
00:45on the things we prayed for.
00:48We're gonna be in Luke chapter eight and verse 19.
01:04Then his mother and brothers came to him.
01:09Even Jesus had to deal with the ups and downs of family.
01:12How many of you know about that?
01:15You know, family is a very risky proposition
01:19because the deeper the love, the deeper the loss
01:23when things go wrong.
01:26But what we're gonna find in Scripture,
01:28Jesus didn't just float down from heaven.
01:30Jesus became one of us and he suffered
01:33the struggles of all of us.
01:36And we're about to discover that every family,
01:39even the first family, has problems.
01:44Family seems to be the place that we're loved the most,
01:46but also the place we act the worst.
01:51Family can be the place of your biggest support,
01:56but also the place of your deepest pain.
02:00So his mothers and his brothers came to him
02:05and they could not approach him.
02:09John seven and verse five tells us
02:12that Jesus' brothers did not believe in him
02:14until after the resurrection.
02:18Matter of fact, Luke two and verse 48 tells us
02:20his parents even scolded him.
02:22Imagine being perfect and your parents getting on your case.
02:27In John two and four, Jesus had to firmly
02:31but politely distance himself from his own mother, Mary.
02:36You know, part of doing great things
02:39and part of being great is sometimes being misunderstood.
02:45And they could not approach him because of the crowd.
02:54Jesus was a little bit more hard-nosed
02:58than many of us realize.
03:00You think again that the family had, you know,
03:03the special access to Jesus,
03:05but I want you to watch what happens here.
03:11And it was told him by some who said,
03:13your mother and your brothers are standing outside
03:18desiring to see you.
03:21Now Mark three, verse 20 through 21,
03:23we're gonna learn the Bible just a little bit here.
03:25In those verses, we see a little bit more.
03:29It tells us that his family actually thought
03:32that Jesus was losing it.
03:35And your family is often hard on you because they love you
03:39and they want to protect you.
03:41But sometimes in life, they may not understand you.
03:45And it seems from the passages of scriptures
03:48that all that's attached to,
03:50that his family wanted Jesus to tone it down
03:53and kind of just kind of go more with the flow
03:55of the religious leaders and stop speaking back to them
03:59so harshly at times.
04:01And he just wanted, you know what, Jesus,
04:03you could still do miracles
04:05and we know you're the son of God,
04:06but you could play a little bit nicer.
04:08And this was the attitude of the family.
04:12But here's the deal.
04:14A coward gets scared and gives up.
04:18A hero gets scared but goes on.
04:23And Jesus wouldn't even let mom, dad, brother, sister
04:29get in the way of purpose.
04:32But watch this.
04:34But Jesus answered, and this is important,
04:37even Jesus had to answer for himself.
04:39So don't be surprised when you have to answer
04:42and perhaps explain yourself.
04:46But when we stand up for ourselves,
04:49we're also standing up for everyone
04:51that will follow our example.
04:54And he said to them,
04:57my mother and my brothers, and this is a little tough.
05:05Now mom and dad, you know, I don't know, dad,
05:07Joseph's probably dead by then,
05:08but family's at the door and they can't get in
05:11because of the crowd.
05:12They sent a message into Jesus.
05:15And then the messenger comes
05:18and it almost looks like Jesus talking behind their back,
05:20but he tells the messenger to tell him, so I guess not.
05:24But he says, tell them, my mother and my brothers
05:29are those who hear the word of God and do it.
05:35And he was like, family, even y'all need to call me Lord.
05:39See, Jesus understood who he was.
05:42He had a sense of identity like none other.
05:45Now this on the surface, it seems cold.
05:49But you know, I've learned in my life at least
05:51and perhaps you've learned in yours
05:52that our stubbornness sometimes requires God
05:55to come back at us as hard as we dare come at him.
06:00At least in their thinking,
06:01they should have understood that he was a prophet.
06:04And if he's speaking prophetically to his family
06:06to do X, Y, and Z and they're not listening
06:08because you know what, he looks, he's too familiar
06:10and all the rest, there was a problem.
06:12And they were gonna hurt themselves
06:14by approaching Christ's ministry that way.
06:17Not only was he a prophet, he was of course,
06:20the son of the living God and they had to acknowledge that.
06:24Matter of fact, in the book of James,
06:26James doesn't even call himself the brother of Jesus,
06:28he just calls himself the servant of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
06:32Jude does the same thing because they recognize
06:34he wasn't just kin, he was God taken on flesh,
06:38Emmanuel, God with us.
06:40But what Jesus is talking about here
06:43is he was inviting them into a bond
06:45that was deeper than mother and child.
06:48A bond that was deeper than brother and sister,
06:51father and son.
06:53In the family that Jesus was inviting them into,
06:56it wasn't about blood, but the blood of Jesus.
07:03"'My mother and my brother,' he said,
07:06"'are those who hear the word of God.'"
07:08And watch this and do this and do it.
07:10I wanna spend the rest of our morning
07:14looking at how each of us can join
07:17this families of doers and hearers.
07:21Words may encourage, words are wonderful,
07:23but only words followed by action create change.
07:28Even this last trip, we could have prayed about Kenya,
07:31but until, unless 12 of us got on an airplane,
07:34traveled, put feet on the ground, went into the jungle,
07:37we could not have had the impact that we have.
07:41Thank God for prayer, but prayer should position us to act.
07:45Amen.
07:46Amen.
07:47Amen.
07:47Amen.
07:48Amen.
07:49Amen.
07:50Amen.
07:51Genesis 6 and 13.
07:52Today's gonna be a little bit more like a Bible study.
07:55Let's look at some of the stars in this faith family.
07:58Verse 13.
07:59And God said to Noah,
08:01"'The end of all flesh has come before me,
08:04"'for the earth is filled with violence through them,
08:06"'and behold, I will destroy them from the entire earth.'"
08:11How many of you agree this is bad news?
08:13This is not something you want to hear God say.
08:16But if you learn to obey God,
08:19bad news for everybody else
08:21doesn't have to be bad news for you.
08:24Psalms 91 says,
08:25"'A thousand may fall at my left hand,
08:27"'10,000 at my right hand, but it shall not come near me.'"
08:33You know, we see marriages failing, churches closing.
08:37We also see people from all over turning from the faith.
08:41And I've learned,
08:42I just have to say it over and over again to myself.
08:45It's bad, but God's got me.
08:47And you know, yeah, yeah, yeah.
08:49The devil might've got them, and I hear that.
08:51But if I dwell under the shelter of the Most High,
08:54as Psalms 91 tells us,
08:56down in verse seven it tells me,
08:58"'This thousand may fall at my left, 10,000 at my right.'"
09:00So the only thing I need to do is stay close
09:02and just dwell, and listen,
09:05not just visit church every now and then,
09:07not just visit Christ when I'm in a crisis.
09:09You hear what I'm saying?
09:10But really dwell under the shadow of the Most High,
09:13make Him my habitation and my daily way of living,
09:17and pray before I do it, pray before I think it,
09:21pray before I say it.
09:22You hear what I'm saying?
09:23When I live like that,
09:25certain results come that everyone else won't get.
09:30And he said to Noah,
09:31"'Make yourself an ark of gopher wood,
09:33"'make rooms in the ark,
09:35"'and cover it inside and out with pitch.'
09:37So Noah heard the word,
09:40but what I want to tell you this morning
09:42is Noah hearing that statement from God
09:45was not enough to save him from the storm.
09:48What saved him from the storm was verse 22.
09:52Thus Noah did.
09:56God has said a lot of things to you
10:00that could have saved you from a lot of things.
10:03But because we didn't do it,
10:06we are sinking, we are drowning,
10:09and we're looking at God like,
10:10how did this happen?
10:11Why did this happen?
10:12And God's like, listen, I told you, but you wouldn't hear.
10:19Thus Noah did according to all.
10:26You can listen to God in 90% of the places,
10:30but that 10% is enough to sink a boat.
10:35Imagine if you're in the middle of the ocean,
10:38and it's a beautiful ocean liner,
10:41and I mean, it's just wonderful.
10:43The trip and the voyage is great,
10:44but 10% of the ship suddenly gets a hole.
10:50It doesn't matter about the 90%.
10:53100% of the ship is going to sink.
10:56So when God tells you to do something,
11:00you want to do it, and you want to do it fully.
11:03Are you still with me?
11:06St. Bishop, you got too serious there.
11:10Thus Noah did according to all that God
11:15kind of made a suggestion that you should do it,
11:18commanded him, so he did.
11:24I'm grateful for all that we hear God has said,
11:26all that we read God has said,
11:28all that in our private quiet time God says,
11:32but unless we do it, it profits nothing.
11:37James 2 in verse 20 says this.
11:40You foolish person, faith without action is dead.
11:47And what he's hinting at is faith without action
11:50is not faith at all.
11:53In fact, it's a form of foolishness.
11:56It's a form of religious deception.
12:00Many people will go to the gospel concert.
12:04Many people will turn 104.1, JOY,
12:07whatever that number is on our radio,
12:09will listen to God's word,
12:11and every now and then we might even come to church,
12:15but when it comes to actually doing the things we hear,
12:19it's a whole other thing.
12:21Genesis 12 in verse one, let's look at Father Abraham.
12:25Now the Lord had said to Abraham,
12:29get out of your country, from your family,
12:32and from your father's house,
12:34to a land that I will show you.
12:36How many of you know this was a hard saying?
12:39Abraham was flesh and blood like you and I.
12:42Abraham did not know the end from the beginning.
12:45He only heard God's voice and he only felt
12:47like a human would feel hearing such a statement.
12:50He can't read the story because it hasn't happened yet,
12:53so this is not past tense for him.
12:55He's in process.
12:56It's not easy to leave your political affiliations.
12:59He had to leave his country.
13:01He had to leave his family.
13:02He had to leave his friends to seek first the kingdom.
13:07But in the end, God's purposes are always greater
13:10than our sacrifice.
13:13Skip to verse four.
13:15So Abraham just heard it, no, he did it.
13:19He departed as the Lord had spoken to him.
13:24What has God been telling you to do,
13:26to say that you have not?
13:30But then it adds a lot with him, and that's a whole story,
13:32and Abraham was 75 years old when he departed from Herod,
13:35and are you seeing a pattern so far?
13:38These people are not just hearing.
13:39These great men and women, they're not just hearing,
13:41but they're doing.
13:43So if you wanna be part of this great family
13:46of people that get it done for God,
13:49you gotta hear and do.
13:53It's great that you can quote Scripture,
13:57but the power is in stepping out and living it.
14:00Yes, sir.
14:00Yes, sir.
14:01Yes, sir.
14:02Yes, sir.
14:03Yes, sir.
14:04Yes, sir.
14:05Yes, sir.
14:05Yes, sir.
14:06Exodus 14 and verse 16, let's take a look at Moses.
14:11The Egyptians were behind him, Red Sea in front of him.
14:16What did God say to him?
14:17God just parted the Red Sea, that's not what happened.
14:21He said, Moses, lift up your rod
14:24and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it.
14:30And when you do that, the children of Israel
14:33shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.
14:37You see, the Red Sea did not part when Moses heard it.
14:45The Red Sea did not just part here at God's word.
14:52It parted after he stretched out his hand.
14:57God's hand will move when we trust him enough
15:00to stretch out ours.
15:05Verse 21, then Moses said, I heard you, God,
15:10I'm gonna fold my hands and if you said it, you'll do it.
15:14No.
15:16Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea
15:20and the Lord caused the sea, once he stressed out his hand,
15:24to go back by a strong east wind all that night
15:28and made the sea into dry land and the waters were divided.
15:33Somebody said, I think it was Amelia Earhart,
15:36that the best, the most effective way to do it
15:38is just to do it.
15:41And sometimes, like here, he's in this tough situation
15:46and God has spoken and the thing is,
15:50Moses didn't read the book yet either.
15:52Moses was in the midst of it.
15:54Your story, you're writing right now.
15:57And how your story ends will not just depend
15:59on whether or not you hear me today,
16:02but what you do with what you hear today.
16:07And he made the sea into dry land
16:09and the waters were what?
16:11Divided.
16:13He lifted up his hand and he stretched it out.
16:17He did it for God.
16:19He did it for his family.
16:21But sometimes you also gotta do it for the people
16:23that wanna see you fail.
16:27He did it for the Egyptians that were chasing him.
16:31There are people mocking you, making fun of you,
16:34saying your God's not real.
16:37God wants to demonstrate his power in your life.
16:43But you're gonna have to have the chutzpah,
16:45the grit, the gumption to stretch out your hand
16:49and dare do the thing that God told you to do.
16:52Let's look at 1 Kings 17 and verse eight.
16:58Let's take a look at Elijah.
17:00The nation was in crisis.
17:01The nation was in famine.
17:03Then the word of the Lord came to him and said,
17:05arise and go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon.
17:09This was a Gentile territory,
17:12meaning God doesn't only wanna bless the Jewish people,
17:15he wants to bless the Gentiles alike.
17:18Go to this Gentile area and dwell there.
17:21See, I have commanded a Gentile widow woman
17:25there to provide for you.
17:27This is important.
17:29God will not only provide for your soul,
17:31he'll also provide for practical and financial resources.
17:37How many of you ever been poor?
17:39How many of you know that's not fun,
17:41that's painful, that's very difficult
17:43when you can't feed your children
17:45and you can't send them to school?
17:47How many know God cares about that?
17:49If his eye is on the sparrow, you know he watches over you.
17:55So he arose and went to Zarephath.
17:58When he heard it, he did it without second guessing.
18:01If God's word says it, it ought to settle it.
18:05And when he came to the gate of the city,
18:07indeed, a widow was there gathering sticks,
18:10just like God said to the prophet.
18:13But he wouldn't have seen it unless he did it.
18:18You will only see God's promises
18:21when you obey its stipulations.
18:25Then the prophet, after everything,
18:28you know, confirmation came,
18:29the woman was exactly as God told her she would be,
18:32doing exactly what God told him that she would be doing.
18:36And he asked the woman for some bread and water.
18:40And sometimes you only get
18:42what you have the courage to ask for.
18:45She said, as the Lord your God lives,
18:48I don't have any bread.
18:50Only a handful of flour in a bin and a little oil in a jar.
18:55You see, I'm gathering a couple sticks
18:57that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son
19:00that we may eat it and die.
19:06This woman was on her last legs.
19:08She was in a very, very bad situation.
19:12But someone from Faith's family showed up on the scene.
19:18And Elijah said to her, do not fear.
19:27When you hear what God says and does and do what God says,
19:33you don't fear what other people have to fear.
19:38Let me see if I can say that better.
19:40When you hear God and do what he says,
19:44you don't have to fear what other people fear.
19:49Yes, that's right.
19:50Yes.
19:51Yes.
19:52Yes.
19:52Yes.
19:53Yes.
19:54Yes.
19:55Yes.
19:56Yes.
19:57Yes.
19:57Yes.
19:58Yes.
19:59Yes.
20:00Yes.
20:01Yes.
20:02God's gonna give you an action,
20:03something to do that will be the solution.
20:08A lot of us, we want solutions
20:10just to come down from heaven.
20:14But just about 100% of the time in my life,
20:20the solution involved me doing something.
20:24Whether it was saying something, giving something,
20:26releasing something.
20:28It was always, there was something apart from me to play.
20:34God, the Bible says we are co-laborers with Christ.
20:39The Bible says his yoke is easy to burn as light,
20:43but his imagery of a yoke, of a big ox and a small ox,
20:47doing things in tandem, doing things together.
20:51The anointing comes when we partner with the Lord.
20:55Not just saying, Lord, you do it,
20:58but Lord, I'm gonna do my part as you do your part.
21:01I'm gonna lift with my strength,
21:03but then you're gonna add your strength to my strength,
21:06and that power is gonna be unstoppable.
21:10Jesus, as great as he was, before he fed the multitude,
21:14he asked for a little boy's lunch.
21:17And after he received the lunch,
21:19he added to that lunch and fed the multitude.
21:22But first, the disciples had to do some,
21:24and you had to go and get a boy's lunch.
21:28There is almost 100% of the time,
21:32in order for you to get victory,
21:35you're gonna have to act.
21:39And Elijah said, don't fear.
21:42Go on and do as you have said.
21:46But I know it seems rude.
21:49I know you're gonna think ill of me,
21:52but God's ways are not our ways.
21:55As high as the earth is from the heavens,
21:58are his ways far away or different than ours.
22:04As you have said, make me a small cake from it first,
22:09and bring it to me.
22:11And afterward, make some for yourself and son.
22:17How many of you would immediately question
22:18the prophet's motives here?
22:20Yeah.
22:24But what God is using the prophet to show us
22:28is that if you put God first, you will last.
22:34If you put God first, you will last.
22:40Some of us are not gonna make it
22:41because God's second, third, fourth, fifth.
22:44But when you put God first, you will last.
22:51This was a concrete example of a person putting God first,
22:58and then God's showing himself strong.
23:00So many of us, we cling to promises.
23:02Seek first the kingdom and its righteousness,
23:04and all these other things shall be added to you.
23:06How many of you like those other things
23:07that are promised that will be added to us?
23:10Yeah.
23:11But the condition is seek first.
23:15And if you don't put God first in your heart,
23:18in your finances, in your speech,
23:20in your behavior, in your actions,
23:23you're not gonna have the results that Scripture promises.
23:31For thus says the Lord God of Israel,
23:35if you obey me, if you test me in this thing,
23:40I will show you myself strong.
23:42The bin of flour shall not be used up,
23:45but you gotta first use what you have.
23:50Release it from your hand
23:52before I let go of what's in my hand.
23:58The bin of flour shall not be used up,
24:00nor shall the jar of oil run dry
24:04until the day the Lord sends rain on the earth.
24:07And what God was saying here is,
24:10you know, little widow woman,
24:12the people around you may be in chaos,
24:14they may be in lack and shortage,
24:17but when you trust and obey me,
24:19everybody else's problem don't always have to be your problem.
24:27But such teaching and preaching is for family.
24:36A lot of folks just say,
24:37well, I heard that, I received that
24:41without doing the work required to get that.
24:47What measure you meet shall be measured back unto you.
24:51No investment in God's word,
24:53understanding it, listening to it,
24:55learning it, reading it.
24:57When trouble comes, you're not gonna know
24:59the word's answer to your problem.
25:02The measure you meet shall be measured back.
25:06That's scripture, that's in red, that's Jesus' word.
25:09So the investment you make into God's kingdom
25:14is gonna be the thing God measures
25:16his response to your investment by.
25:20So how much of my life I yield to him
25:23is how much of my life he's able to bless.
25:28And a lot of times it's in proportion to our obedience.
25:33It's not in proportion to how good a sermon
25:36you just heard preached.
25:39It's not always in proportion to how much you wanna think.
25:44There was a man that was lame
25:47that sat by the pool of Bethesda,
25:51but Jesus said, listen, man,
25:53how long you been in that situation?
25:56And he went on and on, I ain't got nobody.
25:58He came up with all these excuses.
25:59You know, I don't got the help other people got.
26:02Jesus looked at him, well, you can at least do something.
26:09He didn't just zap him.
26:13A lot of us just wanna zap.
26:18That's typically not the way it works.
26:23Jesus said to him, he didn't say, you know, done.
26:28He just said, rise up, take up your mat and walk.
26:35The man had to exert some effort.
26:38And as the man tried to get up,
26:40he found strength in his knees,
26:42in his legs he hadn't had before.
26:44And here's the deal.
26:46Why did he tell him to take up the mat?
26:47Because he didn't want any residual
26:49of what he used to be like
26:51and what the situation he used to be in to be left behind.
26:58God wants to heal you so good
27:00that people don't even believe you're the same person.
27:04Because yeah, because afterwards,
27:07he went to the Sadducees and Pharisees.
27:09They were like, the people were like, is he the man?
27:11You know, is he the guy, you know, that lay by?
27:14Because they didn't quite believe him
27:15because he was so different.
27:18But that difference requires us to lean in
27:22and to take steps to do what God wants you to do.
27:27Forgive me for this, but as I sit here,
27:29we just feel, well, Lord, because I love you,
27:32my marriage is supposed to be perfect.
27:35Snap your finger.
27:39Listen, God couldn't snap his finger to make you do right.
27:45I'm going to look at this side of the room.
27:51So how's he going to snap his finger
27:53to make your spouse do right?
27:55It's all a process.
28:05So she went away and did, watch this,
28:09she did according to the word of Elijah.
28:13No, I've learned, and I know you want me
28:15to be more spiritual than this, but I'm not.
28:20I've learned to feel the fear, but do it anyway.
28:25I can't tell you how many times I just had to do it afraid.
28:33The most important decisions in my life
28:36were on the other side of some fear.
28:39Think about what, you know, what if this goes wrong?
28:41What if that goes wrong?
28:42But I've learned everything God has for me
28:45is on the other side of some fear.
28:48And fear is a prison.
28:51And just because I feel it doesn't mean I got to do it.
28:56And when I feel it, I've learned to just move
28:59in the direction of God's word
29:01and all that stuff will fall off.
29:04And I'll look back and wonder what took me so long
29:07to do what God had told me to do.
29:09Matthew 14 and 28, and we're going to wrap up.
29:13And by the way, after she did it,
29:15her household ate for many days.
29:17And by the way, you're just one faith decision away
29:20from, you know, others are going to be dying,
29:24but you're going to be kept alive
29:26because of the decision you've made.
29:29People falling away, people giving up on God,
29:32people giving up on family.
29:35But because you made that faith decision,
29:38God's going to keep you for many days.
29:39Matthew 14 and 28, one last one, and we're through.
29:45And Peter answered him, and how many of y'all know this
29:47passage where Jesus, where Peter's about to walk on water?
29:50Watch what Peter says.
29:52Lord, if it is you, please don't think I'm telling you
29:56to be reckless.
29:57I'm not talking about you doing something stupid.
30:00I'm talking about you doing what God has said.
30:04Peter made sure he got confirmation from God's word,
30:09but also a proven counselor in his life
30:12because he asked Jesus who was counseling him.
30:15Peter did not just take advice from anybody.
30:20You got to really learn that.
30:22Peter didn't take advice from the people in the boat.
30:28And that's the problem.
30:29You taking advice from people in the same boat.
30:33They just as broke, they just as messed up, confused
30:36on their 15th marriage.
30:38Peter took advice from someone who was already
30:50walking on water.
30:57I want advice from people that are doing the thing
30:59I want to do, not the critics, not some bozo
31:05that all he got is some followers and some likes,
31:08but they never accomplished nothing in life.
31:11I want some folks who are doing it.
31:20He said, Lord, if it is you want a clear confirmation
31:25and he know Jesus is a boss.
31:27I know that you think he's all soft and he's a boss
31:30and Peter knew this about him.
31:32He didn't say, well, Jesus, you know, just, you know,
31:37give me an idea about what, no, he said, command me.
31:41You are the Lord of the universe.
31:43You are the Lord of the seas, the mountains,
31:45the hills, the valleys.
31:47You do the God thing, Jesus.
31:49Lord, command me to come to you on the water.
31:53Watch Jesus.
31:54He said, oh, you ask too much.
31:56Oh, oh, oh, I, that's just, that's, that's too.
32:00Man, I tell you all the lights in heaven are gonna dim
32:02if I use my power to make you walk on this water.
32:10Jesus looked back and he said, without a stutter,
32:17come, but listen, that word by itself was not enough.
32:26Watch this.
32:28When he was in the boat, he wasn't walking on water.
32:30That's right, that's right.
32:32As long as you stay in the boat,
32:33you're not gonna walk on water.
32:43It says, and when Peter came down out of the boat,
32:49see, it's not till you come out of some things
32:50and step into some things that you're gonna see
32:54the miracle working power of God.
32:56And when Peter came down out of the boat,
32:59he walked on the water to go to Jesus.
33:05You see, success doesn't come
33:07just because of what you can do.
33:10It comes by overcoming the things you think you can't do.
33:20But when he saw that the wind was boisterous,
33:22he was afraid.
33:24And beginning to sink, he cried out, we know the narrative.
33:27He said, Lord, save me.
33:29But guess what?
33:31Jesus knew he would sink, but still told him to come.
33:37Jesus knew you would mess up,
33:41but he still wanted you to start moving
33:43at least in the right direction.
33:52Yeah, we're gonna fail, but at least fail moving forward,
33:55trying to do something in your life.
34:02God knows you and I, we will not do it perfectly.
34:06Matter of fact, I have never done anything
34:08in my life perfectly.
34:09I asked my wife, there's nothing perfect about me.
34:14Yes, Peter sank, but he sank trying.
34:19Listen to me, please hear me.
34:21Perfectionism is the enemy of progress.
34:26You're trying, you're like, well, I can't do it perfectly,
34:31you don't do it.
34:33You gotta have enough faith in God
34:35that even if I don't do it right, you got me, God.
34:38You can keep me, God.
34:40My faith is not in my perfection,
34:42it's in the God that can keep me and uphold me.
34:47Sometimes you gotta get over yourself
34:51and try to hit that note, even though you're not certain.
34:56Or make that statement, offer that or give that ask,
35:00but you gotta be humble enough to try.
35:03And I was such a proud young guy
35:06that I was resistant to try certain things
35:08because I didn't wanna fail.
35:11But as I finally started getting over myself,
35:15I began to realize that failure
35:19is really just a part of success.
35:23Let me keep going.
35:27And immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him.
35:31You see, when you try for God,
35:35he will catch you when you fall.
35:40Okay, well, it's recorded that Peter sank.
35:45Well, it's also recorded that those guys
35:47that stayed in the boat never walked on water.
35:49Amen.
35:50Amen.
35:51Amen.
35:52Amen.
35:53Amen.
35:54Amen.
35:54Amen.
35:55Amen.
35:56Again, failure is not the opposite of success.
36:01It's a part of it.
36:02Amen.
36:04And we gotta take a humble pill.
36:07And say, Lord, I may not do it right, get it right,
36:10but I'm gonna lean in towards you.
36:12I'm gonna trust you.
36:14I'm gonna take you at your word.
36:18You know, sometimes we have to stop being
36:20so hard on our children.
36:24Because you know God has not been that hard on you.
36:29Someone said, failure is just success in progress.
36:35And just like you had to fail to get to where you are,
36:39our kids might have to fail to get to where they're going.
36:43And making mistakes is a part of life.
36:48And we must be humble enough to embrace it.
36:52And get up, dust off, and move on.
36:58Yes, we are imperfect.
37:02But God still has a perfect plan
37:05that includes even our imperfections.
37:10But if you really wanna be part of Christ's family,
37:14he said, my brothers, my mother,
37:18are those who hear the word of God and do it.
37:24And sitting in this church does not make you family.
37:30What makes you family in the household of faith
37:34is hearing the word of God and doing it.
37:38Amen.
37:38Amen.
37:39Amen.
37:46So as I speak today, there are things coming to your mind,
37:51and I know I'm a little bit over time.
37:55And the Lord's gonna bring it to your mind.
37:56Do it.
38:00Take the risk or lose the chance.
38:04We're all gonna die.
38:07I mean, if Christ doesn't come,
38:09we only come this way once.
38:12We're not getting any younger.
38:15Why are you putting it off, procrastinating?
38:18You're not gonna be down here forever.
38:23An opportunity of a lifetime
38:25only lasts the opportunity of a lifetime.
38:27I wanna encourage you this morning to take the step.
38:32Get off the sidelines.
38:36Get on the field.
38:38Take that step and watch God do what only God can do.
38:44Hope you got something out of today's message.
38:49Thank you so much for visiting our YouTube channel.
38:51My hope is that you found something in today's message
38:54that has blessed you.
38:55If you've been touched,
38:56if you've been inspired by what you've heard,
38:59and you wanna help us reach others,
39:00I encourage you to like this video, subscribe, comment,
39:04and share this message with someone else.
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39:09you can click the link below
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39:13of Jesus Christ around the globe.
39:15I hope to see you back here again.
39:17God bless you.
39:17God bless you.