"Eating In A Famine" Pastor Tolan Morgan Sunday August 30, 2020 10am

[Music] welcome aboard the virtual ship with fellowship chicago while we can't have church traditionally we can still be the church consistently new method same message new platform same power new season same god now let's go into our worship experience [Music] praise the lord praise the lord listen pastor sharp this is elder v we're coming in to let you know how much we thank god for you you have been such a blessing you've been concerned about us we've been making sure that we received the word of god and while you're taking your sabbatical we just wanted to pause and send some love to wherever you're at we love you pastor sean we love you love you love you love you hey pastor sharp and lady bree on behalf of the pastor support committee we want to say that we love you we appreciate you god bless you guys we love you full speed ahead on behalf of the ministry i just like to say you're doing a wonderful job so i appreciate you i know the ministry i appreciate you being concerned about our health and welfare so thank you thank you thank you i'm here with the vibe ministry and we just want to take the time to say pastor sharp we love love love you and lady bree we appreciate your leadership we love what you're doing with fellowship the ambassadors want to express our sincere gratitude i think i can speak on behalf of all the ambassadors for giving your heartfelt thanks enjoy your month of rest thank you thank you thank you we just like to say on behalf of our director ms reena bowman and the rest of the bereavement team how much we love and appreciate you so pastor we would like to just say thank you we appreciate you and we love you hey pastor this is mark you know me from the security ministry we just came to say thank you and god bless you for all that you've done for me the leader that you've been through this pandemic and the person that you've been to us and how you've been a friend to me thank you so much hey pastor shop how you doing this yourself derek here along with the culinary ministry we just want to take a moment to say we appreciate you passed and we love you we look forward to the vision that you have here for fellowship we appreciate you for being just you hey pastor it's movements appraise your dance ministry and we can't thank you enough for being such an amazing pastor we know that your job is hard but we all consistently pray for you we love you and we appreciate you and lady brady hey fellowship chicago my name is denise vaughn and i live in toronto canada i'm so grateful for pastor sharp and all that he does and for preaching the word in a way that makes sense especially now when a lot in the world just doesn't make any sense again thank you pastor sharp i was glad when they said unto me let us go into the house of the lord fortunately god has fixed it that we didn't have to go far you're already in your place of worship you might as well give god praise on behalf of our pastor reginald sharp and fellowship chicago we welcome you to the virtual ship go ahead and join our praise team wherever you are on whatever device wave your hands sing shout shout unto god with the voice of triumph it is sunday god has brought you through the week you might as well celebrate on today we come to lift up the name jesus this morning come on we want to give him our best praise lord we lift your name on high hallelujah we can just say something sweet to our god this morning god we love you we insult you god there's nobody like you that's why we were created to worship you we grieved we were created to give you our best praise hallelujah yes lord i love to sing your praises i'm so glad you're in my life i'm so glad you came to save us everybody [Music] [Music] [Music] hey [Music] oh you came from [Music] we [Music] [Music] jesus is [Music] oh [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] praise god family we've made it to the fifth sunday of august god has been gracious to all of us and i am so elated and excited that we have a preacher aboard the virtual ship today we've been blessed every sunday this month really by a word from god that has come from dynamic vessels and today is no different we're going to hear from the one and only dr toland morgan i know i've said the one and only about almost everybody that's been on the ship this month because they are the one and only it's no one like him nobody can do it like him and today is no different he has a unique style a unique flavor a unique approach to preaching god's word and i know he's going to bless us today hey this is the cool part about dr morgan he pastors a church called fellowship bible baptist church down in warner robins georgia so whenever we talk we always mention that he has the ship in georgia and i'm leading the ship in illinois and so the ships are coming together today somebody who's already used to navigating a ship is coming on the virtual ship in the shy town today and he is a phenomenal person he is a incredible preacher and he is a thoughtful pastor let's prepare our hearts and our minds and our spirits to receive what god wants to give us today through god's vessel dr tolan morgan all the way from the ship down in georgia you know what to do write in the comment section and let dr morgan know we're glad you're on board with us come on let him know in the comments welcome dr morgan welcome pastor morgan let god use you today pastor morgan and lift that right hand and repeat after me pastor morgan let god use you today i know you're about to be blessed i'll see you later on in the service peace peace [Music] grace and peace everybody this is pastor tolin morgan coming to you from the fellowship bible baptist church here in warner robins georgia i am honored excited grateful and appreciative to my friend and brother pastor reginald sharp for asking me to share the gospel of jesus christ with the fellowship missionary baptist church of chicago illinois it's a great thing because it's uh one fellowship connecting with another fellowship so we appreciate you pastor uh for entrusting us with this responsibility i pray that you are being refreshed and rejuvenated in this season and let me thank the entire fellowship chicago family for embracing us in this presentation of the gospel of jesus christ may god bless you may his word strengthen you and may he forever keep you for his glory let's go to the word of god first kings chapter number 17 the book of first kings chapter number 17 and it is there that the holy spirit has highlighted for us this context of scripture beginning with verse number eight first kings chapter 17 verse number eight your bible should read and the word of the lord came unto him saying arise get thee to zarephath which belongs to zydon and dwell there behold i have commanded a widow woman there to sustain you so he arose and went to zarephath and when he came to the gate of the city behold a widow woman was there gathering of sticks and he called her and said fetch me i pray you a little water in a vessel that i may drink and as she was going to fetch it he called to her and said bring me i pray you a morsel of bread in your hand and she said as the lord your god lives i have not a cake but a handful of morsel a handful of meal in a barrel and a little oil and a cruise and behold i am gathering two sticks that i may go in and dress it for me and my son that we may eat it and die and elijah said unto her do not fear go and do as you have said but make me thereof a little cake first and bring it unto me and after make for you and for your son for thus says the lord god of israel the barrel of meal shall not waste neither shall the cruise of oil fail until the day that the lord sends rain upon the earth and she went and did according to the saying of of elijah and she and he and her house did eat many days and the barrel of meal did not waste neither did the cruise of oil fell according to the word of the lord which he spoke by elijah i want to tag this text eating in a famine eating in a famine there is a story told about a young boy who got a toy boat for his birthday his parents bought him this boat because he always wanted to sell his own boat across the pond that was in their backyard his birthday came around his parents bought him this toy boat and as soon as he got the boat he went in the pond in their backyard and began to enjoy his toy boat sailing in this small body of water he got scared and panicked after a while because the boat got out there too far out of his reach and out of his control and began to coast on its own he panicked he ran back in the house got his big brother and asked him could he help him to get his boat back closer to his spot where he was standing on the land his older brother goes out looks at how far this toy boat was away from the bank and to the younger brother's surprise that older brother started picking up rocks and throwing rocks at his little brother's new toy boat the little brother got even more frantic began to tell his big brother to please stop throwing rocks at my little boat because you're going to puncture the boat and it's going to sink and his elder brother looked back at the little boy and said no i'm not trying to sink your boat what i am trying to do is create ripples in the water so it would sail and coast back towards us in this direction ladies and gentlemen i'm not sure of who i'm talking to i can't even see who i'm talking to but i believe by the spirit of god that i have a sneaky suspicion that what is happening in somebody's life is god throwing rocks toward your way to get you to float back towards him he is not trying to sink you he is not trying to kill you he is permitting and using the rocks of life to get you to float back in his direction paul would put it this way to the rom to the church in rome and we know that all things work together for the good of them that love the lord and are called according to his purpose he has strategically and intentionally permitted certain challenges to come your way only to float you back into his direction and under his control such as the discipline discovered in the discourse of first kings chapter 17 in which god has sent his prophet this old testament luminary by the name of elijah as his rock thrown towards israel to bring them back into the care and control and proximity of god's will way and word they have strayed from god they have indulged in idolatry they have embraced baalism they have submitted to a wicked king and now god sends elijah as his vicar his mouthpiece his press secretary to remind and recall the people to god's authority and he begins by stepping up into the pages of human history in first kings chapter 16. to make his direct appeal to authority because in biblical times a real prophet spoke truth to power elijah steps up to king ahab and pronounces the judgment of a famine resulting from no rain walks out of the king's court resides in this place called cherith until god directs him in verse 8 to leave cherith and go to a place called zarephath zydon there he has been informed that a widow woman is going to sustain him he gets to the gate of zarephath zydon spots this woman gathering sticks inquires into her actions she says i'm gathering sticks so that i can go prepare a final meal for myself and my son because we are struggling and suffering through this famine we're going to have one final meal together and we're going to die elijah the prophet makes one request to her he says to her lady i don't need you to cancel your plans all together all i'm asking you to do is in the process of your plan make me a cake first she is not quick to acquiesce to elijah's request but in the process of time she reluctantly provides his request and in the process of providing his request the bible says her mill barrel began to fill up not only for that day but the bible says specifically that she ate all of the days of the length of the famine until god would send rain because of her obedience this story you and i read concluded by telling us that both elijah and her and her son ate many days as long as the famine went on ladies and gentlemen that's the story let's back up in this passage and discover its truths for our own personal walk with god this is an intriguing account as it helps us to navigate through the social economic challenges of our own time but it also shares with us this overarching premise that god knows how to provide not just in the times of poverty but god has so much power that he can provide through poverty that god doesn't have to take a whole lot to do a whole lot god has the ability to do so much with not much that's somebody's testimony already that god has done so much with not much he's got so much power that he is not limited to a certain volume of material or conditions or resources in order to get done the preferred outcome when we first met god he was making something out of nothing so if he can make something out of nothing he definitely can make something out of something and you and i have to appreciate this overarching premise of this little easter speech because you and i in this day and age are having to navigate through interesting times unprecedented times and the reality of the matter is much has been taken from us but we're still managing with what we have still at our disposal thank god that god can do much with not much this story ladies and gentlemen begins with an interesting and intriguing twist in verse number eight god tells elijah something interesting he says specifically to elijah to leave cherith and go to zarephath and there i have ordained a widow woman to sustain you now ladies and gentlemen check out the profile of this sister in the scripture she is a widow which means she has fallen on the social economic totem pole because her husband is no longer alive and available to take care of her so therefore her finances are lacking she is a woman of zerephath zydon which is gentile country they worship bail in her hometown so not only does she lack finances she lacks faith in yahweh and not only does she lack finances and lacks faith because of her gentile territory but the text also says that she really doesn't know who elijah is she's never met elijah and elijah has never met her so she lacks familiarity with the prophet catch it one more time in this profile of this sister she lacks finances she lacks faith and she lacks familiarity yet god has called her to sustain a man of god weaving when she is not being sustained this is an intriguing twist to the introduction of this story ladies and gentlemen because the real challenge is not on her she lacks finances faith and familiarity so the real challenge is not on her the real challenge is on elijah how is elijah going to trust god's word that some woman who is lacking in finances faith and familiarity would be able to sustain him he this statement ladies and gentlemen isn't just a challenge for this woman it's a challenge for elijah but if you got a bible and like it and can read it elijah ladies and gentlemen is not and was not a complete stranger to god's unusual unknown resources because if we probe the walk of elijah thus far between first kings 16 and 17 we discover that this isn't the first time that elijah has had to trust god through a resource that lacks finances faith and familiarity now this this this isn't the first time elijah has had to walk with god by trusting him to provide through an unknown person in an unknown place with uncertain provisions this isn't the first time because in the first seven verses of first kings chapter 17. god sent elijah a meals on wings program through these ravens and ravens ladies and gentlemen lack finances faith and familiarity ravens have no money ravens have no faith and ravens don't know elijah but this time in these first first seven verses if god had already sent unknown resources through an unknown person in an unknown place he was able to do it again through another resource that lacked faith finances and familiarity and your point today of asking me pastor what is the point to this here issue it is simply this ladies and gentlemen god has often equipped you with the faith you need for your current situation by acquiring faith from your last struggle preach toll and morgan i'm trying to tell you that the faith you need for now your last struggle birthed it in your life your last challenge birthed it in your life and the last situation you went through was only designed to equip you for the next challenge and the faith you have now you acquired it from your last challenge i'm telling you that all of your challenges have some type of symmetry some type of synchronization some type of connection to empower you for the next challenge if god can send ravens that had no faith no finances and no familiarity he can send a woman who has no faith no finances and no familiarity to meet a need in the life of the man of god so ladies and gentlemen the real point is don't expect god to meet your need through who you think he's gonna meet your need through god has a unique way lord have mercy today of providing unknown uncertain provisions through unknown people in unknown places and he does it ladies and gentlemen so that he can make sure that you won't get the glory of knowing how he moved who he moved through and when he moved through he says no flesh shall glory in my presence and when i move in your life you don't know who it's gonna come from you the very person who you think it won't come from is the very person god has already assigned to bless your life this is a powerful point ladies and gentlemen because you're dealing with now because you saw god do it already you you've got faith for now because you're pulling on faith that you had to use from your last struggle and here is the good news he says to elijah elijah don't worry about it i've called this this this widow woman to sustain you if you can read the text and read it properly you'll discover that the tenses of the verbs there are interesting for the revelation of the passage because he's talking to elijah about a resource that he has already secured in the past tense i'll try it one more time he he is talking to elijah in the present tense about a woman he's already secured in the past tense to suggest to elijah elijah before you get to zarephath i've already worked out what you need in that city because the solution is older than the problem god is not working out your problem god is not working out your solution he's already working out your solution you just having time to run into what he's already worked out man that's good news for somebody that god is not sitting up in heaven trying to figure it out he's already worked it out i was going through the drive-through at wendy's one time and while i was in the drive-through i ordered my food at the window at the the talking station there and by the time i pulled up to the next window my food was being handed to me i was impressed with the speed by which they had given me my food and i asked the lady like how did you prepare my food so fast and she explained to me that when i was back there speaking to that speaker the woman i was talking to through the speaker was already in the back preparing it while i was talking to her so by the time i got to the window it was already prepared when i was issuing my order she was already working it out and there was the next person at the next window only there to hand me what had already been worked out i it one more time god is not trying to figure it out he has already worked it out because when you told it to him he had already had it under control he had already worked out the details he was waiting on you to get to the window lord have mercy by which he was going to hand you what he had already worked out he has already worked out this situation for elijah then god's word to somebody is that my provision for you is already worked out i'm just waiting on you to rendezvous with my solution cause it's already done here's the good news he's telling elijah hey elijah man listen you won't have to figure it out when you get there i've already beat you to the destination because god's provision will get there faster than your presence i'll try it one more time god's provision will get there faster than your presence before you even get to where you're going god has already worked this thing out and he's worked it out through somebody who he knows he's going to get the glory through their lives but this connection between elijah and this widow woman is quite unique because when we read this story god ordained her to sustain elijah when it ended up that elijah sustained her let me try this one more time she was ordained by god to sustain elijah only to discover that elijah was used of god to sustain her i don't know who i'm preaching to here today but let me tell you that sometimes ladies and gentlemen the question is not what is your assignment the question is who have you been assigned to because who you've been assigned to is significant to how some of your needs are going to be met in other words stop looking for people to serve you and start serving somebody because your blessing is not in what you receive it's in what you give and how you help somebody else's godly agenda this is going to be a blessing for her because if she submits to god's assignment on her life of ministering to the man of god it's going to turn around and bless her maybe we need to ask this question not what is my assignment but who have i been assigned to who is god calling you to help so that the whole service can actually be a blessing to you they rendezvous at the gate of zerephath zidon and elijah notices that this woman is actually doing a man's task of gathering sticks and her action of gathering sticks is indicative or or suggestive that this may be her so he walks up to her and i ask her what are you doing i'm she says i'm gathering sticks that me and my son may have our last meal and die and here comes the critical point of this text ladies and gentlemen elijah makes two requests to her lord hold your boy right here elijah's first request to her is okay lady in the process of you preparing this final meal for you and your son i would ask that you would get me some water time out time out time out time out elijah i want to ask you a question because i'm struggling with your question because how dare you ask her to get you some water when you're the reason why she has no water preached holland morgan you're the reason why there is a drought in the land in the first place because you sir just left out of king ahab's office and told him that there would be no rain for the span of three years and then you turn around and ask this woman to go get for you the very thing that she doesn't have because of you interesting church interesting church interesting church he is the reason why there is no water he is the reason thus why there is no famine and he turns around and asks her to get me some water when you're the reason why nobody has any water sometimes church god will challenge you to go get something that he has reduced you to because if there's any water for her to get it's just enough left for both her and elijah and her son how do we know that we know that because she just walks away and goes to try to retrieve the water and if she goes to try to retrieve the water number one she knows where water is and number two there's enough for elijah to drink ladies and gentlemen sometimes god will reduce your resources and leave you with just enough to activate your faith and actualize your obedience he will leave you with just enough just enough to make you walk by faith and not by sight just enough to make you obey him so that he can get the glory out of your life some of us uh are stricken with amnesia when we get too much from god so sometimes god will permit for there to be a decrease in our resources so there can be an increase in our faith sometimes god will leave you with just enough that's going to be the very mechanism that's going to activate your faith and actualize your obedience she goes and gets the water and the bible says in the process of her going to get the water she's in route to get the water as she is going he says oh by the way lady can you get me a cake now if you got a bible you will notice that this widow woman did not object to getting the water but she did object to getting this cake for elijah she had no problem going to get the water but she was reluctant and hesitant and reticent to not go get this cake for elijah interesting what is the point here it is simply this she didn't struggle with going to get the water because the water ladies and gentlemen was something that everybody had to lose it was a famine so everybody was low on water but this cake was her cake that she had already made intentions for her and her son to eat and die she didn't struggle with the water because the water was already lacking but this cake on the other hand was her personal resource that she had already had intentions for and she said i only have i don't have no cake i just have a handful of meal and a handful of flour i don't know how you're going to respond to this point ladies and gentlemen but i want to share with you today that this text is clear to teach us that if elijah and god for that matter knew that this is a widow woman who is low in resources why would he even ask her to in essence neglect her son and put him on the top of her response list to make cake for him knowing the circumstances that he caused elijah is the reason why there is a famine you challenge her with water then you challenge her with this cake of meal this text teaches us something ladies and gentlemen that if her life is gonna turn around she's got to be willing to give up what she wants to keep in order to get what she wants to have lord have mercy today you want to keep that cake because you already made plans for that cake and god often interrupts your plans your intentions your schedule your agenda with his own priority and asks you the various stuff that you've already made plans for i'm coming to change it i'm coming to adjust it i'm coming to remove it and place myself as the priority of your life and what you thought you were going to do with what you thought was yours god will come and interrupt your plans and say put me first let me adjust your schedule let me change your agenda because all i want from you is to be able to be first in your life and at times putting god first simply means you've got to make a sacrifice that's what he was requesting of this woman hey lady i know you're getting ready to have your last meal with your son and die i'm not asking you to cancel your plans altogether i'm asking you to adjust your plans and make me first and make me a cake first because if you want to get what you don't have you may have to give up what you can't keep preach toll and morgan i'm trying to help somebody and tell you today that the key to advancement in your life is going to require sacrifice the very thing that you made plans for the very thing that you made adjustments for god reserves the right to come and interrupt your plans so that he can work out his will in your life and though you don't see it now this sacrifice that you've got to make now is going to bless your life later on sometimes church present sacrifices will bring future blessings i'm talking to somebody in here who is saying to themselves well pastor we're already in a pandemic and we're already in the midst of pandemonium and you want more sacrifice uh let's see what the bible says god and elijah knew that this woman was working with a little bit because she presents to us the antithesis of minimal measurements look at what she says she says i've got little water i've got a little oil i've got a handful of flour i've got a morsel of bread i'll try it one more time she presents to us the antithesis of minimal measurements she says i've got little water i've got little oil i've got a handful of flour i've got a morsel of bread all of those adjectives present to us minimal measurements in other words she's trying to tell elijah man can you be considerate of the fact that i'm already working with a little bit can you be considerate of the fact that i've only got little stuff to deal with just enough for me and my son and now you want me to take my little bit and use my little bit to put you first oh i'm glad you asked ladies and gentlemen because here is the first lesson that we've got to get off of this point ladies and gentlemen hear me very closely this not going to sound good you probably won't agree but it's all right it's in the text sometimes ladies and gentlemen god does not permit struggling to be a license for disobedience god does not allow struggling to be an excuse as to why you can't be obedient as a matter of fact struggling ought to be the very reason why you ought to be even more disobedient obedient to god because when you're obedient to god god knows how to stretch your struggle god knows how to put more into your shortage than you're able to put into yourself so the very time for you to be obedient is in the midst of a struggle struggle is not an excuse as to why you can't be obedient he says to her i know you got a little bit i know you got a little cake a little oil i know you got a handful of flour and a morsel of bread but lady what you don't know about me is that i'm the god of a little bit a handful and a morsel all right you you you gonna catch this in a minute i need somebody at the house to just look around your house and thank god that god is the god of a little bit he is able to take a cruise of oil in second kings chapter four that of a widow woman whose sons were getting ready to be sold as collateral for debt that her husband her dead husband left her and the prophet elisha asked her what do you have in the house she says i've got nothing but this little oil of cruz the god who who who sent elijah was able to multiply that cruse of oil because god can do much with a little bit mark chapter 8 verse 5 the bible says that there was a crowd of four thousand people who had become hungry and they were trying to figure out how is this mass of people going to eat jesus raised his one question in mark chapter 8 verse 5. he says how many loaves do you have they said we've got seven loaves but when they took those seven loaves and put them in the hands of jesus seven loaves multiplied with a number of fishes and 4 000 people were able to eat john chapter 6 there is a crowd of 5 000 people not counting the women and the children historians suggest it could have been in excess of 20 000 people they are trying to figure out how we're going to feed this crowd and jesus says where can we buy bread philip speaks up and says man listen we only got 200 penny worth of bread but but what is that since we don't have enough to buy bread and then andrew goes and finds a little boy who had a lunch of two fishes and five loaves of bread but even he raises the question but what are they among so many the bible says jesus took those loaves blessed it broke it and gave it to his disciples and all the while every time it broke more kept coming in the more he broke it the more it kept coming in i'm trying to tell you ladies and gentlemen that if you got a little bit you've got enough for god to do something miraculous in your life as a matter of fact church i don't know who this point is for but let me bless your life elijah says to this lady hey lady you've got a little oil a little a little cruise of water you got a morsel of bread and a handful of flour i didn't ask you what you lost i asked you to give me what you got left y'all don't know how to get happy ladies and gentlemen your next miracle is not contingent upon what your loss is contingent upon what you got left whatever you got left in the house that's enough material for god to do something miraculous in your house it's not about what you lost it's about what you got left god can do the supernatural with what you got left despite what you lost and in this season where many of us are suffering loss and suffering having to deal with just a little bit i thank god that the god i serve doesn't have to go back and get what i lost but he can use what i got left and do the miracle in my life with what i got left ladies and gentlemen it's clear in this passage that the god we serve can do the miraculous with what you got left that's good news with somebody all i'm asking you to do is to be willing to make a sacrifice to give up what you can't keep in order to get what you don't have can i help somebody today and tell you that's god's word for somebody in this season even in a season where we are suffering shortage and struggle and sickness the transformation of your life is attached to the next sacrifice that you make unto the lord jesus christ he said lady all i need you to do is put me first all i need you to do is seek ye first the kingdom of heaven and all of his righteousness and all other things shall be added i've been talking just to get to this one point ladies and gentlemen if you got a bible and can read it here is the miracle the miracle is not that the barrel filled up the bible says when she made that cake for elijah she made it for him first and she had already resolved that we're gonna eat and die that's what she said we're gonna eat and die now if it's a famine going on it means people are not eating and dying they are starving and dying but for her she says we gonna eat and die that's strange you're suggesting lady that in your mind there is little difference between eating and starving because they both gonna end up in death the problem with you is that you're still seeing the world through your husband's death lord have mercy today you see the whole situation through death you see no hope you see no life all you see is struggle and demise if you gonna eat then you should live but if you're gonna starve you should die but you see everything through the lenses of what you lost and god thank you that you didn't judge me by my prejudice you didn't judge me by my miscommunication and you didn't judge me by my misperception all you asked me to do was to be obedient and put you first and here's the good news the bible says she ate all the days of the famine her elijah and her son but that's not the miracle no no no no that's not the miracle the miracle is god never stopped the famine while she was eating okay i'm gonna try one more time it means that that what was happening on the outside of her house god didn't let it take over the inside of her house because he met a need without having to change the circumstances god's word for somebody here today is that god doesn't have to change your circumstances he knows how to keep you in your circumstances even though it's messed up on the outside it's not looking good on the outside there's death and trauma and tragedy all around you on the outside you better thank god that he is still meeting some needs in your life within the context of a bad situation god got so much power that he doesn't always have to change your situation he'll just keep you lord have mercy in the midst of your situation and now her house because she was being obedient her house is being fed as long as the famine is going on thank god thank god i don't know who get who's getting this word but i need you to take a minute right there in your house and give god praise that he is feeding you and letting you eat in the midst of a challenge while you are we all want him to change the circumstances he doesn't have to change the circumstances in order to take care of your life he can make a way out of no way he can sustain you in the midst of your struggle okay here it is y'all since y'all missed it this is it this is it he says you got a little oil and you got a little water and you got a handful of flour and a morsel of bread the bible says the the barrel filled up with meal that's not cake cake is a baked product cake is a baked finish elijah didn't give her more cake elijah gave her more flour and meal i'll try one more time elijah didn't give her the meal elijah through her obedience and god's provision gave her the ingredients what are ingredients y'all if y'all miss this this is going this is going to be critical ingredients church are the things you need to make it lord have mercy in here ingredients are the things you need to make something else if you want to make it you need some ingredients god in his grace and goodness may not give you everything you want but he's given you some ingredients so you can make it all right let me prove it to you he is not making the meal he is just blessing you with the groceries he is not paying your bills he just blessing you with the money he is not making sure you get up every day only but he's putting breath in your body he is giving you the basic ingredients so you can go and make it thank god that god is giving you the money so you can pay the bill god is giving you the groceries so you can make the meal god is giving you the breath so you can make the movements anybody in here grateful that when i look over my life i may not have everything i want but at least i got ingredients the essential things i need in order to make it somebody just tag somebody until i'm thanking god today that i'm making it because the god i serve is a god who knows how to bless you with the ingredients and when he gives you the ingredients you now got the resources to be able to make it that's good news for somebody and all of it happened y'all all of it happened off of one line i'm done all of it happened off of one line it's in verse eight according to the word of the lord it appears again in verse 15 and 17 according to the word of the lord good night may the lord god bless you real good can i tell you what that line means that line means y'all that you are not living off of what you have or don't have solely no no no that's not how you're living you're not living just solely off of what you have and what you don't have you're living off of who has you you're living off of the fact that you are tucked away in the will and the word of the lord translated you are surviving because god said so [Laughter] you are living cause god said so every need is met in your life because god said so and here's the good news about when god speaks his word shall not return unto him void but it shall accomplish in the thing where unto he sent it have i got a witness here in anybody out there that's grateful that god has put his word in your life and because of his word you are still alive can you tap somebody in the technological realm and tell them neighbor i'm still here because god said so have i gotten myself a win in this place anybody thankful that you are still here because god said so here is what jesus said jesus says man shall not live by bread alone but by every word lord that proceedeth out of the mouth of god have i got a willingness here that means you woke up today because god said so you're in your right mind because god said so you're able to lift your voice because god said so and because his word is on your life that means that his word is going to sustain you have i got to win this here i gotta ask you a question have you any mountains you cannot tunnel through and have you any rivers that you cannot cross over god specializes in things that seem impossible and he will do with no other power holy ghost power can do i need you to look around and just thank god but when you look around you got a little house you drive a little car that's operating off of a little gas you got a little job that's bringing in a little money but god yes lord god knows how to stretch your little money he knows how to take care of your little house and every time your meal battle runs low he will multiply and stretch it out because the god i serve knows how to take a little bit and do much with it when i [Music] was growing up in church they used to sing a song it said all in his hands his hand huh miss [Music] cat this [Music] is [Music] he knows how to grow it he knows [Music] this woman and her son [Music] what's going on this woman and her son eight while there's a famine going on that means ladies and gentlemen that you and i are in the midst of a pandemic we're in the midst of pandemonium but you ate you [Music] and tell them in the technological realm that god shall supply all of your needs according to his riches and glory i shall not fear and i shall not be afraid because no matter what's going on around me have i got a witness here and if i got a witness i need you in your house to just start looking around and god's giving god praise that he make a little bit and stretch it the whole time for these last four months [Music] god [Music] all you got to do is put your life in his hand i said put your life in his hand and he will i said he will [Music] he'll lift it up and give you glory he's lifting you up you ought to get up out of your house and stand where you are right there in your living room [Music] thank you for making sure that needs but i will [Music] fake things over god has made a way out of no way because his word said so my church may the lord god bless you real good but i'm getting in my seat when i tell you this the god we serve his word shall not fail they [Applause] [Music] [Music] but the same way [Music] and now that he is we shall never die and if you got the victory by the word of the lord if he's given you the victory the bible says let the redeemed of the lord say so if he's blessed you say so if he's healed you say so if he's fed you say so if he saved you say so god [Music] do it yeah [Music] yes [Music] so [Music] so [Music] [Applause] [Music] so so [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] so [Music] i can certainly feel god moving i pray that god is moving on your heart right now especially if you have not made a decision to follow christ our fellowship family is praying with you and for you to make that decision to make jesus your personal savior it's a life of freedom it's a life of fullness you don't want to miss this opportunity there's information at the bottom of your screen reach out to us a member of our team will reach out to you to welcome you to our church family and to welcome you to the faith thank you elder divona thank you fellowship and thank you pastor morgan for blessing our socks off today at this time as we segue past our invitation to discipleship i want to offer you now another opportunity to sow into the kingdom i want you to know that your gift your money is not just money and not just uh it's not just resources no no you have to think about it as seed you put a seed in the ground when you were expecting a harvest and so as we come today to give and to sow get your seed in your hand that seed not you're not giving to get more money no you're giving because you're planting into god's vineyard you're planting into soil that is rich and you're hoping and you're moving in an act of faith believing that god is going to bring up joy bring up peace bring up salvation for others going to help the community that we live in that lives will be blessed young people will be blessed those who are in need will be able to be blessed so every time you give every time you sow think about it in terms of a seed that you're putting in the ground and it's god's business when that seed will mature and grow the only thing we have to do is sow it and god has promised us that we will reap in due time if we faint not let me pray for you today as you look at those six ways to give cash up zell shall be next given text to give go to the website or mail it in whichever of the six ways you choose to do that's fine with us we just want you to activate your faith on this final sunday of august and let's honor the god that keeps honoring us god i pray right now that you would move by your spirit and allow no one to lack because of their generosity and their giving on this sunday we believe that the windows of heaven are already opened over our lives and that blessings not just money but blessings like rest and sleep and strength and protection and your peace are coming to shower down our lives move in the lives of your people so much so that no one can deny that we are children of the most high god it's in jesus name we pray amen amen amen hey pastor morgan has blessed us i told you now i told you he was somebody's preacher he's blessed us today and even before we get to fn i want to give two special shout outs to miss linda my executive assistant today is her birthday and then tomorrow our first former first lady dr tara ross jenkins her birthday is tomorrow so today show some love in the comments to miss linda miss linda we love you enjoy your birthday ms linda told me when i got here pastor i'll work all year long but don't mess with me around my birthday i take off and enjoy the whole week so wherever you are miss linda wherever you are just remember come back home one day enjoy yourself enjoy your birthday and dr tara we love you and we pray that you enjoy your birthday as well would you give your attention now to the fnn we have some special updates just for you happy sunday fellowship chicago this is wendy irby with your weekly edition of fnn fellowship news network we're looking to build our fnn team with more on air talent if you're charismatic and you feel that you have what it takes to be on air please email us at announcements fellowshipchicago.com fellowship get excited september is our 70th anniversary month our theme is the legacy continues we will be celebrating all month long on saturday september 5th we will celebrate fellowship's legacy of education with a virtual educator's breakfast at 10 30 a.m central standard time to rsvp please email us at educators fellowship chicago dot com on saturday september 12th we will premiere a legacy of leadership and interview with fellowships pastors the interview will include our senior pastor reginald wayne sharp jr pastor emeritus charles jenkins and relatives from the family of our late great founder the reverend dr clay evans this interview will stream live on all of our platforms on sunday september 13th we will officially celebrate our church anniversary with an outdoor sunday service live on our parking lot the service times will be 8 a.m 12 p.m and 3 o'clock p.m we will take all necessary precautions and follow all necessary guidelines to ensure our safety on saturday september 19th we will host a legacy of fellowship a virtual family reunion this will be hosted on zoom we'll have music games prizes we're just going to kick back and enjoy being members of the ship to culminate our 70th church anniversary on saturday september 26th starting at 9 00 a.m we will host a legacy of service community impact day we will be providing free resources and services to the community which includes food masks health screenings voter registration and u.s census information information on expungement and much more mass and social distancing will be required we have fellowship t-shirts available for pre-order today so head on over to fellowshipchicago.com to place your order and to check out our online store all pre-orders will be shipped the first week of september and pick-up dates are as follows wednesday september 2nd from 5 p.m to 7 p.m friday september 4th from 5 p.m to 7 p.m and saturday september 5th from 10 a.m to 12 p.m we remember the life of longtime member mrs sylvester may holliman and fellowship were praying this week for our member erica reeves on the passing of her mom mrs doris reeves please check out our church website and social media pages for these announcements and more for real-time updates from us text fellowship chicago one word to 31996 fellowship have an amazing week hello pastor sharp on behalf of all of the elders ministers and ministers in training we just want to say how much we appreciate you and how much we are so grateful for you you have continued on the legacy steering the ship even through a pandemic and we are just honored to be able to serve alongside of you we love you we appreciate you and we pray that you and lady gree are getting the rest and relaxation that you both deserve god bless you pastor on behalf of the hiv mental health and recovery ministry at fellowship we just want to thank you for all your love and your ongoing support we thank you for all that you do for our church i just want to let you know that we love you we appreciate you and we thank you very very much you'll be blessed and enjoy the rest of your time off hello pastor sharp and on behalf of our whole youth ministry counselors and our lovely director ms mona johnson we would just like to thank you and celebrate you for everything that you have done for us such as the pancakes that you've given us on youth weekend and the scholarships that you've given to our seniors we hope and pray that you have a happy and restless sabbatical and we can't wait to see you in lady bree again hello pastor shaw it is my esteemed honor to present to you accolades from the medical ministry we love you and we hope you are enjoying your well-deserved sabbatical we love you from the medical ministry yay on behalf of the men's ministry we just want to let you know that we love you and we appreciate you we thank god for you we thank god for your leadership god will do more than you can imagine when he sent us you we got more than we ever could imagine we love you pastor shop hi reverend shop on behalf of the convocational care ministry we say thank you for your leadership your guidance and your prayers thank you and may god continue to bless you this is church bible class on saturday that's a child we love you so much we love you and we miss you but we want you to get rest hello pastor sharp and lady bree with the stewart family coming to you from evanston illinois pastor sharp we greatly appreciate your leadership your strong word and your welcoming heart we appreciate you pastor sharp hey pastor sharp happy appreciation day this is your favorite ministry of course sisters with vision women's ministry thank you for being you thank you for being the awesome leader that you are and the selfless leader that you are how you doing patrick sharp it's zach here from the good life ministry we just want to say thank you and that we love you we thank you and love you for your guidance on your wisdom and this fun spirit and energy that you bring every single sunday and from our hearts to yours we wish you many blessings and we love you thank you [Music] thank you so much thank you so much thank you so so much the ship is selling strong i've come now to the last sunday of my sabbatical and i want to thank you fellowship for giving me this space and the grace to go breathe go be renewed and go be refueled i cannot wait to get back next sunday and share what god has given me to share with you i thank you for loving my wife and i enough to allow us this space and this grace to go away and then to come back with fresh strength fresh power and a new reinvigorated focus i pray this blessing over your life i do it every week and i want you to lift your hands to receive the benediction this final blessing on this sunday may your struggles keep you near the cross may your trouble show that you need god may your battles end the way they should and may your bad days prove that god is good may your whole life prove that god is good i pray that this week will meet you with surprises in the spirit that you didn't even see coming let's be blessed by our praise team and i pray you have a favor filled week see you next sunday i can't wait to share what god has given me to share with you all peace peace i love you hallelujah father every praise that we have we want to give it to you why because you've been good to us if he's been making ways for you if he's been opening yours all over the world we want you to sing it with us today are you ready here we go put those hands together and since every prayer [Music] [Music] this is what we've come to do today [Music] hallelujah [Music] with us hallelujah [Music] [Music] everybody he's got my savior [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] he's [Music] [Music] my delivery yes it is [Music] it belongs to you jesus [Music] now everybody clap your hands put your hands up like this come on [Music] father we give you all the glory all the honor why because it belongs to you there's no other god like you we adore you today come on help me sit every step every day [Music] [Applause] why every step every step one more time every step every day [Music] [Music] is every prayer thank you for worshiping with fellowship chicago on the virtual ship we've always had a commitment of service and during this season we've increased our efforts to serve you better we have made it easy for you to stay connected to get the complete resources you need you can email us at info fellowship chicago dot com call the church office tuesday through friday 9 a.m to 5 p.m at 773-924-3232 and our social media on instagram twitter and facebook for real-time updates you can test fellowship chicago to 31996 we have exciting and informative resources throughout the entire week designed specifically with you in mind go to fellowshipchicago.com for the full schedule until we dock again thank you for your prayers and financial support of fellowship chicago remember we are in this together

Channel: FellowshipChicago

Views: 11,763

Rating: 4.8782611 out of 5

Keywords: Worship Service, Pastor Sharpe, Fellowship Chicago

Id: vswcbLEHv5A

Length: 98min 52sec (5932 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 30 2020