PELC 2017 pastor debleaire snell "The tale of two egos"

[Music] evening good evening good evening good evening [Music] from various parts of the country we have come here we have come here for one purpose [Music] [Music] [Music] god is worthy [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] yeah [Music] hey-hey-hey-hey [Music] [Music] before time began he was because he has got along and right now who's a good times in the back I don't know what your years whatever it's been through the good times and bad he's still on the throne for he is God alone [Music] you were not a god by you you were not a god [Music] [Applause] [Music] you were not a god [Music] [Applause] right [Applause] you are God [Music] god [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] poor time beat you [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] hallelujah we said we don't know what kind of week what kind of year you've had since the last time you where we are but is there anybody [Music] hallelujah they make Perico promise keep light in the darkness my god that is who you here we go this team hide in the darkness my god Oh [Music] [Music] three [Laughter] [Music] [Applause] [Music] way [Music] [Music] why [Applause] [Music] [Music] Hey stay there I worship you worse I worship I worship you [Music] I live [Music] [Music] to worship you I live [Music] to worship you [Music] [Applause] we respond to him definitely father God we thank you for bringing us to this place God we thank you for the circumstances that we have been in that have prepared us to receive the blessing that you have for us this moment so god we simply ask that look God that you push flesh completely out of the way and squeeze every bit of glory for yourself that you can get out of these moments have your way God and we ask it in the name of Jesus amen [Music] [Music] we are blessed to be in the house of God tonight what do you say are you glad that God provided traveling mercies to you to get here this even come on ik you've got a hand clap in the house what are you saying we serve a great God we would like to welcome each of you one more time back to pilk what a blessing to be in this place for the next few days God has not brought us here to just receive the spirit but he's brought us to be open to the spirit to find a place within our hearts so again on behalf of the organizers and those that have worked hard all year we want to say to you tonight welcome again to pilk may God feed you and fill you and may your cup overflow when you go back home want to mention there will be greetings from and welcome from institutions from our presidents we're gonna ask dr. Pollard to come at this time he'll be followed by Dean blue then elder Cox will stand in for elder Winston and following elder Winston will be dr. Wilson thank you thank you elder Grider good afternoon evening good evening everyone good evening good evening good evening well we welcome you back again to your seventh-day adventists institution Oakwood University okay I thought I'd hear somebody Open University is on a mission and I'm honored tonight to welcome you back home to Oakwood University we've got many many guests but I certainly want to call attention to one before going giving you a quick report on what's been happening since you last saw on campus Esquire Allen manual from the US Department of Energy is here and visiting with us and we want to welcome them to the campus we did yesterday but we want to do it again where where is ah yes sir welcome come on no no no no but you got to stand up thank you welcome to Oakwood University ladies and gentlemen Oakwood is on a mission and we've been doing many many things since you last returned one of the big things that I'll call to your attention before we play our video is that sometimes when we are operating our institutions we underestimate the tremendous economic impact that they have on communities because that becomes leverage in establishing how important an institution can be recently the UNCF did a comprehensive economic study on all of its 101 institutions and we found that if the 101 institutions of the UNCF were a fortune 500 company they would be number 200 on the list of corporations now that's important everyone because even here at Oakwood University in a snapshot of 2014 we assessed the financial and economic impact of oak wood on the Huntsville community and you're coming here contributes to that impact did you know that in 2014 by University of Georgia economists they found that Oakwood University represents about 914 jobs in the year 2014 that students who have graduated that's the workforce that's here it's 300 plus workforce that's also all the students who are graduated who are working in the surrounding Huntsville community we also found that the total dollar impact of Oakwood University on the Huntsville community was 96 million dollars in 2014 now you may be saying to yourself why is that important that's simply important to let you know how important this institution is to this community and how important you are to Oakwood University so thank you for what you are doing we welcome you tonight now we've got a booth in the rear and in that booth they're covering I mean at the table there at the booth all the information you want on all of the academic programs is there and we've got some wonderful things that are running out dr. blue will tell you about one or two of them they are very important coming from our religion department and they are going to make a transformational impact upon our communities so with that said what we'd like you to do is across the next three days we will show you a few video vignettes of the great things that are happening at Oakwood University so mr. Dixon would you please [Music] [Music] greetings from Auckland University my name is Leslie Pollard and I have the pleasure of serving as president of Oakland University annually I enjoyed the genuine pleasure providing you with updates regarding the events and activities which take place at Oakwood University across the spring summer and fall of 2017 significant progress has been made in key strategic and operational areas each of these areas expresses some aspect of the mission of Open University as you receive these highlights I trust that you will see in these providential breakthroughs that Oakland University is indeed a school on a mission on may 12 to 13 2017 our very successful school year culminated with the graduation of 369 students from our five schools and 47 programs dedicated administrators our distinguished faculty our hard-working staff and hundreds of alumni celebrated the success of these graduates on an unforgettable Mother's Day weekend listen as our student tells you what Oakwood has meant to them I always wanted to go to college but I've never really thought you'd be open college so that's a surprise for me and I got a call our letter acceptance letter from them and I was like there's no need to go forward so I just came yeah oh it's always been that nurturing family kind of atmosphere for me to grow and develop d night and it's wife you know always supporting me and by the to the house giving me dinner miss grace Arnold you know of course helping out with the with disabilities and also you know just making sure my wealthy I was okay oh good it's just that environment where you can't just I feel as if like you're a baby bird and you know I feel like my whole time here number food flow Delta bird and I can justify going wherever I need it to be I just came out always thankful that I had cancer because you know I see life through a different lens and a different perspective and that's really helping me especially in my career goals and what I want to do and I just I would have never have gotten here at this point and at this point I feel like I'm my best self right now so I'm just so happy I have no complaints nothing I tell my story because I know that there's someone that is stronger than that that's giving me my strength so I don't tell it to brag about myself I just tell it to reflect what God it's done my name is Lourdes Smith and this is my awkward story coming out the graduation sixty of our personnel left for what is called now our annual faculty development and Summer Institute on biblical foundations it was organized by research and faculty development we are very grateful also to the Ziqi Family Foundation for funding this mission essential event we took on the topic of biblical foundations for career advising and I can only describe it as an extraordinary event that took place on the Royal Caribbean sailing vessel on sea days we had a full workshop of faculty development and then on import days we did tours and other fun activities the event was fill with moments of fun and learning we also incorporated into the Summer Institute a President's Council mission trip which was organized by the office of spiritual life we went to three schools in Jamaica and to these schools we delivered supplies to assist students with the learning materials that are vital to their educational achievement the President's Council mission trip was one of the highlights of the event immediately after the seven-day faculty development Institute we moved into our institutional effectiveness retreat now this is a very important time because here we review all of the data related to the institution and then we plunged right into Oakwood University online with our mini masters this learning program has been a tremendous asset to Oakland University we had 40 classes that serve the needs of more than 500 students and it brought in revenue exceeding $300,000 Open University has made a full commitment as a part of vision 2020 to expanding our online footprint through our Oakland online universities we will continue to have partnerships with a number of institutions like Andrews University or suppliers like the Adventist Learning Community and yet we are convinced based on our stakeholder focused research they have told us that we must develop the open experience online and delivery to constituencies who want the open moniker as a part of their educational and professional certification portfolios [Applause] good evening everyone and I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth and to every nation and kindred and tongue and people saying with a loud voice fear God and give glory to him for the hour of his judgment is come and worship Him that made the heaven and the earth and the sea and the fountains of waters for over one hundred and twenty-one years this message has echoed across this campus from the cotton patches and the cow fields and into our classrooms because this place is no ordinary place make no mistake about it and Oakwood University we are standing on holy ground amen you see all put is our promised land Oakwood is our welcome table and when we could not sit in the cafeteria at the General Conference it was always a seat at the table at Oakwood college Amen from this sacred spot the torch for present truth has been passed from generation to generation and that's why each of us whether you have graduated from this place or not this is your home and you owe a debt of gratitude to Oakwood University amen that's kind of weak amen the school of religion is dedicated both to honoring the legacy and forging new pathways honoring our legacy the school of religion in cooperation with the families of dr. Benjamin F Reeves and dr. Mervyn Warren is sponsoring the annual Reeves Warren lectureship on preaching each year at alumni weekend we will gather on that Friday to talk about the content of preaching and the process of preaching amen and so you are invited to join us we will give you cards in the hallway and please register online but also we want to let you know that this year the board in the fall voted that the school of religion will offer a brand-new master's degree a master's and urban ministry and Community Development come on out because you know you know where we work and we are determined by the grace of God that we will not only ground our efforts in theology but we also have an obligation to reach Pookie and Ray Ray and Sheneneh let the church say Amen come on recognizing our diversity in our regional conferences we will soon be initiating a latin-american ministerial tract amen and understanding that there is a need for relevant data through the Bradford Cleveland Brooks Center we are now initiating research that we believe will inform your decisions in the conference's and we're pleased tonight to announce that dr. Russell C where's Russell C dr. C we are you stand up is going to be our faculty research associate in the graphic Cleveland Brooks Center also won't let you know that there is no CPE Center in all of northern Alabama awkward is working now to become the first CPE Center in all of northern Alabama with the help of ACM amen but finally let me take my last 30 seconds here and tell you that this forum Open University made application to the Association of theological schools now they accepted our initial application and we expect them to grant us full membership in the spring of 2018 what does this mean that means that out of the 107 institutions of higher education and all of Adventism only three schools are the have the accreditation from the association of theological schools only three Oakwood will become number four come on and when o quip becomes number four we will be in the same league in category as fuller as mcCormick as international as Harvard as Yale as Princeton as Andrews and now Oh God come on now don't you believe that somebody else's ice is cold in somebody else's water is wetter this is the place and so in conclusion our school of religion we will continue to walk by faith and hold up the torch of truth holding the Bible as our anchor in Jesus Christ as our Lord we invite you to join us and send us your students at the school of religion here over university god bless you and welcome [Music] welcome to the Oakland University Church and welcome to tell our past role and leadership evangelist and council we do hope that you are blessed during your time here in Huntsville Alabama and specifically at the Open University Church I regret I could not be with you this evening but I'm gonna state of Florida preaching the funeral for a friend there in that state I ask that you remember me and also the bereaved family in your continued prayers my thoughts and my prayers are with you specifically my prayers are with my fellow colleague from right here in Huntsville pastor doubly air smell its pastor smell preaches the Word of God today I'm confident that you're gonna be blessed I would also like to take this opportunity to thank dr. Jesse Wilson and all the pel committee members for a job well done in planning this year's council I would also like to congratulate and thank our Opel University church staff our pastoral staff our office staff our custodial staff and our media staff for also doing a great job in preparation for this year's council before I close I'm excited to share with you then our business your ministry God's ministry breathitt light will be on national television on Christmas Day throughout the United States yours truly will share us preaching ministry and also the music ministry of Sandi Banyan Fred Hammond and our own Oakwood University aioli is an orchestra they will share their music ministry and I know you're going to be blessed for a complete listing television times and stations feel free to visit our website at www.weather.gov/elko happy holidays and may God continue to bless you good evening everyone it is certainly a privilege and a pleasure to be with you tonight on behalf of pastor bill Winston and the other eight presidents of the regional conferences along with those a representative from the West Coast we want to welcome you to the thirty eighth evangelism console that started back in 1979 can somebody say Amen we are excited about what God is continuing to do for us I just want to remind you that we have a very special presentation that is going to be taking place on Tuesday morning immediately following the morning worship we want to be able to share with you updated information concerning our retirement plan and what we are doing in order to make sure that you can retire in dignity so we're looking forward to seeing you there we believe that God is going to do a wonderful thing for us in this meeting it's not just about preaching even though preaching will occur it's not just about the seminars even though seminars will take place it is not just about the fellowship even though fellowship will take place it is important for us as a people to understand the times that we are living in and be intentional about growing the gospel in our communities so that Jesus can soon come god bless you tonight [Music] anybody glad to be in God's house tonight I say anybody glad to be in God's house tonight come on put your hands together and thank God for bringing you from all over cross these United States we serve our great God we want to welcome you on behalf of the greatest hardest working committee the pilk steering committee could you put your hands together for them for the job they've been doing for the last year this is a time of learning this is a time of fellowship and in the spirit of fellowship could you please stand to your feet wherever you are stand to your feet we drove great distances to be here flew places to be from places to be shake the hands of the folk around you if you don't know I'm me them introduce yourselves to them [Music] Alex Bryant could you please come sir [Music] if President Jackson is in the building if you could come sir [Music] we're looking for secretary Alex Bryant nad secretary [Music] a man a man a man just by way of announcement we want you to know that the theme for this year is m-28 refocus how many of you all know that we need to return to the principles of Matthew 28 the great commission and that will be our focus our plenary x' our sermons our workshops and we will say a bit more about that in a second I see he's coming I don't see him all right we are excited about the fact that for the president mr. president could you please rise we can't play heels to the chief but could you come would you like to say a word sir thank you so much as he's coming and there's a reason I'm asking him to come we also have a division president with us tonight pastor abdullah ahmed from zimbabwe I I think that's correct could you please stand sir so we could celebrate you thank you so much could you please celebrate our visitor now friends who's come from great and wife thank you so much for coming I want you to know that we have a great friend and president dan Jackson y'all didn't hear what I just said I said we got a red friend in this fan yes we we celebrate you and we appreciate the job that you are doing and certainly since we have become as Open University a part of this great North American division institutionally your support has been invaluable god bless you could you please share a few words with us I'm always tempted to just say a few words and then leave it's always a blessing to be with brethren oh how good and pleasant it is when brethren dwell together in unity and my wish for you my prayer for you is that elk will be a transformation on moment in time for you that God will empower you with his spirit thank you so much for your kindness god bless you have a wonderful evening and a wonderful conference thank you thank you so much for coming god bless you we'll have some further announcements at the close of this service today [Music] our purpose is in our title we're a seventh-day adventists one celebrates commemoration of creation the beginning and the other one talks about the summation of all life at least here on earth Jesus is coming and so we thought it appropriate to lift up the trumpet and loud let it ring and to declare with a loud voice Jesus is Jesus is stand to your feet as we declare coming of our Lord [Music] must declare it yeah [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] see [Music] [Music] Jesus is coming again we proclaim Jesus Tommy [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] Jesus [Music] Jesus [Music] if you believe that the second coming of Jesus is eminent that very soon will see the cloud the size of the man's hand and our Lord and Savior shall descend with a Trump with the voice of the Archangel and the dead in Christ for rise let me hear you say hallelujah [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] please remain standing and grab the hand of the person next to you and let's bow our heads together in prayer dear Heavenly Father we are seventh-day Adventist Christians because we believe that you are coming again there is a world that desperately needs for you to come again Lord they need to be assured that there is a solution that there is an answer that trouble is not gonna last always father they need to know the blessed assurance that he that will come shall come and will not tarry but father in order for them to know and to call upon the name of the Lord they need to have someone who can preach to them someone who can share to them someone who can communicate the good news of salvation Lord we are honored that you have called us feeble broken erring wretched wicked helpless hopeless powerless but yet we've been caught and commissioned to tell people that Jesus is coming again Lord we consider it an honor to be called by you as ambassadors of the king Oh Lord you told a parable a long time ago that you came in a vineyard looking for some workers and there was some that that wanted to talk about how much they would get paid and and you decided to hire them but gave them payment according to their labor but there were some others Lord that were called a little later and a little later but then there were some that were called 5 p.m. just around quitting time and they didn't have any desire to negotiate payment they were just happy to be called into the service and you were kind enough not to pay them according to the Labor's but to pay them according to your grace and your mercy well father we consider ourselves to be those 5 p.m. laborers we are just thankful that you've given us an opportunity to tell the world that Jesus is coming again Lord we counted a privilege to be a part of your army to be able to consider ourselves soldiers in the army of the Lord but even soldiers need to be strengthened soldiers needs to be encouraged we get wounds and we get scars and sometimes we have been the the recipients of of unfriendly and friendly fire so Lord we're asking that you might take this season this help conference to to strengthen your soldiers guard remind us that there's a balm in Gilead and a physician there remind us that the same God that we preach about will be God for us - what I'm asking that you give somebody peace that passeth all understanding during this conference I'm asking that you would recharge a battery during this conference I'm asking that you would encourage somebody to go back on the battlefield and to share a word and due season and god I'm asking that each of us would remember that we were called late in that evening and given an opportunity by a gracious God to share the good news of salvation and might we go back to our pointed places of labor just thankful that we can share a good news just appreciative that we are a part of the army just grateful to be able to let somebody know that Jesus Saves and now father we are asking that your manservant who you have appointed and anointed to feed your soldiers oh god I'm asking that you would empty him at this time empty him of all self concern and doubt and worry and apprehension and anxiety and fear and when you've emptied him don't just leave them empty God fill him with your spirit Lord we ask that you would baptize him with the Spirit of God and with fire and the fire that falls upon him might leap from the pulpit into the pew we might have a mighty blaze that sends us back not just sharing the good news but sharing the good news give us a Pentecostal outpouring God so that we can let the world know that you're coming again and we'll be mindful to give you all the honor the praise and the glory we ask these and many other blessings in the mighty name of Jesus we pray squeeze your neighbors hand and say he's good and His mercy endureth forever in the name of Jesus we pray amen you may be seated in the presence of the Lord [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Oh [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] all creatures are boys [Music] [Music] the rushing wind that are so strong because that sail [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] Oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] that's all [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you want to thank you for having us every year to begin your help week-long meetings this next song we want to kind of set this up if you feel so inclined and so impressed to stand and worship with us in this song robert Frison was a composer in in Washington DC area who also wrote the song God is a joy and the strength of my life there's another song that he wrote that's not well known it's simply called glorious is the name of Jesus I know everyone in this room believes that right [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] ladies and gentlemen the 2017 director of the world for the choir of the world dr. Jason Ferdinand and the Aeolian zuv Oakwood University now pastors July 8th was a day that will forever live in history in Wales the ice defied in which dr. Ferdinand and the Aeolian 's were declared to be the 2017 choir of the world over 40 choirs around the world have been Templars we are going to need your support because in 2018 the international choral festival the world choir games will take place and we want to send the Aeolian 's again to represent not only Oakwood University not only Huntsville Alabama but the seventh-day Adventist Church so we are going to be coming to you it will cost us about $300,000 and that's not a lot of money the Bible says the cattle Upon A Thousand Hills are mine if I were hungry I would not have told you so Jason we're all in for 2018 and pastures we are going to be coming to you and we want your churches to have an Oakwood University Aeolian Day when you raise money to help us send these wonderful young people come on young people all the way to Johannesburg South Africa [Music] and some of the aioli ins are seated here in the orchestra would you stand cabbie as I see you Esther I see you come come come so mother oh yes yes thank you thank you so we're gonna need your support thank you dr. Wilson dr. Wilson tells me that we're going to take an offering tomorrow too but we need to go to your churches because we are going to raise this goal and we're going to send these young people you know excellence is something we ought to invest in and we're going to thank you in advance for what you're going to do how many of you can we depend on you get is there somebody here is there a pastor in this house who sees the necessity of investing in excellence if that's you would you stand please come on pastors come on would you stand please stand come on all I thought everybody be standing that's just some pastors that's just some pastors we thought everybody would be stand again and now we see most are and we're going to be coming to you and we will need your support so thank you brother Ferdinand did you want to say anything trying to catch my breath as children music Department sometimes there's a burning question I have as I walk through the halls of our department the question is these young people that I'm training some of the music majors will they have viable jobs working in some day Adventist Church and [Music] and I'm a great supporter of all arts I'll just say one thing and I'm done with this one of my good friends Richard Smallwood he was heading to youth Federation years years and years ago and he said to me Jason I'm heading up to the seventh-day Adventist youth Federation I just have one question the semi advances Church is so filled with these exceptional musicians why do they keep inviting me I'll leave that right there thank you God bless you god bless you thank you dr. Wilson [Applause] every year after we have this amazing experience at Belk the pel committee comes down from this mountain at the beginning of every year they go find a quiet place someplace but no strip they come open hearts when they ask God to talk to them about what he has in his mind for next year we recognize that this could be not just another pilk it might be the last pill and so we've wait on the Lord's heart and look on the Lord's direction and this year the Lord told us to go back to focusing on evangelism and growth [Applause] and then we ask God who he wants for every session for every day for every preaching moment and all the preaching moments this preaching moment is the most important one because it sets the pace for the next three days you don't just need a preacher at this moment you need a man of God you don't need a theologian at this moment you me a man who is connected with the God of the invisible and a man whose heart is touched God's heart and as God's hand has touched his heart I'm here to announce the day but after prayer a year ago not just a few days ago we just got to give us a name in a man and he gave us the name a pastor wer snail [Applause] [Music] [Applause] I have to admit upfront I'm biased because pastor Snell is my pastor you gotta call the South sinners in 2002 and began in Columbus Mississippi the Lord moved in the Lexington Kentucky a few years later and in 2010 God asked him to come to Huntsville to take charge of the 1st seventh day of in his church God has blessed that church since 2010 God has poured into him and his staff the church went from 1200 members to 2000 members [Applause] it went from 1 million dollar tie the 2 million plus and under his leadership that church is additive membership more than 800 brand new souls [Applause] but what I like about my pastor most is that all that success he's given glory to God he's probably one of the most humble men that I know and never a time that I've come to church and as a president and I traveled all over and like I'm a hold on Sabbath not to be the president but just to be a member in the pew I need a word from the Lord and I never had it ever failed to bring to my heart and to his people that word he's married to the former Deanna Norman they've been married for fourteen great years he's got three miracle children I laugh because he said Preston Jones don't miss their names you lose one out I'm in trouble Brandon and Brooke and Jada I'm thankful that the Lord has spirit us to be back one more time and I know that God has picked the right man for the right moment for the right place for the right people after the choir will sing one more time I want you to peek your ears and what God has to say and not only take it to your mind but let it go to your soul and that's my prayer what starts tonight will be a fire that will never go out god bless you [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] No [Music] was [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] if God has been good you ought to say man one more time he's been real good you ought to shout hallelujah if he's an aunt I'm God you ought to say thank you Jesus and if you're glad he's coming again that's what I hands together for the King of Kings and the Lord of lords giving his name a great phrase you see this I know the hour is late but the Bible says that from the rising of the Sun to the going down of the same that the name of the Lord is to be praised amen amen I just want you to know brothers and sisters I'm elated and excited for an opportunity to just share the word of the Lord and encourage you further as we try to do what it is that God has called and ordered us to do and I just want to take a moment to thank dr. Wilson and the help team for the opportunity to just share this word in fact when I got the call I was a little nervous that they gave me Sunday night in fact I wanted Monday night because I got in trouble last time I preached on Sunday last time y'all I was hoping they would give me Monday [Applause] [Applause] hallelujah but in this we know that all things work together for the good of them they love the Lord and are called according to his purpose again we are we are honored we don't deem ourselves worthy or capable we just want to encourage you further in the Lord again I just want to thank dr. Byrd for the opportunity to borrow his pulpit and I want to thank dr. Pollard our university president can we give him a hearty Amen as well praise God for my conference president held at Benjamin Jones and lastly but certainly not least I thank God for a beautiful wife that he's given me I have been blessed doubly not only is she anointed she is fine as well and we've been married down for 14 years and 30 days about eight hours and about 24 minutes hey hey and every day with her gets a little sweeter than the day before and I and up to 14 years I don't feel no way he's tired though I have one witness amen amen today even though the hours late so we want to go ahead and climb into the Word of God this evening I want invite you to stand with me as we go to the word tonight I want us to begin this evening in First Samuel chapter 15 First Samuel chapter 15 and my goal is not to be long but since you all took your time [Music] matter of fact I want you to look at your watches now so y'all don't blame me for how late it is when we get out amen First Samuel Chapter 15 and will actually skip over into chapter 17 and will land in in chapter 18 first samuel will look together at chapter 15 and then we will begin together at verse number 10 First Samuel chapter 15 and we'll begin in verse number 10 when you get there for me just say Amen the Bible says now the word of the Lord came to Samuel saying I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my Commandments and it grieves Samuel and the Bible says he cried out to the Lord all night long and I'm skipping verse chapters chapter 16 we know that Samuel goals and he anointed I know it's David to be king then we know in chapter 17 Goliath shows up but then I want us to look together here in verse number 28 David has been anointed to be king he has been sent to the battle just to send some supplies and he then inserts himself he volunteers to fight but I wanted you to look at his brother's description of him First Samuel chapter 17 and verse 28 when you get there let me hear you say a man Bible says now Elliot Eliab his oldest brother when he heard he spoke to the man and Alliance anger was aroused against David and he said why did you even come down here and with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness notice the description he says I know your pride and the insolence of your heart for you just came down to see the battle now if you don't mind slip over into verse 2 chapter number 18 and then we'll just pick it up at verse 5 where we land for this evening chapter 18 verse 5 again we get there just say man one last time the Bible says so David went out whenever Saul sent him and behaved wisely and Saul set him over the men of war and he was accepted in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul servants and now it happened as they were coming home when David was returning from the slaughter of the Philistine that the women had come out of all the cities of Israel singing and dancing to meet King saw with tambourines with joy and musical instruments and the women saying as they danced and said Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands then the Bible says that Saul was very angry and the saying displeased him and he said they have ascribed to David ten thousands and to me they have only ascribed thousands now what more can he have but the cave kingdom so saw I'd David from that day forward this evening Saints I want to talk to you under the subject a tale of two egos a tale of two egos let's pray together father I prayed that in this little while that you would say much I asked for permission to join my human weakness to your divine strength I pray father that you would hide me in the shadows of the cross that Jesus alone might be seen that Christ alone would be heard and at the end Jesus alone might be praised and so father for this moment make me your avatar speak through my lips pour your message from my heart and I pray that somehow in the midst of my fallenness that the name of Jesus might be exalted father blesses to this end is our prayer in the name of Jesus let them that believe say together amen and amen you may be seated in the presence of the Lord this evening I will begin by just sharing with you that most of my life I've actually only lived in small to midsize cities I grew up in Tallahassee Florida I came here to Huntsville for school I went to Berrien Springs Michigan for seminary my first church was in Columbus Mississippi my second church was in Lexington Kentucky and then seven years ago God brought us back here to Huntsville so the truth is I've actually never lived in a large city and I've actually grown quite comfortable being a small town kind of guy and the truth is that there are some advantages to living in a small town you see in a small town we don't have Atlanta traffic you can get everywhere you need to go in about 25 minutes in a small town you don't have Los Angeles cost of living you can make it okay even on a pastor's salary in a small town in a small town we have field mice not the steroid wretch all have in New York and no shade intended no shade intended it's just different in a small town but one of the things I love about a small town is that in a small town we don't have to worry about the presence of toll roads in fact pastures whenever I'm in a large city and I see that sign that says toll roads ahead there is a stress that gathers all around my brain because it just feels oppressive to me and fundamentally unamerican they have to pay money just to drive down the dog home street and and and so the Christmas before last my family and I we went down to Orlando to celebrate the holiday which is problematic because if you've been to Orlando you know Orlando is filled with toll roads and so we were staying down in Kissimmee and we were going into the northern part of the city and so I put in my destination in my GPS and one of the things that the GPS will do is it'll ask the question do you want to avoid toll roads and so what it will do is it will carve out a route that allows you to avoid paying tolls in order to get to your destination and so of course I say to the GPS yes I want to avoid toll roads but before I press yes I did notice that the route that would allow me to avoid paying tolls would add about 25 additional minutes to my drive and so now I got a little bit of a quandary because not only am i cheap I'm also impatient when I Drive and so now I got to manage the tension of trying to decide am I willing to go the long way around or am I going to pay a little bit more just to get where I was gonna wind up in the first place and so now I make the decision to avoid all the toll roads and as I out on my journey and I was getting ready to go I began to look at my watch and so I went against the inclination of my GPS I went against my first mind and I got on the toll road anyhow now the funny thing about a toll road and I didn't understand it is when you're on a long toll road you don't just pay one toll you pay a toll every three or four miles and the other thing I didn't understand is that when you're on a toll road the toll road prices don't stay the same they don't go down but the toll prices go up the further you go down that Street and so the longer I was on that road the more expensive it got the longer I was on that road the more it costs me the longer I was on that road the more it took for me in other words this quick road depleted me this fast road diminished me this fast road began to empty me and even though I was glad to get to my destination the fast road took so much from me I wish I had never left from where I began in the very first place and see the reason I'm saying this is that sometimes we marvel in ministry about how somebody got to such-and-such a place so fast but sometimes they paid a high toll that you don't want to have applied to your account in fact what I want to say is that sometimes the route you take is just as important as the destination that you see and see sometimes in ministry we marvel at swift ascension in the work but sometimes you've got to know the shortcuts that we take are simply toll roads in disguise hmm in other words when you begin to cater to the people more than you cater to God you're going down a toll road when you scheme your way onto the nominating committee at the session you're going down a toll road when you start scratching their back because they scratch yours you're going down a toll road when you start preaching for views and likes on social media you're going down a toll road when sermon preparation takes the place of personal devotion you're moving down a toll road when you start texting a home girl too late at night your text may be free but it is a toll road and understand that when you go the church at the expense of your family it is a toll road and the longer you stay on that road the more it costs and the truth is you might get there quicker but it takes so much from you but it won't be worth it after a while I see the crazy thing about a van is that when I got on the toll road because I told the GPS to take me a different route what the GPS kept telling me to do is turn around and it told me to get off the exit on the toll road and even though I kept on going the wrong way the thing I loved about the GPS is that even when you go the wrong way it doesn't throw up its hands at you the GPS doesn't say I'm done with you the GPS doesn't say I'm tired of you the thing I love about a GPS is that has got mercy built into it because even when you go down the wrong way what it does is it simply recalculate you and helps you wind up where you were supposed to be let me shout it anybody that's ever made a wrong turn in your life maybe you've made some wrong turns in your ministry you've made some wrong turns in your marriage but can somebody shout tonight that God in His mercy hasn't disqualified you he hasn't DQ'd you his arm is not too short to say and his ear is not too daughter here are you hearing the word tonight and so y'all don't mind if we study the Good Book a little bit this evening go back with me if you don't mind to First Samuel chapter 17 and we're gonna look together at verse number 28 and we gonna unpack this thing or look at this even first samuel chapter 17 and verse 28 when you get there for me let me hear you say Amen the Bible saying his First Samuel chapter 17 and we're going to look together here at verse number 28 I accessed all the earlier verse 26 all right so now we find David now going down to the Battle of Goliath and the Bible says notices then David spoke to the man who were by him saying what shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel now did you notice something that David's first ambition was not about the glory of God David's first ambition was find out what I can get out of this situation mmm y'all didn't catch that this evening it's also go a little further with me David now kind of politics his way into a conversation with King Saul then the Bible says to us here in verse number 31 that when they heard with the words which David David spoke were heard they reported them to Saul and he sent for him then David said to Saul let no man's heart fail because of him your servant will go and fight with this Philistine and Saul said to David you are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him for you are a youth and a man of war 4 and here's a man of war from this youth but David said to Saul your servant used to keep his father's sheep and when a lion or bear came and took a lamb out of the flock he says I went after it and struck him and delivered the lamb from its mouth and when it arose against me I called it by the beard and struck it and killed it I have killed both lion and bear and this uncircumcised Philistine will be just like one of them you see I like David but I'm a little bit nervous about how much confidence he's got in himself you see I believe Saints that was we've looked at this saw David narrative I believe that may be one of the mistakes that we've made is we've kind of framed it in a one-sided type of way you see the ego of Saul is very overt and very difficult to miss but because David's outcomes are good his ego is a little bit more difficult for us to detect in fact it reads to me not just like Saul is bad but in this I see a tale of two egos at work so you got to remember now that through the Ministry of Samuel that David has been anointed to be king in secret and you've got to recognize as the oil falls from David's face that immediately his worldview is enlarged instantly his perspective changes his expectation changes and the crazy thing about David is that instantly his worldview changes but his assignment remains the same in other words David is anointed for the palace and yet he is assigned to serve in the field and the thing that this young shepherd struggles the process is how God can give me such a large anointing and I can be designated such a small assignment you'll not hear me you you see understand that that David is set to the battle in a servant's capacity david is set to the battle in a lesser role and notice in the text you never see where God told Samuel or David to fight Goliath because David's role was not to fight David was sent there to serve y'all y'all did here in other words David wasn't sent to fight David was sent to serve and yet we find David are volunteering for a larger assignment we find David campaigning for more responsibilities we find David Tooting his own horn extolling his own virtues reading his own resume nobody asked David to be President David throws his own name the Hat and see the one thing I've learned about a god call is that when God calls he speaks for you you don't have to talk up yourself are you hearing the word tonight you see y'all y'all don't know who David is see David represents that young shepherd who feels like he's entitled to more responsibility so you see David represents that shepherd who's tired of being overlooked David is the shepherd that feels like his gifts will be used better in that district David is the shepherd that feels like he needs more responsibility David is the shepherd that wants an office cause he's tired of dealing with the Sheep David is that shepherd that's tired of waiting on God to elevate him so he's got to take matters into his own hands you see the problem with David is that his assignment does not reflect his anointing and see this is where David is he's kind of created his own track of leadership in his mind and he's kind of come to the conclusion that if I've been anointed to do this then it's beneath me to keep doing that if my gifts are gonna place me here then why should I have to keep serving over there and there are a couple things that David learns the hard way that the past of greatness is always found on the road of service are you hearing me tonight see I need some young preachers to know that your giftedness don't let you buy past service your talent doesn't let you buy past service your anointing doesn't let you buy past service your ambition doesn't let you buy past service in fact if you want to be great you ought to spend less time watching sermons on YouTube spend less time working on your runs in the mirror spend less time picking out your pocket square and your time spend less time plotting your course in the work and more time practicing how to serve the Lord are you hearing me Saints he see the problem with David is that in this text David is in the place where he is expecting apprenticeship he is wanting there to be a clear succession plan where his path to the throne is clearly articulated in other words you got to realize how God has set David up see God has anointed David in secret but then he assigns him to serve Saul where he learns the operations of the kingdom from a side seat view but then he sends him back to the field where in serving the Sheep he learns lessons of compassion and mercy and protectiveness he doesn't realize that God is just treating him in an unusual fashion and when you don't understand the principle of service you can't tell the difference between preparation and punishments see I need you to know that preparation and punishment they look alike but they're not related do I have a witness in this room tonight mmm see see sometimes when you don't understand that God is preparing you your assignment will feel like restraint it will feel like God is not it was noticing you when God is just preparing you for what he has in store for you can somebody shot a man tonight like like I don't know if any of you guys are old enough to remember the movie back in the day anybody remember movie called the Karate Kid now I'm not talking about the new joint with Jason Smith I'm talk about the old and with Pat Mariah y'all know what I'm talking about and y'all remember Daniel in the Karate Kid he wanted to be a champion because he was tired of being overlooked and picked on but did you notice that mr. Miyagi didn't train him to be a champion in the gym he trained him to be a champion in service so then you had to wax on and wax off and then you had to sweep the floor over and over again and and then you had to scrub the floor on his hands and knees and through repeated service some muscles were strengthened through repeated service of reflexes were developed through repeated service his ego was tamed and see Daniel got to a point where he felt like this was a waste of time and what mr. Miyagi did was he just charged and attacked Daniel but then you remember that when he threw a punch at him all the stuff he learned in service kicked into action in other words what he have been trained to do would not show up in a vacuum his training will show up until there was an attack in other words God isn't training you to shine in glory he's training us to survive the attacks delica will come our way are you hearing me Saints and that's what I want to say that we ought not ever despise small beginnings or our current place in the work are you hearing me Saints see listen I can only say this with the clarity of hindsight tonight I spent four years of my first district in Mississippi and I can stand here with truth and conviction and tell you that I thank God for every day that he put me in a small church because the truth is that it's in a small church that you learn what you need come on and say man listen listen the truth is if you can preach the five you can preach the five thousand listen comes when you preaching the five if three our main feeling that that sermon is dead but the truth is that when you learn how to stand in there without a praise team you ain't got no music ain't nobody saying Amen but you can stand there with the Word of God in your hand and you don't flinch just a little bit then God can use you for even greater are you hearing me say I think God for a small church because it was in a small church when we didn't have any money then I learned how to stretch the realm of my creativity in the world and it was there that I learned that when the money stops flowing that the ministry still keeps going y'all y'all not hearing me in this room tonight I thank God for a small Church because when evangelistic stuff wouldn't work it was there that I learned that if this ain't working that I'm gonna try something that actually will it was in a small church that I learned that all the personalities in a large Church God introduces you to them in a small church it was in a small church that I learned not to take it personal whenever somebody leaves the church it was in a small church that I learned not too big everybody to remain in the house of God how many of us know that sometimes though deliverance is in a transform membership Oh y'all y'all fooling around with me tonight sometimes your deliverance is in a transfer you don't need to beg everybody to stay but in some transfers you wanna bust the Mizpah and say may the Lord watch between me and thee while we're absent one from another and let me just say this it doesn't matter how much they give it doesn't matter who they are because those who think they're holding the church up are the ones who are holding the church up o Yanna in other words they have literally become a stronghold that God has to move out of the way so that God is able to show up in that church I'm not hearing me tonight brothers you got to learn not to fight there to keep everybody in the church amen but I thank God for a small church and here and that's why I want to tell some of the young features that I love who worked for your church is why you are not ever covet the spotlight and I'm saying that for two reasons number one there ain't nothing that burns like spotlight the second problem with spotlight is that spotlight reveals defects that you normally wouldn't be able to see or help me hold a ghost so the reason I praise God for Mississippi is because God hid my mistakes in Mississippi God hid some bad sermons in Mississippi God hid some lustful tendencies in Mississippi God hid my shaky giving in Mississippi God hailed my need to be like in Mississippi and see the reason I thank God for sending me to Mississippi is that the things that bruise you in obscurity they kill you under the spotlight and see sometimes we're fighting for more exposure but we don't realize that more exposure means more exposure I don't hear me today and that's why I understand why David shouts when he says the Lord hide in me how many of us can just praise God tonight that he hears you in some stuff can anybody just give God a praise for some stuff that didn't come out put some stuff that didn't make it to the light put some stuff that could not be proven can you praise them for some that didn't come to pass we are not praise God for our spotlight but we have a fake God that he hides us from time to time are you hearing the word tonight so we look at this text and we see that - boy David's his ego was on 10 just a little bit now the funny thing about David is that David's boast gets him an audience with saw you see what David did David has essentially forced his way into the national conversation in fact in fact after David's defeat of Goliath the whole narrative shifts from Saul to David so much so to the point that they sing about David more than they think about Saul and so you gotta realize that what this does is it sets off a chain reaction of jealousy that essentially causes David there have to be a fugitive on the run in the caves for the next 15 years and the funny thing about it is that killing Goliath results in 15 years of misery killing Goliath doesn't get him closer to the throne killing Goliath pushes him further from the throne and I guess the question I'm kind of wonder out loud for a moment was David volunteering to kill Goliath was that David's way of taking a toll road you see the mistake we sometimes make is assuming that everything that works out well in Scripture was a part of God's plan but see remember there's some instances where stuff works out good but it wasn't how God drew it up remember how Samson killed the Philistines in his death but Ellen White says he was supposed to kill the Philistines in his living remember when the children of Israel left Egypt they were supposed to make a beeline right into Canaan but it was their disobedience that made them go 40 years around and God had to recalculate to get them into the Promised Land remember Gideon in the miracle of the fleece understand that wasn't God's idea that was God responding to Gideon's unbelief and unwillingness to hear the word of God and what I'm wondering did God draw up Saul's jealousy and David's roots right into the wilderness or was that God just recalculating to get David where he was supposed to be mean see I'm messing with you right now I you you you worried about it now seems to remember let's look at the narrative remember there in chapter 15 the Bible says that God rejects all as king in fact he rejects him so hard that he tells Samuels stop crying over Saul it's over with then Samuel goals until saw that it is done and even when Saul repents God says there's nothing else I'm going to do with you then we get over in chapter 16 and then God anoints David to be the new king and then he trees him to deal with people in the field then he trees them to know the palace while he serves Saul and so now look at the progression that takes place remember now that God never tells David to go and fight Goliath going back now God rejects saw God anoints David God tells Saul that judgment is coming and then the next person that shows up isn't undefeated for life champion of the Philistines who's calling for Saul and his army to come out and fight could it be the reason that Saul doesn't step up to fight Goliath it's not because he sees him as a great adversary but maybe he sees God's judgment that's coming to finally take him down hmm see in other words you boy Saul is it a catch-22 if he steps up to fight Goliath then he gets killed if he does not step up they get defeated and his army turns on him and so I guess what I'm wondering out loud did God send David to remove Goliath or did God send Goliath to remove Saul did he sing Goliath to remove Saul to make a vacancy on the throne for the one he's anointed in secret and trained in the background so he can just move over to his place y'all sit down with me in other words what would have happened if David just kept his hands in his pocket and let God be God he could have saved himself 15 years of misery by just standing back and realising that the battle is not his but that the battle belongs to the Lord could it be that by fighting Goliath he extends the reign of Saul 15 years and pushes back what God had anointed him to do in the beginning could it be that by pushing his way into the conversation that he pushes back what God had planned for him y'all hear me today Saints and I guess what I want to say real quick is that sometimes our greatest enemy is our own ambition are you hearing me Saints that sometimes when we push our way in we push back what God has ordained for us to do and see sometimes we've got to learn to keep our hands in our pockets and let God fight our battles and see even things that you've been anointed to do when you step your way in it and you tamper with the timing it has a way of backfiring and not working out as God has planned and so I guess what I'm saying is that maybe you shouldn't take every call that comes your way maybe you should walk through every open door in your life maybe you shouldn't tell your own story or toot your own horn sometimes we'll just fall back and let God be God over our lives are y'all hearing me tonight thanks mmm let me say this whatever growing up in Florida we would go out and we go swimming in these little lakes all around the city of Tallahassee and if anything about these lakes is that for the most part they were still water and they were safe but the funny thing about these Lakes is that you'll get out to a certain point and then there would be a rope there they would draw a line because it would not be safe to swim past a certain point and sauvignon I was outside swimming one day and I was playing with this little ball and this little ball begin to get pretty close to the little line where we weren't supposed to be and so because I wasn't a great swimmer I didn't want to step all the way out there and so what I would do is I would reach out and try to grab the ball but every time I missed the ball it would create some waves that would push the ball a little further than way from where I was and so what I would do is I would reach out again and every time I missed that I would make some waves that will push it back further than where I was and then I remember my grandmother shouting to me from the shore she said son stop reaching for it just back up and see that didn't really make sense to me to back up because I'm still very sensitive I needed I need to reach for it but the reason she told me to just fall back is that when you back up in the water it creates a vacuum or a stream so that when you fall back what you're looking for just comes drifting where you are in other words the more you reach for the further back it gets but when you fall back it just comes where you are in other words stop reaching for promotion just fall back and let it come to you stop reaching for assignments fall back and let it come G stop reaching for a husband fall back and let him come to you stop reaching for the spotlight fall back and let it come to you are you hearing the word things so the word First Samuel chapter 18 verse number 6 Bible says and it happened as they were coming home that David was returning from the slaughter to fill the silence that the women had come out of all the cities of Israel singing and dancing the meat King saw with tambourines with joy and with musical instruments so that the women sing as they danced to say it Saul has slain his thousands and David his ten thousands naughty boy David got a little ego - but you look at saw your boy sauce-ii goes all the way off the tracks but but see there are three issues with Saul that I want to talk about this evening and I'm going to take my seat the first problem with Saul is that solid and understand the fickleness of a crowd and say you got to see this thing this is a triumphal entry back into the city there is a euphoria that is in the air they are on the precipice of an unbridled optimism as they contemplate a life free from Philistine harassment and I can see this thing that is they enter into the city David is on foot or on a mule and Saul is up on his exalted steed and they are walking through the city and there is pomp and pageantry there is confetti in the air there is tailgating on the side and I can see my man saw he's got a little swag in his jostle as he rides in on his exalted steed and and I can see him as he simply absorbs the celebration and all of the praises that is being directed his way and so as they march in on the procession they notice a group of young ladies that have developed their own song of victory and I can see my man Saul just saying let's just slow down the procession so that we can just absorb this celebration and hear a little bit about what the ladies begin to sing and so it gets good to solve as they begin to sing about all the victories that Israel has won and the ways that God has made but then they get to the hook in the song and then they say Saul has killed his thousands and your boy Saul justice feeling himself but then they get to the other half and say David has killed his ten thousands and Ellen White says that in that moment saw is possessed with a demon of jealousy and she Saul is messed up because in a single instant he goes from being their hero to a footnote in their memory just like that now before we get too hard on Saul I think we can identify with him for a minute because the lyrics of the girl kind of have a certain relevance for us tonight because the truth is at this point they had put in more work than Saul yet see see I see what I saw ain't feelin this because Saul is the one that helped them grow into a kingdom since he saw is burned by this because Saul has been serving them for years Saul has risked his life for them Saul has went to war for them so has helped establish them Saul has shed his blood for them and his steam saw to find out just how quickly the crowd can be over you mmm see see Saul is that leader that has paid his dues he has put in his time and everybody's all hyped up over this new young guy that's just now showed up at the party and it stings Saul to know that after to all the solid hours he's put in how quickly everybody can be on to the next new thing and can I suggest brethren that it is erroneous for us to expect loyalties from the crowd tonight are you hearing me Saints see the shift from that's all to David shows us that no matter how gifted you are no matter how talented you are no matter how much you believe it to make it grow that people don't always shift to what is novice and what is new even if it is unproven see crowds are fickle and curious and that's what makes them unstable and unreliable and it is instructive for whether you are David at the center of attention or whether you are solve feeling pushed to the corner all of us need to be mindful that the crowds loyalty won't be around very long see this is the thing that's gonna really staying see I don't know if the fickleness of the crowd is a bad thing I don't know if the fickleness of the crowd is a bad thing I think the fickleness of the crowd is just designed to teach us that we're replaceable see the fickleness of the crowd it's the teachers that we're expendable the fickleness of the crowd is to teach us that we're not necessary see I think the girl Beyonce had it right what you say don't you never ever get to thinkin oh yo y'all y'all to say that what you never get to thinking that you're irreplaceable in this work are y'all hearing me saying see we refer to ourselves as fixtures in the work how about sullying fixtures we're only vessels there was only one fixture in the word and his name is Jesus Christ and what this is how to do is another reshape how we measure success where we draw a sense of meaning and value we spend a considerable amount of time trying to fight our ways out of obscurity trying to gain some sense of belonging and relevance in the work and this is what kind of doctor Lance Witt talks about in the book replenished he talks about the arc of ministry he says that ministry is light a lot like the flight of a comet you know that a comet is in orbit for hundreds of years but it's only being seen for like two and a half minutes but then it goes right back into the darkness from which it became and she talks about how the art of ministry is the same how we start out in obscurity we're visible for a short while but then we go right back into obscurity where he started and he asked the question have you found enough Jesus in the wilderness that you can survive once you go right back to where you began and see this is why our service can't be to the crowd our service has to be unto God you see the reason if your service is unto the crowd when the crowd shifts then you'll feel bruised and betrayed see the same crowd that shouted Hosanna on Sunday is the same crowd that say it crucify them on Friday and see there's this interesting dynamic and ministry that integrated how those that you give the most the most roles you pour into the most those that you make yourself available to the most there are the very ones that come and stab you right in your back and the only way we can survive 40 years of ministry with the ups and the downs and the betrayals is if our service is to God and not unto man and it's why if we gonna survive the work we got to stop looking for reciprocation come on and say man you can't have no expectation on pastor Appreciation Month there can be no expectation for your birthday there can be no expectation for your anniversary if they do it then praise God but we do all of our services unto God and not unto man because when the crowd shifts we'll begin to lose our usefulness and that's why beloved we got to have our loyalty to that to the crowd nor to the institution but to God because the crowd is going to always shift and the institution is going to look out for itself see the institution ain't gonna look out for you CC I've seen in this very city where pastors have died after 40 years of service and they're barely be 40 people at their funeral to memorialize their work I've been to the hospital where pastors were sick and I've hidden pastors wives cry in my eyes in my arms as nobody from the institution they serve even called to see how they were doing and what I'm saying is that crowds are those shift institutions are going to go on but our service has to be unto God so that when everything goes and everything shifts that only what we do for Christ it's gonna be able to last are y'all here in the word got tonight Saints I remember growing up I'll play ball with my dad my dad taught me how to choose the jump shot taught me how to square my feet with my shoulders taught me how to keep my eyes on the rim taught me how to follow through all the way into the ball head went inside of the hoop I mean taught me everything that I knew about how to play ball and I remember when I got my first little game we went on a church league game for Tallahassee over to Jacksonville and we had done all of our warmups and the game started I passed the ball around the one side and the ball came back to me on the other side and I remember man I did my dad's my voice right in my head I squared up my feet with my shoulders I followed through on the shot and guess what the shot just happened to go in and our crowd from Tallahassee was a very loyal crowd so that when I came running back down the court all the crowd from my home church was standing up to its feet but the crazy thing about it is that even though there were a bunch of people cheering for me none of that stuff matters because I was just looking through the crowd to see where my daddy was it didn't matter what the crowd said as long as I found my daddy and he was doing like that it didn't matter if the crowd shouted or if they did and the reason I had to focus on my daddy is because the next time court downs by that time down the court the crowd was going to be focused on somebody else see the crowd only shots when you perform well the crowd only shouts when you preach well the crowd only shots when your time is up your pride only shots when the church is full but I can't minister unto the crowd because my daddy's praises me not because of what I've done but because of my relationship to him are you hearing me tonight thinks our service must be on to God and not unto me second problem we saw is that saw can't celebrate somebody else's success [Applause] you know sauce whole approach to this thing is so counterintuitive I mean you know you would think that if David is just killing it what Saul should do is he able to just keep David as close to him as he possibly can but Saul Saul is so foolhardy that he will literally cut off his nose just to spite his face and see one of the reasons that Saul can't celebrate David was because he didn't really expect David to succeed yeah I mean you saw it in the taxi say you can't go and fight that Philistine he's been a man of war from his youth you just say you long boy showing up here at this party you realize that one commentator says that saw allowed David to go and fight our Goliath not because he expected him to win he allowed David to go and fight so he can get some insight on how Goliath moved in other words David was just supposed to be the test dummy that was not supposed to live to even tell the story and the reason that Saul can't rejoice is that people can't celebrate beyond their level of expectations of you know y'all not hearing me today and in other words people can only celebrate on the level of their expectations and because people have predicted for you to fail they can't really rejoice with you when you actually succeed and see the truth is that people measure your potential through the prism of their own failure or success and see that's why the guy who passes a church before you will tell you that church can never grow he'll tell you that that city can't win those souls that thing will never be able to build a church there and he's measuring your potential through the prism of his own failure or success and I just need to know do we have anybody in this room with a Captain Kirk anointing you see you remember the Star Trek Enterprise when it came on every day it said that the enterprise was supposed to go where no man had gone before I just need to know is there anybody with a Captain Kirk anointing that believes you can succeed where others failed that you can thrive where others wilted where you can swim where others drowned you can prosper where they perish you can live where they die you can fly where they were grounded you can see the invisible you can do the impossible and I need you to know that when obstacles seem insurmountable when armies seem invincible when the walls seem impenetrable you've got to brace yourself to see God do the impossible see that's what we gotta learn how to rejoice when others rejoice come on and tell you man see the thing about it that's so crazy is your boy Saul and David they on the same team they believe the same thing they got the exact same enemies so you would think that if you and I have the same enemies then that makes us one with each other but for some of us there we will do in this petty phase of life where we see somebody else's success as a threat to our own personal integrity but one of the things I'm going to understand is that your success doesn't threaten me your success creates a rubric that helps me learn your success creates a blueprint that helps me grow way on that church your your success allows so there to be new possibilities that I had not even thought of before when you do well it opens up my mind to think of things that I've never thought of before when you do well it's fertilizer for my thought it's fertilizer for my imagination it's for lyza for my faith are y'all hearing me tonight Thanks see that's why man I'm gonna steal all the stuff I can on evangelism from Jeff Watson that's what I'm gonna learn from Damien how I can make this writing thing work I'm gonna learn from a doctor bird how to separate people from their money I'm gonna learn from Myron how I can make this social media thing I'll go to work in other words your gifts don't threaten me they literally enhance me and allow me to grow in the work are y'all hearing me saying seeing this the crazy thing about it is that one of the things I'm learning the hard way this is why the only thing that's gonna help us get on one Accord and receive the Holy Ghost is persecution no that's the only thing that made them can all want accord in the very beginning and receive the Holy Ghost you realize that the reason they wouldn't leave the Upper Room is not just because they so spiritual the reason they won't leave the Upper Room is cause they getting hunted down on the outside in other words they stay in the upper room because they ain't got nowhere else to go in other words the thing that forces them on one Accord is that there's such stronger attack from the outside that oppresses them together on the same team and the thing that's gonna create unity in the end is it outward attacked by somebody else it's kind of like this y'all know we've been doing this NFL blackout thing this year and this year like the other professional athletes they've been kneeling on the field during the anthem and then the owners have been in the skyboxes and they've been against the players on the field and the players on the field I'm fighting against the owners and it's crazy because they were both at each other and they were on opposite sides of the equation then President Trump stepped into the picture then trunk steps in attacks the players and the owners and then before you know it now the owners and the players arm-in-arm they all both nearly on the same side in other words it was an outside attack that helped them recognize they need to be on the same side in other words sometimes God has to raise up a Trump I'm in a devil tomato tomahto I don't really know he's got to raise up an outward attack to help us recognize that we own the exact same side come on say Amen third problem we saw third problem I saw man it's late tonight hammers third problem we saw is that saw is defined by numbers [Applause] no no Saul mad because they say David and baptized more in a head Saul was mad cuz David has higher attendance and he has Saul is mad because David's numbers seem to be higher than his let me just say this that is we live unto God the worst thing that we can do as preachers is to define ourselves by numbers no disrespect intended but I refuse to be defined by the number of message magazine subscriptions are bringing at the fall workers meeting I won't be defined by an ingathering goal or a fall drive go I refuse to let myself be defined by anything that is numerical now let me be clear I'll allow myself to be evaluated by numbers I mean you know even in your own church you evaluate certain things by numbers is how you monitor success or failures but I won't be defined by the numbers because the numbers don't tell quite the whole story see see I'm at a place in my ministry in life where my goals are so lofty and big that I'm gonna fall short of them just by virtue of how high I set them in other words conference goals are where I hope to start not where I hope to end up mmm see the thing that's problematic and I pray that somebody hears me tonight who just feels neglected because your numbers don't add up see the thing with measuring yourself by numbers in ministry is that there are certain things that the numbers can't count where do you count the number of times you had to bite your tongue after a condescending conversation with somebody who thinks they knows your job better than you do where do you put on workers report the number of times your kids have been unfairly singled out just because of their last name or who their mommy or their daddy is where do you count the number of times you've driven 40 miles to a prayer meeting not to even have anybody show up for worship or to have somebody show up who acted like they didn't even want to be there how do you count the number of years your wife loses off of her retirement because you've moved seven times in the last 18 years where did they record the number of nights that you stayed awake at night praying for the work to go forward and agonizing over folk who don't even pray for themselves how do you count the number of 2:00 a.m. phone calls you've gotten because the head Deacon son tried to commit suicide in the closet of their house how do you count the sacrifice of keeping your kids in a failing school to try to keep the good example open for the churches here in that district how do you measure the stresses your wife bears because he's judged by the way she looks the way she does her hair by how long her skirt is by whether or not she sings or plays the piano how do you count the number of vacations that are being canceled because somebody got sick or died in an untimely fashion how do you count the number of sacrifices that have been made that cannot be put on a statistical report where is the plaque for keeping your kids in a failing school where is the plaque for all of the things that have gone wrong in your ministry that can never ever be articulated at evangelism council but the good news for somebody today is that there are sacrifices that cannot be counted there are Labor's that cannot be quantified but the good news for somebody in this room is that the God who sees in secret is the God that's gonna reward you openly I just want to say to somebody be not weary in well-doing because if you don't faint you shall receive a harvest because soon he's gonna say well done good and faithful servant you've been faithful over a few things he's gonna say well you know labor is not in vain because numbers don't tell the whole story real quick I got right here I borrowed this from a child at children's church I got a number a big number too and then I got a little number 7 which number is the biggest number the two the two is the biggest number but which number is the greater number [Applause] note the two is bigger but the seven is greater what am I saying preachers that sometimes the biggest number ain't always the greatest number or in other words when you're counting baptisms just know that yo - in South Carolina is greater than 12 in Atlanta you're four into logic is more than 12 in Chicago yo six in Mississippi is greater than 100 in Huntsville yo six in El Paso is greater than 20 in Dallas yo five in Stockton is greater than 100 in LA yo six in West Virginia is greater than thirty in Columbus yo nine in Delaware is greater than fifteen in DC 4 in Albany it's greater than 20 in New York City what I'm saying is the numbers don't tell the whole story it's why we gotta be steadfast unmovable because the God who sees in secret is coming again to receive you as your and so don't be discouraged don't be dismayed because he's coming again he's coming again lift up the trumpet let it ring Jesus is coming again cheer up ye pilgrims be joyfully sing because Jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] it's coming again [Music] [Applause] [Music] my my my my my [Music] [Music] absolutely anointing this is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes have you been blessed if you've been blessed put your heads together the less thank God for what he's going we thank God for a tremendous first night and we just want to encourage you to be with us tomorrow morning at eight o'clock if you can dr. Gina Brown is going to be speaking tomorrow morning at 8 o'clock you can get there before you go to work we're gonna have a tremendous time there will be some Menards and presentations to follow at 12 o clock what time did I say you're gonna be disappointed if you hear about what happened at 12 o clock and you didn't come because dr. Freddie Haynes is gonna be here dr. Freddie Haynes from Dallas fantastic homina Titian will be here he's actually here right now and then that will be followed at 1:30 with a lunch & Learn dr. Freddie Haynes has done some tremendous things in Dallas and hair social justice we want to hear about what his church is doing and we thank God for the shared fellowship that we have with these different believers who incidentally on tomorrow our emphasis is not only what we've been doing tonight but we invite all of the community beyond just the Adventist community to be here is that Alright so we want you to invite those friends and neighbors of yours to come out because finals know at 5 o'clock Dwayne Frazier is going to be speaking then at 7 o'clock our presenter our speaker is going to be from Northern California men you've heard and got clabe only fantastic preacher and then a gentleman we've been trying to get it for five years that's gonna sing us under the pews smoke it north for amen we're gonna have a tremendous time and since tomorrow is our community this place is full tonight we want to be fuller tomorrow come on say man we want to bring all of our friends and all of our neighbors as we thank God together may God bless you we're gonna have a good time tomorrow let's stand now for our closing prayer [Music] I'm just thanking God for my small town small town district just a quick announcement for all of the preachers for a South Central Conference elder Jones would like to meet with us immediately after here to the left of the pulpit let's pray together Saints father God we are so grateful tonight we're so grateful that you are our judge that you are the one who evaluates our ministry father God we thank you so much for the outpouring of your Spirit through your manservant tonight and the power of the word of God father God as we continue to climb this mountain top may we reach higher and higher to the highest of heights father God may we grow into a place with you over the next few days that will sustain us over the next year we thank you O God for this time and this gathering together bless our hearts as we joined ourselves to thee we thank you and we love you in Jesus name we pray that all God's people say amen amen [Music]

Channel: John Sconiers

Views: 6,483

Rating: 4.818182 out of 5

Keywords: Preaching, PELC, Oakwood university Preaching, Oakwood University Preaching, Pelc 2017, black preaching, preaching, Adventist Preaching, Adventist, PAstor Debleaire Snell, Oakwood University, SDA, Oakwood, Pelc, Black Preaching, Evangelism Conference, Oakwood university, pastor debleaire snell, debleailre snell, debonaire snell sermon

Id: eQlL-BQP9kE

Length: 168min 18sec (10098 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 15 2017