"The Four Prongs of Greatness"

i want to be a christian [Music] oh [Music] my heart [Music] in my [Music] is [Music] oh [Music] [Music] good evening good evening welcome again to the midweek wednesday night bible class bible study for the south side church of christ here in orlando florida thankful i am glad i am happy i am elated ecstatic that god has provided you and i with this opportunity to study this grand old rich book the bible uh the last couple of weeks we've been studying about the bible god's great book the bible and then last week the uniqueness of the bible it was my intention to bring out some immutable uh unforgettable indisputable facts about god's book to bible we should do no less tonight we are happy that you're here we are thankful for your support of the southside church please continue to follow us every sunday morning at 11 a.m every wednesday night at 7 p.m south side facebook soft side youtube channel south side website ssulc.org and southside app services on sunday are going very well you're welcome if you're in central florida if you're a member of south side you're welcome to assemble with us as a part of the ecclesia at the sanctuary sunday mornings at 11 a.m we don't have sunday school because we're minimizing our stay at the building we don't have personal contact we do acquire face masks but you're welcome to meet with us sundays at 11. but if you can't i won't uh continue to watch us support us on at 11 o'clock live stream every sunday we would certainly certainly appreciate that please beloved keeps sister lily davis and her husband brother danny davis in prayer sister lily lost her mother her funeral saturday we just encourage you to pray for her support her not only her but her children kiki and and beyond and all her grandchildren and great-grandchildren who have suffered this great loss please pray for them and support them uh best as you can please pray continually for the adams family and the loss of brother tony adams uh they have had a hard year they lost brother tim adams earlier this year and now brother tony adams has passed away uh please lift them up in prayer and i continue to solicit the prayer for the anderson family in tallahassee they're part of my family uh for nearly 45 years now and uh i will be going up to funeralize brother gerald anderson who is a preacher of the gospel who uh had me in cleveland ohio preaching for him a couple of times years ago and uh he passed away somewhat unexpectedly last week the funeral this saturday in tallahassee lift all these families up in prayer who are going through bereavement at this time not only those but many others are going through the going through uh continue to pray for the theatre family concerning sister michelle and many others who are on the brinking cusp of dealing with uh loss and we just need to help and support one another but love i want to tonight begin a full part series a four-part series called the four prongs of greatness the four prongs of greatness and in the next coming weeks we'll deal with one per week of the four prongs of greatness availability capability accountability and flexibility are malleability those i'm calling the four prongs of greatness tonight we'll deal with availability uh and this four-prong approach i want to use hopefully and practically it will be good for our personal growth and development as children of god a car needs four tires a table has four legs the church has four prongs uh that we need to approach in helping us to mature grow and develop this principles that these principles rather that we'll be talking about the next four weeks apply to your job it applies to your marriage these principles will help you be a better husband a better wife above the child it will give you progress in this journey we call life and specifically this journey of christianity if you want to lead if you want to be an example if you want to be a role model to those who come behind you i'm here to inform you tonight that these four prongs of greatness if you were to adopt them apply them maintain them and exercise them i am absolutely convinced that it would be helpful useful beneficial as you and i matriculate down this road toward heaven and being successful people successful christians and contributors to the kingdom of god the four prongs of greatness again are our availability capability accountability malleability or what we call flexibility tonight let's let's talk about availability how availability applies to church christianity success growth development how how how does availability apply it's one of the prongs you need to have in your arsenal if you want to enhance your walk with god the word availability means simply ready for use availability means you're accessible availability means you are uh there when needed okay matter of fact that's one of the points we're going to have on the availability so tonight the theme the first prong we'll deal with is availability it does not matter how talented you are it does not matter how gifted you are the question at church often is are you available i don't care how good one can sing i don't care how great one can preach i don't care how nice and affordable you are and would be as a greeter i don't care how many people you'll be able to usher to a seat if you are not available you're no good to the kingdom that applies not only at church specifically at church on your job no matter how good you are at your job if you're not available at home you're not available you're never there uh any organization or group that you're a member of any family you're a part of the first thing we want to apply tonight understand hopefully implement into our regimen is availability i know even in team sports whatever your favorite team be it basketball football baseball soccer hockey tennis if you are not available you're no good under availability tonight i have three umbrellas i want to apply hopefully and prayerfully they'll be useful and beneficial for us tonight under availability let's talk about first that really means be present when you're needed that's the first point present when needed there's a scripture in mark chapter one that kind of accents this point jesus our lord was on a quest to find 12 confidants 12 consultants looking for 12 disciples if you will in mark chapter 1 verse 16 through verse 20 reading in the personal privacy of your praying ground jesus had gone down to the sea of galilee the sea of tiberias and the lake of ganaceras that that one body of water had three different names while they are taking a pedestrian stroll by the sea of galilee and mark 1 says he saw simon and his brother peter simon rather his brother andrew simon is peter simon peter and he saw simon peter and his brother andrew and they were fishermen they were all commercial fishermen jesus said to those two brothers come after me and i will make you fisher a man the bible says they immediately dropped their nets and they followed jesus they weren't available for the work of christ they stopped what they were doing and they decided to follow jesus uh jesus never called anybody into the ministry who did not who were not already doing something he never offered somebody a job who didn't have a job that that's really a good way to live your life notice when he called men to work with him those men were already doing something he called them they immediately said hey we're available we'll forsake all and follow you in the same text the bible says he went a little further he encountered james and john the two sons of zebedee also renowned commercial fishermen he invited them into his conclave to his ministry the bible says they immediately dropped stopped mending their nets after being fishing all day they were mending their nests and they immediately stopped and followed jesus folks god cannot use you and i organizations groups can use you and i children can't use parents who are not available churches can't use members who are not available organizations and groups cannot use people who are not available your job and the market cannot use people who are not available abstract of your talent your anointing and your gifts the one thing we need to work on the first prong of growing to be great is availability uh i have learned and so a lot of times availability calls for sacrifice it's not convenient to be available it's it's a sacrifice it's not always easy to be available it's a sacrifice it's a commitment availability it's the first prong of greatness then the second umbrella will look at under availability not only should you be available uh uh uh there when needed you ought to be punctual oh lord let me just stay there while punctuality uh i can just stay with the african americans preaching a long time on punctuality uh not only are we to be available any serious venue that you're part of you ought to be punctual church people are too careless and cavalier when it comes to being punctual for church activity be it worship be it ministry a program uh eleven o'clock don't mean eleven o'clock to us nine o'clock don't mean that now anything interesting we don't miss airplanes and we don't miss boats and we don't miss concerts and we don't we don't miss ball games we're late for church which tells me something about our love for whatever we're on time for hebrews chapter 10 verse 23 to 25 uh is our subject under punctual we already talked about availability and under the umbrella of availability we're talking about being there that means uh first point there when needed secondly not only are we there when needed we ought to be punctual that just simply means on time hebrews 10 23 through 25 the hebrew writer most believe it to be the apostle paul says hold fast to our profession of our faith without wavering paul then says or whoever the hebrew writer we believe is paul provoke one another to love and provoke one another to good works he captures in verse 25 of hebrews 10 and for those who have significant tenure in the church we've quoted this for years not maybe totally understanding the gravity of this text hebrews 10 25 paul says not forsaking the assembly of ourselves together he's playing that the church comes together uh not you here you here you here we ought to come together thank god we have been able to come together even on the internet even on zune uh uh i'm not one of these people who think at all costs you need to come to a building uh when circumstances dictated thank god for the technology that still kept our church and many others together just imagine had coronavirus infiltrated the world 30 years ago 40 years ago the church and churches would have fallen apart there was no way to come together on the internet on zoom on facebook live and live stream and youtube but thank god we still able to come together maybe it's a little non-conventional but we're still coming together thank god for that but paul encouraged the church don't forsake the assemblies of ourselves together now before i go further with that i need to address some things i've had to for years concerned paul says don't forsake the assembly now some people think if you miss a service you forsaken the assembly no the word forsake means to abandon with no plan to return you because you miss a service always if you missed two you have not forsaken the assembly until you left with no plan to return if a man goes out of town or woman and is not there today tomorrow and all this week they have not forsaken their family forsaken means you abandon worship or abandon your family and have absolutely no plans to return so when the hebrew writer says not forsaken the assembly he means you have left the assembly the gathering the ecclesia and have no plan to return he says don't forsake the assembly of ourselves together in the manner which some is some people had just he just talked about demas who was demetrius and others who have forsaken left the church going back to the begley elements of the world he encouraged them don't be a part of that manner who did that he said rather we exalting one another so much the more as we see the day approaching paul said we the hebrew writer said we ought to be so excited so glad and happy we ought to have tip to anticipation that you're ready to assemble in church before the day arrives that's why you wouldn't be late if you're prepared you your clothes are ready your shoes are ready your hair i've never understood people who lay every sunday okay when we left church on sunday you know you got seven days it's gonna be sunday again why does sunday catch you by surprise high in the thomasville can you be late every sunday uh no the bible says you ought to be in anticipation exalting excited even before the day arrives when you get ready to go on a trip or cruise out of town you ain't so you packed and ready you don't get up the morning of a great trip or great event to get ready you ready days before and if you love those things how much more should we love god and love his church and love the worship and praise him this chronic lack of punctuality speaks volumes on how we really feel about god the bible even says get your lay by ready before sunday uh upon the first day we let everybody uh lay by you already put that money aside it's not an alpha thought sunday morning 11 o'clock oh wonder what i'm gonna do about let me get no you lay that by it's in storage for god the same thing with us coming together you should and tip to anticipation if you got to do your hair get up in time to do you have you gotta gotta uh get your clothes together gotta get your bag brush your teeth you gotta get children together now grant you you do that monday through friday probably get up get everything go and oh by the way you got to be at church at 11 it used to be 10 30. and you can't get there but on mr charlie's job you're there by eight oh there when he tells you to be that nine and you know you can't now be chronically perpetually habitually late so under this umbrella of availability that really means there when needed you're accessible jesus called andrew his brother peter james his brother and john they were available not only that we should be punctual on time have typical anticipation prepare before the event for the event johnny johnson and i one of our esteemed deacons clans wilson another one of our deacons and danny davis and uh great men of god all deacons off south side we always uh recap the fact to be on time you got to be before time okay you can't get that 11 if church start 11 to be on time you ought to be there before time the last umbrella we want to investigate tonight after we talked about availability all the distance on the availability we talked about being there when needed we talked about being punctual and the last thing on the availability is to be approachable uh you see one of the things that's challenging in life is how approachable we are approachable falls on the umbrella who can come to us and say something to us rather than say something about us okay approachable uh who can even come with a critique i don't like criticism nobody does but sometimes people have come with critique and correction that can help us if we are approachable if we're available to be corrected available to be critiqued and if we're approachable now i you know i struggle with this because many of the people and i accept the fact the role that god has called me for the last 38 years uh into the ministry uh you live your life on a stage a platform so everyone gets to critique and criticize and try to correct correct you many people know what you should have done after you did what you did it's it's a it's an area of critique i i accept that uh i've always struggled with being approachable because i have a strong dominant personality anybody knows me well know that be a fact a fact uh but i've grown to the point that when those who come to me who love me and sincerely want the best for me uh they approach me that i'm open to be approached to be corrected criticized and critiqued providing providing they come at me correct with the right spirit what i'm always amazed by though is those who can correct criticize and critique people like me they do not want you to do that to them and i'm saying tonight what a help us what a aid our growth our maturity and our um walk with god i'm certainly working on this i encourage you to uh uh i got the first two down there when needed you ain't gonna have no problem for me punctual ain't gonna have no problem with it i pride myself most of all in the ministry now how great i preach uh when it comes to preaching i probably do all right it must be so i've called all over the country all over the world to preach but i'm going to be there when the members need me that i pride myself on that more than anything punch you out of it i'm not going to be late to what what i'm putting not just church not just me i'm if i got a doctor's appointment i got an airplane i got church i got sunday school uh all you should tell my members uh i was laughing with my deacons if if you get to church and my car's not there then i ain't coming okay yeah you ain't gonna beat me to church you know i'm there we started 11 i'm there at 9 45. okay so i believe in ponchato what i have struggled with is this last umbrella approachability in first samuel 16 verses 1 through 13 there was an election process for the new king of israel saul who had disappointed god and had turned god's stomach against him and now samuel has been appointed to seek a successor for saul you might be aware may not be aware remember saul was the first appointed king of israel but his successor david was to be the first anointed king of israel i wish i had time tonight to tell you it's better to be anointed by god than appointed by men the same people who put you up will bring you down same people who will vote you in will vote you out but when god opens a door no man can close it and when god closes the door no man can open it that process of selecting a king in first samuel the 16th chapter verses 1 through 13 is interesting samuel goes down to the house of jesse there in that little enclave called bethlehem oh i'm still impressed by the time i was in israel when i visited out all the sights i was there bethlehem the birth of christ probably was the most interesting place bethlehem the house of bread what bethlehem means it's the birthplace of david uh christ comes from the loins of david and when when samuel visited jesse's house and he was sure that the lord had appointed the person that he was looking for there god said you go to jesse's house i'll reveal which song it is and in first sixteen i believe it's about sir verse seven oh god had to remind and samuel had to remind jesse and all the inhabitants the elders of the region that he reminding them that god does not look at the countenance of a man the height of the statue the lord does not see the way men sees he then reminded them that men a man looks at the outward appearance but god looketh at the heart they wanted the king remember saul was six foot five seven locks of of hair flowing down his back he had stature and gravitas he had a body like a greek god his his overwhelming presence he looked like a king but he didn't act like a king and and the bible reminds us that our optic nerve gets us in more trouble sometime than our mouth do we go by what something looks like rather than what it is so god the bible said man looks at the outward appearance this is what samuel said but god looking at the heart so make a long story short then rather than a short story long about being approachable jesse had seven sons who came before samuel all for starting with the eldest and that's the way uh they did business in the old testament the the oldest had the first uh tibs on everything the oldest boy he said no that's not him tall good looking grown man and then all seven boys came before samuel the prophet he said the lord has not chosen any of them do you have any other sons jesse didn't even bother to call david out because jesse thought he's my youngest he's a boy and he said hey he's out attending my sheep he's ready he's smelling he's unqualified and when he came samuel said god revealed to him he's the one jesse was approachable enough david was approachable enough the other sons were approachable enough they accepted the critique of god the decision of god some people it's hard to tell them anything let me tell you something when you are a common denominator and a lot of fights and arguments you got to be approachable nothing people can bring that to your attention and you accept it you have to be a pro if you're going to get better in life you have to be approachable you just can't be the kind of person that says i can recognize and point out other people's faults but when people turn it on you you're less amenable all of us have to be approachable under this umbrella of availability and the bible goes on to say the spirit of the lord left saul and of course you know the story the rest is history that young ready smelly shepherd boy killed a lion and a bear and on that famous day in the valley of magellan he killed that a 10-foot trash-talking giant by the name of goliath because his father himself his brothering were approachable to be taught and changed by the word of god yes we want to deal with four prongs of greatness tonight we're doing them with availability that is to be accessible to be there or present when needed secondarily not only to be there when needed to be punctual when needed and then to be approachable all of us can get better with availability next week we'll talk about capability the week after that we'll talk about accountability and we're capsule talking about flexibility or malleability i enjoyed tonight i hope you enjoyed it stay tuned same bat time same channel next wednesday night and the second prong of greatness will talk about capability join us this sunday morning 11 00 a.m in the sanctuary rv of our live stream as we worship god in spirit and in truth good night and be blessed

Channel: Southside Church of Christ, Orlando

Views: 389

Rating: 5 out of 5

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Id: XRVP2RpYwaQ

Length: 33min 36sec (2016 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 22 2021