The Lord of What’s Left - Pastor Jack Leaman

[Music] i'd like to borrow a story from our neighbors to the south this evening he was a 34 year old school teacher of language and rhetoric but it was a hot humid day in july 1863. joshua lawrence chamberlain was in the fight of his life he was now a colonel in the union army he stood at little round top at the far edge of a group of 80 000 men strung out in a line across fields and hills valleys and streams stretching all the way to a little town called gettysburg earlier that day colonel vincent had placed chamberlain and his men of the 20th at the end of that lying saying whatever you do you can't let them come through here chamberlain couldn't withdraw and he know he knew it if the confederate army overran them then the rebels would gain the high ground and the union army would quickly be defeated in essence 80 000 men would be caught from behind on a downhill charge with no protection to win the grey-clad confederates would have to come through this schoolteacher named joshua chamberlain it was 2 30 p.m the first charge came from the 15th and 47th regiments they attacked uphill running as fast as they could and firing at chamberlain's men who were stationed behind a rock wall that they had just thrown up that very morning the 20th stopped the rebel charge and pushed them back down the slope only to face a second and then a third charge on the fourth assault chamberlain was knocked down by a bullet that hit him dead center in the belt buckle realizing that he wasn't seriously hurt the colonel scrambled to his feet and continued to fight again they halted the enemy's charge and again the rebels retreated down the hill at that time in history battles were fought with artillery and small arms ammunitions the struggles were close they were face-to-face affairs they literally could see one another's whites of the eyes when they were fighting with their fourth charge the confederates almost made it to the wall that thigh-high stack of flat rocks ran almost 110 yards in length and so as they huddled behind the wall they waited for that fifth charge chamberlain felt sorry for his men he later recalled their leader referring to himself had no real knowledge of warfare or tactics i was only a stubborn man and that was my greatest advantage in this fight i had deep within me the ability to do nothing can i just remind somebody that when you knew when you are down to nothing god is up to something chamberlain continued he said i knew i may die but i also knew that i would not die with a bullet in my back i would not die and retreat i am at least like the apostle paul who wrote this one thing i do i press toward the mark i just i just like to remind somebody tonight that if you've got nothing left that you know to do do this press toward the mark you you may be uncertain about what tomorrow's going to bring but acai remind somebody tonight press toward the mark you you may not be certain of where the next paycheck is going to come from but if you'll just get this settled in your spirit i'm going to press toward the mark god can use somebody with an attitude like that god can use somebody with an attitude like that the attack came again on this the fifth charge the 15th and the 47th alabama broke open the wall and fighting raged on both sides without time to reload the men were swinging their rifles at each other and brawling with fists and knives and somehow the 20th of maine led by chamberlain pushed the rebels downhill one more time after that fifth broken charge chamberlain's younger brother appeared with sergeant tozier mr trojan was an old hard-nosed soldier he had a thick wad of torn shirts stuck into a hole in his shoulder where he had been wounded no help from the 83rd the sergeant said they're shot to ribbons and all they can do is extend the line a bit we're getting murdered on our flank can we extend chamberlain asked there is nothing to extend tom answered more than half our men are down it was true chamberlain's command had started in bangor maine six months earlier with a thousand men they'd started that morning with 300 they were down that many men 700 men and now they were down to just 80. how are we for ammunition the colonel asked we've been shooting a lot was his brother's answer he said i know we've been shooting a lot but how much ammunition do we have as tom ran to check the 12 year old lookout climbed a tree he yelled they're forming up again colonel chamberlain looked up to see the boy pointing down the hill they're forming up right now and they've been reinforced sir there's a lot more of them this time at that moment a messenger stumbled into their midst of breath he said sir colonel chamberlain sir colonel vincent is dead are you sure soldier yes sir he gasped he was shot right at the first of the fight they were firmed up by weeds brigade but now weeds is dead they moved hazlitt's battery up on top hazlitt's dead now too chamberlain's brother came running back joshua he said we're out one two rounds per man at the most some of the men don't have anything at all chamberlain turned to a thin man standing on his right it was the first sergeant ellis spears spear he ordered tell the boys to take the ammunition from the wounded and the dead we did that last time sir spear replied maybe we should think about pulling out chamberlain responded grimly we will not be pulling out sergeant carry out my orders please colonel sergeant tozier the aged wisdom among them spoke up we we'll we can't hold them again sir you know that we won't joshua tom his brother said here they come here they come chamberlain stepped up on top of the wall in full view of the advancing army he crossed his arms and stared down at them the 15th and 47th of alabama were facing his way with their pale yellow gray uniforms they were now reinforced by a texas regiment and they moved up the hill as their high pitched shriek the rebel yell course up toward chamberlain and his men sergeant spear was standing at the colonel's feet sergeant dozier and chamberlain's brother tom lieutenant milk or the flag bearer huddle below joshua his brother said do something give an order chamberlain stood there for a moment deep in thought quickly sorting out the situation we can't retreat he thought but we can't stay here and when i'm faced with the choice of doing nothing or doing something i'll always choose to act he turned his back on the advancing rebels he looked down at his men and he said fix bayonets at first no one moved they just stared at him with their mouths wide open fixture bayonets now he commanded execute a great white wheel to the entire regiment swing the left first do it now lieutenant melkor spoke first confused sir he asked what is a great right wheel but the colonel had already jumped from the wall and was moving toward the next group of men sergeant toger told you the aged man among them answered the question he means to charge son a great white wheel is an all-out charge then turning the colonel pointed his sword directly down the hill facing overwhelming odds chamberlain slashed his blade through the air and with the power born out of courage and some out of fear the school teacher from main road charge charge charge to his men the remaining 80 men lifted their voices to match that of the leader and charge charge charge they did they cried out tumbling over the wall into history that most people have never heard of for when the confederate troops saw chamberlain the leader of the opposition mount the wall they immediately stopped unsure was of what as what to what was happening their rebel yell was silenced in as the colonel pointed his sword toward them and commanded his men to charge they in confusion and absolute uncertainty of what was going on turned and ran away many laid down their own loaded weapons because of someone with nothing chose to act the rebels were certain that this was not the same group of soldiers that they had advanced on five times surely these men had been reinforced they thought the beaten regiment would not charge in less than five minutes chamberlain had his sword on the collarbone of a confederate captain you sir are my prisoner he stated the man turned around a fully loaded navy coal revolver and passed it to mr chamberlain yes sir he answered i am within five more minutes that ragged group of 80 men under chamberlain's command without any ammunition captured over 400 soldiers of the enemy one of the men approached chamberlain one of his own men approached him and said sir i have no ammunition chamberlain got close to his ear and whispered back don't tell them that it's an amazing story and it's true as a matter of fact historians would go on later to determine that if chamberlain had not charged that day the rebels would not have would it sorry the rebels would have won at gettysburg further historians tell us that had the rebels won at gettysburg the south would have won the war and the war itself would have been over by the end of the summer most people assume that had the south won the war today we would have uh two countries to the south of us the union and the confederacy historians however insist that if the south had won the war we would now live on a territorially fragmented continent much like that of europe if so not just the us but canada north america would be divided into somewhere between 9 and 13 countries which means that when hitler swept across europe in the 1940s had chamberlain not charged on that hot summer sunday afternoon so long ago the united states of america would not have existed the way it did nor would canada exist to stand in the gap to fight in those moments we would have a very different world if it wasn't for a school teacher who decided to act sometimes i wonder if we're waiting for all the wrong things when god is just looking for someone who's willing to say it doesn't matter what i have i'm willing to work with whatever god has left me with sometimes we've got to realize that when we are down to nothing god is absolutely up to something and if we're not careful we can get so focused on what we've lost and the things that we don't have that we forget about the fact that god is the god of whatever is left in your life not only is he a lord of what you've lost but he is the god of whatever you've got god does not need what you think you don't have i'll just put a little scripture with it this evening it's not by might and it's not my power but it's by my spirit saith the lord it doesn't matter what we don't have as far as the world is concerned it just matters that there are people that realize if i've got god i've got whatever i need if i've got him on my side it doesn't matter what comes my way if the lord is fighting for me who could stand against me i i just feel a little faith rising in the room for a moment because sometimes the enemy is intimidating and sometimes it feels like we've had the fourth and the fifth attack but god is looking for someone to say tonight i'm just gonna stand up i'm going to get up and it may be the most un insane thing that i could do right now but i'm going to charge against the enemy i'm not going to stand still i'm not going to stand by i'm going in it's not by might and it's not my power but it's by his spirit in this season that we are walking through right now it is easy sometime to wait for the orders to come down from headquarters it's easy sometimes for us to just kind of stand by and wait to be told what we should do next can i just remind you that our orders come from this book and the bible is reminding the church that we've got a world to win that we've got a fight to fight come on we've got an enemy that's waging a war and it's not time for us to sit back it's time for somebody to stand up and fight the good fight of faith [Applause] oh go ahead why don't you just take and worship god for a moment and thank him for whatever you have [Applause] you know pastor matt mentioned that we were we were just over in pei for the last few days kathy and i and it was it was so exciting it was a smaller group of people there may have been about 100 people that joined together on thursday evening maybe a few more on friday evening and saturday about but it was it was refreshing to stand in that room and worship god with those people because they they come from various parts of the island from the east all the way to the west from surrey and and the southern parts and the northern parts and and they're kind of all congregated right there and borden and when we went in now i'm coming off a youth explorer youth convention this place was hopping last weekend and i i was sore on monday and yes we get sore after church on sunday sometimes and we're bouncing up and down and working the aisles and working the altars and and uh so i i'm coming off of a hot weekend as it is at ccc and we go into that uh conference center and the room had been turned into a church building and people were gathered together and as they began to sing they had the pa and it was there like six feet away from me but the worship of those people was literally thundering it was so loud it was a wooden room it was a wooden ceiling and all wood walls and the noise was just bouncing in the room and i thought these people these people have waited so long to do this together it was refreshing and i know that maybe we went to try and be an encouragement but but i left encouraged about the people of god there that were just they they just wanted something to worship worship about hey kathy said you could have preached anything you could have preached you know hot chocolate hot chocolate hot chocolate it seriously it was like it's been a little while since you had to just kind of wait and say calm people down so you could you could kind of say what you needed to say or what you thought you needed to say they were they were just so excited to be together and friday night it was 20 after 10 and they were grabbing the instruments and pulling everybody back in i was like kath we got to get out of here they're having church they're just last i i left in my crv i think they were singing i'm just warming up i'm just warming up i said oh lord i haven't got i just don't have it it's been a busy week but they were just so and sometimes we think well it's smaller churches they don't they don't have a lot they're people let me tell you they had everything that they needed they had everything that that we could have wanted in those services the power of god fell people were just moved by god's presence in god's power they were so excited and if we're not careful we look and say well they don't have a whole lot no they do they have everything that they need and the spirit of prophecy fell in that room and and god begins to just kind of relay there's a revival from the east to the west to the north to the south i still got a little bit of that army today and i've just come to declare god still has a revival we may as well start right here in our own city and say from the north to the south to the east and to the west and let's not stop there let's pray about what god would want to do in our region and what god would want to do in our province what god would want to do in our nation in our world i believe god's not finished let's not look at what we don't have i've come to declare we've got whatever we need would someone just declare that with me in jesus name in jesus name in jesus name it was moses who got caught where we get caught sometimes he's just had the burning bush experience he's encountered god almighty the i am that i am has stopped him on his tracks and slowed his roll and arrested his advance and he's taking his shoes off and he's in a conversation with the king of kings and the lord of lords and god's commissioning him and god's challenging him but moses is just like me moses answers god and he said but behold they will not believe me nor hearken unto my voice for they will say the lord hath not appeared unto thee you see moses had a lot in his past let's let's be mindful why is moses in this position why has he got this mental struggle why why does he have this mentality that they aren't going to believe me they're not going to listen to me they're not going to they're not going to you know trust me they're they're he's just got all these these no's mounting up see moses had a lot in his past you've got to remember he was the prince of egypt that's what the the cartoon calls him he was the son of pharaoh's daughter he knew what it was like to be prosperous he knew what it was like to walk into a room and everybody stopped because he was the most powerful person in the room he knew what it was like that when he spoke someone would listen because he was pharaoh's the son of pharaoh's daughter but the bible says that when when moses when he was come to years refused to be called the son of pharaoh's daughter choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of god than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season listen he esteemed the reproach of christ greater riches than the treasures of egypt for he had respect unto the recompense of the lord of the reward by faith he forsook egypt not fearing the wrath of the king for he endured as seeing him who was invisible moses says all the right things like many of us have many of you have given up a whole lot but god is waiting for our mentality to shift like like moses we can say we we we gave that up for the cause of christ we gave that up so we could give our lives to god but god is waiting for our mentality to shift and that's why god had the conversation with moses on the backside of a desert next to a burning bush was because he needed to adjust moses mentality moses was still missing what he lost they're not going to listen to me they're not going to believe me they're not going to trust me so god in that moment you know he there he he talks to moses and he said the lord said unto him what is in thine hand moses didn't have anything else for one he was on a journey to he had given it all up but there he said i've got a rod and god said cast it on the ground and he cast it on the ground and it became a serpent and moses fled from before and the lord said unto moses put forth thine hand and take it by the tail and he put forth his hand and he caught it and it became a rod in his hand and god said that he did that that they might believe that the lord god of their fathers the god of abraham isaac and the god of the god of jacob hath appeared unto me and the lord said furthermore unto him put now thine hand into thy bosom and he put his hand and it was bosom and when he took it out behold his hand was leprous as snow and he said put thine hand into that bosom again and he put his hand into his bosom and plucked it out of his bosom and behold it turned again as his other hand so moses literally has nothing but the walking stick that he went on the journey with but that was enough god said you know what i need i need what you've already got i i don't need whatever you gave up in pharaoh's palace i don't need whatever you left behind in the storehouse in egypt i don't need whatever you feel like you gave up i don't need your authority that you thought you possessed i i don't need any of that i as a matter of fact you just put your hand in your bosom and bring it back out and that's enough can i can i just let somebody know that you've got enough to change the world that you're a part of you've got whatever it takes whatever you came in with on the journey that you're on right now is enough for god to use god wants to use your voice god wants to use your influence god wants to use whatever opportunity he places in your path and not just so you can do some mindful little thing for god god is gonna put you before men and women of authority and power and god is gonna embolden you god is gonna challenge you and you're gonna say charge charge charge i need someone with the attitude of joshua chamberlain to rise to their feet for a moment tonight and say god i'm willing to go god i'm willing to pray god i'm willing to preach whatever that may look like i'm willing to teach i'm willing to be my part in the kingdom of god i want to do whatever you want me to do with whatever i've got he's the god of what's left moses was looking for what he had lost but god was reminding him i'm the god of whatever you've got left moses it's enough and if you begin to think about it through scripture just allow me a few minutes to walk down through a few ideas and a few illustrations today and just remind everybody that you've got what it takes let me just let me just throw these out there five loaves and two fishes but five thousand are fed why because that's all god needed he just needed with whatever was left there was people that came empty-handed but there was one boy with one lunch and if that was all that there was he's the lord of whatever was left let's just remind you that god can do great things with very little all he needs is someone with the courage to say i'm willing to give whatever i've got left whatever i've got left it was four leprous men in second kings chapter seven they were at the entering inn of the gate they said one to another why sit we here until we die there's a famine in the land so they say if we enter into the city then the famine is in this city we're going to die there but if we sit still here we die also now therefore come and let us fall unto the hosts of the syrians if they save us alive we shall live and if they kill us we shall but die now think about it this isn't the most influential individuals of israel these are just four leprous men they now have defined their living by begging they they don't have anything especially in a season of famine they've got nothing but they begin to shuffle toward the camp of the syrians but i'll just remind somebody tonight that that's enough god just needs someone that's willing to get up and get going god just needs someone that's willing to stand up and say well you know what if we sit here we're just going to die i'm not going to die that way i i think that that attitude of chamberlain said i was a man who was not willing to do nothing something has got to happen someone's got to rise up someone's got to make a change in our community someone's going to make a change in our church someone's going to make a change in our city and i just believe that someone that says why sit we here until we die i'm not waiting we're not waiting for people to get it all together we're not waiting for you to recite a 12-point course we don't need you to memorize matthew mark luke and john recite it back verbatim to us we just need someone that's got a message of the gospel that says god can turn your life around and that's enough if somebody's willing to get up he's the god of whatever's left i'll go a step further it may be that you felt like you failed god it may be that you felt like you had it and now you don't i just like to remind somebody he's the god of what you've got left it's enough you don't have to you don't have to live in shame forever you don't have to stay seated forever why sit we here until we die i'd like to remind someone right now is the right time to rise up right now is the right time to go on into the purpose and the plan that god has for you god has a plan for your life we come back to the music tonight the bible tells us that that syrian host that god amplified the feet of those leprous men and they began to hear the rumbling and the thunder of chariots and horses hooves until they got up and they got out and they left everything behind they left food behind they left silver behind they left gold behind and when the leprous men got to the camp everything was there waiting for them simply because god was the god of what was left he still is the master of the scattered as a matter of fact i mentioned the feeding of the five thousand god didn't even allow the scraps to be left behind jesus said when they were filled he said unto his disciples gather up the fragments that remain that nothing be lost god's not going to lose anything along the way when we bring it to him god is so concerned about what's left he's the god of what's left that he wants it all gathered up so that nothing is lost it's a simple reminder tonight and a simple message for somebody that god is the lord of whatever is left in your life tonight it was elijah the tishbite who was of the inhabitants of gilead he said unto ahab as the lord lives before whom i stand there's not going to be any do no rain these years but according to my word and the word of the lord came unto him saying get the hands and turn thee eastward and hide thyself by the brook cherith that's before jordan it shall be that when thou drink of the brook as i have commanded ravens are going to feed you there so he went he did the word of the lord he went down by the brook cherith as it is by jordan the ravens brought him bread flesh in the morning the prophet gave up everything he had elijah's just turned it all over and he's left everything behind but god's the god of what's left but then he loses that says the brook dries up and the ravens [Music] the ravens well they just i don't know what happened to the ravens to be honest with you i'm gonna guess if the brook wasn't there they saw it coming first kings 17 it says the word lord came unto him again said arise get thee to zerath which belong to sight and dwell there behold i have commanded a widowed woman to sustain thee and i don't know if elijah's thinking well there's some rich widow with a whole lot god's sending me there she must have like storehouse she must had a stockpile i don't know if elijah thought that she was like my mother-in-law my mother-in-law has enough food for all of us in the back porch [Music] she's a saver and she's got a stockpile i don't know if that's what elijah thought surely god now that the brook dried up you're going to send me some place where i'm going to get a little bit more then so he goes to where god has directed him and the bible says behold the widow woman was there gathering up sticks and elijah calls her said fetch me i pray thee a little water and a vessel that i might drink and as she was going to fetch it he called and said bring me i pray the morsel of bread and thy hand and she said as the lord thy god liveth i have i have not a cake i don't have a cake you think there's a loaf of bread i can break a piece off of for you i don't have that i got a handful of meal in the bottom of a barrel [Music] i've got a little oil and a cruise and behold i'm gathering two sticks that i may go in and dress it for me and my son that we may eat it and die there's not a lot left but that's where the story gets interesting because that's the god that we're talking about tonight he's the lord of what's left i don't know where you are in life and i don't know who needs to hear what we're talking about tonight but god is the god of whatever is left he's not he's not the god of what you've lost as a matter of fact he's the king of kings and the lord of lords he's he's got more than you could ever have imagined but here's what's if god has reduced the things in your life to nothing it's because god is up to something god is ready and he's preparing to do the miraculous in your life if you're willing to let god do it he's the lord of what's left elijah says to her fear not go and do as thou has said but but make me thereof a little cake first and bring it unto me just a little cake whatever you've got left bring it because god's the lord of what's left [Music] bring it unto me and after make for thee and thy son and she's probably thinking the man's crazy there is only enough for one little cake and he wants it for thus saith the lord god of israel the barrel of meal shall not waste neither shall the cruse of oil fail until the day that the lord sendeth rain upon the earth and she did and went according to the saying of elijah and she and he and her house did eat many days and the barrel of meal wasted not neither did the crews of oil fail according to the word of the lord which was spake by elijah god is the lord of what's left whatever is left is enough for god to do the miraculous whatever is left i we've got more stories that we can talk about tonight we've got more promises that we can remind ourselves about go borrow vessels not a few we could tell the story about how the oil fails doesn't fail he he's the god of abs just what's left and and sometimes god reduces us to that place because he needs to be the one to do the work through us no one no one runs the aisles during a sermon like this because we're all afraid of what god what is it that you're going to take god what am i going to lose honey check the bank account get the bank app open we got a cell service antenna here now go go ahead fire that up make sure it's it's it's a little bit nerve-wracking but can i just remind us that when we are down to nothing god is up to something he's up to something he's the lord of what's left in amos 3 god's warning israel of the enemy's intention because the enemy is the one that would love to steal kill and destroy he's unhappy with just you losing out he wants you to lose everything and the enemy will do his very best and there's people in the room that you know what it's like to be on the receiving end of the enemy's advance [Music] amos 3 said therefore thus saith the lord god an adversary there shall be even round above the land and he shall bring down thy strength from thee and thy palaces shall be spoiled god paints a grisly picture of what the roaring lion's intention is the enemy has attacked the sheepfold the lion has attacked the sheep but don't miss the heart of the shepherd in amos chapter 3 and verse 12 thus saith the lord as the shepherd taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear so shall the children of israel be taken out that dwell on samaria in the corner of a bed and in damascus in a couch the shepherd is at work when the enemy has done his worst work the shepherd is coming the shepherd is coming to take whatever is left and do the miracle with it number one think about it the shepherd has hunted down the lion number two the shepherd has overcome the lion number three the shepherd has retrieved the lamb or whatever is left and let's be real sometimes there's not a lot left but if he's the god of what's left then whatever is there is enough for god to do the work that he needs to do god is enough let's stand together in exodus chapter 9 and verse 8 i'll go back to the story of moses he's now standing or preparing to stand before pharaoh the lord said unto moses and aaron he said take two handfuls of ashes out of the furnace and let moses sprinkle it toward the heaven in the sight of pharaoh it's interesting that god what he required of moses wasn't that he even taped the staff he said reach into the furnace do you know what ashes are anyone here burn wood if you're like me and you burn wood it's your one of your least favorite tasks is taking out the ashes because ashes have absolutely no worth ashes there's they're just a mess you open that that stove door and you put that little shovel in and i i've got a i just found you know what just deal with it get it over with i usually use a big old dustpan get in there and start dumping and the ashes just there's they're so insignificant there's there's nothing left with the ashes it's already think about it it's already been through the fire it's the very it's reduced to its finest level of the elements there is nothing left with the ashes but when god commands moses he see he didn't say okay moses i'm gonna i'm gonna get a million of the israelites to come in behind you we're gonna you're gonna fabricate a chariot we're gonna roll in and style no no he said grab a handful reach in the furnace there and grab a handful of ashes absolutely worthless what you've got he said but when you go into pharaoh he said you're gonna have those ashes they're not worth anything at all they've already been passed through the fire there's absolutely no worth no value there's nothing left worth keeping it's ashes it's reduced to its final particulate it's just nothing left he said but take that handful of ashes and stand before pharaoh you're you're not going to be able to stand in your ability you're not going to be able to stand in any level of authority you're only going to stand with my power you're only going to speak my word you're not gonna have anything and he said throw that dust in the air throw the ashes in the air toward heaven sprinkle it toward heaven in the sight of pharaoh and the bible says that god told them and it shall become small dust in the land of egypt so already we see the transition happens because god only needs what's left it's already been through the fire it's already been burned but it's enough when when he reaches into the furnace and he pulls the ashes out and he sprinkles it toward heaven god begins the transformation god begins to make the change god begins to take what was nothing and turn it into something he he did that already in genesis 1 2 in the beginning what's the word come on he took that world that was about form and void and he began to create with it god doesn't need your something god needs your nothing [Music] god needs your nothing [Applause] and the ashes become dust but that dust becomes a plague that begins to turn the heart of pharaoh god just needed a man that was willing to go in with nothing [Music] so god could do something we all wrestle with a sense of insignificance sometimes that's good that's the people that god needs not by might not by power not by not not by our abilities and not by our talents not not by whatever we've got god just needs someone that says i just need your spirit god i just need your power that rests in my life just make me a conduit let me be a vessel let me let me just be something that you flow through to the world around me that is all that god needs today [Music] the bible says it it's it's the dialogue right there and verse 10 it says they took they took the ashes out of the furnace they stood before pharaoh and moses sprinkled it up toward heaven and it became a boil breaking forth with blames upon men and upon beasts and the magicians listen and the magicians could not stand before moses because of the boil for the boil was upon the musicians and upon all of the egyptians god come on he confounded the end up until that point the magicians had kind of mimicked moses activity they had they had come alongside and said well you know this is what moses was able to do watch what we can do and moses probably felt intimidated he he felt like god why'd you put me out here if if i'm i'm acting with your authority and your ability and these guys that are operating in the in the natural elements or the supernatural elements of evil are doing the same thing but the bible says in that moment when moses stood before them with nothing and turn it into something they couldn't the the world doesn't have what you have the world will always try and work with a counterfeit god said i'm not going in with the counterfeit i'm going in with nothing and watch i'm the one that can take nothing and turn it into something god wants someone to realize today that he can take your nothing and turn it into something what's in your hand what's in your hand moses what is your hand moses it's an example [Music] moses just use what you've got a handful of meal a little oil five loaves two fishes nothing i've got nothing just some empty vessels some borrowed what do you have in your hand today we're in the midst of summer at ccc it's about three weeks until we kick off we do our fall kickoff it's 21 days until occ plant gets kicked off and we're excited about that about what god's going to do but god is looking for a group of people that will use whatever we've got not what we don't have we're not reaching we're not projecting and looking for something that we we wish we had god is looking for someone that says lord [Music] i'm here use me god use my voice use my connections what whatever is in my my hand whatever's in my hand god would you use it i i don't know what's in your hand to be honest with you i see your phones in your hand a lot maybe that's the staff that god wants to use maybe that's just one text that somebody's looking for maybe it's just a phone call god what's what's in what's in my hand maybe maybe it's your ipad this is mine got the best protective case i could find because i know me but maybe it's just a simple invitation that comes my way text you say oh i don't have influence was that moses [Music] i i don't have a lot of friends my my friends don't want what i have oh what's that moses just whatever's in your hand we've got we've got three weeks until we kick off into that fall season but i believe that god has so much in store for this year i've got this press that's coming in the holy ghost this confidence not born of man or ability not not not because we've got a beautiful sanctuary thank god for it this is not what we need what we need is a supernatural power of god that rests in our services we we need people that have set aside the next three weeks 21 days it's it's a great time to start a new habit but i'm encouraging someone that that would say i'm going to take the next 21 days and i'm gonna disentangle all the stuff that's in my life so that god you can use me through the remainder of 2021 god is looking for someone because he's the lord of what's left in your life [Music] would you pray together with me i would like us to come around the altar tonight i do believe that the spirit of the lord is working you can come now if you like [Music] that's one of the powers of baptism is because we go down the old man goes down but we rise to walk in newness of life and that newness of life we've got nothing we have nothing that's the something that i use nothing is the element that i work in form formless without it without form and void that's that's the elements that god works in that's that's where the creator does the miraculous god's just looking for someone to say lord i'm bringing i'm bringing you what i am but to be honest god it feels like a whole lot of nothing but i'm bringing it tonight i'm bringing it i'm turning it over and i just believe that god wants to do the miraculous with somebody i believe that god's gonna perform miracles in homes i believe that god's going to allow come on the miraculous to occur i believe that there's going to be an exodus of people out of darkness into marvelous light because someone is willing to stand and say you know what this is what i've got it's nothing it's just ashes but god's gonna turn it into something because he's looking for someone tonight with that kind of attitude would you pray together with me jesus [Music] got to be honest tonight i i've struggled to find the words to speak your word i've i've wrestled with the way to say what i feel you placed in my spirit but god if i'm a recipient of the message that you've placed in my heart then that's the elements that you work in anyhow god in the midst of our lack of ability in the midst of our god of our nothing you are able to work something you are the lord of whatever is left in our lives so god we bring it to you tonight we turn over we yield we god we we pray that prayer my life god your kingdom my my life but your plan we we pray that prayer that you encouraged us to pray not my will but thy will be done god not my kingdom but your kingdom [Music]

Channel: Capital Community Church

Views: 2,333

Rating: 4.961165 out of 5

Keywords: capital, community, church, fredericton, nb, new, brunswick, canada, upc, upci, united, pentecostal, international, apostolic, sermon, preach, preaching, bible, study, teaching, bible study

Id: RggH6peLOww

Length: 47min 4sec (2824 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 23 2021