When God Calls - Dr. Joe Takon

praise the lord praise the lord [Music] do [Music] good morning everyone welcome to church this sunday um it's a great day the bible says the lord has made we shall rejoice and be glad in it it's a privilege to be alive we don't take it for granted it's another sunday in god's house and we thank god for what god did last week this time last week with uh at the peak of afd21 but we thank god for his faithfulness that he has spared us to you today i want to just welcome those watching online this morning if you're watching from any part of the world you can just go ahead and type where you're watching from if you're watching ghana from nigeria from ivory coast from from paris from from italy whatever you're watching from this morning just go ahead and type it in the comment section because we want to welcome you officially to this service we are going to start service very soon but before we do so i want to just encourage somebody watching for the first time you're training to see of the atlanta for the first time and to encourage that god has a sure word for you this morning i want you to sit back enjoy god's presence the bible says he would he would he would grant you the desires of your heart so if you come with an expectation this morning and for those who watch watching in service you are in person already god has a plan for you today don't take any sunday casually because it's not here just mean god has not has a plan for you the sun is i want to just encourage you sit back just place a demand on today's service and if you're a walker you're already in church already doing all you need to do but guess what i want to place a demand on your service this morning because god is in need of it god is in evil and god will use it to transform your life so just place the demand to the service tell god what you want from today's service and i'm sure that god will meet with you very point of your need and i'm excited because i'm here in his house in the press of god this morning i know god is set to do an amazing thing today in my life so i don't know about you but i'm ready for this service i'm just going to encourage somebody this week as you're going to only go with folk with vision with purpose um don't leave your life casually god has a plan for your life this week so as you pick nuggets from today's sermon as you enjoy worship with doctor voices i should enjoy the service i want you to focus on your week and tell god that you want a testimony that is worth sharing a testimony that would you that would make people come to christ because of what god will do to you in this service today i want you to say a word of prayer with you if you are watching online and you're in person already in service this morning i want to just say word with you before i even say that only to just say ask god for one thing this morning just say god i want this to be done and you mark today's date in your calendar because this is the day the lord has made he said to me to you today so go ahead and just tell god ask her for one special request before we go ahead and pray this morning i'm gonna give you 30 seconds yes yes yes yes yes 15 seconds to go yes yes you can go ahead go ahead let's tell god one thing from god and the last mean second yes yes we receive it in just but i will thank you for everyone who has lifted up a burden a desire a request or for today's service placing in demand but the expectation of the righteous shall not be cut short so therefore we place a demand on the anointing to this into this service the lord will meet with us at the very point of our need father we ask so lord that the worship session will be liberating heaven will kiss earth that the power of god we made manifest that the power of god would do exploits in our lives lord we thank you for everyone that is sad that is depressed that is that is gloomy this morning ah no matter what the situation is god is in control he will take charge he will direct your part you will order your steps this season this week in the name of jesus before the end of this year god will turn you around to be a spectacle of his signs and his wonder in the name of jesus i just want to pray with you that god will touch your life anybody thought trusting god for healing this morning you are going to be healed by the hand of the lord in the name of jesus lord as we begin to worship you today as beginning to exalt your name we ask our angels our sin and descend this service in the name of jesus be thou exalted for jesus my name we have prayed god bless you and enjoy the service [Music] praise the lord i can hear you praise you the lord how many grateful people do we have in the house today you are grateful hallelujah a grateful heart is a thankful heart when you are grateful your heart is full of thanks hallelujah hallelujah i want us to thank god this morning praise the lord i want us to thank him for our program anointing for greatness i'm going to stand up guys we just stand up on your feet right now i'm going to thank him lift your hands and thank him for our program anointing for greatness just thank him hallelujah we fasted we prayed we were part of the program and yet and god showed himself strong on our behalf glory does one week of anointing for greatness so begin to thank him now begin to thank if you are grateful just thank him lift your hands towards heaven and thank you say thank you jesus thank you jesus thank him for the ministers that came for the program thank him for granting them safe journey from your various homes to this place and going back thank him for all our workers in the house thanking for all the ministers in the house that participated in the program just lift your up your voices this morning and thank god thank you god thank you for the anointing for greatness thank you for every yoke that was spoken thank you for everybody that was lifted from off people's shoulders thank you for the yoke of sickness that was broken the yoke of bondage thank god for the yoke of joblessness that were broken the yoke of baroness that was broken just thank him this morning hallelujah if you receive something during anointing but thank god for what you received as well thank him for that specific word that came to you thank him for that remember that you receive the specific word for this specific time for a specific purpose in your life we're going to thank him for those words thank him for those words make sure you are thanking god this morning lift up your voice and say thank you jesus i thank you lord follow sports that gave to me thank you because lord i'm not wrong with it thank you for the ability to run with those words thank you because my life is not the same thank you because i've been moved on to another level talk to god like that this morning thank you for opening our eyes to see what is the next level for us thank god thank him for the revelation of our purpose the team for anointing for greatness was purposeful living that thank god for revealing your purpose to you [Music] hallelujah praise the lord [Music] the word of god has comfort [Music] and i was saying this morning that the program is over but the program for some of us has just begun hallelujah they have a witness in the house it has just begun you need to go back to youtube again listen to those words again and again again and again there's a saying that repetition is the law of deep and lasting impression hallelujah it's not over yet the program just started for me say that to yourself the program just started i'm running with those words nothing will be able to stop me so begin to thank god for the words the words that were brought forth during the program begin to stand for those seed the bible says the sower sword the seed the seed of greatness has been sown in your heart thank god for those seeds thank god for the grace to run with it thank god because no devil can take that seed from your heart you are working in greatness just thank god we'll flip your hands and thank him this morning i thank you lord god for your world they are spirit and the life to me i do not take them lightly and walking with your words i confess them over my life again and again i step into greatness all things are working for my group all things are working out for my good according to your words labor sultanos i step into greatness i refuse to be delayed nothing can stop me nothing can hold me back [Music] to [Music] make sure you have a thankful heart this morning let's talk to god right now begin to thank him for those words those glorious words jesus said the words i speak to you they are spirit they are life they are spirit they are life those words give life for your business life to your job life to your marriage is life to your relationship thank him for those words those great words that came forth concerning you those words will not fall to the ground satire [Music] [Music] [Music] did you thank him are you sure hallelujah one last thing the bible says break up your follow ground tell somebody break up your fallow ground prepare your heart that's what he's just telling you prepare your heart for the service right now to stand up on your feet and begin to declare concerning this service what do you want god to do for you this service why are you here this morning begin to declare what speak words thank god for bringing you here you are here now open up your heart by praying if you are filled with the holy ghost begin to pray in the spirit break up your follow ground break off your follow ground lay back hallelujah this morning i want us to pray for pastor commit the man of god unto god's end that has his stance on the halter today he will stand with boldness declaring the very word of god in the name of jesus he will not speak male words his words will be inundated with the power and the spirit of god begin to pray like that in the name of jesus his heart will be filled with the word of god and it will flow like an endless stream out of his mouth in the name of jesus his tongue will be like the pen of the red writer in the name of jesus [Music] christ you're going to pray for yourself right now that the world as the world comes forth today your heart is open to receiver i'm not here for nothing i will not go back the same way i came i'll be changed i'll be transformed i'll be renewed in the name of jesus [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] that everyone that steps into this sanctuary today may be a believing god for a miracle that they will receive in the name of jesus begin to pray like that no one that came with a sickness that comes with this sickness will be done the same way anyone that comes with any body in it that body will be lifted begin to pray like that being afraid like [Music] [Music] [Music] sickness should be healed deliverance everywhere sickness in the name of jesus body will be lifted in the name of jesus come on come on say something stay right there and worship him stay right there and worship him one more come on say one more thing to him he knows your voice he knows your voice he knows your voice give him the fruit of your leave somebody give him your worship give him your worship give him your worship give him your worship just 30 more seconds 30 more seconds give him your worship 30 more seconds come on 30 more seconds give him your worship for the house 30 miles back on somebody give jesus praise right now give jesus praise he deserves all the glory it is that all the honor and we've come god has this money to give him the fragrance of our worship look to your neighbor and say hey hey hey look at him they think i'm joking do it again say hey hey hey hey don't start yet don't start hold on hold on hold on you know i was reading the book of acts of apostles and chapter 16 right and then i realized that when paul and silas became free the bible said something that all of the prison doors were opened now it wasn't just the prison door of paul and silas but the prisoner of whoever was in several other rooms so that means that when you praise god there is breakthrough on that side of the room and when you worship god there is breakthrough going on in nigeria and in africa and in asia and in russia and in every part of the world i beseech you this morning lift your voice and join me and say hallelujah because your hallelujah brings victory forces and your hallelujah brings victory for brother beef jump right now jump let me see you jump and shout victory yeah let's do this now let's do this together amen yeah come on somebody [Music] hey we preach your name oh god nobody like jesus nobody like my god shake all the glory oh god here is somebody the fragrance of my worship rose up to the father noisy standards earthquakes where the response to my worship the fragrance of my worship rose up to the father noisy stone dress lightnings where the response to my worship the fragrance of my worship rose up to the father noisy standards earthquakes where the response to my worship the fragrance of my worship rose up to the father noisy stone dress lightnings where the rest was still in my worship first it was fragrance then it turned to fire [Music] my worship is my weapon this is how i win my battles give me first it was fragrance then it turned to fire my worship is my weapon i don't need [Music] too much the [Music] [Music] then it turned to fire my worship is my wife [Music] one more time [Music] [Music] [Applause] every time [Applause] my worship is my weapon this is how i win my battles singing come on first it was fragrant then it's down to fire my worship is my weapon i like how you sound you yeah you sound so good so good yeah yeah one more faster this season's not clapping one more faster this is let's go first it was fragrance yeah with the mask i see our lips my worship is my word this is our win everybody's first [Music] this is our week green week this is our win [Music] the swap of my worship realists upon the earth [Music] this is how we win we this is our way [Music] the smoke of my worship released upon the earth this is halloween this is of my worship i don't need no rifles in the middle of the night oh you do you do not need to do nothing this is [Music] the smoke of my worship really upon the earth this is how we reign we this is how i win the smoke of my worship reeling upon the earth the only barren woman in the bible became barren because she was mocking someone who was praising god you don't need to fight listen i've stopped praying against my enemies long time so it's okay when we pray against enemies i just speak in tongues you know because i know my father is the king so if my father is the king and he reigns supreme and he rules over everything will he just sit up in heaven and watch me annihilate it or destroy no i don't have time [Music] so all i do is worship i don't do nothing more than worshiping him i just worship and everything falls in line for me because he orders my step just like he orders your step lift your voice right now and say god orders my step i say god is my father and say god he reigns over everything give jesus a shout somebody [Music] god [Music] [Music] yo where my help comes from you know just what to do [Music] to see things like you do see me [Music] god i look to you [Music] [Applause] [Music] hear me now and i will love you lord my shield i will love you lord my rock forever all my days i will love you better but everybody hallelujah [Applause] like you nobody raised like you jesus nobody forever hallelujah forever forever jesus tickle of me jesus [Music] [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Music] open wide as the sky we lift you up [Music] we lift you up oh god hearts open wide of the sky god will lift your name up everybody hands up and open that we licked up let all the other names fade away let all the other names fade away until there's only you that all the other names fade away jesus take your place jesus take your place let all the other names fade away [Music] to the objects you're the captain of the boat [Music] make me your home make me your home [Music] [Music] jesus [Music] jesus we ask that like every other name fade away fade away jesus we enthrall you this morning we enthrone you this morning we enthrone you this morning thank you lord thank you lord in jesus name we have worshiped in jesus name we have washing but before you sit down this morning the song said let every other name fade away the only name that is above all names is the name of jesus and i want you this morning with every breath in you we're going to shout that name just one more time with everything that is in you let us shout that name that remains when every other name fakes their way hallelujah [Music] [Music] this morning good morning and we welcome you to city of david atlanta where we make disciples and race leaders and we thank you that you decided to join us this morning and for those that are joining us online we welcome you as well you're a part of our church you are online members not just joining us you are online members and we welcome you we thank god for the just concluded afg that anointing for greatness you will agree with me that it was an awesome time in the presence of god if you were not opportune to listen to any of it i encourage you to go to our youtube page and even if you were in service if you actually listened to it if you were in the service for the event i encourage you to listen to those messages again and again because that's exactly what i'm doing because you can't learn everything in one service so i encourage you to be online and listen to it again for those of you well joining us for the first time we are very very very glad that you joined us we are happy that you chose the tea of david atlanta to be where you will worship this morning and we welcome you in jesus name please let's listen to the following announcement the new membership class for the church if you're a new member of the church we have a membership class that is also called class 101 it will hold on tuesday october 12 by 7 pm this class will give you an opportunity to understand what we stand for in city of david atlanta and if you have not participated in that class we ask that you will go online and register for the class it's at www www.cityofdavidatlanta.church to register or call the church office at 770-840-8500 for further information you can also call pastor if he rewardo on 678-740-4213 and i know i read that really fast if you're in the sanctuary and you want to register for that class you can also see me and i will point you in the right direction and then on sunday the 3rd of october is our thanksgiving and vision sunday where there is no vision the people decay proverbs 29 18. so we encourage you to join us on that day for a reminder of our vision as a local church planted by god at this time in atlanta for a great time of thanksgiving with god we encourage you to be a father because it's not just about telling you the vision we're going to be thanking god for his faithfulness so it's going to be an awesome time in god's presence and we encourage you to invite somebody don't come alone invite somebody to church come in next week so that will have a full house and so before we go today i want to encourage you even as we go into the main service i want you to share the link if you have not already shared it pick out your phone share the link ask somebody to join us today in the service and so right now it's a time of significance in the presence of god and i call it that because it's a time to give to the lord it's a time you might say oh am i giving to the lord yes when you give in church you're actually giving to the lord because you're investing in the god in god's kingdom and one thing i know is that is a good businessman you can never make a mistake when you invest in god's kingdom you'll always get your profit that much i know so the scrolling the platform for giving will scroll online now you'll see it on the screen and so if you want to give whether by sms cash up you can give by zell and if you want to give cash there are given envelopes the ushers will pass it around you can use your credit card at the back of the church you can give cash on the giving boxes on both sides of the church if you want to give and on and before we go on if you need an envelope lift up your hands your shoulders will give you one but i want to bless the offering before the the fire leaked us in a time of giving and i encourage you the time of giving is a time of worship it's a time of praises so when they're singing it's not for us to watch them it's for us to give our offering cheerfully so i encourage us to rise up if we're not testing after we pray our father and our god we thank you lord we give you the praise we exalt you we thank you for the opportunity of god even to give to your bosom this morning and father as we give we ask oh god that it will return to us in every area of our blessing even as we have said this morning that you are a good god we have said that there is no name above any other name and the name of jesus is that name that we have trusted that we believe in and so in that name we declare that as we give our offering this morning it will be oh god even a blessing unto us through your returns we thank you for those that are giving and for those that are not able to give and desire to give rather provide for that in the name of jesus we thank you almighty god we say be thou glorified and exalted for in jesus name we have prayed amen praise the lord city of david the name of jesus is a strong tower where the righteous can run in and they are saved hallelujah come on put your hands together [Music] we love to call your name it's something we cannot explain that it happens when we proclaim your great name your great name we love you to call your [Music] stronger there is power in the name of jesus power in that name anybody believe that this morning there was power in the name of jesus power in the name come on let's say supernatural power when we [Applause] i said when i everything is me when we we call you jesus we call you jesus of jesus lift up the name of jesus lift up the one who healed you they're not the one who provides for you that's up the one who's providing shelter for you lift up the name of jesus hallelujah [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] can you just sing this song [Music] [Music] hallelujah come let's lift it up together hallelujah [Music] hallelujah [Music] [Music] the highest hallelujah hallelujah say lord you're worthy oh worthy what you were say lord i love you lord lord we [Music] love you [Music] spirit of the living god will come before you this morning we're exalt to your mighty god and we ask your father in this place have your way father do not just speak to us but quicken our motor bodies and do not just quicken our motor body so god give us understanding amen grant was grace oh god that between you and us we can be on the same frequency as you work out your will in our lives we thank you and we bless you today i pray that every burden that has come into this place will be lifted up today oh god i pray that every year could be destroyed in the name of jesus christ i pray that every mountain before your people will be brought low in the name of jesus christ and let your name alone be exalted oh god we thank you and we bless you in jesus much less than we pray amen thank you very much thank you [Applause] [Music] hallelujah good to see you wave at somebody and say good to see how you're doing you're welcome you want to turn your bibles with me to the book of luke chapter 9 verse 1 and verse 2. luke chapter nine verse one and verse two [Music] are we all there then he called his 12 disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases we know it as diseases but it's simply easies that have been dysfunctionalized and then he sent them to preach the kingdom of god not the kingdom of the church not the message of any particular denomination but he sent them to preach the kingdom of god and to heal the sick what i'm going to do for these three sundays i'm going to do is a three-part series starting today next sunday i'll take part two and then on the first sunday of october i'll wrap it up as we share the vision of the church and this morning i want to speak on when god calls when god calls so there was a great man of god who said many years ago that it's better to put 10 men to work than to do the work of 10 people because when god sent his son into the world and jesus christ came what he did was that he did only what he alone could do which was heal the sick cleanse the leopards save the sinners and then die for humanity but after that what he did was that he put ten men commissioned other people to do the work that he could have lived endlessly on this earth as a human being to carry out he had to assign that responsibility to the other members of the church you know the bible says that unto us a child is born unto us a son is given the government shall beware upon his shoulders jesus christ is the head of the church he's the head of the church and his body is the church the government is not on his head the government is where on his shoulders so the government is on our shoulders or the government is on our lives the bible says that jesus christ called people he called 12 at the time and later on increase it to 70 and increase it on and on to the crowd call them to come to him call them that they may come to him paul said in philippians chapter 3 verse 13 he said i forget the things that are behind me for the price of their high calling of god i'm reaching on the next verse verse 14. it says i'm reaching on to the price of their high calling the upward call so every time there's an upward call or a high calling it means that there's also the opposite and what is that a low calling so when god calls you to something higher the devil if he cannot stop you from responding to that hair calling it gives you a lot of other counterfeits it gives you a lot of other distractions in order to stop you from entering the high call and that's what it is for many people many people in trying to respond to their high call of god have been sidelined have been distracted by things that are inconsequential things that are not of great significance why because they have been tempted or taunted or or confused by the devil to not focus on the high call in mark chapter 3 verse 13 the bible says he said jesus christ he called to himself those whom he wanted to be with him he called to himself those whom he wanted to be with him he called to himself those whom he wanted to be with him and so we see in our text this morning that he called 12 different people 12 different people the first thing you want to note about these 12 people is that they were all truly different they were all different in mark in matthew chapter 10 verse 2 through to verse 5 it gives us a clear idea of how different these people were matthew chapter 10 verse two to verse five he said now the names of the twelve apostles are these simon who is called peter and andrew his brother james the son of zebedee and john his brother you know simon the guy the loud mother guy the guy who was restless the guy who will talk and talk and talk and talk and answer a question before he's asked he called him the fisherman who was just an ordinary uneducated fisherman god called him him and his brother and james and john he nicknamed them sons of thunder because they had an explosive anger that temper was uncontrollable he called them philip the intellectual philly was the one who when the greeks came looking for jesus they came to philip he called philip but a lot of me who was as quiet we didn't hear much about him he called barthelomy thomas the doubter the man who questioned every theory question every other hypothesis question every story he called thomas and the matthew the senior irs executive he called him too and then not to talk of judas judah iscariots the one who was between him he called all of them they were all different people you see that god called them differently and he said follow me and i will make you fishers of men the reason why that's important for you to hear and to know is the fact that the person next to you who has been called by god doesn't necessarily have to be like you doesn't have to behave like you doesn't have to think like you does not have to respond like you because somebody has said that monotony is not the spice of life if you have too many of you in the world the world would have been an extremely boring place so god has called people differently different departments different backgrounds different orientation different experiences in life he has called all of us together to come and work together number two i want you to note in that text that he called 12 of them luke chapter 9 verse 2 verse 1 he said he called 12 of them that they may come and be with him twelve as a number of governments is a governmental number there were twelve patriarchs in the old testament the pay tax of our faith the tribe of israel now in the new testament we have 12 apostles the government shall be upon his shoulders 12 is the number of government our god is a governmental god the bible says that the earth is the lord's and the fullness thereof the world and they that dwell therein one scripture says that god is in his holy temple let all the world be silent before him whatever god wants to do is what he does whatever god determines to do is what he does the bible says that when he opens the door no man can shoot it when he shuts the door no man can open it why because all power in heaven and on earth has been given into his hands god is a god of government so he has called 12 he called 12 apostles to come and work with him you see that in the kingdom of god the number that god has determined to do his work at every point in time must be complete must be complete you notice that when judas iscario died somebody had to replace him in order to ensure that the number of the apostolic calling the number of the apostolic numeral will always be 12. i want you to know today that you may think you stumbled into this church you may think you just made your way here you're centered in and you're going to center out god is a god of perfection you are not here by accident god brought you in here so that he can complete the work that he wants to do within the church and also in your own life you are not here by accident because god must ensure that that number is always complete if you look at the book of revelations the bible says in revelation chapter 21 the bible talks about the the 12 gates of each of the new jerusalem revelation chapter 1 look at verse 4 i think revelation chapter 1 it talks about the 12 gates of the new jerusalem he said these 12 gates were the number of the patriarchs the number of the tribes of israel let's let's just give it a second let me go there revelation chapter 21 verse verse 12. verse 12. you see and also he had a great he was talking about the new jerusalem he said he had a great wall a great and a high wall with 12 gates and twelve gates and twelve angels and the names written on them were the names of the twelve tribes of the children of israel twelve so that in the old testament twelve apostles as the age comes to a close in revelation the bible says that even the new jerusalem will have 12 gates a city with an imposing and intimidating war 12 gates so that you cannot enter the new jerusalem without going through one of these 12 apostles without going through one of these 12 gates and later on the bible said that there were also that city had 12 foundations look at it in verse 14. now the wall of the city had 12 foundations and what were written on those foundations the names of the 12 apostles of god of christ 12 walls 12 gates 12 foundations he's talking about the government of god his government is complete his government is total his government is absolute even when judas was missing god had to introduce another person to complete the park i wanted to hear this message very carefully when god calls he ensures that what he does is complete what he does is perfect what he does is absolute so there are some of you who are here this morning who think that well i don't matter well nobody knows my name in this church nobody knows my name in my blog nobody knows my name in my subdivision as far as you are in the body of christ god knows your name and you matter to him you're important if you are not there be careful if you are not there god will ensure that some other person replaces you and that's why it's important for you to ensure that whatever god has asked you to do or called you to do you put yourself in a place where you are willing to obey the lord and do what god has asked you to do don't think that well it does not matter if you don't do it or don't think that well you can hold anybody hostage because you know there are some of you in a local church like in city of david today who do not think that the things you are doing you are doing them because you have been called by god you think that the things you are doing you are doing them because you want to help the pastor or you want to help your head of department or you want to help your house fellowship leader no you are doing it because god has called you and put you in a number of twelve he has called you and put you in the number of words twelve if you are missing he will have to get a replacement if you do not do your job god will have to replace you so it's important for you to know that you are strategically positioned by god it's important for you to know that you are strategically called by god not by man but by who by god so the burden on you is to want to please god you want to please god the one who has called you now i want you to understand that of all the people that god called every one of them listen to me had a reason to be disqualified every one of them every one of them had a reason to be disqualified if you go to exodus chapter 3 when they called moses you know the story right justin heston in the burning bush moses moses after 40 years of having run away from egypt moses had not heard the voice of god voices are not encountered had an encounter with divinity and then suddenly god called him and moses said what do you want from me god says i want you to go and deliver my people if you read that story moses begins to give god one excuse after another excuse after another excuse but the bigger issue was the fact that moses was a murderer moses had murdered somebody that was part of why he escaped moses was a fugitive on the run running away from the law we're running away from justice yet god saw moses a murderer a fugitive a camera a guy who at that time based on his own testimony he had difficulties with speaking he had a huge speech impediment yet god called him and as you look at the bible this man turned out to be the one who wrote some of the most eloquent chapters of the bible genesis through the book through the book through deuteronomy five books of the bible we call them the pentateuch moses had every reason to be disqualified what of chapter jephthah was the son of a prostitute his mother was a harlot so his brother threw him out he did not even qualify to be within the confines of his own family circles he was disqualified by society he was disqualified by the culture of the dead he was disqualified by societal norms and expectations he did not meet the criteria for being in the top edge alone yet god called jephthah whatever rehab rahab assad was a woman in the joint everybody went to her house because in today's balance we'll call her an escort she was a prostitute she traded herself and her privacy in exchange for money yet god called rehab you will think my dear friend that when you look at the the genealogy of jesus christ you will see nobility oh yeah there was nobility but rahab's name was also there [Music] god called rehab what about elijah elijah was a man who was given to depression he has suicidal tendencies after he had called down fire he almost took poison and killed himself but god called elijah a man was given to depression a man who in today's days would have been asked to see a psychiatrist yet god called elijah what about a man called paul how many of you have heard of a man called paul the guy who wrote more than half of the new testament in terms of the number of books even though luke in terms of volume content luke wrote most of the new testament paul acts chapter 8 verse 3. let's look at that paul was a man a persecutor of the church look at it the bible said that as for saul which was his initial name he made a harvard of the church entering every house and dragging all men and women committing them to prison he threw stones at the church he threw sons at the pastor of the church he criticized everybody in spiritual leadership paul and because he was an attorney he was the one that signed the death sentence of the first martial stephen you see it then acts chapter 8 the last verse of acts chapter 8 the bible said that when stephen was killed they laid his clothes at the feet of paul of saul verse 16. then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice no no verse 58 and they cast him out of the city and stoned him and the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named word saul that man a lady's clothes after the stone steven a man of god a disciple of christ they stoned him to death and saul gave consent in chapter 9 of acts the bible tells us he said this psalm verse 9 chapter 9 verse 1. chapter 9 verse 1 please then saul still breathing threats and mother against the disciples of the lord breathing he was breathing it threats not only threats what else mother so he was a murderer against the disciples of the lord he went to the high priest and asked for letters to the synagogues of damascus so that if he found anywhere of the way whether men or women he might bring them bound to jerusalem that was all if we're christians can you imagine how we'll be praying about him in our prayer meetings will be binding the spirit of saul will be asking god to make him confused we'll be declaring judgment on him let my enemies die fire on anybody against the church [Music] that is the man god called god called him hallelujah god called him say that with me by our standard there's no way he would have qualified i mean you know how we do all donations in church don't you we look for the best the prime and the proper but god went looking for a man he would use and he called soul [Music] in fact when god called him look at what god said about him verse 15 of chapter nine look at what god said about him verse 15 he said but the lord said to him he's talking about ananias who went to pray over saul he said for he go for he is a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name before gentiles kings and the children of israel god called him he said he's a chosen vessel he's going around killing people but the call of god is on his head he's going around stoning christians to death but the call of god is on his head is it possible my dear friend that this morning as i'm talking to you you know your life you know your life is not together you know you're all messed up you know you're so far away from god that you do not know that the call of god is on your life you're doing all the wrong things by our definition of wrong things you're stunning christian leaders you're trading yourself like rahab you're killing people with hatred and malice and unforgiveness yet the call of god is on your life because you see the call of god is actually predicated on the plan of god for your life before you were created when god created you he had an assignment for you to accomplish and the reason why i'm preaching this message this morning because some of you do not know that the call of god is on your life nobody has told you saul did not know until god told him moses did not know until god showed up and told him peter did not know until jesus looked at him i said follow me peter and i will make you officials of me matthew was sitting down in the accounting office you know cooking the books and confusing people and sending out first letter threatening letters as an irs official until jesus told him follow me and i will transform your life some of you today do not know that the call of god is on your life i have good news for you my friend regardless of where you are how far you have gone from god god has his eyes on you [Music] look at first corinthians chapter one first corinthians chapter 1 verse 26 to 29 look at what paul said he said for you see your calling brethren that men not many wives according to the flesh not many mighty not many noble are called he said that god has chosen the foolishness of the world to put to shame the wise and god has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mind and the best things of the world and the things which are despised god has chosen and the things which are not to bring nothing the things that are so that no flesh should glory in his presence glory to god so that you don't compound in your church i said well i know i was eligible like the pharisee i know i was very qualified that's why god called me god is calling you my dear friend today that you may come regardless of your background regardless of your capabilities or incapabilities so there are five things i want you to note this morning five things number one five things number one you have no control over who god calls you have no control over who or whom god calls your like or your dislike is not material your consent approval or disapproval is not material you go ahead your acceptance is no material so just as much you have no control over whom god calls nobody has control over whether god calls you or not so stop giving your opinion about the suitability or unsuitability of another child of god god has called them by his own by his own only sins wisdom god has called them you have no control over who god calls number two he did not call perfect products god did not call perfect people you will expect that the perfect son of god will work with only perfect people that's what you will expect but the perfect son of god choose to work with imperfection so that by working with imperfection his perfection can be made manifest and can supersede the imperfection of people you notice that even three years after walking with peter close to his death what was peter doing peter was still cursing i know some of you have phd using this world the crossword the f-word i remember many years ago a friend of mine got angry i said something to him and he got hungry and he started using the f-word the s word i was so shocked because i thought he was such a sanitized christian the moment they started i went to my knees i said please i'm very sorry whatever i've done now for please forgive me because out of shock i didn't think a christian would still be using the f-word so some of you are still using the f-word it's okay it's okay you have a chance to repent when i say it's okay i don't mean that it's okay to use the swear word what i'm saying is that you've used it already now it's time to come home and let god clean you amen peter was still cursing after three years of being with jesus [Music] he was still cursing he was still swearing the unfortunate thing about him was that the more he cursed and the more he swore it was difficult to it was it was impossible for him to hide the fact that he was he was an important man so the more he cursed [Music] he said i don't know the sound of this son of god [Music] so the more you curse the more you betray your background and sometimes people look at you and say this doesn't look like i think you're supposed to be a christian sometimes they don't say it to you but they know that you're out of place peter was still cursing the bible said that when they arrested jesus christ all his disciples these 12 men he had worked with what happened to all of them the fled in fact one actually betrayed him isn't it jesus did not work with perfect people but the thing was this when they came to him he transformed them and as the spirit of god came upon them he transformed them point number three is the fact that god is calling you to himself mark chapter 3 verse 13. he said he called those whom he would to come to him to him to him he is calling you to himself what does that mean he means that you come focused on the lord not on everybody else and what everybody else is doing the bible says looking unto her jesus oh yeah we are supposed to be examples and models for one another but god did not call you to look unto men so that when man disappoints you you say oh the world has fallen apart you look unto jesus he called he said he called them together can we have the scripture back again luke chapter nine he all yeah he went up to the mountain and called to himself to himself to himself not even to the church to himself so you come to him you come to him you know i remember when i joined redeemed i joined through one of the parishes called freedom hall and that church was a church where the general overseer said that he saw a vision of young people professionals who were on fire for god [Music] and said some of them were in many skits but they were on fire for god some of them were still lying but they don't fire for god so when i joined freedom hall some of the sisters were still dressing in ways that [Music] when you're talking to them you have to be pleating the blood and looking up i remember one occasion tony came he was on fire one wednesday he preached one powerful message and he said some of you sit behind me and you call yourself ministers so one day some friends ask me he said brother joe we know you've been a christian for a while how do you cope in this church the miniskirts and all that i say uh it's like going to christopher courteous church i'm not even a christian christian jesus she went to the church good music good teaching but you have to keep your eyes on jesus all through the service just depleting the blood jesus so i told the person i said you know what i said i don't see the miniskirts i said because when i come to church i'm focused on the altar i'm focused on the altar oh the minute i don't see them because i'm focused on the altar you know when you go to the market it's what you're looking for is that what you buy [Music] so he called them to come to him this morning i'm asking you come to jesus my friend come to jesus stop all this talk you know sometimes when i talk to some people they say well i'm not really redeemed me too i'm not redeemed i am jesus disciple come to jesus what we are trying to do in this church is about working for saying it aloud with me wherefore jesus pastor william says it from time to time he said i know those who are serving pastor deborah and those who are serving the lord because redeem in particular we do a lot of eye service oh our service oh i see it from time to time i'm walking down the events hall and i said piece of paper on the floor and i'm trying to pick it and people say oh don't pick it leave me leave it leave it where were you when those things were there until i tried to pick it a lot of eyes service come to jesus [Music] number two when you come to jesus he will strengthen you on friday i was talking about mental health issues you know that has become a major problem right now everybody if your parents try to discipline you you have mental health everybody knows mental health no no listen mental health is a reality there's no doubt about that but there are some issues that are we we ascribe to mental health problems that all you need is just rest put yourself together and make sound decisions when you are fatigued as a christian the bible says that they wait upon the lord he shall do what renew their strength intimacy with god is the panacea for physical fatigue and spiritual exhaustion intimacy with god when you are burnt out go back into the place of prayer and spend time in quietness and confidence and rest shall be your strength and the people of god say amen the final thing you need to learn i want you to know is the fact that god is calling you to work with others let's have luke chapter 9 verse 2 verse 1 back on the screen luke chapter 9 verse 1. can we read the first line together i want to go then he called them together together together say that with me say it [Applause] say it again look at our wonderful choir put your hands together for the [Music] andre on the on the on the bass guitar your call on the drums shown on the keyboard what's your name first on the lead guitar what's your name the guy on the conqueror he has no name okay they cannot function well if they do not work together they can't function well if they don't work together so the basis is not going to create a silos just build the world around himself or the drummer builds a wall around himself and he is not coordinating with the other musicians and i say this because there are some of you who are in this church and you don't want to work together with us want to build your own mountain and work from your own position and when we say no that's not how it operates you said no i'm hungry i'm offended if you are going to say yes to the call of god you've got to know that you cannot walk alone you cannot walk a long one as a christian trying to live out your christian experience he called us to work together [Music] and then two in order to make the work successful you cannot walk alone media for instance cannot just decide that well i'm going to shoot the movies i'm going to do my recording anyhow based on the way because by the way even when we work together there's always a leader among equals are you with me are you listening to what i'm saying there's always a leader among equals the bible tells of the children of israel he said there was a time when there was no king and because there was no king people did what was right in their own eyes you cannot be in a church and you want to do what is right in your own eyes you have got to learn how to work together how to submit and i tell you this i've got to say it again and again and again psalm 133 verse 1 how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity for death god commands the blessing so that a little labor is producing tremendous results god commands the blessing you're not struggling for the blessing oh we pray god bless me that when people are united genesis chapter 11 tells us when people are united god commands the blessing it's a principle that even god recognizes he said these people have decided to do this thing say nothing stop them is this thing okay nothing will stop them he said because they have decided to work together do you want this church to go places and do you truly believe that we can go places the vision i see of this church [Music] and do you know that even outsiders see that vision better than us do you know that they tell us when god calls you've got to know that it's not because you are more qualified than others it's not because you are better than others it's not because you have a credential that is laudable he calls you despite your worst secrets he calls you and he calls you to not walk alone he calls you to value the importance of one another [Music] because there are things that you are good at that some other person is not good at but there is something that some other person is good at that you are not good don't fool yourself don't stop fooling yourself you are good you are not good in everything in fact if you are good in everything you are useless because life will be so boring [Music] i like i like i like good food like good food like good food but the way my appetite works is that one day i may wake up and all i want to eat is a goosey soup a goosey for breakfast goosey for lunch a goosey for dinner a goosey food snack because of everything and after three weeks i moved from egusi to roasted roaches [Music] i just moved why and that's how human beings ah why am i saying this this morning two things those of you who don't think that you matter i want you to know that you are valuable before god and we need you because god has called you god has called you oh you're not doing anything now right now yes that's why i'm speaking to you because you need to start doing something number two if you think you are valuable you must learn to work hard together say it with me you must learn to work out not outside the confines of others when we give you instruction you say no i won't take it i'm going to do my own thing you can't walk like that and expect the blessings of god and number three if you do not do what god has called you to do bad news god will quickly replace you and life will go on hello i will replace your life so you don't hold anybody around some yeah yeah if i don't do it shut up i've seen that movie so many times so now i've learned to go to sleep when i see people who don't want to do it i know that god is about to raise up a replacement but i pray with you today that god will not replace you in jesus name come on say that amen properly amen let's stand up on our feet as we pray together [Music] god has called you just called you it's called you father i pray for my brethren this morning everyone who is here under the sound of my voice whom you have called i ask you that you release grace on them i ask you that you stir their hearts to god that as you walk out of this door the one question they will ask themselves is god what do you want me to do for you i pray father make them restless until they respond to your call oh god in the name of jesus christ and for those who have battered themselves and brought themselves down and disqualified themselves father i release grace great grace upon them of god i assure them that they are valuable i show them that you have a place for them on the table without them the 12 the circle of 12 will not be complete and so father today i invite them by the spirit of the living god help them to get to that table and to do your bidding we thank you heavenly father and we bless your holy name for in jesus mighty name we have prayed and the people of god say amen hallelujah while you're standing on your feet we are going to take our offense right now because we're about two minutes past the time we're going to take our offerings for those who do not give their offering the first time and that also speaks to you giving your offerings because some of you are financial sponsors of the work of god you are not like everybody else that's why god has put more money in your hands than he has put in the hands of everybody else [Music] that if you do not do it i don't want to give you that thread i know you're going to do it so many times when you hold back your offering you hold back your tithe it's because you don't know that god gave it to you specially so that you can do what others cannot do [Music] so those of you who have not been tithing this an opportunity for you to give your tithe those of you who've not been giving there's an opportunity for you to give your offerings give your gifts give god your treasures because he called you and endowed you with it let's go ahead and take our offense right now [Music] please [Music] oh [Applause] hate us is anybody coming here for the first time this your first time in this church today anybody [Music] you are clapping for nobody uh raise up your hand let's see if this is your first time you raise up your head let's see yeah we clap we didn't invite anybody and we are clapping for ourselves i'm not inviting anybody next sunday let's do better okay amen hallelujah okay we're going to share the grace now on friday we're having bible we have a prayer meeting and bible study i teach on friday okay you're coming for the first time we're glad you're here we're glad you're here yeah yeah yeah now we can clap go ahead and club yeah yeah yeah [Music] okay hop down to the guest room out down to the guest room help them to the guest room [Music] thank you sir thank you for coming good good good good now we can club you know coffee 19 has created the impression that anybody who is not in church is actually in church no they are not so if you are not watching online and you are not in church you are not in church so don't don't don't be watching a game during service time i say well i watch i'll listen to the message later nah church time is church time so if you are not in the sanctuary get connected at home during church time so that you can be a part of the corporate anointing let's share the grace the grace of our lord jesus christ the love of god [Music] for surely god's goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our lives and we shall dwell in the house of the lord forever and ever amen god bless you this has been a broken city of david atlanta i'm your host dr joe attack on same time next sunday there will be pss this afternoon for 30 minutes 25 minutes [Music] please

Channel: City Of David Atlanta

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Length: 102min 13sec (6133 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 19 2021