Pieces of Me - Week 3

Listen. Maybe you notice when you came in today that there's a new card

in the backs of the chairs. This is what we call the Experience card,

and what we want you to do with this is we want you to

use this to share your testimonies the winds in your life that when God does

something for you, is in the midst of doing something for you, that

you take this card out, you write on this card, and that you

drop it in the offering on your way out or starting next week, we're

going to pass the buckets to you. Just drop it in those buckets and

make sure that you let us know. And also you can use this card

if you have a prayer request. If there's something going on in your life

that you need prayer about, you can use this card and drop it in

those buckets or hand it to an usher or one of our staff members.

And we just want to pray for you and believe God for a miracle.

But this card is something that we want you to use as a resource because

we want to share the victories in your life with more people. Well,

we have found out is in a lot of times we know the good things

that happen in your life, but everybody else does it. So this will

give us a platform to be able to share the winds, the victories in

your life to encourage other people other people's faith. Amen. Amen, if

you got a Bible, go to Matthew chapter one. Matthew chapter one.

We're gonna continue in our series Pieces of Me. It's been a long time

since I have changed my message completely in the week leading up to my preaching,

But today I have a message that I changed after we had a discussion

at staff meeting and I just felt like this was the Lord, This was

the direction that the Lord was leading me. But listen, I want everybody

to look up right now. I want you to understand that you are greater

than the sum of your pieces, that you were greater than the brokenness that

adds up. You were so much more in the hands of God than you

could ever imagine. In Matthew chapter one, starting in verse one, now

listen, a lot of this could be the first time you ever read this

passage of scripture. This is one of those we skip over, but we're

gonna read it and listen. I was born in Georgia. I was raised

in Georgia. I talked Georgia. Come on, somebody I struggle with.

Some of these names were about to read. So just no, you don't

have to send an email. I probably already know I said it wrong.

Come on, somebody, Amen, Matthew. Chapter one, verse one,

it says the Book of the Genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David,

the son of Abraham, Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac begat Jacob, and

Jacob begat Judah and his brothers. Judah begot Perez and Zero by Hamar.

Perez begot Hezron, and Hezron begot Ram, and Ram begot a Menadab and

a Menadab begot Nashan and Nasham begot Salomon, and Salmon begot Boaz by Rahab

Boas begot Obed by Ruth Obed begot Jesse, and Jesse begot David the King.

David the King begot Solomon by who by her who had been the wife

of Uriah. Solomon begot Ria Boham Ria Boim begot Abajah and Abajah begot Asa

and Asa begot Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat begot Joram and Joram begot Yusaiah, Josiah

begot Jotham and Jotham begot a Haas and a Haas begot Hezekiah. Hezekiah begot

Manassa Manassa begot Aman and Aman begot Josiah and Josiah begot Jack Andiah and his

brothers about the time they were carried away to Babylon. After they were brought

to Babylah and Jack Andiah begot Shaltiel and Shatil begot as the Rebba bull AND's

a Robba bull begot Abued Abued begot Eliakim and Eliakim begot azor Azor begot Zada,

Xatac begot Acomb and Acomb begot Eliud and Eliud begot Elias, eliasar begot

math Matheen and Matthew begot Jacob and Jake and Jacob begot Joseph, the husband

of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ. Let's

pray, Father, we thank you for your word. It's the only change

agent on the face of this planet. And I pray Lord that as your

word goes forth, that it takes residence at the very fabrics of our being,

that place where our identity is formed, that place where faith flows that

place, Lord, where you dwell and you speak, And Lord, that

are harvest blooms the likes of which we've never experienced. Help us to see

beyond our brokenness into the wholeness you have for us. In Jesus name,

Amen. Through the genealogy of Jesus, there are there are five women that

are present in this genealogy. Five women mentioned in all of those begots.

It's interesting that there were five women, and I want to talk about just

quickly those five women in the genealogy of Jesus, because I think a lot

of times when we look at Jesus, we think about jesus heritage and his

stock being thoroughbred, that there was that there was a crafting and a plan

from the very beginning, and there was but one in which that Jesus would

immediately be seen as high and lifted up, that he would be the shining

pillar of Israel, that people would take note because of his lineage. But

as we begin to look and we really delve into the lineage of Jesus,

there's quite a lot of brokenness and dysfunction in the lineage of Jesus. When

we start, the first name we come to is this woman Tamar, and

Tamar was married to the sons of Judah, two sons of Judah. First

she was married to the oldest son and he died. And then because of

the custom, Judah allowed her to marry the second son, and he died.

And there was a third son. And Judah refused to allow Tamar to

marry the third son because he thought that she was the reason the sons were

dying, so he forbid it. He broke off that kinsman redeemer process,

and as a result, she was left alone and destitute. She had no

way to provide for herself. So this woman listed in the lineage of Jesus,

this woman Tamar, dressed up like a woman of the night, and

she seduced her father in law, Judah and became pregnant with twin boys.

Wow, it's like a soap Operaten't that this woman delved into deceit and trickery

so that she could provide for herself and get back at to the one who

she felt had done her wrong. But yet this woman, this deceitful woman,

this seductress, this woman who who manipulated her way back into the family.

She is mentioned in the lineage of Jesus. The second woman, Rahab.

We read about her first as the children of Israel send spies into the

land. The second time, they come to the Jordan River and the people

are looking because they know the spies have come into the land. And Rahab

takes those spies. She carries them up to a rooftop and she hides those

spies on her rooftop, and she keeps the safe. Rehab's occupation, which

she was a prostitute. She was, she made her her living as a

prostitute, and she did show favor to those those spies sent into the land.

But nonetheless, her lineage, her her testimony, her identity was one

of a prostitute, and Rehab is mentioned in the lineage of Jesus. And

then we come to Ruth. What can we possibly say bad about Ruth.

Ruth is that one who befriended and stuck with her her mother in law,

Naomi, as they left a pagan land. She's the one that made that

great statement that we speak at weddings all the time, your people will be

my people, your land will be my land, and your God will be

my God. I've always thought it was funny that we quoted that at weddings.

But it was two women that said that to each other. But the

reality is that Ruth was a pagan. She was a Moabite. She lived

in a land that worshiped the god Keemosh. People worshiped Kimosh by taking their

firstborn and offering a sacrifice of that tiny child and bearing it in the foundations

of their home, that Keemosh would send them a great harvest and safety over

their homes. And she grew up in a pagan land, celebrating pagan rituals

and pagan practices. And she finds herself in the land of bread. She

finds herself there and scraping, begging crumbs from a field. But yet this

pagan beggar finds herself in the lineage of Jesus. The fourth person is so

bad the lineage doesn't even call her by name. It says the woman who

had been the wife of Uriah. We know her name is Bathsheba, the

one who David saw bathing on the roof of her home and called to her,

and she became pregnant with David's child. David was so upset that,

in an attempt to cover his lie with Bathsheba, that he had Uriah killed

on the front lines, but that's not the worst thing. All throughout Bathsheba's

relationship with David, it was manipulation and deceit to try to position her son

as the one who would have the throne, always trying to gain favor through

deceitful ways. And this woman so despicable that the lineage doesn't even refer to

by name. She finds herself in the lineage of Jesus. When I read

this story, it sounds a lot like my family. We've never had it

all together. We there's dysfunction, there's there's brokenness. There's all kinds of

things that happen in our pasts and in our lives that we feel somehow disqualifies

us from ever doing anything great, that destiny could never come through all of

the pain and the hurt and the trauma and the scars, the guilt and

the shame that the God could never use me because I'm so bad and things

have always looked so untidy throughout my life. But the reality is that Jesus

doesn't disqualify us from destiny just because we weren't born having it all together.

The reality is that Jesus all throughout those three years, picks some of the

I just call him rascals. He picks dysfunctional rascals to use to elevate the

platform of the kingdom, because I think he looked and he said, if

I can use them, if I can use those ordinary broken men that I

know people will see that it surely has to be the hand of God when

we look at the twelve that he chose. If I had been God,

if I had known all things, I would not have picked them uneducated fishermen,

users, tax collectors, doubters, thieves. But Jesus used the brokenness

of those men to weave together one of the most powerful stories history has ever

seen, written that through ordinary people he launched the greatest spiritual movement in all

of mankind, this faith we call Christianity. I believe had he used the

superlative, had he used those who were just a cut above that, it

wouldn't have had the same hold. Because, after all, if we can

use our own intellect, if we can use our own power and our own

strength, and our own money and our own resources, then do we really

need God to be involved. But he wants to take broken people just like

you, and just like me. People that haven't always had it together.

Raise your hand. If you're here today and you have a past, keep

your hand up. If you're glad nobody's that God hadn't told anybody about it.

You know, God just moves the pieces around just enough to position us

where we need to be, when we need to be, to maximize His

glory through us. We talked about four women. We talked about those four

despicables, but then we come to the fifth. This woman named Mary.

Mary is the picture of innocence, still a child. By the account of

our society in America, she would have been seen as a as a child,

maybe thirteen to fifteen years old. The Lord searched throughout all of his

people, and his favor rested upon Mary. Now I want you to realize

she didn't deserve the favor to She hadn't done anything to deserve for the favor

to rest upon her. She had not she should not complete in any great

works. There was no great thing that she had done. She was just

simply available, and God used her availability to do something spectacular. So we

come to Mary, who maybe she was righteous, but she was righteous righteous

in her innocence. She hadn't had enough life experience to mess things up,

yet come on, somebody. The other day, I went over to see

my dad and I walked in and he said, how's your morning going.

I said, Well, still too early for things to be bad. It

was still too early in her life. She hadn't had time to make the

mistakes. But God chose to get involved. And sometimes it's in those areas

where we just haven't really had a chance to mess things up yet, come

on, somebody. He moves in those places where we just haven't really decided

that we're gonna do this thing, that we're gonna that we're gonna plan this

thing, that we're gonna make this thing work. And we just kind of

settled back and we see God move. In Luke chapter one, verse thirty

five, we see all of the dysfunction of the lineage and the opportunity and

innocence explode onto the scene with one moment with God. In Luke chapter one,

verse thirty five minutes, says and the Angel answered and said to her,

now, let me give you some backstory here. I want to jump

into it, but but but I need just two minutes to give you a

little backstory. Basically, what's happened. Is the Angel the Lord has shown

up to Mary and he says, blessed are you among all women? And

she's like, whoa, whoa, I'm not buying this. Usually whence that?

Yeah, yeah, li'sten. She Okay, here's here's what's gonna happen.

This is how you're gonna be blessed. You you're, you're, you're,

you're gonna be pregnant, and you're gonna give birth to the son of

God. His name needs to be Emmanuel, God with us call him Jesus.

Uh. And that's God's plan for you. She said, no,

no, no, no, no. So here's I don't know much,

but there's a couple of things I do know. And this is impossible because

I have not yet known a man. So this is uh, you know,

good try buddy, but not gonna work. But thanks for asking.

So she's already determined. Listen, She's already determined that she's not qualified for

greatness. She's already determined she's not smart enough, she's not good enough,

she hasn't met the prerequisites for greatness. Maybe it's because she knew all of

those people that were in the past. Maybe because she looked around and she

saw her home, and it wasn't an immaculate home. And maybe it was

because she hadn't finished her degree. Maybe it was because she was from the

wrong side of the tracks. Maybe it was I don't know what it was,

but I just know that somehow she had already disqualified herself from an opportunity

for greatness. If you're here today and you've already disqualified yourself from an opportunity

for greatness, you're at the right place at the right time. And in

Luke, chapter one, verse thirty five, it says, and the Angel

answered to her when she said, I haven't known a man. The Angel

answered to her and said, the Holy Spirit will come upon you. Now

listen, look, look this this, this, this, this is powerful,

and the power of the highest will overshadow. Therefore also that holy one

who is to be born will be called the Son of God. He said,

no, no, no, no, no, no no no.

You have it all wrong, because I don't have to work. I'm God.

See, I don't have to work according to the way you think I

have to work. I don't have to follow all the steps because I wrote

the steps. I don't have to I don't have to do things in order.

Because I am the order, I can do things the way I want

to do them. And here is the reality that when you take someone who

is maybe just innocent enough to question, but not to completely give up yet,

and you allow yourself to be overshadowed, to be covered, enveloped,

encompassed by the power of the most High, see, it only takes a

moment and God, just a moment and God to change the course of not

only your life and your destiny, but literally the course of all creation.

That there is that moment where something begins, the origin point of greatness and

destiny, that's there inside every single person under the sound of my voice,

that we all it doesn't matter if we're two or one hundred and two,

if we're alive, we still have a hope and a future. And in

that moment, in that origin of destiny, where he looks at all of

the pieces of our life, those broken pieces, and the dysfunction from our

past that maybe we learn from and maybe we didn't. Here's the great thing

about God. He doesn't give up even when we don't learn the first time.

Because those twelve people he called that were supposed to be bold, that

the Gospel that our faith rested upon their shoulders. As soon as things got

tough, they went back to doing what they already knew to do. They

went back to fishing, They went back to all of those things. But

God used them. Anyway. Have you just gone back what feels normal and

comfortable, Because the challenge that God has presented is so great and so immense

that when you look at it, you cower under the pressure and the weight

of it. But God sent me today to tell you that you're going to

be overshadowed by the power of the Most High, that He's going to overshadow

you and cover you and draw you and pull you and position you for something

great. Clay, if you guys would come and get ready this morning,

that would be fantastic. This dysfunctional lineage, with a seductress and a prostitute,

a pagan, and one that can't even be named by name, all

of those broken pieces and dysfunction, the Father began to work in the tapestry

of creation. He pulled a little bit here and a little bit there,

pushed a little bit there over here again to organize. As he finished his

his beautiful masterpiece crafted from the brokenness dysfunction, of lives, all of the

host of heaven weighed with breathless anticipation because they knew something was coming, something

that had never happened before. And as he lifted that mosaic of brokenness became

with a sound voice, the cry of a child echoing from Beth Lahem,

piercing a hole through what we knew as reality, creating an opportunity for humanity

that still echoes until today. This beautiful artwork, this tapestry that God weaves,

still has some missing pieces, and they're inside you and they're inside me,

and He's drawing them into this masterpiece that will one day in the end

be unveiled and revealed at the great marriage Supper of the Lamb. And the

things he's calling you to do. Listen, I want you to know that

this generation, he's calling us to do bigger things than have ever been done,

because the generation that came before us, they've already done all the easy

stuff. So for you to put your hand to the plow's no small task,

because he's calling you to an elevated place to maximize his glory. Because

the world has become sensitized to this thing, this man, this person we

call Jesus, so he does bigger things, more flamboyant things, to maximize

his glory to humanity that's looking for something. There has never been a point

where people are searching for more answers than they are right now. Everybody I

talked to has a question about something, a doubt about something, They have

a division over something. And what we have before us is an opportunity to

do things that have never been done before, to pioneer new ways of ministry

that have never been thought of, to create new pathways towards wholeness. And

they don't live inside me, and they don't live inside in these just these

people on the they do live in y'all. Two. I'm sorry. I

wouldn't dis qualify y'all from things. They don't just live inside them, they're

inside you. Do you realize the only reason things are still considered impossible is

because you haven't done them yet before the right brothers. Nobody flew before true

Daffy. Nobody ate a chicken sandwich just saying chicken. It's done a lot.

I wonder what your story will be. I wonder what that destiny looks

like that God's pulling out of you right now, at this moment, that

thing that's stirring, that thing that's awakening, that that that fault that possibly

in Matthew, chapter nineteen, verse verse twenty six says, but Jesus looked

at them. He's looking at you right now. But Jesus looked at them

and said to them, With men, this is impossible. But with God,

a lineage of dysfunction leading to a moment where God overshadowed the innocent and

brought the greatest promise humanity had ever seen. With men, this is impossible.

But with God, all things are possible. I don't know what you've

given up on, but you need to renew your vision. I don't know

what you've been running from, but it's time to turn around and catch it.

I don't know what you've been afraid of, but right now God is

smashing your fear with his faith, and something is well up on the inside

of you. This morning that's been differ than any other moment in your life,

and today is your day to get your miracle from your God. That

we can wait, and we can I'm so tired of waiting for other people

to do it. I'm so tired for I'm so tired of waiting for you

to wait on somebody else at some big church somewhere to do it. Carey,

you know why God's trying to I mean, do you know why the

devil's trying to kill your family? Because there's greatness there? You know why

all hell's breaking loose in your life because it's easier for him to abort your

destiny than it is for him to stop your destiny. I don't know.

Maybe I didn't come to preach to everybody today. Maybe I just came to

preach to somebody. I mean, after all, Jesus took twelve and changed

the world, we could probably change oak will with two or three. I

don't know. Maybe maybe we could revolutionize an education system with two or three.

Maybe maybe government could fall on their knees before God with just two or

three. Maybe a manipulative system that is all about draining you of your finances

can be changed with just two or three. Maybe that grandchild that you know

there's something special about that God is calling you to pave the way to show

them that faith is greater than fear. And if you get out on the

water and you begin to sink, that Jesus will catch you and put you

back in the boat. But then that grand baby will never think that it's

impossible to walk on the water. I'm just saying with God, all things

are possible. Everybody, stand to your feet with me all over the building.

If you're not clear on what Jesus has already done for you, let

me give you a quick rundown of that. About two thousand years ago,

this innocent man, Jesus, the Son of God, stood trial where he

was found guilty of nothing, but was cast into the hands of a vengeful,

hateful few, and they beat him beyond human recognition. They crowned him

with thorns, they stripped his body, and they mocked him, and they

made fun of him. As he carried the instrument of his death through those

dusty streets of Jerusalem, and as he made his way up Calvary's incline,

overlooking the old city, he laid himself down and stretched out his life on

an old rugged cross. And as they nailed his hands and feet and dropped

the cross into the hole with a thud, agony filled every nerve of his

body. And in that moment he cried out, and he looked into this

room today, because it's your sin that nailed him there, and he said,

Father, God, forgive them, for they don't know what they do.

And he looked into heaven and he breathed his last breath, and he

says, into your hands, I commit my spirit. And he died.

And when he died, your hope was born a light that was not extinguished,

but exploded and illuminated the world. And today that one that gave everything

for you, who died for you, is waiting for you to come running

into is harms to cover you with forgiveness. I came to the same moment

in my life where I had to choose Jesus or not. And today here's

the reality. You have two options, choosing true or that's it today.

Truer faults, not a discussion test, not filling the blank, not multiple

choice. Truer faults Jesus or no. Your destiny begins when you choose Jesus.

But maybe you're here you already know Jesus. But something's turned on the

inside of you and you know that there's more. You know that God has

something great for you. This is for you. Two. I'm going to

count to three in just a moment, and if you say I'm ready to

chase my destiny. I'm ready for to take my broken pieces and give them

to God and allow him to give something great back to challenge me. I

want to do something that's never been done to reach humanity, because now is

the time. If that's you, when I get to three, unless you

need to run out from where you're standing and make your way to the front,

because this is your moment. Faith becomes faith when you pick your foot

up start this way. It's wishful thinking until that moment here it is.

If you want to ask Jesus to be your lord, you want to you

want to ask you to forgive you of your sins. On the count of

three, You're coming. If you want to step into your destiny, on

the count of three, you're coming. Alter team, come down on the

count of three. Don't stand around and look. Determine in your heart right

now, Am I coming or am I not? Am I gonna stay where

I've always been? Or am I going somewhere new? One? Two?

Three? Step out and come right now. Come on, come on,

when you get here, and lift your hands and begin to worship. Lift

your hands and begin to worship. Come on, come on, come on,

cheeseus CHEESEUS CHEESEUS cheesus. I believe there's about three more people that you

need. You need to take that first step. You need to move.

Listen, don't I don't. I don't care what anybody else thinks about you.

You've worried about what other people think about you for your whole life,

and it's caused you to live in mediocrity and just getting by. Today is

today you break free from that fear and step into everything that God has for

you. Quit worrying about other people and know that God has a plan for

you. Step out and move right now. These altars are open pastro Clay