Able To Serve

With that, I know Jay is full of the word tonight and he is ready to come unload, and so welcome Jay as he comes.

Well, if you'll please stand to your feet with me.

Y'all needed to stretch a little bit, didn't we?

Let's all go like this Live stream.

If you want to stand up to, you're welcome to, and then stretch out your hands to me.

We'll pray a little bit.

Father, we just thank you for this service.

Lord, what a good time it is in your presence.

What an honor it is to live in the last days and be part of a last days church.

Lord, to be under a pastor during these last days that feeds us and guides us so well.

Lord, we don't take this for granted and, father, we just thank you that there's an unction of the Holy Ghost here.

I yield my mouthpiece to you, lord.

We believe in supernatural hearing.

Lord, I thank you that everybody who walked in this place will hear what they need to hear in order to make the changes that they need to make to be right and lockstep with you.

In Jesus' name, amen.

You may be seated Well if you'll turn with me to 2 Timothy, chapter one, and we're going to discuss a very familiar scripture and we'll be starting in verse three.

I'm going to read it out of the amplified classic first, but my title tonight is able to serve, able to serve.

We are able, right, and we're serving one another.

It's all about people, but whose ability is it that we're using when we serve one another?

It's God's ability, right.

And I just thought I'd preach to the choir a little bit, since we had such an amazing turnout to package all these meals, and we did, we did, we did not do, I wasn't out there.

Y'all did such an amazing job packaging meals and and how easy it is to to preach to you guys.

But also, just like I was praying a second ago, I got to thinking about this afternoon.

I went home to finish preparing, I thought I had a message prepared last night and the Holy Spirit, just so I started like I started thinking about where would we be without the Holy Ghost and how?

You know, most denominational churches today are closed and most of them aren't even live streaming, so they're just closed.

And not only are we not closed, but we have the Holy Ghost and I'm just.

I got to stern myself up in our ability that God's given us, because he's given us his ability to serve people.

And it really is all about people.

And you know, when we go to heaven, I know that you calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.

I get that, but but you know they say you can't leave.

You know you have to leave everything behind.

You don't take anything with you.

But we do take souls with us.

We take people with us.

You know, if Jesus were to come right now, I would go and you would go, but everybody you got saved, they would all go as well.

So we take, you know, the fruit.

Hopefully you're bearing fruit, right, we're called to bear fruit and so our fruit that remains, it'll go up with us, Amen, and we'll all enjoy heaven together.

So let's read in 2nd Timothy 1.

We have a spiritual father and a spiritual son relationship happening and Paul is pouring into his spiritual son, timothy.

And if we pick it up in verse three, you can see the intimacy that they share.

And Paul says I thank God, whom I worship with a pure conscience, in the spirit of my fathers, when, without ceasing, I remember you night and day in my prayer.

So he's praying for his spiritual son and you can see, like I said, the intimacy that they share.

Here Paul is in prison and here Timothy is endured.

He's out of prison, but he's enduring a great amount of persecution, so much so that people are actually dying.

They're there, people are forbidding them to gather together, and when they gather together, when they find out who the Christians are, they're killing them.

And so you know, thank God, in America we don't have that happening.

People are trying to.

You know, the government is trying to restrict large gatherings, but, praise God, we're meeting here and we don't have to deal with this level of persecution that Timothy was dealing with in this book.

And so let's pick it up in verse four, and when, as I recall your tears, I yearn to see you, that I may be filled with joy.

So Paul is really missing him.

And it says in verse five I'm calling up memories of your sincere faith, the leaning of your entire human personality on God in Christ, in absolute trust and confidence in his power, in his wisdom and in his goodness.

A faith that first lived permanently in the heart of your grandmother, lois, and your mother, eunice, and now, I am fully persuaded, dwells in you also.

And so Timothy had a lineage of faith, a faithful people, and I'm telling you, if you just walked in the door and your parents and your grandparents weren't saved, you just entered a lineage of faith around here in this building, amen.

And so again, I was just thinking of today, just going back and remembering what it was like some of the stories that John Osteen used to tell about the bread lines and in different hard times dad was referring to it this morning gas lines back in the 70s.

And so our older generation, they've seen some things that my kids have not seen lack.

They've never experienced lack, even in the middle of a hurricane.

We've always been prepared and they've never experienced lack.

I mean, we were down to four rolls of toilet paper but, praise God, even us, we got toilet paper.

I was, you know, looked around us thinking, man, that's, we're getting down there, but praise God, I stopped at the cash saver in Muskogee, oklahoma, and I got some toilet paper.

They had plenty.

So, anyways.

So I'm set, you know, but no, I'm not panicking, never was panicking.

But just, you know, we have a heritage of faith.

But I just wanted to encourage our older generation.

You know you carry a lot of wisdom and you can calm your grandkids down that have never seen a situation like that, like what this country is facing, and just so relaxed.

Have you noticed the president is not alarmed?

Have you noticed his demeanor during these press conferences.

I just wanted to encourage you, stop looking at all the fake news and just watch the president's actual press conferences live, and if you can't watch it live, go back and just watch it recorded.

But whatever you do, watch his own mouth speaking and the way he speaks.

So yesterday I was watching the press conference and a reporter was trying to scold him about.

You know, when the press conference was over the day before that, he turned around and hugged a guy and shook his hand and she was trying to scold him and isn't that bad leadership?

And he just ran right over her like, and it was awesome, just calm down, relax.

And he started talking really slow, like she was a first grader and he just explained how.

That's a lifelong habit.

We're not gonna get over it all at the same time, but you know, and he went ahead and explained how to really act.

But just, there's no fake news coming out of the White House and we're hearing exactly what's happening.

It was an amazing press conference.

Today the vice president I'm telling you the Fed has never adjusted a rate on a Sunday ever in American history and they adjusted the rate on a Sunday and that was a surprise to him, but anyways.

So I'm telling you, we've prayed as a family.

We've prayed, I've prayed, and I'm just not alarmed.

I don't have an alarm in my spirit.

Pastor doesn't have an alarm in his spirit that we're all gonna die, that this is the end, that God brought us this far and now it's just, it's all over.

We're all gonna get a virus and be dead next week.

No, that's not what's happening.

Can I get some hands?

Have the same Holy Spirit revealed that to you.

Amen, we're full of faith and we're full of courage, and so we're not alarmed, and so I encourage you during this time.

I was talking to somebody yesterday I don't believe he was saved.

He was got all excited about the $40 round trip airfare and he's taking his whole family to Colorado for a ski trip, and so that's still happening.

But I don't recommend that.

But instead turn off the TV.

You could, I guess, but Claire said she'll go Sign her up.

But I encourage you to turn off the TV.

This is some good family time there's nothing on TV anyways, all the sports has been canceled and begin to pray, and maybe, if you don't have family, we're your family.

Reach out to us, go, hang out together with your church family and talk and pray.

And this is a good time for consecration, it's a good time for repentance, it's a good time to turn back to the Lord and to allow some of the weights and distractions to fall off of all of us.

Right, and I just encourage you, as a family, to read your Bible together, amen.

And so, with that in mind, we'll just keep on reading in verse six.

Back to the amplified in verse.

So again, 2 Timothy, 1, 6.

That is why I would remind you Paul's talking to Timothy remind you to stir up, to rekindle the embers of, to fan the flame of and keep burning the gracious gift of God, or the inner fire, amen that is in you, by the means of laying on of hands with those of the elders at your ordination.

Again, timothy was ordained, he had hands laid upon him, he carries the anointing.

He's called to do what he's called to do, but Paul's reminding him hey, let's stir that gift up, all of us, right now.

This is a good time to stir up the gift of God that's been implanted on the inside of us, amen.

And so in verse seven, which is really the crux of this message.

We've heard it over and over and over a million times.

But let's really dig in and find out what it means.

It says, for God did not give us a spirit of fear.

Notice, it says us, who is us, us is the body of Christ.

Amen.

We're the church.

I mean, really Paul could have been talking about Paul and Timothy, but obviously he's talking to the church, amen.

So God didn't give us a spirit of timidity, a spirit of cowardness or of craven or of cringing or fawning fear, but instead he has given us a spirit of power and of love and of a calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self control, amen.

So I just wanted to make the statement and we're going to finish a few more verses later, but I just wanted to make this statement that here are three ways that's going to turn this situation around.

It's going to turn the situation around for this entire country, but it starts at home.

It starts in your family, it starts when you go to work with your coworkers.

You know pastor's influence.

He has a really large influence right and we have live stream and that goes out all over the world.

And our influence, because of the favor that's on this church, is growing every day.

But it does reach its limit and where that limit is, you pick up exactly where he leaves off when you go to work tomorrow morning and you're taking that same influence because you are the church and you're picking right back off of what pastor has taught us.

You've, you're plugged in, you're growing and you take that with you and you're into your sphere of influence.

And now that influence grows, right, it multiplies.

We believe in multiplication around here.

So these three things are what's going to turn this situation around.

That's power, love and a sound mind, and that's great.

Hey, we quoted all the time, we read it in all these posts on social media right now and everybody's talking about this scripture Probably I would say probably the number one scripture that people bring up in this situation against fear and against timidity.

But again, let's look at it in context and let's dig out what it actually means in the Greek Amen.

And so I really do believe, like Claire was saying, that this is our finest hour, that God is using the body of Christ, but, even more specifically, this church, for this time, for such a time as this Amen, and I'm excited about it.

It's fun, it's not drudgery, it's not fearful.

We don't have to be timid and operate in timidity.

No, we have power, we have love and we have a sound mind.

So let's dig into that, because this is our greatest year yet, amen.

And so let's look at that.

So God did not give us the spirit of fear or timidity.

You know those around us.

Maybe they're giving in to panic, they're giving in to fear, they're panic buying Part of the news conference today.

Trump had the CEO of every major grocery store chain on the phone at one time.

They're all beginning to restock, they're really adjusting their hours, not because they're afraid of the virus, but because it takes that long to restock all their shelves and they he encouraged the American people that there are no shortages.

It's just going to take a little time to restock, so we don't have to.

He just encouraged us to buy enough things for about a week or two and so.

But us, being Houstonians and being Texans, we're always prepared, right.

We teach that around here to be prepared to have extra water to.

You know, nothing's wrong with our water supply, nothing's going to happen to our water supply, but just, we live in a hurricane prone area, but we are safe in Jesus name.

But you know what I mean.

We're prepared, right.

And so when the supernatural and the natural come together, god does amazing things.

Amen.

So, but what do we?

We have power, love and a sound mind.

So let's dig out what is power?

Power is the Greek word dunamis, and that means strength and that means ability, god's ability, right.

But let me read it.

You know, it means inherent power, Power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature, or which a person or a thing exerts and puts forth.

In other words, we have, we exert authority, right, and so we're not weak.

We have his power, god's power, but, most importantly, we have power for the supernatural.

It says power specifically for performing miracles.

That's the kind of power that you have, that I have, that this church has, that we all operate in the power for performing miracles.

We don't leave the supernatural at home when we go to work, or when we go to the grocery store, or we come in contact with others, or we're on the phone with our relatives that maybe are giving in to fear and panic.

We don't leave our supernatural you know our superman behind, but we all walk in this same power, amen.

So we have power to perform miracles, and that's also moral power or excellence, excellence of soul.

So there's a righteousness side of this, there's a consecration side of this.

That's in this same power, right?

And so make sure that you're taking that power along everywhere you go.

Right, we carry God's power, power, the power and influence which brings riches and wealth.

So we have power of wealth with us.

So we, in other words, we have a supply.

So when we go to help somebody, we're not empty.

We don't have empty pockets, like Claire was referring to.

We have extra water, we have extra toilet paper I actually do.

Anyways, we have a supply.

You have money.

We're blessed to be a blessing.

That's the same power, isn't that amazing?

All in this one word.

But when you pull it out of the Greek, it means all these things Isn't that wonderful?

And power and resources arising from numbers.

And it's the same power consisting in or resting upon armies or forces and hosts.

So we have the whole army of heaven backing us up in this one word, right.

And so, wherever we go, we take the armies of heaven, they're backing us up.

They're backing us up in our speech and in our actions, amen.

And so we have power.

What's number two?

We have love.

It's the agape love.

It's not just filet au love.

We don't just start buying everybody chocolate covered strawberries and roses and saying how beautiful their eyes are, right, what's that going to do?

Is that going to change the world?

No, but it's the agape love that's on the inside of us, that has been shed abroad in our hearts.

It's that love.

And so when we speak with the love of God, that attracts others, that brings people, it breaks down barriers, it destroys walls, and then you're able to communicate on a level that they're not really familiar with, but they just, they want more, they want to listen more, and you can really pull in people when you're operating in God's kind of love.

Amen.

So it means benevolence, it means brotherly love.

Again, benevolence means there's a money side of it, right, you're helping somebody.

So love is many aspects of agape love when we operate and power, love in a sound mind.

And so, and then, lastly, let's see a sound mind.

Let's see if that is right in front of me.

A sound mind, a combination of safe and the mind.

So, in other words, safe thinking.

The word denotes good judgment, a disciplined thought patterns and the ability to understand and make right decisions.

It includes the qualities of self-control and self-discipline.

But I'm going to go a step further.

So that's what it means in the Greek.

But you know, when we have a sound mind, we're operating in sound doctrine as well, so you're able to share the revelation that you've learned here.

It's not just information, it's revelation.

You know, pastor preaches he's an equal opportunity preacher, right?

So the same message is being preached right here to Armando on the first row than it is to Brother Gary on the back row and to you.

Listen in the live stream.

It's all equal.

He's an equal opportunity preacher, but all of us.

It's up to us to plant this word and look after it, water it and make sure that it engraves on the inside of us and grows.

Amen.

We have to apply the word.

Faith without works is dead.

So we, there's action involved in applying the word that we've been taught here, and so it's.

It's in that sound doctrine that we operate in.

So it's not just in order to have a sound mind, you have to have a renewed mind.

Okay, holy Spirit, we'll just.

We won't take it for granted that it's simple.

Let's just, or too simple.

Rather, let's just run over to Romans, chapter 12.

Romans 12 · chapter mention

I'll read it out of the new living translation, and you know it starts in Romans 12 1,.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

So it starts by consecrating our bodies, first, right so, and then verse 2 talks about our mind.

And do not be conformed to this world.

We're not conformed to the world.

We're not conformed to this fear that the world is in.

We're not conformed to this panic of a pandemic that's happening around us.

No, but we're transformed by the renewing of our mind that we may prove.

So with the renewed mind, we can prove what is good and acceptable in the perfect will of God.

So that's what we carry when we don't have fear, power, love and a sound mind.

That sound mind is able to prove the perfect will of God, amen, what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

But we can operate in the perfect will of God with a renewed mind.

So that's that's what that means having a sound mind.

It's a renewed mind and it in we're able to prove out the perfect will of God, amen.

And so all that is contained in that one scripture.

So why would we fear?

Why would we give in to panic?

No, we're not.

We know exactly who we are in Christ.

We know exactly what we've been given and, like I said earlier, god didn't give, bring us this far and give us this much revelation for us to all die next week.

But you know, the all fear is really based in a fear of death, in a fear of dying.

All phobias have that as the as the starting point, and so I've been.

I'll be really vague on purpose, but I've been dealing with the kind of a minor physical thing in my body that I'm healed of and Jesus name.

But part of one of the side effects of that is it brings panic, it brings fear, it brings I'll wake up in the middle of the night and and and in a panic state and it's really easy to just give into that.

And I have to pray and the first thing I always do is just move my mouth and I pray in tongues and boom, that gets.

That pulls me out of that.

But anyways, I don't want you to be concerned, I am healed.

But just so, all of us face things though in our life where we're you know.

Pastor talked about a situation that he had that was health related.

That would be really easy to give into panic would to be really easy to give into fear.

But no, we know exactly who we are in Christ, we know exactly what we have and we know exactly what the blood of Jesus has provided for us and we have faith in that blood, amen.

But let's go ahead and finish this out.

Let's go, let's read through verse 10, but let's start back in verse 8,.

You know, again Paul is still talking to Timothy and he says Do not blush or be ashamed, then, to testify to and for our Lord, nor of me, a prisoner for this, for his sake, but with me, take your share of the suffering to which the preaching of the gospel may expose you, and do it in the power of God.

So again, he's encouraging him to take the gospel.

The power of the gospel and within the gospel is all of the power of God.

Amen, hey, don't be ashamed of it, speak it, preach it with boldness.

And hey, I'm a prisoner.

Go ahead and tell my testimony too.

You don't have to be ashamed that I'm your spiritual dad and I'm sitting here in prison and you don't have to let that embarrass you.

No, we're all under the same suffering for Christ.

We're all under the same consequence for preaching the gospel.

Only, like I said, timothy is free.

And verse 9,.

For it is he, god, who delivered and saved us and called us with a calling in itself, as holy and leading to holiness, to a life of consecration, a vocation of holiness.

He did this not because of anything of merit that we have done, but because of and to further God's own purpose and grace, which was given to us in Christ before the world began.

So, again, he's delivered us, he's saved us, he's called us, he's consecrated us, but it's up, you know.

In other words, he's separated us, he's called us, he's separated us, and so we are called amen to preach the gospel with boldness.

And so everyone around you needs the truth of the gospel, and this is our greatest hour to shine, amen.

One more verse, verse 10,.

It is that purpose and grace which he now has made known and has fully disclosed and made real to us through the appearing of our Savior, christ Jesus, who annulled death and made it of no effect and brought life and immortality, immunity from eternal death, to light through the gospel Again, so we don't have to be afraid to die.

He took that fear.

That's what Jesus did, amen.

He brought us into immortality, he brought us into eternal life.

So there's no reason to fear, there's no reason to give in to panic, and so, therefore, we have all the reason, we've been given all the power, we've been given all the resources to live in power, love and a sound mind.

Amen, what was that?

All right tonight.

Amen, short and simple, now we're going to enjoy some fellowship, some barbecue.

Sorry, livestream, you're missing some good barbecue.

If you could ever eat some of Stephen Hatcher's barbecue, though, I'm telling you he could win an award.

Hallelujah, pastor.

Praise God wasn't that good tonight.

Come on, let's praise the Lord, hallelujah power, love and a sound mind full of discipline and self-control.

Let's all stand together, praise God.

Glad you guys could tune in on livestream.

Let's pray and be dismissed.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for what we've heard tonight.

Thank you, father, that we've gone against the flow and come together and brought ourselves together to worship you in peace and in faith.

And we thank you, Father, that we're leading in this region to counteract all the panic and fear that's out there.

And thank you, father, through that power, love and a sound mind, that we can influence others for good.

And, father, we thank you for the food that we're about to eat.

We ask you to bless it and bless our fellowship together.

In Jesus' name, everybody shout it amen.