Hold Your Position

If you can open up your Bibles to 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 16:13

16, verse 13. This is Apostle Paul. Be on your

guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous.

Be strong. Amen. Let's give him praise to the

word of the Lord. You may take your seat. The

world. is changing rapidly. We can see it clearly

anytime we look at the news or our social medias.

It's less patient, less loving, more angry, greedier,

violent. People don't do well with change, especially

if we don't like it or if we don't agree with

it. Amen? It's easy to lose control when we don't

understand everything that's going on. We feed

off emotions and put ourselves in positions in

environments or even in relationships that we

don't belong in. And as people of faith, we are

called to a different set of rules, principles,

commandments to set us apart from the rest of

the world. And the question is, will we stand

firm in the faith or will we waver? I've titled

today's message, Hold Your Position. And in the

military, there's a position called sentry soldiers.

The role of the sentry is a security authority

entrusted with the control and defense of designated

areas, facilities, or equipment. Through unwavering

vigilance and readiness to act, the sentry serves

as the first and most essential line of defense,

upholding security, order, and mission integrity.

A soldier is assigned a post. Amen? They don't

abandon it when it gets boring, lonely, dangerous,

or when they don't fully understand the larger

battle plan. Their responsibility is to remain

To stay alert, obey orders, and trust that their

commanding officer sees the whole picture. Leaving

the post doesn't just affect them. It endangers

others. Amen? On the spiritual side, holding

our position as a child of God means remaining

faithful to who God says we are, even when the

circumstances challenge it. We may not see what

God is doing, why prayers feel unanswered, or

why obedience is costly. But our calling is to

remain in faith, in obedience, and in identity

with Christ. And God, like our perfect commander,

sees the entire battlefield. He sees our entire

life, right? And he has assigned us our place

for a reason. This is going to be my 13 year

at City Light Church. And in regards to members,

I am the only one left from the original group

that helped the pastoral family plant this church.

And I don't say that to boast because it's been

really hard. Amen. From when it started 13 years

ago, the amount of opposition, the amount of

obstacles in my own ministry. have been really

tough. And when I first got here, I set up shop

in the back, right where Brother Micaiah is.

And I got as close to that back of the wall as

I could. If I could be a part of the wall, I

would have. I didn't have a relationship that

great with God. I knew of God. I understood God.

I had done really good things in my prior church.

But I wasn't really in relationship with God.

So I'm like, you know what? This is easy for

me. I'm going to go and do that. And I convinced

myself that if I kept my head down, did the bare

minimum, I could fly beneath the radar and have

no accountability and still feel like I was being

helpful at church. Amen? And the problem with

that, and the problem with... Without for most

of us, is that God has a plan for our life. And

for me, I was actively trying to run away from

it. Amen. Potential just oozed out of me. And

I was trying to just like, nope. Nope. Right?

Oh, I did that too good. I'm going to bring attention

to myself. And I did. And that's the problem.

Because I was running. When you're running, you're

not worried about what other people are thinking.

You're just running. But God, right? But I was

doing all these things. I was doing these things.

I was doing what I wanted. And the problem with

that is that when we're out of God's will, it's

hard for him to keep pushing you forward. If

we're going in a straight line, but if I'm all

the way over there, God's trying to bring me

back. You know what I mean? I was making it difficult

for him. But one day, I snapped out of it. And

I snapped out of it in the weirdest way because

I was praying right here. And an opportunity

literally came knocking. And I still said no.

Amen. I was literally praying, God, give me an

opportunity to change my mentality, the way that

I was doing things. It literally comes. No, not

that one. Right? And I knew I messed up. And

as soon as I knew I messed up, I ran to the parking

lot and told the brother, yes, I'll do it. Because

I snapped out of it. Right? When I stopped running.

I committed myself to the Lord. And that's when

the process really began and I slowly started

to make my way up to this altar. 13 years. Amen.

And I share that with you because I delayed a

lot of the gifts, a lot of the promises that

God had for me because I was... Running around

doing my own thing. I was still at church. I

was still at church. But I was still doing what

I wanted. And commitment, yes, commitment sounds

scary. Right? There's a lot of things that go

with commitment. But if we don't commit in the

appropriate way, we lose it. It gets even more

difficult. Amen. And God revealed some truths

that I did not discover with ease, but through

pain, discomfort, and heartache. Because that's

the way God works. It's not, I wish it was like,

oh, well, everything's nice and butterflies.

My son's into butterflies right now. You know,

but it's not. It doesn't work that way. But you

know what I learned, and here it is in a nutshell.

Your obedience is so much more valuable to God

than anything else you can offer. He won't take

any less. We can't play church. It doesn't work

that way. And Apostle Paul, here in his letter

to the Corinthians, picks up on some unrest at

the Corinthian church. There's a lot of movement.

Things are changing. Different leaders, different

all kinds of stuff going on with the Corinthian

church. People are choosing sides, drawing their

lines. A church is divided. There's so much more

bad things that they were doing too, but I'm

going to focus on here. But the point is that

the Corinthian church was getting to the point

of losing. Their control. And so the first principle

I want to share with you today is that our position

is assigned by authority. A soldier does not

choose their post. It is assigned by command.

And for us, God places his children where he

wants them for his purposes. Amen. by the Lord.

The steps of what? A bad man? A rebellious man?

A man that's doing their own thing? A selfish

man? A woman? It's for the sisters too. Amen.

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord.

What does that mean? We have to be good. Goodness

comes from our obedience. And that's the point

I'm going to push to you all today in the encouragement.

It's the obedience that unlocks all the gifts,

all the potential. We can't serve two masters.

Amen? And God makes no mistakes even if we think

we know better. We have to get rid of that comfort

mentality and hold on to our God -directed commands.

And every one of us has been given a command

here. Amen. Whether it's the current post that

you have or ones that haven't been baptized,

your command is to get baptized. Amen. Stop waiting.

The time is now. Tomorrow isn't promised. Amen.

So we have God -given commands. And why does

this matter? For us to stay in place because

it's going to get difficult because it already

is. And comfort is our first enemy. Sometimes

the difficulty is as simple as not wanting to

grow or get tired of our current roles. If God

has a specific role for you in this season, It's

for a reason. And you have to hold that position

regardless of what's going on. And there's a

lot going on. There's a lot of distraction. Amen?

We can't grow tired and we can't grow weary of

doing good. Because what we do matters to God.

And a soldier doesn't abandon their position

because it becomes dangerous, lonely, or exhausting,

right? And for believers, we're called to remain

faithful even when it hurts. Especially when

it hurts. James 1 .2 says, blessed is the one

who perseveres under trial. Galatians 6 .9, let

us not become weary in doing good. For at the

proper time we will reap the harvest if we don't

give up. Don't give up. Don't give up your position.

Don't give up on your ministry. Amen? So what

does this look like in practice, right? How do

we hold our position spiritually? It looks like

walking with God in continued obedience, prayer,

integrity, and trust when our emotions say, And

that's what Apostle Paul is telling the Corinthian

church. Stand firm in the faith. And he's not

talking to any old city. The Corinthian church

was a powerhouse. A major Greek port city in

the Roman Empire. Wealthy. Commercial. Modern

day maybe Silicon Valley. There was money there.

There was smart people there. But they were starting

to lose their way. Because guess what? I know

better. They weren't going to God anymore. They

were going to themselves for the answers. And

that's where we begin to make those mistakes.

Second principle that I wanted to share is we

have to trust the bigger plan. A soldier rarely

knows the full strategy but trusts the command.

God sees what we cannot and works all things

for our good. In order to have trust in something

that we can't see, we have to be courageous.

Amen? You might feel like your position right

now is not what it should be, not what it could

be. It might seem small or insignificant, but

obedience serves a greater purpose. The truth

is we are our own worst enemy. We forget that

we serve a God that is omnipotent, omnipresent,

omniscient. He knows all things. He knows the

plan. And he's with us and he's for us. Amen.

But what is it that we do? We tend to get into

our own heads. And I'm going to give you my journey

for an example. And I want Brother Ben, if actually

you can help me out here. Come up to the front.

They used to do this a lot. They'd get participants

and, you know, get people going. Brother Ben

is going to represent Jesus. Amen. Come on, Brother

Ben. This is Jesus. I just gave my life to Jesus.

I love you. I'm going to serve you. I'm going

to give my life to you. I'm going to be obedient

to you. How long am I going to serve you? Forever.

That's what we say, right, when we get baptized.

And so we start out well. We start walking with

the Lord. Okay? We're doing okay. Then all of

a sudden, we get a distraction. Stay here. I

have come to this place on my own. I did what

I wanted to do. Where is God? Is he with me?

Is he blessing what I'm doing? And that's what

we tend to do. And that's why it takes forever

for our blessings to come. Because we want God

to bless us where we are and we're not coming

to him. We're not with him. Amen. And even worse,

we sometimes want to take God and fit him into

places. That he doesn't fit. No offense, obviously.

But you know what I mean? We want to take him

to places that he doesn't belong. Right? And

we're not going to be, it doesn't work that way.

And we do that a lot of the time because we're

scared. And I can tell you that much because

I was. We do it out of fear. If I stay with God,

everybody at work is going to make fun of me.

Everybody at school is going to chastise me.

Everybody at school, like whatever your environment

is. I'm not going to be liked. Oh, there's the

Jesus guy. But when I started walking again,

I found my wife. When I kept walking again. I

got my kid. As I kept walking, I had peace. I

didn't get the chaos of everybody else. I had,

no matter what was going on, I stayed. But staying

meant that people pointed fingers, people put

me down, the heartache, the pain, all that comes

with it. The things that we don't want to go

through. And that's why God doesn't reveal the

whole plan to us. Because if we know that, oh,

this is going to happen to you and you're going

to lose this and they're going to take that and

you're going to get beat up there. Of course

we're going to say no. And so our role is to

walk in faith. Amen. And take God with us. Thank

you, brother Ben. The word of God says in Joshua

1, have I not commanded you, be strong. And courageous.

Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged for the

Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.

Everywhere doesn't mean everywhere either. Okay?

If you're outside full on the will of God and

he's telling you no, he's not going to bless

you there. Amen? And a lot of the trouble, you

know, we get. Is that because we go to church

on Sunday, because we do certain things for God,

that we're in his will. We're in his will when

we obey him. We're in his will when we're doing

what he wants. And I'm in such a unique phase.

And the parents will understand this. Because

when you have a kid. It's God teaches you lessons

that you never thought, you know, were possible.

And you start understanding love and grace and

correction in a whole different way. Amen? I

get to spend a lot of time with Matthew. And,

you know, when we're in places, and it's me and

him, if he wants to do something. you know, he's

going about doing it, right? When he needs help,

what does he do? When I don't want him to do

something, hey, no. You know what he does when

he still wants to do it after I tell him no?

This is how we are as children of God. God's

right here telling us no, and we're like, And

here's the problem, church. When you're around

me, when Matthew's around me, something happens,

I can easily help him. But when he's disobedient

and is over here and I'm over there, it takes

me a lot longer to get to him. I will get to

him because he's my child, but it's going to

take longer. Does that make sense? When we're

in trouble and you're like, where's God, where's

God, where's God? It's because you're far away

from him, not the other way around. We have to

have that tight relationship with God in order

for him to respond to your needs when you need

it. Amen. Otherwise, you go and get hurt. And

my kid gets hurt. It's a hard phase. This toddler

phase is a hard phase. So God bless you parents.

It's a hard phase because these guys are going

to get hurt. He's going to get hurt. And here's

the kicker, right? He goes. He gets hurt. He's

obviously in pain. So when I see him as his father,

it hurts me. It hurts me. You're in pain. God

has to see us as toddlers. It has to be the way

that he sees us as children of God. Because I

look at him and my heart just hurts. And I seem

like you're doing this to yourself. I'm not doing

it. You're doing it to yourself. Stop. But we

don't. And we keep going and going and going.

And we want God. to be in the middle of it. He

can't do that. He won't. And here's the kicker.

Even though he's beat up, if he still does something

wrong, I'm still going to go correct him. Because

just because you're beat up doesn't mean that

gives you a free, you know, ability to do whatever

you want. And that's what the Word of God says,

right? Those he loves, he corrects. And so the

encouragement I'm trying to bring to you all

is that the relationship, the position that you

have as a child of God, as a toddler of God,

is such a beautiful gift. But it does come at

a price. Amen. It does come at a price. The word

of God, Proverbs 3, verse 5 and 6. Trust in the

Proverbs 3:5

Lord with all your heart and lean not on your

own understanding. In all your ways submit to

him and he will make your path straight. In all

your ways submit to him. What does that look

like to submit to God? Will you submit to the

authorities that he's placed in your life? Amen?

That's the hard part. Oof. Right? Oh, I'll do

it for God. Well, that's God's chosen. Amen.

Where I don't want us to get, like the Corinthian

church, where they start picking sides. They

start picking the things that they want. I wore

this pin today because this pin means something.

A lot of us are starting to see it as, oh, well,

you're trying to oppress me. Well, you're trying

to, you know, tell me how to live my life. No.

The apostolic assembly is trying to help you

to get to heaven. That's all it's trying to do.

Are we perfect? No. Only God is. But there are

19 doctrinal principles. That's your start. You

want to know what commitment is? Start following

those principles. It's too hard for you? Well,

then you're going to delay what God has for you

because it's simple. The things you do for the

one that you love is give your life. I never

knew that I could love something that's one and

a half years old. I would give my life for my

son. And that's what God did for us. We don't

deserve to be here. We deserve death. It's easy

to criticize what everybody's doing. What the

world's doing. What Ukraine, Russia, everybody's

doing. It's easy to get into the mix of that.

There's no point. We belong to God. And that's

who we need to choose every single day, every

single time. Every time it gets hard, that's

who we go to. We go to Jesus. Amen. We don't

choose. We don't bicker. We don't do any of that.

We're not that people. What happened in Minneapolis?

Amen. What's going on there now? But they also

came into the church. What are you going to do

if that happens? Are you going to be quick to

anger? We're not passive people. We're going

to defend ourselves, of course. But we have to

defend ourselves the right way. Amen. And it

starts with the word of God. Amen. Our third

principle is to stay alert and watchful. A guard

who sleeps at their post endangers the mission.

God calls us to spiritual alertness. And as children

of God, we belong to a different kingdom. We

have to ask ourselves, am I living according

to my identity as a child of God? Or am I blending

into the world? Am I one way on Sunday and a

different person on Monday? Am I playing a role

on Sunday and playing a different role on Monday?

That's the hard part. We have to recognize that

the things that God wants for us, the structure,

the commitments, are not to harm us. They're

not. It's because we are in a difficult, difficult

world. And it's changing rapidly. And our emotions

are going like this. But there's a spiritual

warfare that's also happening. And Christians

who are rooted are under attack. The word of

God says that the world will hate us. And they

don't hate David the person, Micaiah the person,

Chloe the person. They don't hate you as a person.

They hate who you represent. And so what does

that do? It quiets us. I'm not going to say my

prayer because they might say something. We're

living in that world right now. And so in 1 Peter

5a, he says, be alert and of sober mind. Your

enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring

lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him.

Stand firm in the faith. What is standing firm?

Is this standing firm? Somebody come push me

and I'll fall. We're not, again, we're not passive

Christians. Standing firm is, okay, let's go.

You're only going to get to battle position if

you've been through some things. And if you're

obeying the command. The most elite soldiers,

top ones. They're good at what they do because

they obey the command. Amen. Matthew 26, 41.

Watch and pray so that you do not fall into temptation.

Jesus is talking to his disciples here. They

fell asleep. He told them to stay alert. And

they fell asleep when he comes back. That's what

happens to a lot of us. Somebody else will do

it. Somebody else will pick up the slack. Somebody

else will pray. Somebody else will fast. Somebody

else will give. Somebody else will teach. Amen.

We have to stay alert and always ready. Because

this, what I'm doing now, reality is for everybody.

We all have our different calling, different

way of doing it. Do I have that same fervor that

Pastor Jacob has? No. But I know that God is

with me. Amen. And the point is that I'm being

obedient whether I think I belong here or not.

Because I was commanded. Amen. And that's where

everything transforms. I'm going into a very

hectic year this year. There's a lot of change

for the Santos family. I am going to have to

look for work. I haven't done that in actually

13 years. And whatever it is that God has for

me and my family, it's all in faith. Because

I don't know. I could easily spend every single

moment right now looking for a job. It will consume

me. But then I wouldn't have time for this. And

that's how we have to start being in relationship

with God, right? And holding our position is

not about what we know. It's about what God knows.

Holding our position is not about our timing.

It's about God's timing. Holding our position

is not about what we can do. It's about what

God can do. And battle -tested soldiers hold

a higher value. Why? Because they have been through

the tests. They have endured difficult trials

and proven their effectiveness under pressure.

You might see me here today and like, who's this

guy? What is he doing? But the last 13 years,

Have battle tested me to levels that I've never

been before. And that's why I'm here. And that's

why I'll continue to be here. And that's why

I'll continue to serve the Lord. Because he's

the one that sustains me. He's the one that's

giving me everything that I have. And will continue

to bless as we continue to stay in his will.

Amen. We don't get the medals. We don't get the

accolades. We don't get the honors. Before the

mission. We're not given that based on potential.

He looks like he deserves a medal of honor right

there. No, we don't do it. We do it after he's

done something worthy of giving the medal of

honor to. Amen. There's no participation trophies.

We're closer than ever to God's coming. We read

in Matthew 24, verse 6 through 13. You will hear

Matthew 24:6–13

of wars and rumors of wars. Those aren't rumors

anymore. But see to it that you are not alarmed.

Such things must happen. Nation will rise against

nation and kingdom. against kingdom. There will

be famines and earthquakes in various places.

All these are the beginning of birth pains. Then

you will be handed over to be persecuted and

put to death and you will be hated by all nations

because of me. At that time, many will turn away

from the faith and will betray and hate each

other. He's talking about us. He's not talking

about strangers. He's talking about us. What

position are you in? Are you in that wavering

position that somebody's going to come say something,

I'm going this way. Somebody says something else,

I'm going that way. Or are you going to stand

firm? This is what I believe, right? And that's

the hard part. Because what I'm telling you is

not easy. It's not easy to stand firm. It's not

easy to hold your position. But it's what we're

commanded to do. And once you realize that that's

all that it takes, you're going to unlock so

much for your family, for the generations that

are coming. I'm doing this today because I want

Matthew to do it better than I can. Amen. Our

kids are watching. The next generation is watching.

If you've ever felt sitting in those pews, oh,

I can do that. Except maybe singing, unless you

have talent, you know what I mean? Because they

always say that. Do it. Step in faith. We need

you. God needs you. City Light needs you. Amen.

A soldier holds the line because they trust the

command. A child of God holds their faith because

they trust the father. Amen. Sister Monique.

The world is tough right now. But I will hold

my position. My livelihood is at stake right

now. But I will hold my position. I feel like

I'm lost. I will hold my position. I don't feel

the support that I need. I will hold my position.

God is calling us to sustain ourselves. And not

other things of this world. But of his word.

I had this beautiful revelation. God's word says

that before I formed you, I knew you. Amen. And

then in Matthew 7, drastically changes. Then

I will tell them plainly, I never knew you. Away

from me, evildoers. It's a big change. A very

big change. I knew you before I formed you. To

get away from me, I never knew you. What happened?

God had a plan for you. God has a plan for you.

And you're either going to stay in his plan and

walk in his will and follow his commands, or

you're going to do your own thing. Your own thing

is the wide gate. It's what feels good. I'll

do it when I get to it. Not when God is tugging

at you. Amen. I predestined you to save souls.

I predestined you to be a musician. I predestined

you to be a teacher, a preacher. But you said

no. You would rather criticize what everybody

else is doing. Than to submit to my commandments.

And you want me to bless that? That's not how

it works. And I'm telling you this because it

took me years and pain. That when we submit ourselves

to God, it doesn't necessarily get easier. But

the peace that I have compared to others. is

unmatched by God's grace. Amen. And God is still

working in me. I haven't reached where I need

to be. You're seeing day two. Amen. It's my second

time preaching. You're seeing day two. Some of

you will see day 1005. Amen. And you'll see a

different person. But right now, this is what

God wants. This is what God has for you. To talk

to you in a very nurturing way. Because he loves

you. Even when you're throwing a tantrum. He

loves you. He loves you even more when you're

disobedient, believe it or not. Because all he

wants to do is hug you and be like, hey, it's

going to be fine. It's going to be okay. But

there are rules. Because as for me and my house,

we will serve the Lord. Amen. We'll have you

stand up on your feet. Church. We don't get a

lot of chances for altar call. Amen. We get 52

if we're lucky in a year. This is your time to

come to your father. Tell him. Come nag to him.

Be messy in his will. Don't be far from him.

And then expect a different type of outcome.

Amen. We're in this together. Our goal is to

hear, well done, good and faithful servant. That's

our goal. I want every single person here to

make it to heaven. Amen. And we all have to want

that. I'm going to invite Bishop here in a second

to release a word of faith for us in holding

our position. But I wanted to share with you

one last truth because a lot of the times we're

like, well, how do we do this? And I'm a big

practical person. How do we start detecting what's

good for us, what's bad for us, who's lying,

who's not, what's right, what's wrong? The more

truth you have inside of you, the easier it's

going to be. You're going to see something and

you're going to be like, oh, that doesn't align

with the word of God. I'm not going to pay attention

to it. Amen. We have to continue to commit to

God and hold our position.