Retelling The Story 3 | Moments and Milestones

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Welcome to church this morning.

Welcome, 915.

Right on.

You guys are up and at it this morning.

That was great worship, wasn't it?

Wasn't that great?

I feel like uh what Malachi said, shared this morning, and uh the way the worship was virtually just rolling out a story, the story of salvation.

Who's our living hope?

Amen?

Who's our living hope?

How many of you were broken at one point in time?

You were you were down and out, and you looked up, and there was our Savior, Jesus, there to pull us up, there to put our feet on a rock, there to establish us.

And uh, I'm grateful, I'm thankful each day for what Jesus has done for me.

And how many of you are grateful as well?

You've got that appreciation in your heart.

Amen.

Uh, this morning we like to continue with our series on retelling the story.

And uh I know that we want to start this September strong, uh, this new year.

We know that there are people coming from out of town.

They're looking for a place to put roots down, looking for a place to connect.

And if they're watching online today and or you've come to the church for your first time, we welcome you this morning.

Uh, we believe that God brings people together on purpose and that God has relationships and he has connections for you to benefit you, to bless you.

And there's someone in this place today who's there to actually be an encouragement and a support for you.

Uh, we believe everyone has a story.

Everyone has a story, and one of my favorite, the favorite parts I have in uh my role here as pastor is to be able to hear the stories that many of you have.

I can sit around and just listen to your stories.

I just love hearing where God has brought you from one point to another point.

And I know that not every story is equal.

Some stories have highs and some have lows, and some points in our life aren't are difficult to actually go through, but for those who have gone through it, there are parts in our stories where we can celebrate that God took a broken marriage and restored it.

God took someone who was looking at loss and brought him brought you into a place of blessing.

This is a place where we can actually retell it and revisit it and again give God glory for what he's done in the midst of it.

That God brings us through, that God brings us not only into some environments that are challenging, but through those in challenging environments, we come through it stronger.

We come through it stronger.

And so uh I believe that at this time we just by telling these stories not only about our past or our future, but looking at the moment that we're living in right now, it brings us to a place where we can recalibrate where God has brought us today.

And so uh I'm just gonna open up in prayer and then start with the message.

Father, we thank you this morning for your word.

We thank you for your message.

We ask that you would open up our hearts to receive from you and our ears to be able to hear what you're saying to us today.

Lord, we say we are blessed because of you.

We are grateful that our life is hidden in you today, hidden from the enemy.

We are now stronger because of you today, and we give you thanks.

Amen.

Amen.

Uh, just to start this morning, how many of you have ever gone, uh, men in this room have ever gone shopping with your wife before?

You like you've actually gone shopping, some of these half-hearted, yeah, yeah, I know.

Yeah, I never saw a guy out there.

Yes, I did.

It was awesome.

It was the best experience.

Well, I have opportunities to go with my wife, and it's awesome.

It's the best.

And she has all these things on her phone that are like little snapshots that she's taking on her phone that thinks that they look good in the room.

How many of you have gone to a decor space?

It's like off of Pinterest.

How many guys go on Pinterest?

That's what I figured.

How many women go on Pinterest?

There you go.

It's like bookmark, bookmark, bookmark, bookmark, follow my wall, right?

But I know that I've gone into a few of those places and uh and I've just tagged along and I and a few of those decor places, there's a whole section of the space of the store that has these like wall mounts that are like live, love, laugh.

Relax, soak, unwind.

It's like everything's in threes, right?

Everything is gonna have to be said in threes.

Together is our favorite place to be.

It's like you just it's so inspirational, and you'll just walk through there.

I'll have that one and that one and that one.

The house is this big montage of like ways of feeling and uh excitement in terms of going into your home.

But I actually heard one.

The Lord kind of made it stand out.

It said this life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

I was like, ooh, that's a good one.

And we all live in a no in a moment, and these moments that we all live in are not created equal.

You probably can't tell what you're doing two or three weekends ago.

If I was to say, hey, what were you doing like three weekends ago?

Some of you would be like, Oh, we were in church or we were doing this or that, but you couldn't tell me exactly like what you had for breakfast that morning.

Uh, some of you, um, like I was looking through my one of my old phones and I was going through some old data, some old pictures, and I said, Where was this?

And I realized I was the one taking the video.

Like I was there in that video, and I had forgotten about that moment.

It had not been for the video, proving I was there, I would have said, No, I wasn't there.

These moments in our life, some of them are like make a difference, some of them are are like unseen, like we they're forgettable.

But I'm sure you may know, like, you can remember back to the day perhaps when you graduated, or the day perhaps that you proposed or you got proposed to, or the, I hope you remember that day, and or the day you got married, or the day you had a child, or the day uh 9-11 when the Twin Towers came down.

You remember certain moments in your life that stand out above the rest.

Great stories are built on these moments and these milestones.

And so living in the moment is often a place where we should live, but these moments that we live in are often difficult to live in.

And in our culture today, it we're not good at living in the moment.

In fact, we're really good at looking back at our past and living in the past, or we look forward into our future and we're living in our future, but when it comes to living in the moment of where we're at, we we actually decide, oh, we're just gonna take an Instagram, you know, like an Instagram.

We're gonna take a picture and capture this moment in the moment, and in that moment, you're capturing it just so that you can remember the moment.

It's become a huge, huge part of our lifestyle and our and our life, but planning for the future, living in the past, that's where we're living in.

And our lives are so distracted in the moment from dings and bings and phones that are going off and notifications and vibrations everywhere.

Like, our lives are distracted.

So living in the moment is an important part of our lifestyle.

I've often thought, what would Jesus' Instagram would have looked like if he had Instagram today?

Like, what would it have looked like?

What would have been on his his Instagram?

What moments would have been captured that I could actually appreciate in his experience, but I realize that God uses moments and milestones in your life as markers for you to reflect upon.

A moment is an emotional peak, an intellectual peak, a spiritual peak, a moment in your life where you and it's like that, Michelangelo.

There was the touching, you know, like heaven and earth connected.

Oh, connected, and there was a spark.

I had those moments.

I've had those moments where I know God was speaking to me.

I know when my life shifted.

And it was because of people in my life, their spiritual peaks, their eureka moments.

It's like, ah, an aha moment, as Oprah would say.

I realized something.

I had insight somehow.

You you may be singing a song.

Some of these songs that we sing today may not have that same connection with you as they have with me, but when I sing about being adopted, that I was I was lost, but now I've been adopted into the family.

That's a moment for me that takes me back to a time when I realized I was a son of God.

I was invited into the family of God.

That my life was no longer my own anymore.

I was brody in Christ, that Christ welcomed me in.

That moment in my life is a huge moment.

I'm sure you have those moments too, but these moments we look back at, and they're moments that cause us to stick, to pull together, to stick to what God had said to us, or God was speaking to us.

And moments, this morning I just want to talk to you a bit about these moments because I'm sure that if you've got, you've had them in your life, it's important to go back to them and revisit them and relive those moments and recelebrate those moments and realize why God gave you that moment.

Those moments often happen suddenly.

What do you say suddenly with me today?

Suddenly.

It's like, you know, snap.

They happen in a moment of time.

It's a suddenly.

The first memorable moments happen that way.

There are over 167 suddenlies in Scripture where God used a suddenly to affect a nation, to affect people, to affect a culture, to affect a church, to affect a group, to affect children.

A suddenly.

And not all suddenlies were easy, some were challenges, you know, those suddenlies in your moment in your life that I'm sure you've expected or experienced where people have passed away, or suddenly in your life where you realize things, things have changed, but God will use us suddenly to bring change.

God's going to come in and without warning, He can say, you know what, you thought things were impossible, but I can make things possible.

And suddenly, in a moment, an impossible situation turns into a possible situation.

An impossible environment turns into an environment with potential.

An impossible opportunity.

Oftentimes these personal, these uh suddenlies are personal.

Jesus experienced a suddenly.

Uh the moment where he was in the desert, he was being tested, and he would been there for 40 days.

And uh, in that time that he was in the desert for 40 days, the Bible says that the devil came to him and said, Listen, all you have to do, everything you see, I'll give to you, but you just need to bow down and worship me.

And Jesus turned on the enemy and he said, He said this, he says, Go away from me, enemy.

For the scripture says, kneel before the Lord your God, worship only him, and at once, suddenly, the accuser left him, and angels suddenly gathered around Jesus to minister to his needs.

In a very difficult place, Jesus was in, a sudden occurred, and it moved from an environment where he was being tested and tried and pushed around to a place where God was with him in that moment, comforting and consoling and supporting him.

When you didn't expect it, God shows up and instantly your destiny can change.

Suddenly, we read about these suddenly scenarios with Mary.

Mary was suddenly approached by an angel and she was told she would bear a son.

And sudden moment changed her life.

Some of you may experience them or aware of what I'm talking about, these sudden moments.

Sometimes we have to be reminded that they can happen today.

They can happen when you leave church today, they can happen over lunch, they can happen when you look down the aisle, that you can happen in a moment of time with the person that you might connect with.

Suddenly, something can happen.

God works in suddenlies to affect your story.

So never count yourself out.

Never quit.

Never stop.

Never pull back to a place where you're saying, no, no, no, God can't do it.

No, God can come through.

There's a suddenly for you in your life.

There's a suddenly.

And I'm speaking this prophetically.

I'm speaking this as just to infuse life and infuse hope into you because some of you are facing situations in your life and you go, I don't know where the answer is going to come from.

And I'm saying to you today, there's a suddenly that can happen for you.

There's a moment that can happen to you today.

It might be someone you connect with, someone you meet, it might be over a lunch or a dinner.

It might be, it can happen at any given time.

God can come through on a suddenly.

How many of you love suddenlies?

You are partly like I love surprises.

You gotta get used to it.

Those of you who don't, get used to it.

A sudden moment.

No one is exempt from the suddenlies.

Jesus was alone and being tested.

Mary tested.

One of my favorites is Paul.

Paul was running through in Acts chapter 9, verse 3 to 9, he was running through city to city to city.

Acts 9:3–9

He was persecuting Christians.

He was putting them to death.

He was murdering.

He was vicious for his religious faith.

He was doing terrible things.

And who would have ever thought that in that moment, in a moment, something could change within Paul?

Everyone was running for fear.

And yet the scripture says he neared Damascus on his journey, and then suddenly a light from heaven stopped him, flashed around him.

He fell to the ground and he heard a voice saying, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?

Suddenly, in Saul's life, where Saul became Paul, Saul's life, it changed his de direction, it changed his destiny in a moment.

He wasn't even looking for change.

And God changed his way.

Some of you don't even know that the way you're going is the wrong way.

Like you're just going off and you're blind to it.

And God's going to suddenly shift you.

And that's a good thing.

That's something we need to embrace.

We need to say, Lord, just have your way.

Do what you need to do.

So there was a suddenly, and he had a suddenly happen for him.

See, we need to understand that there's every man and every woman can plan her way, but it's God who directs the path.

It's God who makes the way blessed.

It's God who moves people.

So God will function on your behalf.

There's a scripture, it says in Isaiah 55, verse 8 and 9, it says, My thoughts are not your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8

My ways are not your ways, declares the Lord.

For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts.

You might have a business plan that looks like technically straightforward and textbook, and God has a different way.

And suddenly you have another creative idea.

You might have uh, you know, a perspective and the way you're gonna treat your relationship or your marriage that you're in, and you might say, you know what, I'm gonna go through it this textbook way.

Every man has his own ways, but suddenly God shifts the way you're gonna you're gonna address your relational issues.

A shift.

His grace will surprise you, his reconciling capacity will surprise you, his mercy will surprise you.

It's not our way, it's his way.

You'll be surprised the way God takes weak and makes them strong.

He'll surprise you, he'll take the simple people and confound the wise.

It's a new, different way.

He'll take lost people and direct them home.

It happens on a very personal way, but it also happens in a very corporate way.

We read about it in Acts chapter 2, the first church, with the scripture says, when they were gathered on the day of Pentecost, they were gathered in one place, they were in one accord, and they were they were praying, and then suddenly, in a moment, a sound like the sound of a rushing wind came through the room, violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.

Acts 2 · chapter mention

And they began, it's like some things happened in that suddenly moment.

A huge shift in a suddenly.

All of a sudden, all of a sudden, the scripture says tongues of fire began to rest on each, like tongues of fire began to rest on each person.

No one had ever seen that.

I've never seen that.

But like fire on the tops of each person.

All of them were in, they were filled with the Holy Spirit, which means they had like a life that was inside of them that started bubbling up.

The scripture says it's like a river that's inside your stomach that bubbles, bubbles, bubbles, and then it comes out of you.

A new life, a new joy, a new peace, and it's like a wave after wave after wave comes out.

It was an amazing situation, an amazing experience in this suddenly moment.

And it didn't just happen on a personal level, it happened on a corporate level.

They were just gathered in one place, 120 of them.

Then all of a sudden, a wind comes through and they start speaking in different languages.

And people who are outside think that they're drunk, they're listening to them and go, what?

What's wrong with these people?

They're so loud, and I can hear different languages, and they can hear their own tongue.

They're like, what's going on?

And I'm telling you, this changed the 120 that were in that room.

They moved from simple fishermen to world changers where they changed the world.

The Bible says the world was turned upside down by these 120.

They had a different experience.

I had an experience similar.

Uh we were we were traveling uh to Taiwan, a group of us, and we were going through an airport in Seattle.

And at this airport in Seattle, uh, there was someone sitting on a, we were just kind of waiting to board.

We had been there early, you know, the whole process.

And and I'm there and I'm chatting with some of the guys who are getting on the plane, people I don't know, and uh, you know, just sitting beside them, and they asked who we who I was.

And where we were going, I said, Well, we're actually working with some churches and some schools in Taiwan.

It's going to be a really great time.

And he said, through our conversation, I just felt, you know what?

Would it be okay at the end of it?

Would it be okay if I prayed with you?

It's just a little bit of boldness, right?

Is it okay if I just prayed with you?

And he said, sure.

So he begins, he's a fellow from Thailand, and he was just going through Taiwan on his way down to his home.

And as he's there, I begin to pray for him.

And I'm praying very simply, just praying for him.

Then all of a sudden, out of my mouth, I start like speaking suddenly, like in a moment, I start speaking a different tongue.

I'll just like raba babuku tarabah, like that kind of stuff.

But in my mind, my eyes are closed.

And my eyes are closed, and I'm thinking, wow, this is good.

Like this was coming off so easily off my tongue.

It was rolling off my tongue.

And I was thinking, this is too real.

Like, wow.

And I opened my eyes, and his eyes are like this big.

And he's looking at me and he says, Who?

You never told me you could speak Thai.

And I didn't know I could speak Thai.

That was a sudden for me.

I said, Are you serious?

I said, I don't.

He goes, You just said to me in perfect Thai that God was gonna wash all of the garbage out of my life.

And I didn't know where to go from that.

I said, okay, my job is done.

And then went and boarded the plane, and I saw him getting water every now and then.

I was like, well, I was in shock.

A suddenly moment happened for me.

And that moment I go back to, like, I can still remember that moment.

And in that moment, that reminds me of the incredible things that God can do in a moment of time.

You may not be know how to be able to reach that difficult child.

You may not be able to know how to reach or how to deal with that, that boss that you're struggling with, or that partner you're struggling with.

But God can give you the wisdom in a moment.

In a moment, that language can come out.

Don't ever underestimate the power of the moment.

The scripture says that there was a gathering and they began to pray together.

And as they began to pray together, the whole place was filled with the Holy Spirit, with the presence of God, and they moved in power.

They were filled with power, like boldness, and they preached the gospel with boldness, and so much so that it turned the whole city upside down.

They were known as like history changers, world changers.

They disrupted the whole economy, social system in a city in one moment.

These moments happen when you're positioned, when you're prepared properly.

So we need to be ready.

There's a story in the Bible about the ten bridesmaids, and they were waiting.

Jesus is telling about these ten bridesmaids who are waiting for the groom to appear.

And they all have oil in their containers.

And some have been carrying extra oil on the side.

And as they're waiting, the groom didn't know when he was actually going to, wasn't going to announce when he was actually going to come, so as they're waiting, some of them burnt all the oil, almost all the oil in their container, and they said, the five of them, who the Bible says they're foolish, they were foolish, they weren't prepared.

They weren't ready.

And the other five were ready.

And when the sound came that the groom was coming, the five bridesmaids, they looked and they're like, uh, we're out of oil.

And can we use some of yours?

And the other five said, Sorry, we've got enough for ourselves.

Go to the store and get some.

So as they left, the groom came in and they closed the doors, and the other five came to the door and said, Let us in.

You know, we're back, we've got oil.

And they said, The door is locked, the door is closed.

You weren't ready.

You weren't prepared, you weren't positioned right.

And this challenge to me as I was even preparing this week was, Lord, help me to be ready.

Not only, so how do you become ready?

And I found three points here just to be ready and just to be challenging your own spirit today.

Be ready.

You're ready when you're together.

When they're together, the first church, they were together.

They weren't all solo, they weren't alone, they weren't separate, they weren't isolated, they were together.

They knew the pulse of each other and where the church was moving, they knew what was happening, they were together.

The first church was in agreement.

The Bible says that they were in one Honda, they were in one accord.

And uh they were they were all in one place together.

They were in one accord together, they were in agreement with each other.

And that's why we take communion, that's why we we work together to actually be in agreement, come to church together, hear the same message, agree together, get on the same page.

Where's the church going?

Where are we going?

Where do you where's my family going?

Where am I going individually?

Come into agreement.

And lastly, wait on God's timing.

Because when you're in agreement and when you're together, that moment can happen when the presence of God, the wind, blows through the room and lives are changed.

That's where our lives are changed.

That's where our situations get changed, that's where our situations shift.

It could be a simple moment where you send out a text message, or you send out an email, or you give a phone call, or you look down the row and you just grab someone's arm after service, or you call someone throughout the week, that moment where you're aware of God, you're in this moment.

Don't be looking in the past, don't be looking in the future.

Look in the moment, in the present right now.

This is the gift we have to make a difference today in this moment for his name's sake.

Amen.

Amen.

Would you bow your heads with me this morning?

Father, we thank you for the moment.

And even now, we just quiet our heart and we quiet our thoughts before you.

And Lord, we just commit today to be present, to be present, to know that we're not alone in this moment, but that you're here with us.

You said when two or more are gathered together in your name, you're there.

And so, Lord, today we trust that you are here right now helping us move forward, helping us move into what you've called, move into greater life, to move into greater peace, to move into greater joy.

And Lord, today we're reminded that you want to use each and everyone in this place.

Their life has value, their story has value, and the potential is beyond our imagination.

And so, Father, today we do believe that a life can be changed in a moment.

A city can be changed and saved in a moment, a nation can be changed in a moment.

And so, Father, today, we open our hearts to your moment, to the suddenly today, and we say, be free to move in our life today, in the name of Jesus.

And if you're in the church today and ask everyone to keep your heads bowed and eyes closed, but if you're here today and you're sensing this is my moment, this is the moment where God, you want to do something in my heart, and you want me to turn away from just seeking self to seeking you and to offer my life into your hands.

I'm gonna give you that opportunity today.

Father, the f the Father gave his son Jesus because he so loved you, he so cared for you that it doesn't matter about a history and a past, doesn't matter even currently where you are now.

All that matters is that God cares and he loves for you, loves you, and he's willing to forgive.

Anything that you're willing to offer to him, he's willing to forgive.

And so today, Father, I just open the floor to anyone whose hearts are open to accepting you as their Lord and Savior.

So would you just take a moment and if you're in this room today and just say, is that me?

Is it my time today?

Is today my day to give my life to you, Jesus?

And in a moment, we're gonna pray a prayer.

And I'm gonna ask the whole congregation to lead, to lead, to pray it along with me.

And we're gonna pray this prayer.

It's a simple prayer, it's a prayer of salvation.

And if that's you today, I invite you to pray along with us.

Pray this, dear Jesus.

Welcome to my heart.

I invite you in my life today, make me a new person, forgive my sin, and I receive you now as my leader and my lord.

I don't ever want to be the same again.

Fill me with unexpected moments to live my life to the greatest potential.

Amen.

Amen.

God bless you.

Thank you for listening.

For more information on KCC and how to connect, visit us at KCC.net.