WHAT DOES GOD WANT? - Week 01

Welcome to the Celebration Church Orlando podcast.

Thank you so much for listening today.

We hope it encourages you and inspires you.

Here's today's message.

Thank you so, so much for gathering with us today.

We're so, so glad that you're here.

It's so good to see your smiling faces, even those who are joining us on our YouTube channel or on Facebook, man.

We're so, so glad you're here.

And I'm so excited about the season that we're in.

And I know that may seem a little bit strange considering the season that we're in is so filled with questions and doubt.

And that's one thing I think that we all probably have in common.

This season has universally generated a lot of questions for all of us.

How long are we going to be in this predicament?

How long are we going to continue to have conflicting information?

How long are we going to find ourselves in positions where we don't have any clarity?

But if I can push a little bit further, I think that some other questions are beginning to emerge in some of us as well.

Questions such as, God, where are you?

I think other things are beginning to emerge right now as well.

Questions such as, God, can you hear me?

Because I got to believe that I'm not the only person that have been praying some prayer since the very beginning of this pandemic.

And can I be real in church for a minute?

I haven't seen the answers as of yet.

I know I can't be the only person that's saying, God, am I praying the wrong prayer?

Let me buy every prayer book and I will walk through every point that they tell me to do so I can get the results that they tell me about because, God, I'm not seeing the results right now.

God, where are you?

Because I believe that all of us are in a need of a move of God.

As I look around this room, as I sense and discern amongst our community, that some of us are just simply asking this question, God, what do you want?

What do you want from me?

I'm going to church and things aren't getting better.

What do you want?

I started doing my Bible reading plan and I still don't understand your word yet.

What do you want?

God, I even began to give, and I'm trusting you with my giving, even in the midst of me not having a lot of clarity.

And you know what?

I am not seeing the running over blessings that scriptures talk about.

What do you want from me?

What I believe we're going to engage in over the next couple of weeks is beginning to answer that question of what does God want from us?

You see, I see in the scripture, 1 Samuel chapter 3, the Bible tells us about this man named Samuel.

1 Samuel 3 · chapter mention

And what we know about Samuel is that he's a prophet that goes on to do some incredible things, but when he is called by God, it is a kind of confusing moment for him.

He's a young boy that's in a temple, and the Bible says that God calls his name three times.

And on two occasions, he goes and responds and talks to his mentor.

But his mentor says, Hey man, that I didn't call you.

In fact, the next time that you hear your name called, I believe it's God you need to respond to him.

I wish I had enough time to unpack that a little bit more because maybe you didn't catch it.

He was looking to man, but his mentor told him to start listening for God.

I think sometimes we can find ourselves looking to man when we need to be listening for God.

We're looking for man to give us hope instead of listening for God.

We're looking for man to give us peace instead of looking for God.

We're looking for people to kind of give us a sense of resolve when we need to be listening for God.

But here's the crazy thing that happens.

Even after he responds and God gives him this massive download, it's still not clear what he's supposed to do with it.

God literally basically gives him a glimpse of the future, but does not reference him in any way whatsoever.

What do you do with that?

And for some of us, I sense that that over this season we probably have gotten words, we've gotten encouragement, we've we've highlighted something in our Bible, but we're still wondering, but but what am I what am I supposed to do with this?

Have you ever found yourself at a place where you're getting a lot of information, but you're not getting any answers?

Let me walk you into the Pittman household for a moment.

There is nothing more contentious in the Pittman household more than when we are trying to figure out what's for dinner.

Well, let me back up.

Let me back up.

There's a list.

It's it's it's um Uno, Ticket to Ride, Um, Monopoly Deal.

Have y'all guys started playing Monopoly Deal?

Is it like the carved version of Monopoly?

I literally think that Megan was going to kick my son out of the house because he had stolen her property once.

But so those are those are contentious moments for us, but then also when we're trying to resolve what we're having for dinner.

And here's the main reason why.

The main reason why is because I have a whole bunch of finicky eaters in my house.

So as I'm sitting there saying, okay guys, I have a bunch of ingredients.

What do you guys want for dinner?

What do you want?

And it's inevitable that someone's gonna say, you know what?

I've I I really could have some ribs tonight, but I don't want to get my fingers messy.

You know what?

You know what?

We can have some of your amazing, world-renowned, and I know you're gonna sell it one day, dad, um, sweet Thai chili chicken wings.

But I'm so tired of chicken.

Or or they'll say, you know what we really should have?

Some of that salmon.

But we just had the salmon last week.

And as I'm standing there, I'm saying, I don't know what you want.

Just tell me what you want.

You're telling me what you like, but what you don't want to do, just tell me what you want.

You know what?

That's how it can feel with God sometimes.

Come on, come on.

God is giving us a bunch of information, but we don't know how to sort it out and we don't quite know what to do with it.

See, the thing is, the thing is, I believe that we find ourselves in moments where God will give us this massive download.

He'll give us this moment of powerful insight, but we're still trying to figure out, but God, what do you want me to do with it?

But here's the thing: it's so difficult to do what you're called to do if you're not standing in your rightful place.

You see, a lot of times we're trying to figure out what God wants us to do, but we're not in the place that God wants us to be.

See, scripture tells us in Ephesians that God has seated us in heavenly places.

There is a place that God has positioned us to be in so that we can function the way that He has called us to function.

But if we're not in a proper position, we won't have the clarity to utilize the resources that He's given us to get to work.

My question for some of us today is: are you seated in your proper seat?

Are you in the place that God has destined you to be?

We have to take our rightful place.

But the problem is it's hard to take your rightful place when you've lost sight of who you are.

And in many instances, in many seasons, they strip away day by day, and we begin to lose sight of who we are.

But what I can tell you today is I want to encourage some of us that you are made in the image of God.

That you are a child of God.

I I love from the very beginning in Genesis chapter 1, the scripture tells us this.

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

It says, Then God said, Let us make man in our own image after our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the heavens, and over the livestock, and over all of the earth, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.

So I creep.

Yeah, yeah.

I just wanted to see if y'all trapped with me.

That's all.

I wanted to see if y'all trapped with me.

Stay focused.

He says, Every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.

So God created man in his own image, and in the image of God he created them, male and female, he created them.

Verse number 28.

And then he blessed them, and he said to them, Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the face of the earth.

I'm confident that many of us have probably heard over and over again that we are made in the image of God, but sometimes we may ask ourselves, what does that really practically mean?

What does it really mean to be made in the image of God?

I want to simplify that for us tonight.

To be made in the image of God simply means that we are called to be God's ambassadors.

That means that we are called to represent God in the unique way that He has wired us so that we can go off into the world.

We're supposed to represent God in the way that He wired us.

Let me talk to us for a moment.

I suspect for some of us, because of the ability for us to look into the lives of other people's, whether it be through social media or conversations, for us to see where other people's lives are tracking.

And we may feel in order for us to be successful, I gotta begin to do what they're doing in order to get their results.

There's podcasts and books that would encourage so much.

But if me getting those results require me to step away from the God that wire the way that God has wired me to function, then what exactly am I producing?

What if I were to tell you that God wired you the way that you are, so you should stop trying to change yourself?

My daughter recently had begun to like walk me through this whole concept of the Enneagrams.

And initially I thought that it sounded too demonic.

Um I'll plead ignorance.

I'm like, I'm not, don't put no label on me, girl.

I'm made in the image of God.

Like I'm all things of all men.

Where's that at?

So I again I spiritualized it a little bit.

I did a Jesus juke on it, but I began to learn a little bit more about all these different settings.

So as I began to recognize how these things are set out, you know, you have the, of course, the number one, the perfectionist, we all know that person.

Um we have the helpers, we have the achiever, the individuals, the investigators, the loyalists, um, the enthusiastic ones, the challengers, and the peacemakers.

But imagine if, imagine if I'm around a bunch of people that are peacemakers, but that's not the way that God has wired me.

Now, get now hear me with this.

Of course, by the grace of God, we are all called to be people that make peace.

But if I have to step outside of the fact that God has called me to be an investigator in order for me to function in the place that I'm supposed to be, I'm going to be operating outside of my true gift set.

What if I were to tell you that God is every one of the Enneagrams in one?

And that when He created you, He gave you an aspect of Him so that you can represent Him in your unique way in the context that He has placed you in.

What if I were to tell you that there is no other entity that could contain all of those things in one?

But God says, I know that for that family, I'm gonna need a peacemaker, so I'm wiring you to be a peacemaker.

I'm gonna need a person that's gonna be a challenger to come against some things that aren't right, so I'm gonna wire you to be a challenger.

Stop trying to be somebody else because the way that God has wired you is so that you can have impact in the way that He's called you to in the place that He's called you to be.

That's what it means to be made in the image of God.

So I want to give us a couple of practical points, a couple of practical steps on how we can begin to practically and very clearly walk in what it means to be in the image of God.

Because I know as we're all asking that question of what does God want?

Spoiler alert, here's the answer: God wants family.

That's it.

God wants family.

Have we ever paused for a moment and looked at the scripture and considered for a moment why he refers to himself as our father?

When we look in scripture, it tells us in the Gospel of John chapter one that we are sons and daughters of God.

We see throughout the course of the entire Bible that it's all connected to family.

We even look at the life of Jesus and see that his genealogy is connected to David and to Adam.

In other words, what Scripture is showing us is that God is a God who was very interested in his family.

And we are his family.

So that means that when I look at you, I don't see you as an individual.

I see you as a person who was part of my family.

This is why when we begin to look out into a world that is so filled with brokenness and hatred, we have to find ourselves wondering how do I allow that to reconcile when I'm truly a child of God?

Because when I look at someone, no matter how rich or how poor, no matter what their voting preference is, the Bible tells me that we are siblings inside of the kingdom of God.

And we know that we have a very real enemy that wants to try to divide that because if we are joined together, the adversary doesn't have any influence.

Listen to me, we're about to go into election season, and I can see right now it's about to get messy.

But what if the people of God began to function like we were family?

What if the people of God actually began to be interested about the things of the kingdom and we can stand united on those things?

I know that the adversary is active, I know that he's trying to bring division, but I'm asking for us as a community to begin to recognize that we are family in the body of Christ and that God has given us assignment to make a difference in the world.

What do we look like responding the same way to things that people who don't know God does?

But when you're in the family of God, we should we should function differently.

Here's a couple of things I want to give us on what does it mean to be in the family of God and what does it mean to bear the image of God?

We're called to reflect.

We're called to be reflections of God.

You see, I want you to think about this for a moment, how reflections work.

It's a mirror image, so to speak.

And what we know about that is that God is calling us to bear his image, it means to reflect his mind, to reflect his heart, to reflect his spirit, to reflect his hands in every environment that he calls us to go into.

We're familiar with that phrase, what would Jesus do?

This is the literal embodiment of that.

We are called to reflect the behavior of God in every situation that we find ourselves going into.

But here's what I know it's very difficult to reflect the things that we're not in proximity to.

And if we allow too much distance to come between us and God, we become more disillusioned about what his reflection really is supposed to look like.

We lose sight of the way that we should respond in scenarios because we stop reflecting with the mind and heart of God.

But if we can draw closer to him, we can have a better, clearer image of when we look into the mirror of the word of God and we're grooming ourselves so we can become conformed into the image of the sun, that we can begin to reflect his mind, his heart in scenarios that even may feel a little bit uncomfortable.

You see, as the moon is a reflection from the light of the sun, so are we a reflection of God.

And here's the situation.

In the same way that we got to make sure that the moon doesn't get obstructed with anything and otherwise it causes an eclipse, it's the same thing that can happen with us if our pride, our ego, or our preferences get in the way.

We stop reflecting God and we start reflecting our pride.

We start reflecting our preferences.

But when we're made in the image of God, we're called to be reflections of Jesus.

Here's a second thing that it means when we're called to be bearers of the image of God.

We're called to dominate.

Come on, somebody.

We're called to dominate.

We're not supposed to be behind in the fourth quarter.

We are called to dominate.

See, this is when the scripture says that he has given us dominion.

That's what that word dominion means.

It literally is dominate.

Like we're supposed to be victorious.

This is where we get passages of scripture that say that we're more than conquerors.

We're the head and not the tail.

We are not supposed to just be screeching by.

We're not supposed to just be surviving.

We're called to thrive.

That's what the Bible says that we're supposed to do.

See, last night I was watching the Lakers play and they dominated.

It was during my message prep, and I was praying.

I was praying for the trailblazers because they needed it.

But but but they but they dominated.

It wasn't even close for those that had an opportunity to check the game out.

It wasn't even close.

I want us to start thinking with that in our minds.

God has called me to dominate, to have dominion.

It's not even supposed to be close, not even remotely close.

You see, Adam was given the assignment to name every single animal that was brought into his presence.

Imagine that a level of dominion and authority.

That everything that is brought into his presence, he has the ability to call it what it is.

And what scripture says is that whatever Adam called it, that's what it was.

I want y'all to catch on to this.

That as things were presented to Adam, he had an opportunity to call it whatever he could, but whatever he called it, that's what it was.

Dominion.

Whatever I call it, that's what it is.

That means that when things are presented to me, whatever I call it, that's what it is.

That means that when a situation is presented to me about my family, and when every other bit of evidence tells me that it's a hopeless situation, no, whatever I call it, that's what it is.

That whenever I am given news about a sickness, and I know that the report says that there's no chance of recovery, I understand what that says, but the Bible says, who report, will you believe whatever I call it, that's what it is.

Do you know that the Bible says life and death is in the power of the tongue?

That we call those things that be not as though they were.

That means that even when the enemy is presenting things in front of you, I don't have to accept the evidence of that.

It's gonna be whatever I call it.

And when I see that the enemy is presenting death, it's not death, I call it life.

Whenever the enemy presents brokenness, it's not brokenness, I see healing, I see restoration.

When he presents family dynamics that aren't lining quite up, I know that the Bible says that when God is joined together, let no man put asunder.

If we begin to function with the dominion, recognizing that this situation is not the end of me, it's gonna be whatever I call it, because God's word has given me dominion over every place that I place my feet.

We are called to be people to have dominion, to operate with faith.

Please understand me, friends, that faith is not blind optimism, it's having a divine perspective.

It's not blind optimism.

I'm just looking at it through the lens of the kingdom.

The third and final thing that I believe it means when we talk about what does it mean to be image bearers of God is that the third thing is I believe we're called to repeat.

Now let me explain that a little bit for us.

The Bible says that when Adam and Eve were created, it says he blessed them and said, Be fruitful and multiply, increase.

It's not meant to stick just with you, but it is supposed to be something that spreads beyond you.

Repeat this process that I've started with you.

It's supposed to repeat.

It's not supposed to stick with you, it's supposed, it's supposed to repeat.

You see, the Bible tells us that after God had created Adam, it says that he was just this inanimate object that was laying on the ground and it says that there was no life in him.

But then God breathed into him and he became a living soul.

He became a living being.

Church, if we could just grab a hold of the fact that God is breathing on our situation right now, it's not a dead strategy, but it's the breath of God that is animating our very beings.

We are carriers of the very essence of God.

That means that God has given us everything we need to do in order for us to grow.

The Bible tells us that He gives us everything as it relates to life and godliness.

So often we find ourselves saying that we can move forward if I had these variables.

I could do better if I had these things.

And what that does is that actually messes up our theology.

And it's the same thing that the enemy tried to present to Eve when they were standing outside of the garden when he said to her, If God really was going to do these things, did God really say these things to you?

In other words, God's holding out on you.

So when we believe that we can't move forward until we get some more things, what we're actually doing is we're believing a lie from the enemy saying that I don't have anything that I need in order to move forward.

But the Bible that I read tells me that he's given us everything that we need.

It says just a muster seed of faith.

I may not have it all lined up.

I may have a 10-year plan and I can't even get through next week.

But can I get to tomorrow?

Because tomorrow will lead me to next week, which will lead me to next month, which will lead me to next year, and then I will have my five-year plan.

Stop believing that you need more when God has given you just enough.

You have everything you need in order for you to move forward.

God has created us to reproduce and repeat this process.

He's given us his spirit.

And with his spirit, we are supposed to reproduce love everywhere we go.

With his spirit, we're supposed to reproduce joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

All of those things are in us because we're animated by the very presence and essence of God.

He tells us for us to have ultimate dominion and authority, but he tells us to repeat this process.

It kind of sounds a little bit catchy when you think of it.

Because everywhere I go, I'm supposed to reflect the kingdom of God.

I'm supposed to be a reflection of the mind of God.

But in addition to that, not only am I a reflection of the things of God, I'm also supposed to dominate where I am.

And then repeat the process.

Reflect.

Dominate.

Repeat.

Reflect.

Dominate.

Repeat.

Reflect the mind of God.

Dominate where I am.

Repeat so I can keep moving forward.

Reflect.

Dominate.

Repeat.

Reflect.

Dominate.

Repeat.

God has given you everything you need in order for you to be effective in a calling that He has on your life.

Reflect His thoughts.

Reflect His heart.

Reflect His hands wherever you are.

Repeat that process over and again and dominate where you are.

Dominate in your family.

Function with dominion amongst your coworkers and your friends.

Begin to actually operate like you truly believe that God says that you are the apple of his eye.

You are part of the family of God.

And he loves you so much that he manifested himself in a form of a human, lived a life that we could never live, just so that we can have our rightful place in the kingdom of God.

God wants his family.

We are made in his image.

And he's assigned us to be a reflection of him.

He's assigned us to have a dominion because that becomes a testimony.

And he's called us to continue to repeat the process, to bring more people into this journey so that we can populate the globe with the people of faith that are a representation of what it means to be in the family of God.

But I'll say the same thing now that I said earlier.

It's so hard to do what we're called to do if we're not seated in our rightful place.

If the pilot isn't in his seat, how do we ever make it to our destination?

If the quarterback isn't in his position, how do we move down the field?

And I sense that many of us have not been moving forward is because we're not in our rightful place.

We're not in the place that God has called us to be in.

We're out of position right now.

But because of the work of Christ, He's allowing us to upgrade right now.

I'm not sure if anybody's ever been on a flight.

And you didn't qualify to be in first.

Class, but there were some upgrade points that were available for you, and someone just turned to you and said, Hey, you know, you can upgrade to the front.

And if you're me, you're gonna be like, Yes, I can.

Bless God.

Here's what I want us to know Jesus upgraded our seat.

He upgraded our seats.

We could never do the work in our own strength.

There's nothing we can do on our own.

But if we can just walk in alignment on a price that he's already paid, we could be sitting in a place that he called us to be in.

We don't have to strive for it, we don't have to work for it.

All we have to do is receive it.

Let me pray for us.

God, I thank you so much.

I thank you, God, that you've allowed us to be image bearers, God, reflections of you.

And God, I pray right now for our community.

Because I know that many of us are not in the position that you've called us to be in.

We're not moving forward, and we're asking this question, God, what do you want from us?

But Father, I pray in the name of Jesus that we recognize that, Lord, above all else, you just want your family.

And you want us to function and operate like we are your family.

That you've called us to be reflections of you.

You've called us to have dominion where we are, to move with authority and freedom and hope and wholeness.

But God, you've also asked us to repeat this process, to carry you with us everywhere we go, so that we can influence and impact every environment that you may lead us into.

God, I pray for every person that's struggling right now, God.

Those who know you, but they don't feel like they're getting momentum, they still have questions.

I pray that you bring clarity.

For those who are losing hope, I pray that you give them hope.

For those who are distant from community, I pray that you begin to strengthen them right now.

And Father, we surrender all of this to you in Jesus' name.

Amen.

And amen.

You know what I also know is there's probably some amongst us that are that are taking inventory of our lives and we're saying that right now we're away from God.

If we were to be honest with us, the truth of the matter is if Jesus has upgraded our seat, we're not even on a plane right now.

We're away from God.

But I want to encourage you, if that's you, whether you're in this room with us or maybe you're watching us online right now, I want you to go ahead and boldly take that next step.

Surrender your life to Jesus.

All you have to do is receive it and get your rightful seat.

We believe that the Bible tells us this that if we confess with our mouths and we believe with our hearts that Jesus died on the cross and that he rose from the dead, that that belief alone is a thing that allows us to be in the family of God, that allows us to have our rightful seat without us ever having to work for it.

If that's you, I want to invite you to pray this prayer with me.

And after that, we're gonna go into a moment of worship to seal this all in.

But I want you to pray this with me if that's you.

Lord Jesus, I surrender my life.

I repent of my sins.

I believe that you died on the cross and that you rose from the dead, and it's because of that belief I am saved.

Fill me with your spirit and order my steps in Jesus' name.

Amen.

God bless you.

We're so proud of you.

We're gonna celebrate with you.

But, church as a family, can we all stand up together?

Let's go back into worship and let's exalt the name of Jesus together one more time.

So we bought praise children in all us, so we forget.

Father, thank you so much for this time together, Lord.

Thank you that we have the ability to praise you as a family in Jesus' name.

Can we give God some praise, guys?

Like like Pastor Keith mentioned tonight, we we are a family, and if you made a decision to follow Christ, you are now a part of our family.

So welcome to the family.

I keep saying that, but welcome.

Uh we want you to take a next step because we believe that our lives are uh a series of steps.

And so the next step that we want to ask you to do is text the word decide to 25101.

And we're just we just want to help equip you uh for this journey uh along the way.

Maybe you have been following Christ for a little bit and um you want to know what your next step is.

Well, we have a curriculum or a class you would call it.

It's called Foundations, and what it is is it it kind of tells us who we are and how we uh fit in God's family.

So if you want to uh participate in that, you can go to celebrationorl.org slash foundations.

And and finally, if you got kids in the house, if you got youth in the house, our next generation hour is starting right after this, and it's gonna be available for stream all week.

Guys, thank you so much for being here.

We love you, and we'll see you next week.

Thanks again for listening.

We hope you enjoyed today's message.

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If you'd like more content like this, or if you'd like to connect with us, go to celebration at orl.org.

We hope you join us next time.