Gods Unlikely Assignment

Hey, I'm Tim Timberlake, and I want to thank you so much for listening to the Celebration Church podcast.

I hope this message encouraged you, strengthened your faith, and gave you something you can carry into your week.

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Can we put our hands together?

Thank God for our incredible pastors.

That have been teaching, sharing the word of God, the gospel over the last few weeks.

I'm so proud of our team.

I'm so proud of our staff.

I'm so proud of you.

Being consistent, being faithful, showing up.

Amen.

We're proud of you.

Me and Mama are glad to be back home.

Amen.

No place like home.

Place like home.

And I'm glad to share the word of God with you.

Acts chapter 9.

Acts 9 · chapter mention

I'm going to begin at verse 11.

Be reading from the ESV translation.

Scripture reads.

And the Lord said to him, Rise and go to the street called straight.

And at the house of Judas, look for a man of Tarsus named Saul.

For behold, he is praying.

And he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias.

Come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.

But Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard from many about this man.

How much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.

And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.

And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.

I want to utilize these verses for our subject matter today.

Entitled God's Unlikely Assignment.

God's Unlikely Assignment.

We ask that you would speak to us.

Thank you that you have equipped us, resourced us, given us your word.

And so today, God, as we hear it, may we retain it.

May we apply what we hear.

May our lives be changed and transformed.

Our minds be renewed and our destinies be set like concrete.

We ask, God, that you would save those that need to be saved, heal those that need to be healed, deliver those that need to be delivered, and set the captives free.

The name that is above every other name.

The name that still holds all power, all authority, all domain.

The name that still sends demons running.

The name of Jesus the Christ our King.

If you're glad that He's still alive and well, come on, pick the shot.

Amen.

Amen.

Take your seats.

God's unlikely assignment.

Sometimes obedience doesn't lead you away from what frightens you.

Sometimes obedience leads you directly in the direction of the very thing or the very person that frightens you.

The reason God often does this and utilizes this as a strategy for you to know that he and he alone is God is because God will send you into places he has already been working over time before you even arrived.

Jesus speaks to Ananias, tells Ananias, Rise up and go to the street called straight.

His name is Saul of Tarsus.

And I love this because scripture does not leave the details vague.

It gives us very intentional details and very important information that I believe the Holy Spirit desires for us to know.

As we read Acts chapter 9, this is unfolding immediately after Saul's encounter with the risen Jesus on the Damascus road, and he sees Jesus and is blinded by the radiant light of Jesus.

Acts 9 · chapter mention

And Saul has been persecuting Christians, those who follow Jesus.

He's been going into homes, snatching people out, torturing them, imprisoning them, some of them being killed because they confess Jesus Christ as Lord.

And Saul of Tarsus believes that he is doing God's work by taking these people and holding them hostage and condemning them and convicting them and imprisoning them because they come in the name of Jesus.

And up until this point, he does not believe that Jesus is God.

But Jesus has a crazy way of proving that there is no God like me.

And he'll find you, make no mistake about it.

He found you.

That's why you're here right now.

He he found you, he sought you out.

You were on a path of destruction and he cut you off.

And I wonder, is anybody glad that when you had in your best desires to do wrong, Jesus found you, cut you off, and pointed you back in the right direction.

If you if you're anything like me, I had no desire to do right growing up.

I I would wake up days and tell myself, today I'm gonna get arrested today.

I'm gonna do something plum, foolish, and I'm gonna get arrested.

I feel like I'm on that type of time today.

If it was a chaos button, I would press it.

I would say, today is the day of chaos.

And when I did not have the best intentions for myself, Jesus, in spite of me, had the best intentions for me and he cut me off and he saved me and he redeemed me and he healed me.

And so I know that if Jesus can save me, if Jesus can save Saul, if he can redeem me, if he can redeem Saul, then surely he can redeem and save you.

It does not matter how bad of a past you have, it does not matter what sins you have committed, it doesn't matter what you have done back in your yesteryears and your yesterdays.

Today is a brand new day, and it is a day of brand new mercy.

And as long as you got breath in your lungs, you still have an opportunity to receive what only Jesus can give you, and that is grace.

And the word of God says, His grace is sufficient for you.

Sufficient, sufficient, sufficient.

That word sufficient means wherever sin is, there's grace there that is that much more.

Let's just get transparent for a second.

How many of you got great sin in your life?

Raise both hands.

If you can lift both feet, you need to lift both of them because you you know the sin you got in your life.

I know the sin I got in my life, but the word of God says that his grace is sufficient.

How many of you are glad for the grace of Jesus Christ?

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

That's good for a movie.

I said, how many of you are glad for the grace of Jesus Christ?

Yeah, that's great for the PG.

I said, how many are glad for the grace of Jesus Christ?

Don't sit down and come with me.

Open up your mouth and tell me Jesus.

Thank you for your grace.

Thank you for your mercy.

Thank you for your love.

Thank you for your step and his kindness towards me.

You know what you should not be forgiven for, and he forgave you.

Don't clap at me.

Don't sit down with you thanking him for his grace and his mercy.

We act like it's optional.

We have like we deserve it.

We we have like we paid for it, like like we shed blood for like no no no, he shed his blood for you and for me.

And so when it comes to giving him everything, we don't give him a golf club.

We stand up on our feet, we open up our mouth, and we simply say, God, thank you.

Thank you for your blood.

Thank you for your mercy.

Thank you for your love.

Thank you for your glance.

Oh, what great, great thing is giving us.

Every time you think about that, it should move you to stand on your feet.

You should get a little pepper yourself.

You should lift your hand, you should open up your mouth, and you should say, For God I live, and for God I'm God.

Blessed be the name of the Lord who has given me life and life more abundantly.

I wish I had a church this morning.

If it had not been for the Lord of my God, whatever the world would have been.

Don't forget selective amnesia.

Don't forget who saved you.

Don't forget who delivered you.

Don't forget who healed you.

Don't forget who redeemed you.

Don't you dare forget who restored you.

Don't forget who's handed rescue your life and said I'll lead you and I'll guide you in the ball perfect truth.

And if you're glad and you know it's not.

But love lifted me.

I was bound for destruction, but love lifted me.

I was bound for damnation, but love lifted me.

Never, never, never forget what bought you out and who bought you over and what is carrying you right now.

It is the grace of Jesus Christ that opened your eyelids, that popped open your ears, that allowed you to get breath in your lungs.

So as he's giving it to us, we give it back to him freely.

Oh, you need to be reminded if it had not been for his love, mercy, grace.

You think you are where you are because you got yourself there.

Let me remind you.

You're not that smart, you're not that good looking, you're not that rich, you're not that connected.

It was only because of Jesus.

Well, well, well, Pastor, no, no, no, no, I worked hard for this.

I busted my chomps to get to where I am and I did this and I did that.

No, no, no.

If it had not been for the Lord on your let me tell you where you would be, you would be bound in hell, but he's a fit to save your life and give you life more abundantly.

So I wonder what happened about two thousand folks up in here today.

God, he he has he has a way of getting to you what you did not even know you had need of.

Look at the text.

Look at the text.

Saul has been blinded by Jesus, and Anias is hearing from Jesus, and his instructions are I want you to go find Saul on the street called straight.

Go look in Judah's house.

There you will find him.

Lay hands on him.

Rise and go.

The reason he got instructions to rise and go, because in verse 10 he was bold enough to pray.

Here I am, Lord.

Here.

The availability is different than obedience.

Some of you have been saying, Here I am, Lord, for many, many years, but when he gives you the instruction, you don't follow it.

You make excuses and title it discernment.

Y'all don't gotta talk to me.

It's okay.

I'm gonna keep preaching, whether you want me to or not.

I'm just waiting on God.

And God is saying, you are operating in disobedience.

Because I told you what to do, I told you where to go, I told you who to meet.

But God, I don't like them.

Look at the text.

Look at the text.

Verse 13.

But Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard from many about this man.

How much evil he has done to the saints in Jerusalem.

You have to be very careful with how you define someone based upon the reputation someone else told you they have.

Because while you are judging them off of their reputation, God is judging them off of their heart.

And if God can save you, if he can save me, God can save anyone.

I truly believe, I truly believe.

If you make it to heaven, you're gonna be shocked who there.

Your enemy might be there.

What you doing here?

Right before I took my last breath, man.

I pray.

Here I am.

Would you know it?

Y'all neighbors.

Would you know it?

Your neighbors.

Neighbors in eternity.

Spend all of your earthly life not liking them because of what someone else told you about them, not even knowing who they actually are.

And instead of praying for them, you post about them.

Instead of calling the best out of them, you throw dirt on them because of what someone else told you.

Don't even know them.

And got the nerve to call ourselves believers.

Listen to me.

No one bickers, no one fights, no one throws more shades than a believer to another believer.

Who needs the enemy when you got bitter believers?

You need to have your mind made up.

I'm not gonna be a bitter believer.

I'm not gonna talk down on nobody else that I don't know.

I'm not gonna turn my nose up on nobody else's sin because I got my own sin.

And when you think about what God delivered you from, it's real hard to judge somebody else based upon the things that they are dealing with and the things that they continue to surrender to Jesus every single day.

And when you think about your sin, and when you think about how you would be bound for hell without the grace of Jesus, it brings you into a place of humility.

Brings you into a place of understanding, man.

Every time I enter into his presence, he strips me of something that I need to be stripped of, and he replaces it with something that only he can add.

And because he's given to me what I could not earn and what I could not purchase, I should give grace to those around me who are going through the same journey called life that I am going through right here, right now.

And so the word of God says, and the Lord said to him, Rise and go to the street called straight, and at the house of Judas, look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is great.

A street called straight.

This street was a great street that went east to west, running straight through Damascus.

It was associated with the city's Greco-Roman urban layout.

It was a demonstration of how successful the region was, and Paul would terrorize this street.

It was 135 miles from Jerusalem.

He would terrorize this road, and when he would see people that followed Jesus Christ, he would pull them out of their homes.

He would imprison them.

He had authority to do so by the high priest.

And so Ananias gets instructions from Jesus.

I want you to go look for this man named Saul.

And I want you to lay hands on him.

If I'm Ananias, I'm thinking, well, I got to do it.

If I'm Ananias, I'm thinking to myself, how did he get blind in the first place?

Oh, Jesus, you blinded him.

You blinded him, you got the power to open up his eyes.

Scripture says Ananias was a devoted disciple, which means he had known about the miracles of Jesus Christ.

He knew about his power.

He knew about his authority.

So if I'm Ananias, I'm thinking to myself, you blinded him.

You have the ability and the power to open up what you blinded him with.

Why do I need to go lay my hands on this man who is known for killing Christians?

He don't know me.

As a matter of fact, he can't even see me coming.

Would you just want me to bust up in and say, hey, Saul?

I know you're in here.

I see you.

I'm about to approach you.

Lay my hands on you.

And I'm believing that as I lay my hands on you, you're gonna get your sight back.

If I'm in the mind, as I'm thinking that let me make myself known as I'm still thinking.

So he's just gonna start swinging.

He doesn't do that.

You will find you are looking for him.

He is looking for me.

You will find you.

How will you be found?

How will you be found?

Will you be found gossiping?

Will you be found sliding in somebody else's DMs when you got a spouse?

Will you be found stealing?

Will you be found being someone other than who Jesus gave his life for you to be?

How will you be found?

I'm not talking about how people think they know you.

Because people thought they knew Saul.

They thought they knew him, but he had this conversion on the road of Damascus and Have you noticed that when you're in sin, your sin is very public?

But when you start pursuing Jesus Christ, that's a very private moment.

Well, everybody knew him for dragging Christians out of their homes.

Nobody knew him for the person that was on the road to Damascus and was blinded by Jesus.

And Jesus says, you will find him praying.

God doesn't tell Ananias, somewhere in Damascus, you'll find him.

God gives him a street, then a house, then a person.

God's instructions are remarkably specific.

He gave him the information he needed to know on a need-to-know basis.

See, some of you want to know what next year looks like.

And God is just telling you what the street looks like.

And when you get to the street car straight, look for this house.

And when you get to the house, look for this person.

But God, what does my destiny look like?

Well, what does the next 10 years look like?

Give me 10-year vision.

Give me five-year vision.

No, no, I just need you to go find the blind person.

And when you find them, lay your hands on them so that they can see.

Because something supernatural is going to happen.

When Saul gets his sight, you're going to get yours.

Two eyes were opening in this text.

Saul was regaining his sight, and Ananias was regaining his vision.

Sight and vision are not the same.

Saul was given the ability to see again.

Ananias was given something I call foresight.

What is foresight?

Foresight is the ability to see more before.

And when you walk out this life with Jesus, he opens up your eyes and he gives you vision and he gives you foresight.

You won't just live in hindsight, he'll give you foresight.

He'll give you the ability to see more before.

And Ananias would not have received that if he would have done what his flesh told him to do, which was to be afraid.

To be fearful, to listen to his flesh.

And God, he identifies Saul by name, and Ananias identified Saul by his reputation.

And Jesus, he knows everything that you do, he knows everything that you have done.

He knows what you're going to do, and he still has made up in his mind to call you by your name, not by how people have labeled you.

So Ananias remembers that Saul is the person who threatened believers.

Aren't you glad that Jesus does the introductions for you?

He does the introductions for you.

Yeah, yeah, I know what they said about you, but let me reintroduce you.

Oh, I know you used to be outside.

I know you used to be wildin' out.

I know you used to be crazy, girl.

I know you used to be all in them streets, man.

But let me reintroduce you.

Let me retitle you.

Let me relabel you.

Let me rename you.

Let me define your purpose.

Let me show people who I am in you.

You don't have to do nothing that I don't want you to do, but you do have to do everything I desire for you to do.

And Saul has this conversion.

Notice something.

He is physically blind, but he spiritually sees.

Scripture says, you will find him praying.

Something you need to know about Saul of Tarsus.

He was a devout Pharisee, which means he prayed to God.

He just was not praying to Jesus.

And so for a moment, let me help you define how you know you are devout in your relationship with Jesus Christ.

When you get ready to post and you feel that conviction to not just say God, but the name that is above every name.

The name that healed you.

The name that redeemed you.

The name that restored you.

That name.

That's the name that demons flee and tremble over.

Demons don't flee and tremble over God.

God could be anything.

You can make anything a God.

But that name, Jesus, it is undeniable, it is unmistakable, it is undefeated.

That name, Jesus, that name sends demons and imps and the devil fleeing.

That name, the word of God says, at the very mention of it, every knee shall bowl, and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

So the Bible specifies that Paul is now praying to Jesus.

I want you to write this down, point number one.

This is very important.

Don't let someone's yesterday come to prison.

You keep their tomorrow locked inside.

Be careful freezing people in the condition that God found them in.

Be very careful judging people based upon how you met them.

The start of anything is small.

The start of a relationship is small.

The start of birth is small.

The start of a blessing is small.

But do not despise small beginnings.

What you despise today, God can use mightily tomorrow.

One of the things that I've learned.

It is impossible to honor what you despise.

And so don't let someone's yesterday become the prison you keep their tomorrow locked inside of.

Ananias says, Lord, I have heard about this man.

I've heard about this man.

I've heard the things that he has done.

But look at what he does not do.

He does not rebel against what Jesus told him to do.

He carried it out.

Verse 12.

And he said, He hath seen a vision of a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.

So as God is speaking to Ananias, God is at the same time speaking to Saul.

God doesn't simply see someone.

God gives Ananias an identity.

One of the things I love about this passage, although Jesus is responsible for blinding him, he utilizes Ananias to lay hands on him to open up what was closed.

The Bible describes Saul's encounter on the road of Damascus as revelation.

He reveals himself to him.

One of the most powerful revelations of this passage is that although he has a revelation of Jesus, he desperately needs relationship to see again.

So Jesus gives him a revelation of who he is.

Then he encourages him to get what he needs from relationship.

Because God will never give you revelation for you to be stingy with.

Who are you to think that he created you to live on an island?

That's why you're still blind.

Because you think to yourself, I'm good all by myself.

I don't need nobody.

I don't need nobody.

I don't need nobody else.

I'm good all by myself.

You blind.

Can't see God moving, can't see God working, can't see what he's doing.

And you think that he's abandoning you.

No, he has not abandoned you.

You just keep running blind.

And he's sending the Ananiases on the way.

And you keep running from where you're supposed to be.

Because you think to yourself, I'm all good all by myself.

Stay put long enough to meet the prayer you've been praying.

You have to understand and remember that the miracle will come from God.

But it will travel through the obedience of people.

Did you hear what I said?

The obedience is up to us.

The miracle is up to God.

Let me put it to you this way: it is not your obligation to perform.

It is not your obligation to provide.

It is your obligation to believe.

And when you believe, he provides.

And when you believe, he performs.

And while God is speaking to Saul, he's also speaking to Ananias.

And he's telling Ananias, I want you to go to the street called straight.

Look for Judah's house.

Inside, you'll meet a guy from Tarsus named Saul.

As he's speaking to Ananias, he's speaking to Saul.

There's a man named Ananias on the way to lay hands on you.

And as he lays hands on you, your eyes will open almost like scales will be removed.

And he's speaking to both of them at the same time because both of them are submitted and yielded through humility to the things of Jesus Christ.

Who are you submitted to?

Who are you surrendered to?

Because a submitted and surrendered son and daughter of God is an unstoppable person in the kingdom of God.

Point number two is this never underestimate a quiet yes.

Heaven can attach somebody else's miracle to your obedience.

See, some of y'all like public yeses.

I want to be known for my yes.

I want to be known for what I did.

I want to be known for what I gave.

I want to be known.

I want to be known.

I want to be known.

I want to be an influencer.

I want to be known.

But never underestimate the power of a quiet yes.

A quiet yes.

A quiet yes.

A quiet yes.

Ananias, he did not publicize who he was going to lay hands on.

He did not scream it from the rooftops.

He was obedient.

He gave God his yes, and then he operated in obedience.

Your obedience may be the answer to a prayer you don't even know somebody else has been praying.

What you may be calling an interruption may be divine placement orchestrated by God to get you to a place you did not even know he was sending you.

And sometimes the only instructions he gives you is get up, put your shoes on, go to the door, wait for me.

When you get to the door, I give you your next instruction.

And this is how crazy we are.

But God, what's gonna happen when I get to the door?

What's on the other side of the door?

Who's on the other side of the door?

What's gonna happen to me when I get to the door?

And we allow fear to make decisions for us.

We allow worry to choose if we're gonna be obedient or not.

We allow stress to dictate what we do and how we do it.

I'm pretty sure Ananias was afraid.

I'm pretty sure Ananias was worried.

I'm pretty sure he had a little anxiety he was dealing with after hearing, I have to go lay hands on the person that has been persecuting and killing Christians.

I'm pretty sure.

But he did not let fear determine his obedience.

So simply put, if God tells you to do something and you are afraid, do it afraid.

If God tells you to do something and you are worried, do it worry.

If God tells you to do something and it stresses you out a little bit, do it stress them.

But what you cannot do is be disobedient because when you are disobedient, someone else suffers because of your disobedience.

So if you got to obey fearful, obey fearful.

If you got to obey worried, obey worried.

If you got to obey a little a little stress, obey stress, but obey the commandments that God has given you.

Because there's nothing better than being in the perfect will of God.

When you obey, God will put your name in rooms your feet have not yet walked into.

As Ananias is walking, God is talking to Saul about Ananias.

As he's walking, God is saying, Man, it's coming, name Ananias.

So hold on, stay put.

Don't worry.

You're gonna regain sight.

I'm sending what you've been praying for.

And for Ananias, God is telling him, just keep walking.

I got you.

You're safe, you're covered, you're protected.

Just keep walking, just keep going, just keep moving, just keep going on the street car straight.

But God, what do you want me to do when I get there?

Just keep putting one foot in front of the other right now.

Just keep putting your hand in my hand.

Just keep putting your trust in me.

I am making a way out of no way.

God, what do you want me to do?

Just keep going.

So as God is speaking to one man, he's speaking to the other.

And right now, as some of you are speaking to God, God is speaking to your blessing.

Wait, let me give you scripture.

Did not his word say that my word cannot return unto me void.

God has already released it.

So the word is not back in heaven.

Your prayer, your breakthrough, your blessing is not back up there with him.

It's here.

And it cannot return until it accomplishes everything he desires for it to accomplish it.

So the best way for me to put it is if you have prayed it and God has released it, but you have not received it, it's in proximity.

Keep walking, keep moving, keep stepping.

Look at your neighbor, tell your neighbor, keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going.

Don't you dare allow fear to make decisions for you.

Don't allow stress to make decisions for you.

Don't allow worry to make decisions for you.

Keep going, even if you have to go afraid.

Ananias had no way of knowing Saul was expecting him.

Which means you may never know how prepared the other side of your obedience already is.

Acts chapter 9, verse 13 says, But Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard from many about this man how much evil he has done to your saints in Jerusalem.

Acts 9:13

When I read this, I'm reminded faith doesn't require me to pretend that I'm not afraid.

Ananias doesn't immediately shout, Yes, Lord, I'm on my way.

He essentially says, Lord, are we talking about the same Saul?

Like we talking about Saul or Tarsus.

That meant a killer.

Because they believed in you.

And you want me to go lay hands on them?

Are we talking about the same dude?

That dude is straight-up hitter.

Well, you why don't I go do?

I want you to go lay hands on them.

People in other cities knew Saul.

They knew of the threat he was.

They knew how he was torturing believers.

They knew how he was imprisoning believers.

They knew how he was killing believers.

They have heard that he has stood by and watched people get stoned.

This man's reputation bred fear in the region.

And here Jesus is telling Ananias, I want you to go into this man's house.

And I want you to lay hands on the man you know has been killing your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

Ananias gets his things, surrenders to the instructions that Jesus gives him.

And he goes anyway.

Through the fear, through the worry, through the anxiety, through the stress, through the concern, he goes anyway.

Point number three is this.

Fear says, remember what they did.

Faith says, remember who sent you.

And Enias says, Lord, are we talking about the same Saul?

You know what he did?

You know who he is?

Jesus says, I know who he is.

He's praying right now.

Know who is sending you.

See, when you know who is sending you, you're not afraid of anybody standing in front of you.

When you know who's sending you, it doesn't matter how bleak or dire the season is, he's sending you into.

When you know who's sending you, you know no matter what comes against you, it shall not prosper, it shall not succeed.

When you know who's sending you, you know you cannot be defeated.

When you know who's sending you, you understand you already have victory.

You're not fighting for it, you're fighting from it.

When you know who's sending you, you understand I am more than an overcomer.

I am a conqueror in Jesus Christ.

When you know who is sending you, and you understand and realize that he has never lost a battle and he doesn't plan on losing today, then you go in that room with a different pep in your step.

You go in looking different, sounding different, a different level of boldness and confidence.

You you go in there like you know who you are because you know who is sending you.

The problem with most of us is we don't know who's sending us, and so we're timid, nervous, cowards.

You know who's sending you, even if your knees are trembling, you know, man, God is for me.

And if God is for me, who or what can stand against me?

If God is for me, there's not a giant big enough to stand against my God.

If God is for me, there's not a mountain big enough to stand against my God.

If God is for me, there's not a season difficult enough to overcome what God has already overcome.

If God is for me, then who or what can stand against me?

When fear says, remember what they did, faith says, remember who sent you.

I've learned about courage.

Courage isn't when your memory stops warning you.

Courage is when God's voice becomes louder than what your memory remembers.

And some of you need to be reminded today that God is victorious.

No matter how loud the enemy is shouting, no matter how loud the enemy is screaming, God is victorious.

He has never lost.

He has never lost.

I don't care what the enemy is saying to you, God is never lost.

I don't care what doctors are saying to you, he is never lost.

I don't care what your friends and your family are saying to you, God has never lost.

And he will not start losing with your situation and your circumstance and your season.

He only knows victory and he only gives victory and he gives victory to those that give him glory.

So I wonder is there anybody listening to me right now that can move yourself out of the way of what it is God designed us to do and take the next 20 seconds to give Jesus some glory in this place?

Give him glory.

I know you don't feel like it, give him glory.

I know you don't want to, give him glory.

I know when it ain't your season again, give him glory.

I know your body gonna be in the baby, give him glory.

I know your marriage's gonna be on the road, give him glory.

I know you ain't talking to your kids, give him glory.

I know you ain't getting the promotion you wanted, give him glory.

Well, Pastor, why am I giving God glory?

Because he ain't start losing no battles! He's good.

Remember who sent you, remember who sent you, remember who sent you.

Remember who sent you.

Sometimes God sends you where the threat is real, but his presence is realer.

And Anias starts on his journey.

He reminds Jesus.

Saul has authority here that has been given to him by the chief priest to bind all who come in your name.

The same, God just saying rumor.

He got paperwork.

He came on behalf of the government.

What you want me to do?

Be obedient.

His reputation is gone ahead of him.

In Acts chapter 9, verses 1 through 2, Saul had obtained letters from the high priests authorizing his mission against followers of the way.

Acts 9:1–2

From Ananias' perspective, Saul isn't just merely dangerous.

Saul is legally empowered to be dangerous.

He is given permission to be dangerous.

He is given permission to take Christians.

He is given permission to snatch people out of their homes if they follow the way.

But he still obeys.

Ananias, he calls Jesus Lord.

And so Ananias understood obeying you, it may cost you my life.

But my life is nothing without you.

And so I would rather die with you than to die without you.

So if you're sending me on a mission to a killer that kills Christians, I may move slow, but I'm gonna move.

Because obedience to you in discomfort is better than disobedience in comfort.

Point number four is this a faith that costs nothing will eventually convince you to obey only when obedience is convenient.

If your faith doesn't cost you anything, that ain't faith at all.

Because faith will lead you into places you cannot see, it will tell you to do things you don't want to do, it will have you connecting with people that you once hated.

That's how faith works.

If your faith does not cost you anything, it will eventually convince you to obey only when obedience is convenient.

Sometimes the greatest evidence that Jesus is the Lord of your life is when you obey him and that obedience threatens what you would rather protect.

And some of you would rather protect your money, rather protect your relationships, rather protect your influence, rather protect your platforms.

And Jesus saying, if you just place it in my hands, I'll multiply it and I'll return it back to you so that you can be a steward over more.

But if you keep it, that's as big as it will ever get, that's as blessed as it will ever get.

That's as much as you'll ever see.

If you give it back to me, I'll multiply it and you'll see more.

The word of God says, He gives seed to the sore.

And that seed is not just financial, that seed means a plethora of different things, but it will not grow if you continue to hold on to it.

So a faith that costs nothing will eventually convince you to obey only when life is convenienced.

You truly have not discovered the depth of your surrender until God's instructions collide with your instinct of self-preservation.

If you think about your name, what do you think about his name?

You're not surrendered.

If you think about you more than you think about him, you're not submitted.

You're not coming to give you a partial life.

Word of God said he came to give you life and life more abundantly.

And sometimes in this life, God sends you towards the very person and the very people everybody else is running from because he has decided their story will not end where their reputation currently stands.

And Aeneas was afraid Saul might take his life while God was preparing Saul to spend the rest of his life giving his away.

Sometimes God will send you on missions, will send you on assignments that are so unlikely, you will think it is not God.

But God's unlikely assignment for your life will often send you in the direction your comfort will never choose.

So when fear says back up, faith says walk towards it.

When your past stays and it speaks loud and it tells you you're not changing, faith says you're changing day by day.

When people around you telling you, oh, you're the same, old, same old, faith should speak up and say, No, I'm not.

I'm becoming more like Jesus Christ.

When you don't understand why God chose you, allow your faith to speak up and remind yourself that greater is He that is in me than He that is in the world.

When fear says you're gonna die, you're gonna die, you're gonna die, let faith rise up and says you're gonna live and not die.

And God is gonna renew your youth like the eagles.

When your mind is spinning and you can't know which way up is from down, allow faith to speak on your behalf and say, I have the mind of Christ.

I am clothed in righteousness and I will do the things God has called me to do, and I will become everything that God desires me to become.

When it seems like you got more month and you got money, faith should rise up on the inside of you, and you should allow faith to speak on your behalf and say, Greater is he that is in me than he that is in the world.

We're gonna be alright.

How do I know we're gonna be alright?

Because God said we're gonna be alright.

So even if you gotta obey afraid, obey afraid.

Even if you're fearful, do it afraid.

Take it step by step, day by day, moment by moment, but everything you do, make sure you do it in obedience to what Jesus has asked of you to do.

And walk towards him, even when you don't see him.

Close your eyes and listen for his voice.

God's unlikely assignment for you.

It will make sense when it makes sense.

But don't allow it to make sense before you obey.

Be obedient before it makes sense.

Because the greatest reward isn't knowing how the story ends before you begin it.

The greatest reward is being obedient every step of the way on this journey of life.

And when you do that, he allows you to see things you never thought were possible, and he'll use you in more ways than you could ever dream of.

Because God's unlikely assignment, it is better than your plans, your purpose, your will, and your desires.

But God, I want to know.

You'll know when you need to know until I tell you, continue to walk in obedience.

And I'll use you.

And I'll be with you, and I'll guide you.

And I'll continue to use you and guide you if you continue to be surrendered and submitted to my will and to my way.

I want you to bow your heads and close your eyes.

Whether you're in this room or whether you're watching online, you want God to use you for an unlikely assignment.

You want God to use you.

The first thing that you need is salvation.

You need to be saved.

You need to be a follower and a disciple of Jesus Christ.

His plans and his purpose for your life are better than your plans and your purpose.

His desires are better than your desires.

So live the rest of your life in relationship with Jesus Christ.

If you want to get saved today, if you want to repent, re-establish a relationship with Jesus, while heads are bowed, eyes are closed.

I want you to lift your hands right now.

Lift them high.

See those hands.

I want everybody to pray this prayer after me, Lord Jesus.

I repent for my sin.

I ask you to cleanse me from my unrighteousness.

I confess with my mouth that I am a sinner in need of salvation.

Thank you for your grace.

Thank you for your mercy.

Thank you for your love that saved me.

And so today I believe in my heart, with all of my heart, that your grace and your grace alone is sufficient for me.

And so I receive it by faith.

And I thank you for giving your life so that I could have one.

In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

How many are glad for grace?

Oh, what wonderful grace.

Oh, what marvelous grace.

Oh, what great grace.

God is good, isn't he?