Chaz Leslie - Encounter Devotional

All right. Can we give another round of

applause for these awesome musicians?

>> [applause]

>> And what a blessing it is for them to

dedicate their time to come out here and

just lead us in worship.

No strings attached, just all for God's

glory. And before we dive into this,

let's pray real fast.

Father, thank you for

everyone who is here, who's come out

here tonight to just glorify you, to

lift praises to you, to be thankful

for the many blessings you have bestowed

upon each of us. We pray that as we

dive into your word, you open our minds,

our hearts, our spirits to just absorb

you, to hear you, and to feel your

presence.

And help us just continue to enjoy a

night of just worshiping you. We pray

and we ask all this in your name. Amen.

All right, for those of you who don't

know, my name is Jazz. I've been blessed

to be play able to play drums up here on

the stage or in that corner

or in that corner

for probably the past six or seven

years. And one of the things that I have

felt

myself asking a lot over the years is

this very question on the screen, is why

me?

So tonight I kind of want to dive into

why does God pick us for specific

purposes, whether we understand them or

not. And on top of that, more of who is

God to be the one who picks us for those

purposes.

So it was mentioned earlier today by

Susan when she was talking about the

Baptist on a Mission presentation during

service. We all have specific gifts from

God. We may not realize what they are.

We may not recognize what they are, but

we all have something very specifically

unique to each of us that he has for his

plan

to do his work while we're here on

Earth.

And to dive a little more on that, to

put up Romans 8:28.

Romans 8:28

For we know God causes everything to

work together for good for those who

love God and are called according to his

purpose for them.

So we may not understand why God has put

us here on this Earth.

Sometimes we figure out what our our

traits are

early. Sometimes we figure them out

later in life, but we all have a

specific purpose here for His kingdom.

And for me, it was always

a thought of

now you got the wrong person. There's

somebody way more qualified that can do

that. Or

why are you picking me to do that for?

Do you Do you not know my past? Like,

come on man, I'm not the right guy for

that. And one of the things I found

that's important when you get feeling

like that is not, "Hey God, why me?"

Ask him, "Okay, Lord, show me why you

chose me."

Show me why you picked me for this

specific task. So, we're going to kind

of break this down into two segments.

We're going to look at who's God to call

on me, and then we're going to look into

why me.

So, for starters, who is God to call on

me? I mean, number one, he's the maker

of the universe.

Genesis 1:1 says it right there, for God

Genesis 1:1

created the heavens and the earth.

So, if he can create the heavens and the

earth,

if he can create man out of dust, and

back to dust be returned when we perish

and leave this earth, who are we to

question him

when he says, "Hey,

and normally he tries the gentle touch

at first. And then sometimes if you're

like me, it's a nice little smack on the

back of the head that, "Hey, I want you

to do it, right?"

Second, God is our father. He is our

heavenly father.

Psalm 103:13 says, "As a father has As a

Psalms 103:13

father has compassion on his children,

so the Lord has compassion on those who

fear him."

We spend a lot of time here on earth,

and we have earthly fathers and dads to

help raise us, mold us into the people

we they want us to be, and trying to

make us decent human beings when we go

out into the world.

Why can't our heavenly father do the

same for us? Why can't we turn to him

when we have questions or fear, doubt,

when we're anxious, nervous, scared?

Why don't we turn to him,

and again, just say, "Hey Lord, I don't

understand why you picked me,

but please show me why."

Third, God wants to know us intimately.

He wants to get to know you on a deep

level. Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know

Jeremiah 29:11

the plans I have for you. This is the

Lord's declaration. Plans for your

well-being,

not for disaster, to give you a future

and a hope."

God's not going to put anything in front

of you that you can't handle.

And sometimes it is that you can't

handle it by yourself, and you need to

ask for help.

That's one of the key differences. There

are plenty of things he'll put in front

of you that you can get through

by yourself. There will be plenty of

things that he puts in front of you

because he's testing you. Will you turn

to me?

I put you here for this reason. Will you

turn to me

and let me help you?

Fourth, God wants a relationship with

us. And again, he wants to know us

intimately, but to form a relationship,

that's a two-way connection. That means

as much time as he's investing in you,

you need to invest into him.

Romans 8:38-39,

Romans 8:38–39

"For I'm persuaded that neither death

nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor

things present, nor things to come, nor

powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any

other created thing will be able to

separate us from the love of God that is

in Christ Jesus our Lord."

God loves us more than we're ever going

to understand. I know as a parent I tell

my kids that all the time. Like, you

will never know how much I really truly

love you

until you are an adult and you have kids

of your own. Something that my mom

always said to me when I was younger.

And I always thought, "Okay, whatever."

Well, now I'm older. I have three kids,

one of which who's in college as a

freshman this year. And seeing her leave

the house and step into the world

to challenge it head-on without

necessarily mom and dad right there with

her

is kind of an amazing thing.

On the one hand, I'm I'm sad she's gone,

but I'm also very excited to see this

next leg for her.

And I also know that she has a strong

foundation in her faith.

She's a lot more advanced at this point

than I was. I went to church as a kid. I

wasn't invested in God, and then some

things happened, and I kind of shied

away. When I went off to college,

I didn't go to church.

I wasn't seeking God. I wasn't seeking

services. I wasn't seeking any of that

while I was there. I got absorbed in

what my friends were doing and more

invested in watching football on Sundays

and sleeping in till, you know, right

before 1:00 kickoff time.

She has already been there. She's

already found her a church that she's

regularly attending. She has found other

college students at ECU that she is

going there with and investing her time

with them.

Forming those kind of relationships that

if she

is to say fall off the wagon, they're

right there to pick her up.

So, for me as a dad, I'm excited for

that. I can only imagine how excited God

is for her

when she's doing this herself at 18

years old.

God also shows us grace and forgiveness

when we don't deserve any of it.

Ephesians 2:8, for you were saved by

Ephesians 2:8

grace through faith, and this is not

from yourselves, it is God's gift. This

is a gift he gives us freely and

willingly when we are all sinners and we

don't deserve any of it. But, he just

loves us that much. So, again, if he's

calling on you to do something with that

kind of love behind that purpose,

why wouldn't you just turn to him and

figure out what it's for?

And then most importantly, God gave up

his one and only son to form an

everlasting relationship with us. John

John 3:16

3:16.

God gave up his own son

to tell us how much he loved us that

Jesus would take all of our sins from

now through eternity on the cross so

that we could have a relationship with

God personally.

I mean, isn't that amazing?

That he would do that for us.

And we all have our own histories. We

all have our own backgrounds. We've all

made our own mistakes. We know what they

are. God knows what they are. Hopefully,

we've all repented and confessed them to

him, given them to him so he can take

that burden off of our back.

So, if that's the kind of God that calls

on us and gives us these gifts and

purposes,

the next thing that a lot of people

think of if you're like me is why me?

And my question to you is why is that

our default response?

When God asks us to do something and

calls on us, why is our default always

go, "Why me?" Like, what makes you think

that I'm qualified to do that?

Like, you know that guy knows way more

scripture than I do, and that guy is way

more versed in and deep intellect than I

am. Why would you pick me?

If you only knew my past, you would

never think that I'm the right person

for this.

On the flip side, isn't that another

reason why God chose you for certain

purposes? It's because of your past. He

knows the mistakes you've done.

You've repented and given them back to

him.

He's helped you out of there.

Why can't you take that experience and

those life lessons to help the next

person right behind you who's going

through the exact same thing you were?

So, while you're chewing on all these

questions, a couple of things I want you

to think about.

Our past does not define us. Again, we

all make mistakes.

We're human, right?

None of us are like God. None of us

should want to seek to be like God.

Romans 3:23 says, "For all have sinned

Romans 3:23

and fall short of the glory of the glory

of God." That's every single one of us.

It's something we need to come to terms

with, but also be thankful for at the

same time because we know that we can't

do everything ourselves. But, we've got

a maker who wants to be right there by

our side, if you will let him.

When we give our lives to Jesus, we are

made new.

Second Corinthians 5:17, "Therefore, if

2 Corinthians 5:17

anyone is in Christ, he is a new

creation. The old has passed away, and

see, the new has come."

I'm not the same person I was 5 years

ago, 10 years ago, 15 years ago. I like

to think that I have steadily improved

and gotten better.

Um I know for me,

a hard thing I have is actually

listening for God. I don't For the

longest time, I would feel,

you know, a voice, and I always

question, "Oh, is that really God, or is

that really something else?" And I would

just kind of shrug it off.

So, he speaks to us through many

different ways. He speaks through

emotional responses.

Sometimes it's just an overwhelming

sensation. I know for me I was at work

one day, Johanna was pregnant with our

third kid and we were like, "Hey,

this is it. If it's another girl, I'm a

girl dad for life. If it's a boy,

fantastic. I've always wanted a son."

And I remember sitting at my desk at

work just typing away and this

overwhelming sensation came over me that

it, "Hey, it's a boy."

I was fully confident going into that

evening's session where they were going

to actually tell us the sex of the baby,

that it was a boy. And we walked right

in there and I told her that on the way

there. I was like, "I'm not trying to

jinx it,

but I'm telling you, God spoke to me,

it's a boy." Walked right in there,

first thing that pops up, it's a boy.

God also talks to us through other

people. Sometimes we pray about things

that we're struggling with

and people don't know about it, right?

You could be thinking, "Oh man, I'm

dealing with this problem. I don't

really want to confess it just yet.

Lord, help me hear you. Help me see how

I can fix this, how you can help me."

And you talk to a friend and they say

the exact thing you need to hear.

He also speaks to us through answered

prayers. I mean, how many different

medical marvels have we seen

throughout the world over the years?

Another thing for me, I prayed, "Hey,

Lord,

it really would think it'd be awesome if

the church had a men's Bible study or a

men's study group." So, I kept praying,

"Lord, help show me who I need to talk

to

to start a men's Bible study, to start a

men's group here at church." Kept

praying, kept praying and one day on my

way to work he was like, "Hey, I got

your answer." And I was like, "Sweet,

Lord, tell me who to talk to and I will

convince them to lead this Bible study."

Short answer, it was me.

I thought I was absolutely unqualified.

I didn't I don't have scripture

memorized. I

can't tell you all the different stories

through the Bible. And I thought, "Lord,

what are you What are you doing? What

are you picking me for?"

Yes, I am in a very healthy marriage,

and I'm very thankful for that. I have

three amazing kids at home. I have a

great thing going for me, but I didn't

feel like I was the right person for

this.

And sure enough, he was like, "No.

I want you to lead it because I want you

to come in there every single Sunday you

do your lessons, and I want you to be

authentic.

We don't need someone who looks like the

pristine dad or the pristine husband,

has everything going with them, and can

quote the Bible and the scriptures, all

that stuff. We want someone who can come

in here and just be relatable, right?

So, I'm going to ask you guys,

how many of you have felt like you heard

God's calling you or have felt like

God's presence was there,

but you chose to run?

How many of you have done it more than

once?

And an even deeper question,

how many of you are still running?

I have ran from God more than once.

Believe it or not, this was not the

first opportunity I ever had to play

drums in a church. An opportunity came

up many years ago before we started

coming to Saugus Creek. I went out

there, kind of showed what I could do.

They were like, "Dude, this is awesome.

Let's get you involved." I was like,

"Hey, soccer season, hold up. You're

going to have to wait." Well,

they got a couple more drummers to come

in.

I was like, "Ooh, Lord, tell me that

ain't That's not That's not the right

time."

I backed off.

Couple years go by, we changed churches,

we're starting to come here regularly. I

get a text from Linda that says, "Hey,

heard you play drums. We're looking to

do a live baccalaureate service at the

high school. Would you do it?"

And at the time, I'm still in a boot,

had just had ankle surgery. But my big

question to Joe was like, "Who the crap

told Lynn

that I play drums?"

And then, yes, not thinking not thinking

about it.

Chappie's in the quartet that sings at

church. For those you don't know Chappie

is David Sliker. That's my

father-in-law. So duh, he told them that

I play drums.

And I've been thankful for it ever since

because had he not told her that had she

not reached out to me, I probably would

have either been still involved in AV or

still doing the welcome team and I

wouldn't be involved in the music like I

am here.

And it has been an absolute blessing

because I get to be part of the

encounter services. I get to play on

Sunday mornings. I get to be part of the

Creekside Chimes and play with the bell

choir.

And for me, music is a passion of mine.

So again, what better way to use one of

your gifts, one of your passions

that God gave you before his purpose?

So good news, if you are someone who has

run from God once, twice, however many

times, you're not the only one.

We're not the only people who have

questioned why God chose them.

So I'm going to kind of run through a

few examples that I find relatable.

You've got Moses.

Moses committed murder. Moses also

stuttered a lot and did not think he was

a good public speaker.

But God still chose him.

You've got Gideon. Gideon completely

felt insignificant. He felt he was he

was from the weakest tribe of Manasseh

and he felt he was the least of his

entire family.

God still chose him.

You've got Elijah.

Elijah when Queen Jezebel threatened his

life, ran and hid in the wilderness,

eventually underneath a broom tree he

asking God to just kill him, to let him

die.

Each one of those times that they had

issues, each one of those times they ran

from God,

God never stopped pursuing them. And I

want to remind you that God's never

going to stop pursuing you either.

You can run. You can push it off to the

side and he may say, "Okay,

I'll let you go for a little bit.

But I'm still here when you're ready."

So my thing for you is, why do you

bother continuing to avoid him?

Why do we keep running away?

Instead of saying why me, again, ask God

to show you why he chose you.

Those same examples, Moses led the

Israelites out of Egypt, saved God's

people. Gideon rescued Israel from the

Midianites. And Elijah was used by God

to anoint kings and rescue Israel.

So, when you're feeling stressed or

worried about why God's asking you to do

something, take it to him in prayer and

ask him to fill you in on why he wants

you to fill that purpose.

Yes, it may be uncomfortable. Yes, you

may lose friends along the way and yes,

you may be putting yourself in

situations you never thought you would

be in.

Case in point.

But again,

take it to God. God is always there for

you. He is always behind you and he will

always have your back 100%.

You put up 2 Timothy 4:5, there you go.

2 Timothy 4:5

But as for you, exercise self-control in

everything, endure hardship, do the work

of an evangelist, and fulfill your

ministry.

Don't be afraid to go out there and put

yourself on the line for Jesus. Don't be

afraid to put yourself out there even if

it makes you feel silly or even makes

you feel stupid.

Knowing that you're doing it for God

should be all the reward that you need

out of that.

You put up there Matthew 7:7-8.

Matthew 7:7–8

Ask and it will be given to you, seek

and you will find, knock and the door

will be opened to you. For everyone who

asks receives and the one who seeks

finds and to the one who knocks the door

will be opened.

Never stop turning to him, friends.

Never stop asking him to watch over you.

Never stop asking him to reach out

through you, to use you as a beacon or a

vessel to do his work. For as long as

you continue to turn to him, he will

continue to bless you and give you

everything you need.

So, again, stop running from God. Be

willing to embrace the call he's chosen

for you. Life is not always meant to be

lived in comfort. And we like our

comfort, right? We like to get

comfortable. We like to sometimes get

complacent and lazy, too, because when

things are going good, things are going

good. Why rock the boat?

But take the challenge and step outside

your comfort zone and be the person God

wants you to be.

So, as I wrap this up, some thoughts I

want you to take with you as you leave

here tonight.

One, is God does not call the qualified.

He qualifies the called.

You may feel completely and utterly

inexperienced at what he wants you to

do, but I promise you he's going to make

sure that you don't fail. Whether that

means you learn the stuff yourself or

he's going to put the right people in

your life to help you get through

whatever you're going through.

Don't let your fears, anxieties, and

self-doubt keep you from the purpose God

has for you. You were designed exactly

the way he wants you to be.

And I don't know about you, but my God

doesn't make mistakes.

He will guide you where you need to go.

If you And it's hard for him to do so if

you're constantly trying to steer.

So, you got to learn to let go of the

reins.

Just let go and turn it over to him.

Isaiah 6:8. Then I heard the voice of

Isaiah 6:8

the Lord asking, "Who should I send?

Who will go for us?" And I said, "Here I

am. Send me."

That should be us, friends.

When we're scared, when we're not

understanding what's going on, and the

Lord says, "I need someone to do it."

Step out and say, "Send me."

"Send me, Lord. Give me what I need.

Equip me the way you need me to be to go

and do your work."

It's okay to be scared. It's okay to ask

others to pray for you. And it's okay to

talk to trusted friends about your

concerns. At the end of the day, we're

all God's children. We are all his

family, and we should all be here for

one another.

And last thing last, I got a picture I

want to share.

This was a tweet I saw that says, "The

church becomes healthier when everyone

stops assuming someone else will serve."

And I want you to think about that in

both ways. The church as God's people,

and the church is the physical building.

What are ways you can become more

involved with the church to support your

fellow Christians, your fellow brothers

and sisters

to help God's kingdom. And then on the

flip side, when in the actual physical

church building, what can you do

to help those that are in need?

So, before we get back into some music,

I'm going to pray as we continue this

service.

Father, we thank you for this chance to

come here.

We thank you for this opportunity to

again study your word, Lord, and we pray

that you just keep a fire lit inside of

each and every one of us that

when we're faced with difficult

situations, when we're faced with trials

and tribulations, we just turn them all

over to you. We lift your name,

Lord, and we just pray that you just

help instill heart and hearts to do you

to do your word. Father, we pray you be

with us as we continue this service. May

we continue to just lift praises to you,

glorify your name. We pray and we ask

all this in your name. Amen.