Next week. Amen, amen, amen. Good morning, Hope City. Y'all ready for some church today? It seems like we've already had that. The worship was amazing. The worship was great. It's always exciting to see what God does in the midst of His people.
You know, it's something about worshiping and praising God and reading your Bible by yourself. But when God's people come together, there is a power, there is a surge, if you would, in the spirit that actually takes place. So excited about this service today. Excited to hear what God would say to us as we get to the end of our series here.
I want to just give a couple quick announcements. I also just want to give a quick plug for our ushers who have been working diligently on bringing it. Yes, amen. Being an usher is not always the easiest job, trying to sit people, trying to get order. And so I just want to give a shout out to our ushers today, who have pretty much got it as tight as possible in here. Those who didn't make it in, they are in our overflow room.
I just want to encourage us. If you can, Hope City, our first service was pretty full as well today. And so we know our second and third services are almost always to capacity. Our first service is almost there as well. So just to kind of help us out, I would encourage you to try to get to church about 15 minutes early so you can get the seat you want.
Our goal is going to be ultimately to fill in the front rows first and then begin to move to the back. So I want to just drop that today that if you want to get your preferred seat, you better get here early because the goal is going to be to begin to fill up from the front to the back. So we don't interrupt worship, if you would.
And so just want to say that there. And also just thank all the parents for our kids department. I think it's almost always 150 children every Sunday that's in our kids department. And so just want to thank our kids department for doing an amazing, amazing job.
If you're a first-time guest, we never even ask our guests to take their kids over to the nursery because you're a first-time guest. And you just don't have to worry about it. You just don't trust everybody with your children. Amen. And so, but do know, we do have a kids ministry, feel no obligation to use that right now. But as you begin to get acclimated to Hope City Church, do know, and even if you don't want to drop them off that first time, but you want to take a tour of the background, the back area, let them know, and they'll give you an opportunity to walk in the back area to kind of see how our children's department is organized.
Okay. Last two things. We have our Super Saturday Serve Day on the first Sunday in May. For those who haven't been here long enough, one of the things that really got Hope City Church where it's at right now is because of all the service we did in the community, in the city over the past 10 years, and COVID kind of brought us down some. Last year, we gave over $116,000 in outreach funding.
So we do give a lot of money out to support outreaches, but I really want to see us physically getting out in the community. I want to see us physically getting out in the community. I want to see us physically a little bit more. So in the next couple of days, there will be hopefully 10 serve opportunities for you guys to sign up for and register to be a part of.
And so be on the lookout for that link and the information on the website where you can begin to be a part of one of our outreach projects that we'll have on the first Saturday of May. If you have a service project on the inside of you, you've got an outreach thing going on already, you love serving the homeless, whatever that may be, go to the website today. Let us know. We'll get back to you in a couple of days.
We'll get behind you, build a small group for that Saturday, and we'll give you volunteers to help you do that particular outreach. So whether it's single moms, homeless men, whatever it is, we will get behind you and support you with that.
And then last but not least, as we already heard about our mission trip, we will be going to Africa here in the next couple of months. I am looking forward to that. This will literally make my second trip to Africa. And to add to that, we're going back not only in June, but I'll be going back in October.
We are full right now for the goal of 20 individuals on this trip, so that is closed. But we will, everyone can't go and some don't want to go. They don't have the confidence to go for one reason or another, or you just don't feel called to go internationally-wide.
So I want to just encourage you as it relates to supporting the mission trip through giving or praying. And so over the next few weeks, we will be doing a special offering for our mission trip and your support in that will make a difference. You can go to the website, you can give to our Africa trip, our missions department, all those offerings will go towards that over the next few weeks. Amen.
All right, let's jump right into the word. If you've been with me for the past few weeks, you know we've been in a series called "Promises." Somebody say "Promises." We've been in a series called "Promises."
And in this series, it was talking about the four core promises that God made to the children of Israel in the book of Exodus. And those four core promises that God made to the children of Israel in the book of Exodus, and those four same promises were fulfilled through Jesus Christ.
And so the first week, or when we finally got to the promises, the first week was an overview. But when we finally got into the heart of the four promises, we discovered that the first promise was God says, "I will get you out of Egypt." Then the second promise was, "I'll get Egypt out of you." Once I get Egypt out of you, I'll restore you back to your original design, which is our focus today. And then the fourth one was, "I'll make you my own people."
At Hope City Church, our vision is simple. It's to help people know God, find freedom, discover their purpose, and make a difference. Those are four things you'll see written on all of our walls.
How we fulfill that as a strategy-wise, our helping people know God. And let me read the scripture where it says in Exodus chapter six, verse six, for those who haven't been with us all these weeks, it says, "Therefore say to the Israelites, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians." That was the first promise. "I will bring you out."
And then the second promise, "I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians." And then the second promise was, "I will free you from being slaves to them." That was the second. And the third is, "I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment." And then he says, "The fourth promise is, I will take you as my own people."
This verse of scripture here was read just a couple of weeks ago in almost every Jewish temple because this is the promise that God made to them. And they remember that even to today. So when we did the resurrection Sunday, they did the Passover that Friday. This is the scripture they will read as they were doing a Seder meal. They'll go around the table and they will proclaim those four "I will" statements.
"I will bring you out. I will get it out of you. Once I get it out of you, I'll restore you back to your original design. And after that, I'll take you as my own people," ultimately being the body of Christ, the Ecclesia.
So for us as a church, know God, "I'll get you out of Egypt," find freedom, "get Egypt out of you," discover your purpose, "it's putting you back to your original design." And then the fourth promise is, "I will bring you as my own people." Once I get it out of you, I'll restore you back to your original design. And then after that, we'll put you on a dream team.
So again, know God, Sunday mornings, find freedom, small groups, discover your purpose, growth track, which is our new members class, and then make a difference. That's where our chance to put you on a dream team where you can serve.
We don't say volunteers here at Hope City. We say our dream team because we're not asking you to volunteer as a singer. If you can't sing, don't volunteer. If you don't like kids, don't go to the kids department. If you can't play the drums, don't play the drums. We're looking for people who have discovered their purpose.
Why? "I have set the members in the body," says Christ, "as it pleases him." You don't need volunteers in the church. You need people who've discovered why they are here. Are you with me?
The only time that we do volunteers is if you want to volunteer and sell some waffles and chicken. Anybody can do that. Come on, somebody. You want to move some chairs? Anyone can do that. You know, but when it comes to your purpose in the body of Christ, who am I? Why am I here? What is my purpose?
Why? Because as you're going to learn next week, when you discover your purpose, your design, that's where you're going to find fulfillment.
A lot of people who have been brought out of Egypt, they have been delivered or saved from Egypt. They're no longer in hell, if you would. They are proverbial Egypt. They're no longer in the burning fire. Now we got Egypt out of them. We talked about that last week, being delivered because Christians can be saved but still need to be delivered.
We talked about a lot of you are on your way to heaven. You're saved, but what you're battling with right now is we got you out of Egypt. Now we've got to get Egypt out of you. Are you with me? And that's where there are any inner workings. What Paul talks about, "What I want to do right, evil is always there." How am I going to deal with that?
And that's why the Bible talks about working out your salvation. You got to work on this thing. We don't work to get saved. We don't work for our salvation, but once we're saved, there's work to do.
I'm going to say it again. Our salvation is free. It was a gift from God, but once you are saved, there's work to do. You cannot be saved and keep all the stuff you had in Egypt. God, there is a requirement that when I get out of Egypt, when God begins to show me who I am, I got to start taking off some stuff that was acceptable in the world but not acceptable in the church.
Now, just let me speak truth. As I said, you may not change it today, but just let me speak truth and let the Holy Spirit deal with it with you on what the word applies in your life because He said, "You shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free."
But what if I don't know the truth? Then I can't be set free. So I'm going to preach the truth up in here, up in here. Come on, somebody. He said, "You got to know the truth and the truth will set you free."
And listen, the truth will find you out when you least expect it. It will find you out when you least expect it. He gets us out of Egypt. He gets Egypt out of...
Because again, one of the things I hated, and then I'll jump fully onto discovering your purpose, is when we get people out of Egypt. Because one of the beautiful things about Hope City Church is that people come as they are, but the word will not let you stay as you are.
And too many times we push people away before we get a chance to minister to them. And so we got to, let's first get them out of the fire. You see, the house is burning right now. I'm not trying to get the smoke out of you. I'm trying to get you out of the burning building.
Now that I got you out, now let's do some work. Let's get some of that Egypt out of you. Let's get some of the old habits and old ways out of you. And then once we do that, no particular order in a sense, but I'm teaching it this way here for you to understand our vision and then how God made these promises available.
And then we're going to restore you back to your original design. You cannot be fully restored to your original design if you're not out of Egypt. You cannot be restored fully to your original design that even if you're out of Egypt, but Egypt's not out of you.
Okay. And so now I love the story about in Jeremiah chapter one, where it talks about the prophet Jeremiah, who discovered his purpose. If you would, he figured out why he showed up. He figured out why he said yes to life.
But oftentimes before we figure out who we are, or once we figure out who we are, we have some enemies to our purpose. When I look at Jeremiah chapter five, his own enemy was himself at first, how he thought about himself, how he saw himself.
Jeremiah five, one said the words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah. This may not be on the screen. I just got this myself last night. The words of Jeremiah, the son of Hilkiah of the priests that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin, to whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah, the son of Ammon, the king of Judah in the 13th year of his reign.
It came also in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah until the end of the 11th year of Zedekiah, the son of Josiah, king of Judah until the carrying away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month.
Here's my focus verse here. It says in verse four, "Then the word of the Lord came unto me saying, before I formed you in your mother's womb, I knew you and I ordained you to be a prophet unto the nations."
So here goes Jeremiah, God's telling him, "Do you know your purpose? I'm telling you why you are here. You were born to be a prophet unto the nations." And look what Jeremiah says in verse number six. He says in verse six, "Then said, ah, ah, Lord God, behold, I cannot speak for I am a child."
Many of you are not walking in your purposes right now because you have some circumstances that conflict with who God says you are. Amen. Amen. Amen.
You are allowing the circumstances where you were born, where you were not born to dictate who you can and will become. You were born on the wrong side of the tracks. You did not have the right resources. You did not finish school, but God is calling you to do something specific, but you're referring back to your condition.
Listen, God never looks at the facts when He called you to do something. I'm going to say it again. God never considers the facts when He wanted to use you. He knows many of you have been jacked up. He knows many of us have problems, but He still chooses to use us even in our jacked up state because watch this here.
He's going to deal with the jacked up state. If you're really in Christ, listen, you can fool me if you're in Christ, but you can't fool God. If you're really in Christ, you can fool me. You can cry. You can lift your hands every single Sunday. You can fool us, but you can't fool God.
You can't fool God if you're really in Christ. If you're really part of the family. Come on, somebody. Don't get mad at me right now. I got to just, He said, "Jeremiah, before I formed you in your mother's womb, I knew you and I ordained you to be a prophet unto the nation."
And here you are coming to me with all your excuses on why you can't do what I told you to do, on why you can't do what I've called you to do. You're saying, "I'm a child and I cannot even speak."
And look what the Lord says in verse number seven, "But the Lord said unto me, say not, I am a child." Now the core translation to that was the Lord said to him, "Shut up." My translation, "Shut up."
You know, because think about it. How oftentimes have you talked yourself out of what God's trying to talk you into? How often have you talked yourself out of what God was trying to talk you into? And now you better shut your mouth. You better be quiet.
Why? Because the power of life and death is really in your tongue. And how many doors have you shut in your own life because you didn't know when to shut your... No, I'm going to say what I want to say. I'm a man.
That being a man or being a woman is going to get you in trouble if you don't know how to control your... He says, "Stop speaking that stupid talk. Stop saying that I am a child. Stop talking about what your dad is saying. Stop talking about what your mama said about you."
No. Who does God say about you? You are fearfully and wonderfully made. You are the apple of God's eye. You are the head and not the tail, the lender and not the borrower, blessed in the city, blessed in the field, blessed coming and going at the same time.
You got to know what God says about you and not your conditions and your circumstances. Why? Because God has power over all your conditions and your circumstances if you submit it to Him.
The issue is many of us have not submitted our conditions and circumstances to God. Now, what we did is we've given Him the 10 issues and circumstances we don't mind Him dealing with, but it's those 10 that we don't want to let go that are preventing us from really walking in our true purposes.
It's going to be tight, but it's going to be right. Look what it says here in Romans 12:2. "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect."
Now that's the new living, but I just like the old school King James. "Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."
Some people say God got three wills. One is good, one is acceptable, and one is perfect. That is a lot there that you either in His will or you out of His will. And Paul was just describing that His will is good, it is acceptable, and it's perfect.
You either in His will or you're out of His will. It's no in between. We cannot be conformed to the pattern of the world and we cannot try to take God's word and manipulate it to say what we want it to say to align it with culture.
I just lost five people. You're never coming back to Hope City. You like the coffee that we give away for free and you like the kids ministry, all the niceties that we got, but you don't want the truth. And that's all I know is the word. Okay.
And it's the truth that set me free. Come on, somebody. It was the truth that set me free. You know, folk go to jail and they know that word better than some of y'all who be in church everywhere. I mean, can quote it and all, but they haven't applied it.
I mean, they know the scripture like crazy. I mean, quote it, man, quote it left and right, but they apply not one of what they sitting there quoting to you. Now they probably applied it while they was locked up, obviously, because you got no choice. You get stuck in the situation, right?
You can know the truth intellectually wise. Yeah. But it is the applied truth that sets you free. When the Bible says that Adam knew Eve, that word "knew," they were intimately acquainted to the point of giving birth to a child.
When the Bible says you shall know the truth, you should be intimately acquainted with the word to the point that you give birth to truth. Come on, somebody. You give birth to what God is saying, not what you are saying and now what you desire and what you want.
I love the scripture, it's not here, but when it talks about delight yourself in the Lord thy God, and He will give you the desires of your heart. People love to read the verse where it says, "God said, He don't give me the desires of my heart."
He don't give me the desire, you know, God, well, read the whole verse. He said, "First, delight yourself in the Lord thy God, and He will give you the desires of your heart."
What is happening when you delight in yourself in the Lord your God? What is happening when you're delighting yourself in the word? Your desires, it's been transformed to what He desired for you.
So He ain't just giving you what you want, He giving you what He wants you to have. He said, "Delight yourself in the Lord thy God."
And so the question is, am I delighting myself in God's truth and His word to the point that what God says becomes my measurement, my ruler, my compass? If not, you'll never discover your purpose.
You will discover what I have here, a counterfeit version. See, again, back to the enemies of purpose. We'll compare ourselves. We will compare our gifts with somebody else and how they did it and how we got it.
We can be confused as another enemy to a person. I'm confused about who I'm supposed to be. I don't know if I'm supposed to be a doctor or a lawyer. You know, sometimes I want to dance, but then I want to be a science teacher. I'm just confused.
You're just everywhere. I don't even know who you are. Just confused. And then you spend five years being this, five years being that, eight years being this, and seven years being that.
Now, that's good if that's a strategy of yours. But that's not good if it's because you are case to rock, to rock, to rock, what would ever be, will be. No, no, no, no.
He said, "When there's no vision, the people perish." That vision is talking about when there's no redemptive revelation, the people are shaken loose. All their strengths are off, and they just live life whimsically.
Whatever happens will happen. When there's no redemptive revelation, when you don't discover, when you don't redeem, go back after leaving out of Egypt and now getting Egypt out of you.
And let's be clear. All of Egypt will not be out of you until the day you die. We'll all be getting a little leaven of Egypt out of us. But the level of Egypt that's in you now should not be the same level of Egypt in you when you first got saved.
Unless you just got saved yesterday. But if you've been saved for a process of time and you allow this word to confirm you, there should be some stuff that's falling off. Are you with me here?
Okay. Comparison, confusion, counterfeit. As the enemy to your purpose. Watch this here. Inferiority. You feel inferior. Inferior.
Scripture says here in Psalm 18:35, "You stoop down to make me great." Are you in a low place right now? Is your marriage in a low place? Is your relationship in a low place? Is your vision in a low place? Is your calling in a low?
It says He stooped down. Yeah. Is your marriage down here? Is your faith? Is your dream? It says He stooped down and made me great. God is in the business of stooping down.
And one thing I like the fact that if God has stooped down and pulled me up, who am I not to be willing to stoop down and pull somebody else up? Come on, He stooped down and made us great.
There's no need for you to walk around with an inferiority complex. I don't qualify. I don't deserve. I was born on the wrong side of the tribe.
One thing about God. You may be born on the wrong side of the tribe, but He got the gift and the power of putting you on the right side of the tribe. Come on, somebody.
Matter of fact, you are a candidate for God's miracle. Your life, your situation is... See, God's looking to give new testimonies. Some of y'all stuck on old glory, old testimony, what God did 10 years ago and 20 years ago.
You know, about 25 years ago, you know, God saved my mind. Well, what did He do yesterday? What did He do last week? That's old glory. What about new glory?
You know how it is, lady. Y'all like that new growth, right? You want that? Y'all like new growth in the hair. Y'all be shouting, "Oh, my, oh, is this growing? Is this?"
Little girl even got that right there. You like new growth too, don't you? Mama, it's growing, mama. Mama, my hair growing. New, new growth.
God, we keep talking about what God did last, yesterday. What is He doing today? The Bible tells us that His mercies are new every morning. Every single day.
You got a problem in your life? Take advantage of God's mercies in your life. But you won't do that if you haven't discovered your purpose from the bare minimum of I'm at least a child of God.
That's the low-hanging fruit of you discovering your purpose, that I am a child of God. And as a child of God, there are certain garments that come with being a child of God.
The Bible calls it spiritual fruit. And I begin to clothe myself in those garments. And as I clothe myself in those garments of love, joy, peace, and long-suffering, and patience, and then I begin to find myself in His word and connect to a life-giving church and go to step three of the growth track.
I think that happens today or next week. Next week, discover your purpose next week in growth track. But right now, discover it in His word, okay?
All these opportunities for you to figure out why you showed up and said yes to life. Ephesians chapter 2, verse 10 says, "For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus so we can do the good things He planned for us long ago."
Listen, He's planned something for you long ago. Before you even showed up, He had a plan for you. That's the reason why these little babies in your hand right now, there's a purpose locked up in the baby that you don't even know about that was already planned.
I would have made me go the other day. You know, I believe a lot of the issues that we have in the earth right now, problems could be resolved. But I want to know if we ever killed the baby that had that cure for this disease, that had this skill set.
Don't back off right now and don't put me in your box of Republican or Democrat. I'm just speaking. But how? How do we not know that baby she's holding right now has a cure, has the knowledge, has the wisdom to resolve an issue that's in the earth realm?
The Bible talks about the wisdom of God versus the wisdom of man. And I would prefer to have the wisdom of God any day than I would the wisdom of man.
Somebody say, "I'm God's masterpiece." Matter of fact, mama, look at your baby and say, "These are my masterpieces." Yes, those are your masterpieces. They are fearfully and wonderfully made. They are the apple of God's eye. They are destiny changers. They are world changers.
And no matter how much pressure and pain you may be experiencing by yourself, when you put yourself around the right people, God will be there with you through people.
See, the way I was going to end my message was with this quote right here. "My purpose is to serve God by serving others." My purpose is to serve God by serving.
So how do I serve God? By serving people. And that's the reason why it's important to discover my purpose, my place in the body of Christ. Because He set the members in the body as it pleases Him.
We don't choose if we can do this or that. What am I gifted at doing? And once I discover what I'm gifted at doing, let me find a place in the body, in the earth, in the world, to make it happen.
And some of you think that your position has to be in the church building. God's kingdom. See, God is bigger than Sunday morning. God's after kingdom.
The church is just one part of what God is trying to do. God is trying to establish His kingdom. And the church is just a body of people that He uses to go out into the earth, into the world, and transform it.
But you think you've got to be a prophet, a pastor, a teacher, or evangelist. You don't have to be. You could be an evangelist right there at that $5 million company you run.
Some of y'all have dumbed down who you're called to be. And now you're trying to be a pastor, a minister. And that's good if that's your calling. I am content in my calling.
But if that's not what you're called to do, stop pursuing stuff like that. Because someone looked at you and said, "Oh, you look like a preacher. Oh, I just see a preacher on you."
Yeah, you like a lot of chicken, don't you? Y'all laughing, but when I grew up in my Baptist space, if you ate a lot of chicken and, God forbid, you had a pot belly, some guy would say, "Oh, I see a preacher on you. I see a preacher on you."
If that's how we're giving callings out, is that how we are identifying purpose, not based on the gifts and the skill sets and desires? Is that how we're doing it?
You know, the latest thing that's been over the past 10 to 15 years, "You look anointed." Oh, you do. Oh, oh, oh. Oh, you do. Oh, you just look anointed.
Oh, you just look anointed. You just... God said, "Man looks on the outward. God looks on the..." You can look anointed on the outside, but be corrupt on the inside.
For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus. For what reason? So we can do the good things He has planned.
See, it's not good. See, and again, even though I'm teaching this of getting us out of Egypt, getting Egypt out of us, and then restoring us back to our original design, don't miss my point as it relates to that God has some good things for us to do as an isolated thing.
If you don't get out of Egypt, and in many cases, if Egypt don't get out of you, you can't do the good things that He needs you to do.
And watch this here. The danger of you not doing, I'm saying this here, the danger of you not assuming the position that you have been assigned.
How many other people are being robbed of what was? So you don't have a right to say, "I don't want to do A, B, and C," because what you're saying is, "I don't care about people. I don't care about those people who I'm assigned to, who I'm called to, whether it's in education, whether it's in politics, whether it's in religion, whether it's in entertainment, whatever mountain of influence, if you want to call it that, that you're called into, you're gifted into."
Once you discover your purpose, you lose the right to say, "I don't want to do that." Because what happens is, you main... See, the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 12, He set the members in the body as it pleases Him.
He used a physical body to explain how He sets the gifts in the body. Then He says one thing, "Is all the eyes? Is all the hands? Is all the feet?" He said, "No, you'll look crazy being one big hand."
You'll look crazy being one big hand. He said, "No, we're all speaking in tongues. We're all... Oh, prophesy. Oh, no. You're all..."
We'll all be crazy if everyone walking around here, "I got a word. I got a word. I got a word. Got a word." Imagine every time you walk in the building, you get stopped every two seconds because somebody got a word.
You know, we can build churches and I don't say this too much, at least not in my circle. Now, but years ago, people would build churches based on one gift, meaning, for example, this church is just known for prophecy.
This church, our church is just known for healing. This church is just known for deliverance. This church is known for speaking in tongues. That's all in the... or, or...
No, that's... What you have done is you have maimed the body. He said He set the members in the body that it may please Him and also so there's no schism.
The word schism means no division in the body. So when you start cutting things out of the body the way you want it to be, you put a problem, you put a schism in the body and now you're creating chaos and mayhem.
So when you come to a place like Hope City where we literally took those scriptures of setting the members in the body as it pleases Him, as you discover your purpose, we make sure there's not chaos when people come into the lobby or being seen, you know, going to the kids area, going through growth track or work.
We are putting people in their place because they discover their purpose. Are you with me on today? I'm not looking for volunteers.
Let me say this here. God is not looking for volunteers. The church building may be looking, but God is looking for people who discovered why they showed up, why they said yes to life.
I don't know the verse right now, but over in the book of Acts when Saul was on his way to kill Christians and the scripture says that Saul was on his way to kill them Christians, he had got the letter to do it. He had got permission to do it and he got permission to do it.
Now sometimes you get permission to do the wrong thing, but that don't make it right. You can have permission and some of you are going about doing the wrong thing all because you got permission.
You gotta, you gotta ask kids would say back in my days, I got my permission slip to go on a field trip. Some of the permission slips you are accepting are on a way are on a trip to nowhere.
And watch this here. Some of us are enjoying our trips to nowhere because it's comfortable, it feels good, and nobody bothered me.
Anybody judging me? I can just do what I want to do. I get to say what I want to say and it just nobody bothered with me at all. That's dangerous. That's dangerous.
I go back to my point of saying here, what if our body did not have indicators in us to let us know when we got a headache? What if our body did not have indicators that if I was to cut my arm here and that once it's cut, a signal goes through to my mind and say, "Hey, you're bleeding."
What if our body did not have signals when it was time to go to the restroom? Imagine the dysfunction. What that is, that is accountability.
Accountability. We are in a moment and in the hour when nobody want indicators. They don't want accountability. So we made ourselves from the body. We put a schism in the body.
He says the members in the back of my point, He said the members in the body as it pleases Him. These are people who have discovered their purpose so that they can now make a difference.
And Saul, I'm sorry. Yeah, Saul became Paul or became known as Paul. Saul on a road to Damascus. The scripture says Saul was riding his donkey. A light shone from heaven, knocked him off of his donkey.
It knocked him off to the off the donkey so much to the point that when he got down there, the scripture says he looked up because he knew it was God dealing with him. He said, "Lord, who are you?"
He was asking, "Lord, who are you?" And then a few verses later, he said, "What would you have me to do?" So he wanted to know who God was and God. What? What am I? I want to discover my purpose.
And what he was saying was, "Lord, who are you and what are you asking me to do?" It's my prayer today that God would knock some of y'all off your horse because here's the beauty about God knocking you off your horse.
He don't knock you off your horse to hurt you. He knocks you off your horse because He's about to elevate you and help you out. Even in the moment, you don't feel like it.
You know, you know, it don't feel like it for the moment. No. When the parents say, "It's going to hurt me, it's going to hurt me more than it's going to hurt you."
Well, don't hit me there. Just don't put your hands. It's going to hurt me more than it's going to hurt you. And we don't understand that in the moment.
But in the process of time, if you're honest with yourself, you can look back. You can look back over your life and say, "Man, I'm glad my mama said that. Man, I'm glad my dad has said that."
And so that's so I'm hoping as I close out here that God would knock some of you off of your horses so that He can get your attention.
And in Him getting your attention, I believe you're going to not only discover some good things, but specifically going to discover your purpose.
Here's one thing I left out when it comes to the enemies of our purpose. It's also diversion. It's a scripture. What made that point come to me was one particular verse found in 1 Thessalonians 2:18.
And then when Paul was trying to get to the church to give them a message, to get something to them. And look what he says here. He said, "We wanted very much to come to you. And I, Paul, tried again and again. But Satan prevented us from getting to you."
Listen. The enemy sometimes to your purpose is that God is trying to get something to you and something is intervening to stop it from getting there.
Come on. Okay, maybe I wasn't clear. So let me be clear here. The purposes of God, the plans of God can be diverted sometimes because we have an enemy that does not want you to walk into the purpose that God has for you.
God has a message for you. And many times they don't get to you because sometimes people are not in position or place or you're not in position to even hear it.
You can be dull of hearing. The Bible talks about how you could sit in the word and hear the word week in and week out and don't apply. You are.
The Bible says you are dull of hearing. It's not enough to hear. It's not. When the Bible says you should know that what the Bible talks about, "He that has ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit is saying to the church."
It's not just a one-time hearing. It's a hearing and a hearing and a hearing and a hearing. Because the issue is many of us heard one time, but we stopped hearing.
And so we stuck on what we heard, but not on what we're hearing. What if I close here? What if Abraham? What if Abraham when God told Abraham to take your son, your only son up and sacrifice him?
God told him that he heard that clear as they got said that but on his journey to go sacrifice his Isaac. There became a point where God stopped him and said, "Hey, Abraham, don't do it. Don't lay your hands on the boy."
What if Abraham said, "No, I can't know. I've been obedient. God told me to do this here because I heard what God said." But are you hearing what He's saying?
How many things have you killed over what you heard versus what you're hearing? How many things are you killing over what God has allowed for a moment and a season, but He's not going to allow in this season?
See, God sometimes let you get away with... Remember when they first got saved certain stuff God let you get away with in that little gap.
But boy, when it's time to grow up, He don't let you get away with everything. It's like it's time to move from milk to meat.
I'm not done, but I'm out of time. Let's pray.
Father, we thank You for Your word. For Your word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our paths. Thank You for speaking to our hearts today. Thank You for speaking to our minds.
I pray today, God, that this word penetrated the hearts and the minds of those who are listening. Father, as we've been learning about getting You saving us and getting us out of Egypt and that God, as You were getting us out of Egypt, God, we had to begin to do the inner working of our deliverance.
Yes, when we first get saved, there's a lot of things that do fall off, but then there are some things that stick with us that we have to work out.
And so as we focus on getting out of Egypt a couple of weeks ago and then last week being delivered, getting Egypt out of us, I believe that that's a lot of people, Father, that today they're now working on discovering their purpose.
Somebody already knew what that purpose was, but they allowed it to be thwarted by the cares of this life, by their passions, by their desires, not the will of God, but their desires.
And God, today, I believe You're drawing a line in the sand as they choose You this day. My purpose for your life of the purposes You have picked up the way.
God, I pray that maybe someone is struggling today in their finances, in their dreams and their careers. Maybe someone is saying today, "I've been doing something that I've been hating for years, but I did it because it paid the bills."
I don't know the specificity. I don't know the mountain. I don't know the valley. I don't know specifically what it is, but God, they know.
And I pray today that a light came on, that the lights came on in that area that was dark, that was unclear. But because of this word, Your word, it felt that at the end.
The tree of Your word. Maybe someone, the light of salvation came on. Maybe the light of deliverance. Maybe the light of, "I know why I'm here. I know my gifts. I know my talents."
Or maybe as we're going to learn next week as we close out this series, the light of fulfillment. Whatever specific light came on.
God, maybe the light came on of exposing their mistakes, their failures, their shame. God, what a perfect place. What a perfect place to be in, in Your house.
The scriptures say that it was through loving kindness that You drew us. God, I pray today that the truth of Your word was preached in a loving kind way to draw men unto.
Father, let us be a church that lifts the name of Jesus above our egos, our titles, our positions, our statuses in the community, no matter how high and lofty they may be.
Or just the statuses of being a husband. The status of being a wife, a son, a daughter. Let us lift Your name above all of that.
Knowing that as we lift that, You will lift our positions. You never said You would make our titles great. You said You would make our name great.
God, I don't know about them. But I know about me. I don't want a great title. I want a great name. I want my name to be great. I want when my name is spoken in rooms, there's great things to be said.
Not my title. Not my position. What is it to have a great title but a bad name? God, I pray today that You're giving great names to people who have discovered their purpose.
With every head bowed, every eye closed. With no one looking around. Maybe you're saying, "Hey, Pastor Corey, I needed this word today. I know church, but I don't know Him. I'm shaking your hand, but I've yet to shake God's hand.
I got good religion, but I don't have a personal relationship with this God you're talking about. I want to know what it means to be saved. I want to know what it means to come out of Egypt.
And I want to know what it means to get all Egypt out of me. The things that's been holding me back. If you're here, I would love to pray for you right there at your seat.
Not going to call you up. Not going to call you up. But right there at your seat. If you're saying, "Hey, I want to give my heart to Christ. I want to know what it means, what it means to be saved."
Or maybe you're saying, "I've already given my heart to Christ. But I need a church home that teaches the word of God in such a way that I can take it and apply it to my life.
I believe my faith, I believe my family can grow here at Hope City Church." If that's you, I'd love to pray with you as well.
And then thirdly, you're saying, "Hey, I've already given my heart to Christ. And maybe Hope City Church is your home. But Pastor Corey, I'm in a place where my yesterday is messing up my today.
I'm out of Egypt. But some of this Egypt, it's still on the inside of me. And it's destroying parts of my life. I'm out of the burning building. I've been saved from the burning house.
But the smoke, the fumes from that needs to come out of me. I need my deliverance." So whatever position you're standing, I'm not going to call you up. I'm not going to call you out.
But just to include in on this prayer. If any of those positions speaks to you. On the count of three, I just want to quickly see your hand with all heads bowed. One, two, three.
Will it be one? Will it be one? I see that hand. I see that hand. I see that hand as well. I see that hand. I see that hand as well. God bless you all.
I see that hand. I see that hand. I see that hand as well. I see that hand as well, sir. Hallelujah.
Can we do Him a favor all over the building? Lift your hands towards heaven. And just repeat this simple prayer with me. If you will say, "Lord God, I believe You sent Jesus Christ to die on the cross for my sins.
But I also believe that He rose again from the grave with all power in His hand. Say, God, I ask You now to forgive me of any and everything that has separated me from Your love.
So forgive me of all my sins. Now say, God, I don't fully understand what all this means. But I do believe with Your presence and Your power living on the inside of me, I will become the person You desire me to be.
So I ask You now. So I ask You now. I ask You now to fill me with the power and the presence of Your Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit, You are welcome to live in my heart for the rest of my life.
Father God, Your word declares any man being Christ, he's a new creation. Old things are passed away and behold, all things are become new.
I pray for those that pray that prayer for the first time for salvation or even those who pray that for the purpose of getting connected to a church home.
Father, I declare that anything they lost in a season of separation, God, that, Father, they're moving into a season of restoration and recovery.
And I declare that anything that attached itself to them, Father, whether it was separated spiritually or from a local house, Father, I declare that those yokes, those chains, and those burdens are falling off.
And who the Son sets free, they are free indeed. In Jesus' name I pray. Come on, if you celebrate, if you believe that, celebrate with me with every decision in this place on today.
on Apr 15, 2024
