The Finisher
by Cornelius Williams
2019 · Acts 238 Conference 2019
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Revelation 20:12, Hebrews 12:2, Matthew 4:18, Matthew 16:18, Luke 22:31-32, John 21:7, Acts 2, Psalm 51:1

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/cornelius-williams--the-finisher
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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Amen. I wonder if we can lift up our hands and lift up our voice in the house. Amen. The presence of the Lord is dwelling and lingering in the sanctuary. I wonder if you can reach out and touch the Lord with a prayer from your heart, with a spirit lifted toward heaven. God, we acknowledge your presence in this place. God, we seek your face with our whole hearts, with all our mind, with all our soul, with all our strength. God, please don't pass us by. God, speak a word in our ears, Jesus. God, let your holy anointing, God, saturate us in the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus, come on. God has a word for you this morning. Hallelujah, Jesus. Hallelujah, Jesus. Amen. The presence presence of the Lord is is something that we should seek after. It's something that we should not take lightly. And God is God is tugging at our heartstrings this morning in worship and the prayer of desperate young men and young women. And I don't say this out of routine, but I want to tell you that God is going to deeply touch some young people this morning. There are going to be young people that you're going to leave this service and your life that seems to be in shambles right now would will be rectified in understanding of knowing that God has a plan and a purpose for every young person in this house. And I want to do my best to convey my heart to this great body of young people. And I know that God will do what he has said he will do. Amen. Anybody glad to be at Acts 238 conference? Amen. Amen. Amen. All the way from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. It is definitely an honor, a privilege to be a part of this great conference. My wife and I have thoroughly thoroughly enjoyed the fellowship of meeting new people and rejoining and rekindling friendships with old friends. Amen. I feel at home this morning. And I want to say to this church, the angel of this church, the Bradford family, the Frost family who have extended their hands of fellowship to us. We are so grateful, amen, that God would allow us to be here. And we want to thank this church for your hospitality, for all that you have done to make us feel welcome. Amen. I want to give honor to every man of God that is represented in this house. Amen. I believe in great men of God and I believe that we should all join together in unity. Amen. And I appreciate the friendship of good ministers, men of God. I appreciate my pastor. I also have two great men, my father and my father-in-law who are both home missions pastors in their own right. And all my family that's listening on Holy Ghost radio. Amen. I appreciate brother Jeff Hoffer. For those who cannot be here, we appreciate the prayers of everybody that's listening at home. Amen. And I appreciate my great and beautiful wife. Amen. God has blessed me with an angel that travels with me, that prays with me, and God has been good to me. Amen. Anybody ready for the word of the Lord

this morning? Amen. Amen. Amen. Quickly turning your Bibles to the book of Revelation, chapter 20, and verse number 12. And while you're turning there, I want to tell you that my heart my heart has been hurting for months, carrying the load for not only this conference, but this service in particular. And I I pray that you would give ear to every word that I say this morning because I plan to be as transparent, translucent, and honest from the heart as I can be to convey you what God has given me for this body. Revelation 20:12. When you have it, say amen. The Bible says, "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God, and the books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the book of life." And the dead were judged out of those things that were written in those books according to their works. Hebrews 12 and verse 2 says looking unto Jesus. Somebody shout that name. Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Every young person, every child of God, every individual in this house, I believe, can relate to this message. But I'm going to dig deep this morning. I'm going to take my time. Is that all right? I'm going to dig deep this morning. I want the Holy Ghost to wrench your heartstrings. I want God to speak to you from the depths and from the threshold of heaven. And I want to preach this morning from this title, the finisher. The finisher. Amen. Anybody glad that God has directed and he has outlined a path for our lives? Amen. Lift up your hands one more time and let's pray. God, we need your spirit right now. God, we need your anointing. God, we pray, Lord, that there'll be a divine God spirit, God. A word that would move down to the depths of our souls, God, that would begin to transform and dissect our spirits. God, we pray for a holy word from heaven to linger in this house. God, give your servant strength this morning, God, to preach your word, God, from the heartbeat of heaven. In the name of Jesus, in the name of Jesus. In the name of Jesus. Thank you, Lord, that you're the author and the finisher of our faith. Amen. Somebody clap your hands as loud as you can. Clap them unto the Lord this morning. Heat. Heat. Amen. Amen. Amen. Turn to your neighbor and said, "I'm glad that God is in control." Amen. God bless you this morning in the fear of the Lord. You may be seated in Jesus name. It is without question that since the beginning of time that the hand of God has orchestrated has fine-tuned with perfected detail everything that he had spoken into existence when the world was fashioned from his hand. Among those things, our lives, my life, your life has been planned, has been pre-designed with flawless outline that every facet of our life is in the hand of God. Yeah, the will of God is not an easy thing to

understand because the way that we see our lives, the things that we desire does not always match up to what God has in store for us. The Bible says that the books were opened and another book was opened which is the book of life and written in that book were the works of men. my decision making, my choices, my actions, all carefully recorded by the hand of God. I want to tell you this morning that God's plan and will is perfect. God does not make mistakes. God's plan for your life is unequivocally flawless. God knows exactly what he's doing in your life. Every curve in the path, every mountaintop, every valley is predesigned by God's hand. But we do not believe in predestination. We believe that God has given us a thing called self-will, which means that it should be our desire to line and align our lives with what God has in store for us. That my will should be the will of God. That my desires should be what God desires for me because my life is not my own. It is in him that I live, I move, and I have my being. But I'm going to be honest this morning because it is very hard for us to extrapolate and to understand that when things are not going on our way in our lives and things don't line up to what we see and what we think is best for us. I understand even through the word of God that men have always tried to interrupt the handwriting of God. Men have always tried to intercept the plan of God. Abraham tried to help God. Jacob tried to help God. But God does not need your help. he does not need your ideas. his plan is forever settled. His plan is pre-ordained. All he needs is a young man to be willing a young woman to be willing TO WALK THE PATH THAT GOD HAS CALLED YOU to walk. TO LIVE THE LIFE THAT GOD HAS CALLED YOU TO LIVE TO SAY, "GOD, I DON'T UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING THAT YOU HAVE IN STORE FOR ME. BUT HERE I AM. DO WITH ME AS YOU PLEASE. BECAUSE YOU ARE THE AUTHOR AND THE FINISHER OF MY FAITH. OH, somebody clap your hands if you're glad. The Lord is the author and he is the finisher of our faith. Times we try to interject our own ideas, our own plans because sometimes what God has in store for us doesn't seem as cool. It doesn't seem like it it's a life that I can take on. There's a burden that comes with the will of God. There's a lifestyle that's required of us when we submit ourselves to the hand of God. anybody hear me preach to you this morning? but I want TO TELL YOU THAT even when IT HURTS YOU WALK WITH JESUS. EVEN WHEN YOUR LIFE SEEMS THAT IS BROKEN IN PIECES, YOU LIVE FOR GOD. EVEN WHEN IT SEEMS LIKE GOD'S WILL doesn't God calls us. God descripts. There's a handwriting that's in that book. But every one of us can relate that there's times that when the hand of God is transcribing and recording every action, every move that there's a there's a spirit of the editorial, the mindset that God's plan seems to be flawed. and we want to help God alone. As God is writing, we say, "God, I don't know if I like that part of my story. I think I'll help you out and edit that out." Somebody say amen. I I I I I know that you have a call for

me to fulfill, but can you just deviate from the plan just a little bit? it's not popular to live for God. it is not within the mindset of young people because being holy and being consecrated there comes a burden with that lifestyle. And so the pages of our life begin to turn. The chapters that God has ordained for us, we begin to take the pen from the author. And we begin to write things in our story that does not belong there. Well, preacher, you don't know if if I can only dress a little different, I would have a boyfriend already. Amen. Preacher, you don't understand. I know I know what pastor preaches, but do we have to live just like that? Anybody hear me preach to you this morning? And there's a temptation to write letter after letter and word after word and paragraph after paragraph. and before you know it, your life is FULL OF MISTAKES. AND YOUR LIFE IS FULL OF TURMOIL. AND YOUR STORY HAS CHAPTER A CHAPTER OF HURT AND PAIN AND MISCUS AND SCARS THAT DON'T BELONG IN YOUR STORY. BUT I'M TELLING YOU THIS MORNING IF YOU LET THE AUTHOR WRITE EVERY PAGE OF YOUR STORY IF YOU LET JESUS CHRIST INSCRIBE the don't take the pen FROM THE AUTHOR. YOU LIVE FOR GOD EVERY DAY YOU CAN. I KNOW THAT THE WILL OF GOD IS NOT PERFECT IN YOUR EYES. BUT GOD SEES EVERY ROAD. HE SEES every curve. HE SEES EVERY OBSTACLE. HE SEES every and and when you begin to write your story you'll find that there's pages of tears and there's pages of pain and there's pages of heartaches AND THOSE CHAPTERS THAT ARE GOING BY YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT them once you write them. They're there. They're tethered to your heart. They're tethered to your mind and they trail you everywhere that you go. There's pain on the inside that nobody sees. Any young people made some mistakes before and you can't take it back. You can't do anything about it. But I want to tell you that the hand of God will blot out every transgression. that the hand of God will erase every mistake. that the pen of God KING DAVID SAID OH HAVE MERCY UPON ME, OH GOD. ACCORDING TO THY LOVING KINDNESS. ACCORDING TO THE MULTITUDE OF THY TENDER MERCIES HE SAID BLOT OUT MY TRANSGRESSIONS. I WANT TO TELL YOU EVERY MISTAKE THAT YOU'VE MADE WILL NOT DEVIATE YOU FROM THE COURSE IF YOU LET GO REWRITE YOUR STORY. OH, somebody clap YOUR HANDS AND THANK GOD FOR GRACE. YOU OUGHT TO THANK GOD FOR MERCY. YOU OUGHT TO THANK GOD THAT WHEN YOU TAKE THE PEN OUT OF THE HAND OF THE AUTHOR, THAT JESUS CHRIST IS THE FINISHER. THAT JESUS CHRIST IS THE AUTHOR AND THE FINISHER. I I have to move on. I'm I'm going somewhere. You You find it in the story of of Peter. I find it that it is very dynamic that the life of Peter illustrates the world that we struggle with as people. The life of Peter could have easily been a life with no potential with no future because Peter was just a common unlearned fisherman. But he encountered the finisher. The Bible says in Matthew 4:18 that as Jesus was walking on the Sea of Galilee that he saw Peter and Andrew fishing in their boat and casting their net because they were fishermen by trade. but Jesus said, he said, "I want you to drop those nets. I want you to follow me." I want to tell every young person in this house that there is a potential that lies within you. that God would take your talents and GOD WOULD TAKE YOUR ABILITIES AND HE WILL USE THEM FOR HIS GLORY. GOD DID NOT ORDAIN AND GIVE YOU THE VOICE TO SING TO SING FOR THE DEVIL. GOD DID NOT GIVE YOU THE TALENT AS A MUSICIAN TO PLAY FOR the devil. HE SAID I'LL TAKE YOU THE LIFE THAT YOU KNOW AND I'LL MAKE YOU GREATER. I KNOW THAT YOU ARE A FISHER OF FISH, BUT I'LL MAKE YOU A FISHER OF MEN IF YOU LET ME WRITE YOUR story

and then immediately God begin to show and reveal Peter his plan for him. it is so beautiful to know that God has great plans for us., and the Bible says in in Matthew chapter 16 18, the Bible talks about them being on the mount and seeing and sitting with Jesus., and the Bible said, "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this unto you.", he said, "Upon this rock I will build my church, AND THE GATES OF HELL SHALL NOT PREVAIL AGAINST IT.", BUT I'M GOING TO TELL YOU THAT HE ALSO GAVE PETER SOMETHING SPECIAL. HE SAID, "I WANT TO GIVE YOU MY PLAN." HE SAID, "I'M PUTTING THE KEYS in your hand. the keys to the kingdom. the keys to my will, THE KEYS TO MY PLAN, THE KEYS TO MY STORY." AND I WANT TO LET YOU IN ON A SECRET. HE SAID, "WHAT YOU BIND ON EARTH IS BOUND IN HEAVEN. WHAT YOU LOOSE ON EARTH IS LOOSE IN HEAVEN." I WANT TO TELL YOU RIGHT NOW, GOD HAS CALLED YOU TO GREATNESS. GOD HAS CALLED YOU TO ANOINTING. GOD HAS CALLED YOU BECAUSE HE IS THE FINISHER. But every story that has a good character, every story that has a character of supernatural heroike powers, no story is complete without a villain. And the Bible tells us in the book of Luke 22:31 that Jesus is sitting down again. And he said, "Peter, I want to warn you. I've outlined a plan for your life. But the devil has bad intentions for you. He wants to rewrite your story. He wants to interrupt my will." He said, and the Lord said, Simon, Simon, Satan had desired to have you that he may sift you as wheat. I want to tell some young person, be careful what you listen to because the devil's trying to sift you like wheat. Be careful WHO YOU HANG OUT WITH AND WHO YOU CHAT UP WITH IN YOUR DMS. BECAUSE THE DEVIL'S TRYING TO SIFT YOU LIKE WHEAT. he's trying TO TAKE THE PEN FROM THE AUTHOR AND HE'S TRYING TO ASCRIBE STUFF THAT DOES NOT BELONG IN YOUR LIFE. HE'S TRYING TO INTERRUPT THE WILL OF GOD. HE'S TRYING TO INTERRUPT THE CALL OF GOD. HE'S TRYING TO INTERRUPT THE PLAN. OH, BE CAREFUL LITTLE EYES WHAT YOU SEE. OH, BE CAREFUL LITTLE EARS WHAT YOU HEAR. OH, BE CAREFUL LITTLE HANDS WHAT YOU TOUCH. OH, BE CAREFUL LITTLE FEET WHERE YOU GO. BECAUSE THE FINISHER, the finisher is trying to interrupt that story. He's trying to interrupt the plan of God. Is everybody okay this morning? He says, "Satan's trying to get a hold of you. Satan's trying to intercept my will for you." And then you see the struggle, the same struggle that we have. I don't know if I'm good enough. I don't know if I'm called. Am I REALLY CALLED? IS GOD REALLY ABLE TO USE ME? and you see that Peter begins to fight and HE BEGINS TO STRUGGLE. AND 30 VERSES LATER IN IN LUKE 22 AND 16 JESUS TOLD PETER, HE SAID BEFORE THE CROWS THREE TIMES, you will deny me. He said, but I want you to remember what I told you. He said, "When you are converted," he said, "Strengthen your brethren." He said, "When you submit yourself to my will, don't worry about it, Pete. I know you're going to make some mistakes. I KNOW YOU'RE GOING TO DEVIATE OFF OFF COURSE. BUT I WANT TO TELL EVERY YOUNG PERSON IN THIS HOUSEH YOU STICK WITH JESUS. YOU LISTEN TO YOUR PASTOR. YOU YOU FIND THE MIND OF GOD. AND YOU SAY, "GOD, I KNOW THAT I STRUGGLE. I KNOW I MAKE THE WRONG TURNS. BUT CAN YOU FINISH? CAN YOU FINISH ME? GOD IS ABLE TO COMPLETE AND FINISH THAT WHICH HE STARTED IN YOU. OH, SOMEBODY CLAP YOUR HANDS AND praise the Lord. Peter battles to and fro. And you can tell that that he was unsure of what God wanted to do with him. Because you find in John 21:7 that Peter is back in the same place that God found him on that sea. That after the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Jesus showed himself to his

disciples and he began to walk that shore and he looked out in the boat and Peter was back fishing. But he was in a worse condition than he was the first time. He was cursing. He was naked. I want to tell you that when sin gets a hold of you and you dance with the devil, you don't know all the steps and you'll trip over your feet every time. When you lay in the bed with the devil, you'll wake up to nightmares. I want to tell you that you stick with Jesus. that you stick with the plan of God. that you stick with the hand of God. cuz when you deviate from the course, THERE ARE SCARS AND THERE ARE PAIN THAT YOU can't get rid of. THERE'S PAGES AND CHAPTERS AND WORDS AND PARAGRAPHS THAT are and Peter Peter didn't didn't he didn't sub submit himself completely. But I'm very glad for grace and mercy this morning. Anybody glad for grace and mercy? Because that same man that struggled, that same man that took the pen out of God's hand,, and the Bible says in Acts 2, that Peter stood up with the 11 and he preached the unadulterated gospel. This message that we believe would not be here if Peter had not given the pen back to God. And Peter, Peter represents the embodiment of grace. Peter represents the embodiment of what happens when we struggle within ourselves on the internal man. Peter represents us. Peter represents people, young people, young men, young ladies that you feel you can do so much better if you weren't in the church. You feel like your life would be so much at peace that the devil will sell you a bill of goods and you'll believe a lie and you will taint and disrupt the planned of God. But I want to tell every young person in this house that Jesus is the finisher. And every mistake that you've made in this house this morning,, that right now where you are does not have to dictate where God's going to take you. in the future. You put it on the blood of Jesus and you walk forth in dominion and you walk forth in power. And don't let the devil lie to you. you give the pen back to God and you let him write and you let him record and you let him work. and you let There's a reason. There's a reason that I preach the way I do to young people. My heart's been tore for months. My mind has been battled. I fought my own self, my own past, my own scars. I want to tell you something this morning that has never been spoken in a public setting like this. I want to reveal intricate, gruesome memories of my past. I'm thankful for the blood of Jesus because when God blotss out your transgressions, Brother Brock, it leaves no trace of the man that you used to be. It leaves no trace of the woman that you used to be. And when somebody picks up your book, they they have a hard time figuring out what God delivered you from because you turn page after page and you would think that your life was perfect. But I know that there's scars that are hidden. I know that there's pain that God has delivered you from. I know that's mistakes that you've had had to get victory over. And this is your testimony. Anybody got a testimony in the house? We're made overcomers by the power of the blood of the lamb. And the word of our testimony the word of your testimony is written in that book. the word of how GOD BROUGHT YOU OUT IS WRITTEN in that book. the word OF HOW JESUS SAVED you when you was no good. WHEN YOU WASN'T WORTH ANYTHING. THE BLOOD OF JESUS IT BLOT OUT EVERY MISTAKE EVERY TRANSGRESSION. AND IT'S IN YOUR STORY. Forgive forgive me if I get emotional this morning. Is anybody bored yet?

You see, my life from the very concept, from the very conception was a life that was stamped with supernatural like encounters. I was born into the home of a home missionary family. A mom and dad were first generation Pentecostals on fire for God. But there was a trouble in their home because for nine years my parents could not conceive children. And I think about men in the Bible who became something. And I'm not saying that I'm something. I I want I want to outline my life. Is that okay this morning? Men that became something for God. You find a pattern, brother, that that God did something supernatural when a praying, desperate woman got a hold of the cloak of God. My mom and dad begin to pray for God to bless them with a child, but their faith was immense. They didn't want any child. They wanted a son. And my parents tell me that they leapt out on faith after nine years. They were sick and tired and they said, "We're going to step out on faith." And they went out. They furnished a baby room. They painted the room blue. It's not a girl's color. They painted the room blue and they named me Cornelius's from the book of Acts 10. My mom began to grow and when she would go to doctor's appointments, she would not look at the ultrasound. She told the doctors, "You don't have to tell me. I know it's a boy." The day that I was born, there was a woman that stepped into my parents' room. My parents had never seen her before. and she she reached over and she handed my mom a glass dove and put it in her hand and she said, "This is for your miracle baby." The lady then walked from the room. My dad chased after her, but he couldn't find her. He went down the elevator and came back up. The lady was nowhere to be found. He went to the nurse's desk. He said, "Ma'am, can you tell me where that lady went that left our room?" The lady said, "Sir, I'm not sure what lady you're talking about." She said, "The only people that's on this floor are the doctors." That night begin a life that would have seemed to be stamped by God. A miracle child born to be used by God. At the age of five, I felt I recall exactly where I was standing when I told my dad I wanted to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of my sins. I can tell you exactly where I was kneeling in the living room where we had church at the fireplace and I felt the Holy Ghost for the very first time and I began to speak in tongues at the age of seven years old and God filled me with this precious gift of the Holy Ghost. Anybody glad for the Holy Ghost this morning? But somewhere between 7 and 13, I went to public school. Grew up in a small country town. And I I pray for every young person that has to go to public school because there's things that you are opened up to that don't belong in your story. I begin to see things. I begin to hear things that I didn't hear at home. The devil begin to pull on me. Devil be to entice me. And every young man at some point in their life feels the call to want to be great. But God called me to a greatness in his kingdom. And any other form of greatness is unacceptable. I said any other form of greatness is an insult to the plan of God. And I grew up in a family of athletes. My uncle drafted by the Dodgers. I had another uncle who practiced on the practice squad with the Dallas Cowboys. My dad My dad was a basketball player. And if you could tell last night, I did

not inherit that ability. And he was a basketball player. was a few minutes away from signing a free agency contract with the Houston Rockets. So, athleticism in athletic prows was running through my veins. And when people on the school campus would say, "Why don't you play football?" I'd ask my dad, "Dad, can I play football?" He said, "No, son, you can't play football." Dad, can I play basketball? No, son, you can't play basketball. But, dad, why? No son, you there's things you don't understand. Dad, can I run track? No, son. You can't run track. And I remember I remember I remember being crafty. Brother, is this all right this morning? I'm sorry. I'm sorry if I'm taking my time. I got to get this out. My brother and I sat down and tend to be a little crafty because you will find that when you want something bad enough, you will do anything to get it. But that doesn't mean that it's what God has in store for you. And we went to my dad. We said, "Well, Dad, we know you said we can't play all these other things, but you know, c can we play baseball?" Well, look, we we we we we make sure that we dress holy. We'll make sure that we won't put God on the back burner. The baseball environment is a whole lot different than football. And there's We said, "Dad, there's no cheerleaders there. You don't have to worry about that." We were very crafty. And to this day, I wish I wish he had told me no one more time. He said, "Well, son," he said, "look, I really don't want y'all to go down that road." He said, "But if you if you if y'all promise me that, you can you can stay with God." the age of 13 years old going to a school 7 to 12 grade and age in seventh grade. I made the varsity team that is reserved for juniors and seniors. The problem is that when you begin to dance with the devil that you'll find out that he'll he'll lure you in and you will stay longer than you want to stay and you will play longer than you want to play. what what seemed to be something to get his sons to a place where they wouldn't feel isolated. They wouldn't feel like like there was nothing that they can do almost costed me my soul. age of 13 wasn't that bad. But my sophomore year, I was getting better and better. My dad put a batten cage in our yard and we begin to train and lift weights. And I I stopped praying like I was praying and I stopped reading the word like I was reading. and I was fooling myself thinking that I can live for God and play with the devil. But you can't play both sides of the fence and still expect to be in the will of God. life begin to turn begin to turn with my sophomore year. I got a letter from the Cincinnati Reds. Some of you may know who that is and if you don't then good. But I began traveling with the Cincinnati Reds major league scout team and it was all good and still until these tournament tournaments would keep me away from church. Don't let the devil keep you from the house of God. And letters begin to pour in from colleges and letters begin to pour in from teams. And there was something that happened in my heart because because because God was moving on me and God was trying to get a hold of me because at 15 years of age, I remember being in a camp meeting. And I can tell you exactly where I was when I felt God call me to preach. And I remember getting up and I was scared to death. I saw what my parents went through being pastors. I saw the pain of dealing with people. I saw the the pain that goes along with being a preacher. You preachers would understand. And I said, "I don't want no part of that."

And the more the more I thought about preaching, the more and more I would train. I didn't want to preach. I wanted to go pro. I didn't want to pray. I wanted to play. I wanted to be great. But preaching, preaching was not in my plan. By the time I was a junior, I I was making hall district and all state. And by the end of my junior year, I got a letter in the mail from this company called Under Armour. They said, "You have been selected as a 2008 Under Arour preseason all-American." By that time, I was too far gone. Bible says that pride comes before and goes before destruction and a hearty spirit before a fall. And instead of a spirit of prayer, instead of a spirit of trying to stay in tune with God, a spirit of pride got a hold of me and I start walking a little different. I start talking a little different. The spirit of the devil was getting a hold. It was interrupting my story. And by that time, I had full grip of the pen and I said, "I'm going somewhere." I had I had plans that I would I would be a millionaire. and I had plans that I I would be something great. But I want to tell you that if your plans don't align to the will of God, then your plans are no plans at all. It was at that moment, 18 years of age, that the devil had full control of my life. Pride and arrogance and cockiness got a hold of me. I'm talking about a country boy, a country kid. I didn't come from a a large city. So, you can imagine 18 years old and walking on campus and girls were calling my name and I had no idea who they were. I said, "Who is that? Who?" asked my teammates, who do you know her? No, I don't know who she is. Spirit of Delila, the spirit of Jezebel was enticing. Spirit of promiscuity got a hold of me. And then parties came next. I want to tell you that that when preachers preach against sports, they have no idea what they're talking about cuz it's 10 times worse. It's a hundred times worse. never tasted alcohol, didn't know what it was, but I began to go to parties a freshman and I was drunk out of my mind and be hung over. And brother Urs and I had the audacity to still go to church the next morning on a Sunday and think that I was still saved. It's kind of crazy how you can fool yourself. I want to tell every young person in this house, don't play with the devil. And you got to get right while you can. Get right while you can. Pride got a hold of me and I would travel and I would go to these stadiums and I'll see myself up on the jumbotron. And you don't know what that does to a young boy. I was a boy then. I didn't know any better. You don't know what it does to a young boy., but I thought I was somebody., who cares that I played at Alabama? Who cares that I played at Oregon State and Oklahoma State and Old Miss?, and the things that people relish when I was losing my soul every day that I strapped on cleats., AND I WAS LOSING MY SOUL EVERY TIME I STEPPED IN THE BATTERS BOX AND EVERY time that I put on MY HELMET., THE DEVIL WAS TRYING TO REWRITE MY STORY., but I'm telling you, I'M GRATEFUL FOR THE GRACE OF MY GOD., THAT HE'S BLOTTED OUT EVERY TRANSGRESSION., THAT HE'S BLOTTED OUT EVERY SCAR., THAT HE'S ERASED every pain. There's pain that I carry. That's pain. It's pain that I carry around because drug because drugs got a hold of me. I was not on marijuana. I was not on anything, but with sports comes injuries. With injuries comes medication. And I remember walking on campus and having full access to hydrocodones and vicodins and percoetses and stuff to to

try to rehabilitate my body because I couldn't afford to miss a game. And I remember walking the campus high out of my mind. I remember laying in my bed at night and praying and saying, "God, I know that you want me to preach, but can you just let me finish this verse, but I want to tell you young people that when you take a course and you deviate from God's plan, that God will do everything that he can to get your attention." And I had I had a roommate, a teammate. He used to see me go to church. Used to see me in the parties on Saturday night and waking up for church. And he said, "Corin, are you going to church in the morning?" I said, "Yeah, I'm going to church. I can't miss church." He said, "Can I go with you?" I was like, "Sure, man. You can go to church with me. I will come back to the dorm. He said, "Man, why you didn't wake me up?" I'm said, "Man, if you really want to go to church, you will get up. You get back to the room at 3:00 and you get up for church in the morning. It takes it takes something to get you out of that bed." But I remember exactly where I was. It was Thanksgiving. We was on Thanksgiving break and I was getting ready to go back to school to start my sophomore year. And I got a phone, my phone, a phone call when my phone rang. And one of my teammates on the other end of the line, he said, "Corin, where are you?" I said, "I'm at home getting ready to leave." He said, "I wanted to tell you something." He said, "," he said, "Kevin had an accident last night. At 20 years old, you think you're invis invincible. You think you got a lot of time." So nothing crossed my mind that anything tragic had happened. I said, 'Well, is he all right? Is he hurt bad? Is he he's a pitcher. Is his arm okay? He said, "No, man." He said, "Kevin didn't make it. I fell to the floor and I cried like a baby because see, Kevin didn't know what I know. And if I had living been living the way that I should, he would have known what I know. And I cried. I said, "Kevin, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't tell you the truth. I'm sorry I didn't wake you up." And it was at that moment that I that God began to tug on me because I realized I didn't have as much time as I thought I had. Young people, I want to tell you that you think you're going to live forever, but you got to get right with God right now. Don't run away from that call that God has on your life. don't run away from the will of God that God has ordained in your life. I'm telling you, you live for God. because the days are short. you live for God because time is running out. you LIVE FOR GOD WHILE BLOOD IS RUNNING warm in your vein. BECAUSE JESUS CHRIST IS THE FINISHER. From that day, I begin to walk in fear. I'll be terrified to go to sleep. to see my roommate's bed empty, to see nobody lying there. I said, "God, if you take me right now, I'm going straight to hell." Said, "God, please don't take me right now. I'm not ready." But God was getting a hold of me and I began to have flashbacks to that altar service at camp meeting. And I can almost feel my mama praying for me. I can almost feel my mama saying, "God, help my son. God, you didn't give him to me to throw his life away. God, help my son." I'm telling you, Satan had desired to have you, but God said, "I prayed for you that your faith fail you not." there's some mamas in this house and you're praying for your children. don't stop praying. there's some mamas that you praying FOR YOUR BABIES. DON'T stop praying. THERE'S SOME GRANDMOTHERS you praying FOR YOUR GRANDCHILDREN. DON'T STOP PRAYING. BECAUSE WHEN THEY ARE CONVERTED THEY WILL BE WHAT GOD CALLED THEM TO BE.

OH, somebody lift up your hands in the house. I want you to listen carefully. I want you to listen carefully. I I I don't want to interrupt what God's going to do. There's a young lady on this back pew right here. I remember being at Arkansas camp meeting. I played ball in Arkansas and I stepped in a service and brothers John Schumick was preaching as he always does and he began to preach about sports being your God and putting God on the back burner and he almost put me under the pew and I felt the tug of God. I felt like God was speaking to me so clearly. He said, "If you let me," he said, "when I'm finished with you, you will know that I am God." But I was running. And I wish that I can tell you that I had this great testimony of walking away from sports and walking away from my career, but I'm telling you, I had a grip on that pin and nobody can pry it out but God. And my wife who had met at Arkansas camp meeting in 2010, she be she began to tell me, she said, "You know, you need to you know you need to quit because you got a call in your life to preach." said, "God's going to get a hold of you. You got to quit it." And brother Ursin, I didn't want to hear that. Almost missed out on a beautiful, virtuous woman of God. I was ready to break up with her. I said, "Baseball was here before you got here and it'll be here when you gone because I was determined that I was not going to preach. I was determined that I was going to write my story." But that night, I felt God telling me to quit. And the very next day, I called up my coach and I said, 'Coach, I can't I can't come in for my senior year. I can't finish my senior year. He said, 'Wh? I said, it's a long story, but you you you won't understand. He said, no, I'm listening. I said, I got a calling on my life to preach. I said, I've been running from God. He said, 'Well, son, everybody, everybody has a call. Said, no, you don't understand. I said, 'I have a great call to preach.' He said, 'Well, I tell you what, he said, if you come back, he said, I'll let you preach to your teammates so every Sunday we before the game. I said, no, coach, you don't understand. I I can't finish. I can't I can't keep going this way. God's going to get a hold of me. I said, you don't realize it, but the team is suffering because of me. I thought about Jonah and everybody else tried to help Jonah run from God and they suffered because of Jonah. They suffered because his disobedience was superseding the plan of God. I said God I said I said I don't want the team to suffer because of me and I don't want God to have to break me up to get my attention. I want to tell you that I wish that I had the strength to tell you that I that I walked away, but I didn't. The same day that I stepped back on campus, he said, "Son, are you sure that you really want to quit?" I thought about it. said, "Man, if I can just finish, if I can just finish, but I want to tell every young person that you are not the finisher. There's only one finisher, and he is able to finish that which he has started in you. I remember exactly the night. remember exactly the second, the minute and we were playing Oklahoma State and I was a center fielder and I was having an incredible game. Incredible. I was stealing bases like crazy. I was scoring like crazy. Scouts scouts would line up on the front row just to hit the stop clock soon as I would leave the batters box. And I remember being in the eighth inning, the game was almost over.

This guy, one of these big burly guys, if you ever seen some of these guys, I mean, they're huge steroid guys, just jacked up and he hits a ball and I get a beat on it and I'm running full speed. Full speed. And I'm tracking it back. It goes in the lights. I lost it. Came back out. I'm back on it. I'm running full speed. But on a baseball field there's a wall and I hit that wall running full speed. I reached up this hand to catch the ball and I kid you not, the very next 15 seconds seemed like an eternity. I hit the wall full collision as I'm falling to the ground. It was like slow motion like like something out of the Matrix like it was it was happening in the super slow speed. and I'm falling to the ground and I can see the ball coming out of my glove and I grab it with this hand and I hit the ground and I felt pumped just made the catch but I couldn't feel my left arm and I took off my glove and my thumb was hanging down this way. of the Bradford. I didn't cry one tear on that field. I looked at my hand. I looked at my teammate. I saw I just broke my thumb. Said it just like that. And I walked off the field. to this day. I almost feel like that wall was meant for me because when I hit that wall, I didn't lose just the ball, the grip of my glove. I felt like God pried that pen out of my hand. And it's almost as if he stepped on that field, Brother Booker, and he picked up that pen and he said, "Now it's my turn. Now it's my turn." You've made mistakes long enough if you've written so much junk in your life. but I'm telling you that if you don't listen to your call now, GOD'S GOING TO KEEP CALLING. HE'S GOING TO KEEP CALLING. BECAUSE HE'S THE FINISHER OF YOUR FAITH. AND GOD WILL COME BACK FOR YOU. WHERE YOU MESSED UP AND GOD WILL COME BACK FOR YOU. I want to preach to every young PERSON IN THIS HOUSE THAT YOU MADE MISTAKES THAT WERE BY YOUR DOING. THAT YOU WROTE STUFF IN YOUR LIFE THAT WAS BY YOUR DOING. BUT THE FINISHER IS IN THE HOUSE. JESUS CHRIST IS IN THE HOUSE. AND HE WILL MAKE YOU WHAT HE CALLED YOU TO BE. HE WILL TURN YOUR PAGES. HE WILL CHANGE THE CHAPTER. HE WILL REWRITE YOUR LIFE. OH, you ought to LIFT UP YOUR HANDS AND THANK GOD FOR THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST. I KNOW YOU HAVE PAIN. I KNOW YOU HAVE SCARS AND NOBODY KNOWS ABOUT THEM. BUT GOD WILL FINISH YOU. Oh yeah. I'M NOT THE MAN THAT YOU WOULD HAVE SEEN. I'M NOT THE MAN WHO I WAS BECAUSE THE FINISHER, HE BLOTTED OUT MY TRANSGRESSIONS. HE ERASED MY MISTAKES. HE CHANGED THE PAGE. AND HE CAN DO THE SAME FOR YOU. OH, you ought to lift up your hands. you ought to LIFT UP YOUR VOICE. I'M TELLING YOU, THE FINISHER IS IN THE HOUSE. I'M TELLING YOU, JESUS IS IN THE HOUSE. HE'S GOING TO MAKE YOU HOLD. HE CAN REWRITE YOUR PAGE. EVERY STORY THAT'S BEEN WRITTEN BY YOUR HEAD, GOD. Come on. There's pain that nobody knows about. THERE'S STUFF THAT YOUR MAMA AND DADDY DON'T KNOW ABOUT. I'M ASHAMED. I'M I'M DEMORALIZED TO EVEN TELL YOU THE PAIN THAT I'VE CAUSED MY LIFE. WHEN I'VE WALKED AROUND WITH PAIN AND THERE'S PAIN in my knees that I can't even tell YOU ABOUT. THERE'S SCARS IN MY SOUL THAT I CAN'T EVEN REVEAL TO YOU. BUT I'M TELLING YOU THAT JESUS IS THE AUTHOR, THAT JESUS IS THE FINISHER, THAT Jesus

don't run. DON'T RUN FROM THE FINISHER. DON'T RUN FROM THE FINISHER. YOU RUN TO THE ALTAR. YOU RUN TO HIS FEET. YOU RUN TO HIS THRONE. YOU RIDE TO JESUS. Come on. God's calling you right now. I feel the Holy Ghost. I feel the Holy Ghost. I feel the spirit of God TELLING YOU TO DON'T DEVIATE FROM THE PLAN. DON'T WALK AWAY FROM THE CROSS. DON'T WALK AWAY FROM THE BLOOD. GOD HAS YOU IN MIND. GOD HAS A DESTINY FOR YOU. GOD HAS A PLAN FOR YOU. IT'S BEEN ORCHESTRATED AND PRE-DESIGNED. YEAH. I know you think you can make it out IN THE WORLD. BUT YOU WERE NOT CALLED FOR THAT. I KNOW YOU THINK THAT YOU CAN MAKE IT WITHOUT JESUS. BUT YOU WERE NOT CALLED TO WALK WITHOUT HIS HAND writing every word. Oh, that's some scars. You let him Come on. You need to peel back the layer. Come on, let Jesus turn a page. COME ON, LET JESUS RIP IT OUT. COME ON, LET HIS HAND REACH DOWN FURTHER THAN YOU CAN REACH UP AND LET HIM REWRITE. LET HIM TRANSCRIBE ON THE PAGES OF YOUR HEART. I will be what you called me to be. I will BE WHAT YOU'VE DESIGNED ME TO BE. THESE FEET WERE MADE FOR RUNNING FOR JESUS CHRIST. THESE HANDS WERE MADE FOR CLAPPING FOR JESUS CHRIST. MY VOICE WAS MADE FOR RAISING FOR JESUS CHRIST. MY MIND, MY SOUL, MY SPIRIT, EVERY PART OF ME, DON'T SET OUT FOR A GIRL. DON'T SET OUT FOR A BOY. DON'T SET OUT FOR A CAREER. DON'T SET OUT FOR YOUR EDUCATION. I'M PRAYING THAT YOUR faith fails you not. I'm praying that you don't lose grip. That you let Jesus right. THAT YOU LET THE FINISHER RIDE. MAMA, keep praying. You ought to grab a hold of your baby. You ought to grab a hold of your son. YOU OUGHT TO GRAB A HOLD OF YOUR DAUGHTER. I know you're hurting. I know that's pain. I know there scars. BUT THE FINISHER, THE FINISHER IS IN THE HOUSE. The finisher is in the househ every broken piece. HE'LL ERASE EVERY SCAR. HE'LL change your story. You ought to say, "Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. You didn't quit on me. Thank you, Jesus, that you DIDN'T LET ME KEEP GOING DOWN THE SAME ROAD. THANK YOU, JESUS. Come on. I know you're 13. I know you're 16 and YOU THINK YOU GOT OUT of control. But Jesus has the pen. Don't take IT FROM HIM. JESUS HAS THE PEN. Every work, every page, every chapter, it belongs to God. I will be what you call me to be to be what you want me to be and that's what I will be what to me. I lord I to be what you call me to be. Heat. Heat. Heat.

What you need to Yeah. Heat. I should be what