Expectation
by Dan Gibson
January 3, 2021 · Cornerstone Apostolic Church (Chattanooga, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:58, Psalm 119:11, Psalm 1:2, 2 Timothy 2:15, Mark 12:28-31, 2 Timothy 2:15, 1 Samuel 17:39

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

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the engineering side of me comes out when i hear songs like this you see that mind that says that he's our strong tower and there is not a battle been lost when you run into that tower i began to just ponder there a few moments ago as we sang that song and of course my brain just goes wild when we start talking about how that tower is built you see to to every structure and we know what that's like right now is because we're getting ready to go in the building to every structure brother danny there is what you call specs those blueprints there are there are limits that are set there's maximum structure loads that are set and if you build under that spec possibility is is it won't make it when you talk about what what god is to us he is our refuge he is that strong tower that we run into when you start put there is not us it's off the charts brother danny it's off the charts there is there is no limit to what god can do there's no limit to what what he cannot shelter you from he's never lost a battle never you get in that tower oh hallelujah the holy ghost is speaking right now folks that's just not in the notes but i'm going to share it with you there was a boat in the old testament time that was built by a man and it was built for the saving of his family and the scripture says that he pitched it within and without he's got barrier on each side of that that no matter what's going on outside hey folks i think somebody needs to hear this today that no matter what is happening outside that water that is flowing outside that water that is beating against the outside that he has prepared these were specks given by god god told toady said noah this is the way i want you to do it i want you to take this kind of wood i want you to do this and i want you to do that it's going to be this long it's going to be this wide and i want you to put pitch within and without i i want you to think for just a moment of what god is doing in your life and how that when we apply his word and his blood to our lives that no matter what goes on in our world today no matter i'm sheltered i'm sheltered no song says sheltered in the arms of god there's not a devil in hell folks i'm here to proclaim there is not a devil in hell that can take you out of his hands there's not a devil in hell that can take away what's what's about to happen in your life if god has made you promises and you are applying the blood to your life and his word to your life there's nothing that can separate you from that oh yeah he'll try he'll bring what like pastor says brother covet in okay that's okay god's greater sister renee you and sister gibson struggle with some of the same things it's okay you know why because we've got a healer we've got a we've got a healer that knows what i need today we got a baby in the hospital right now baby's coming home and he's gonna be okay because mama is praying and she's got people that are praying with her and we are pitching within and with a house we are applying the blood within and with the house telling you god's doing some great things and i might as well just dive in because my my title says it all my title simply says expectation without a doubt i know that there are some things that is getting ready to happen in our lives and i i'm not i'm not here to fluff you today i want you to know what what was speaking in my spirit the last few days i was doing some bible study and all of a sudden it kept popping out there that's spending time in his word paul talks to the church at corinth and he tells them he said don't think that you're that your labor's in vain i spending time in the word the whole time i'm pitching within and without i want you just to lift your hands with us i know god's got a word for us today and he's already spoke to some of you i want you to know your answer is on its way your answer is on its way would you speak that right now in the name of jesus god i know i know the answer is on its way lord in the name of jesus in the name of jesus hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah would you put your hands together for the lord right now would you do that god bless you you may be seated it is so good to see all of you in the house of the lord today and i want to say first of all thank you pastor for for trusting in me i i will do whatever is asked of me i'll just put it that way i'm not i've spent some time in the pulpit for long periods of time and and i'm not i'm not looking to to feel any place i just want to be used to the lord and whatever whatever god says you know i was thinking as as all of this was beginning to unfold even as early as this morning and even as early as just a few moments ago the things that god's just quickening in my spirit i i chose this title because it just keeps ringing over and over in my spirit that there are things that god wants to do with us but we have got to be willing and we've got to be able to hear that willing and able to do whatever god asks of us and when you speak of willing and able it's what it means is is that god you give me the strength you give me the strength and uh and i i wonder and i'm going to ask a few questions and i don't expect you to answer them out loud but i wonder how many of you have ever had something in your life that you were you had planned it just so and everything is going to work just like this and i wasn't going to say anything about this particular one but i just think it's something that god says you know we're working on you but i was thinking of my daughter whitney and the little handsome fella she's got sitting in her lap that's my grandbaby by the way and uh i was thinking about how that during her pregnancy you know she's she's talking to her sister and and they're talking about everything that is going to happen and and what she wants done and how she wants it done and they're talking about the delivery day and and what she wanted to take place that day and how she wanted to capture all of this stuff about the baby and about this birth and she was she had it all worked up and if you understand and know whitney you know that she's an abc person and usually you don't get to see it's usually going to get done between a and b but she's she's one of those people a lot like her mother uh that gets up on saturday and says so what does the day consist of she wants to line up and i'm one of those that i say well you know let's wait a little while and see what happens but you've had those times that you had everything planned out just like you wanted it and then covet shows up then all of these things start happening and no you cannot go in there no you can't be a part of that no and and you've got all of this stuff and this sends your your mind into a tizzy you're just like well may i say this that's that's life that's life but it's okay why because i know that god has a plan god always has a plan for everything that is going on in my life uh look at a lot of quotes over over the years and you know you have those little special quotes you like and i recently looked at a calendar just a few days ago and there was one of those quotes and it simply said this it says i take the issue that came to me at hand instead of it being my undertaker i make it my teacher simply to say is whatever is happening i'm going to turn around and i am going to i'm going to use it to my benefit whatever it may be i'm going to learn a lesson and if you know me by now and you've been in some of my sunday school classes you know that i'm all about you taking notes because it's one of those things that that enlightens us as we progress and as we move into whatever walk we're in at the time some of you may be on the high cloud right now and some of you may be down here what i'm saying is take notes wherever you are sometimes you look back at the high times and it gives you that encouragement it gives you that sale well look what the lord done and then there's times when it's it's rough and it's some things that's going on in your life and you write those downs and you say look where god brought me from but so many times we get caught up in in the human expectation we get caught up in trying to figure out where i need to be and how i need to get there and and then whenever it doesn't happen that way then you get upset the truth is god has a plan everybody say amen god has a plan for each of your lives he knows exactly where you need to be in your life when you need to be there and he knows what steps you need to take you see expectation is that hoping or believing that something is getting ready to happen in the future that is a part of faith wouldn't you say we'll look at it this way uh how many do you know what a bulldozer is i wonder if we've got any nope yep got a few have you you got you got this bulldozer and this bulldozer has has these has these wheels on it and and and they are moving and you're driving this thing and then you have on the front of it you have this this plow looking thing and it's pushing the dirt how many you ever seen one of those do that well that bulldozer and that engine running that's my face but that that is pushing is my expectation it's there in front of me plowing and i can see what's happening and what to expect if i set it deep if i set it high if i bring it down just a little bit i know what it's capable of doing those expectations and we do that how many of you how many you got expectations of this year and this is the time of year we do that we get in our our our planners and that's one of the things we do at work and we get into our planners and we're doing all kinds of things and we're setting expectations in in an employment environment you're setting expectations for what you want your employers to do or employees to do you're setting those expectations i'm looking to see if there is something that that i want to see happen i i i want to i want to just share with you something that i feel that god is is pushing me toward and and as i was reading uh yesterday i was reading in one of my one of my little spots that i always do just just that that casual reading of the word of god it was it was kind of a just just a casual reading everybody say casual that don't happen folks because when you casually read god slaps you in the face first corinthians the fifth 15th chapter verse 58 i was reading there and it simply says therefore my beloved brethren this is paul writing to the church at corinth be ye steadfast unmovable notice these words always abiding in the word of the lord everybody say always abiding in the word of the lord he he is telling them that they need to be mindful of the things that's going on around them but yet be mindful and prayerful for as much as ye know that your labors are not in vain in the lord he said that there are things that you need to understand the word of god is that that you have got to you've got to hold on to may i challenge each and every one of you in your expectations make sure that you cover yourself with the word i i i know that that we're what is today the third we're three days in there should be every one of you should have something that you do to read a portion of the word of god you must be applying the word of god to your life i i could feel that god was speaking to me about his word and how how much his word meant to our lives why because there are things that that i do and thank you brother herb for sunday school lesson today i think it was very timely but there are things that i would think and i would do that my expectations would be would be troubled my expectations would would fail my expectations because it is me that is believing in that that i would be disappointed how many of you can agree with me that there's been times that your expectations failed you and then how many of you agree that over a period of time of trying to understand okay where do i need to be with this that you get to the point that now you're saying now what you ever felt that way and you know why that is is it because that is our our nature and if we're not applying the word of god to our lives david put it this way in psalms 119 11. sorry guys i'm pulling some stuff out that and i wrote it down here i didn't give these num these notes to them but he says thy word have i hid in my heart that i might not sin against thee he's applying the word of god every time he gets ready to to say something or do something that is not that is against the word of god the word will put him in check everybody say the word of god psalmist also writes in psalms 1 and you don't have to pull that up this is just a portion of it in his laws do doth i meditate day and night in the laws of god he meditates day and night in other words there there should not we should not leave a crack open because what we're doing is if you want high expectations you've got to set your mind on things above if you want god to do something in your life you can't just sit there and just say well i just know god's gonna do it you need to get your mind and your body in shape and your heart and mind all in one accord the day of pentecost was that way second chapter these people they met together and they went into upper room and they're sitting there and the scripture says they were all in what one mind and one accord they were all together thinking of the same thing you start thinking of the goodness of god you start thinking of what god is going to do how many of you you ever woke up and you just been down and and you've had that that negative moment don't don't tell me you have negative moments all the time because that is that's not a good thing but you have that negative moment and that negative moment drove you to look around and you see what's happening in your world and all of a sudden you start thinking you know what i don't know if we're going to make it now i'm just talking okay i don't know if we're going to get there or not i don't know if this is going to happen i don't know if that you keep talking that way and see where you end up you end up with a headache you end up with your chest hurting and you're calling sister christian saying i need my blood pressure checked and you end up with all kinds of things running through your head that's that's what we call in the south stinking thinking and we've got to be careful of that we've got to be careful of the fact that there are things that we cloud our minds with when we should be applying the word of god we should be saying god i need you to to restore to me renew him right mind in me speak to me paul tells timothy in second timothy the second chapter verse verse 15 he said study to show thyself approved unto god the word god expects us his anticipation and his expectation of us is that we've got the word in our hearts in the very beginning of time god gave man laws and we had scribes and we had pharisees that came along and they enforced those laws they brought those laws out and they even brought them and showed them in the face of jesus one time but that was that was because in the day and time that they lived they said we don't have anything to live by and god gave them laws and god begins to share those laws with them we need to apply those things he expected those people to keep the sabbath holy he expected those people to understand thou shalt not kill he expected them to live by the law i want to ask you a very simple question this morning today i want to ask you this have you asked of the lord god what do you expect from me what is it that you ask of me something that i learned many years ago and this is why that i don't base everything of my life on human expectation because i know me but i want to build my hopes and my dreams on things that eternal i want to build my hopes and dreams on things that that god you could change this whole thing just just like that all you have to do is and it can be changed in order for me to do that and i'm sharing with you some of my own my own applications and thoughts is i i i have to i have to dive into the word of god i have to say god if it's not your will that is a very hard thing to do because there are times that what we expect sometimes god says you know what i got something different for you i've got some other way of thinking for you and as humans we are that type of that's just the way that we're created god created us with with that in mind he knew that we would have that struggle he knew that paul would have to talk to the church at corinth he knew that he'd have to he'd have to pound into them hey guys wake up hey you need to be strong you need to hold on that's why we have the teaching and preaching word of god is because we have to sometimes god help me help me so i begin to apply those things to my heart and i ask god show me lord we can't help but look at some of the the writings that he's that he's so preciously give us in mark the 12th chapter thank you this morning for what you said in our prayer time just talking about love brother horton it was so so timely mark the 12th chapter verse 28 the scripture says this and one of the scribes these are those guys that that live by the law they brought the law out one of the scribes came and after he had given his his reply to them he goes to the lord and he says he saw that he he spoke well and i'm paraphrasing here because i want you to see something that he says here and this scribe says says what is the first commandment that last portion of verse 28 he said what is the first commandment of all and jesus answered him the first commandment is hear o israel the lord our god is one lord thou shalt love the lord thy god with all thy so heart soul mind and strength this is the first commandment now notice what he says here in verse 27. and the second is like namely this thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself this no other commandment no other commandment is greater than this no other commandment these two laws i told you apply this stuff to myself if you fall in love with god you know there was ten commandments that was given when you fall in love with god and you seek god with your whole heart with all your might and with all your strength you love him you're not really going to have problems with the second one you say well god i love you but this person's about to no if you truly love god you won't have a problem with the other nine because you understand that god is in control you understand that god put somebody it may be one of the crazies but he put them in your life for a reason as a pastor i i had i don't know my wife always told me she said you always attract those kinds well i guess god was trying to to to get work something out i i don't know but i did i ended up with those that you were you were looking out your office door and you were saying oh god but the truth is is there was something that now we look back and you know what that person mad you know they were they were a little out there but they always brought something to the table for the durant that person there you know he always he couldn't keep his mouth shut but you know what every once in a while i'd get something good out of that and that's just because god is in control he knows exactly where you need and what you need and who you need to be with amen and sometimes our human flesh gets in the way and says you know what i don't think so and then he always brings you back around if you fall in love with jesus christ if you fall in love with him you won't have to worry about any of the other stuff i i think i i said this right at the beginning that that the ark was pitched within and without god knows what you can handle he knows what you need and he knows how to how to build you oh god is god's doing something here folks i i know he he's moving oh hallelujah i was uh expectations expectations how many of you have ever had somebody to set expectations on you and i and i agree there's there's those things in our that we need somebody to coach us sometimes we need somebody to say hey you need to be achieving this you need to be doing this and and we do that in the in the secular world when we're when we've got employees that we're over our employer uh ease that we're over we we we challenge them all the time that that's okay but you know what you're capable of the scripture that i read you earlier timothy paul is writing to timothy and paul says he says to timothy he says he said study to show thyself what a proof study to show thyself approve i i was again i'm i'm searching and reaching and grabbing things that that god is speaking to me in first samuel the seventh seventeenth chapter first samuel 17 verse 39 we find a particular setting here in first samuel the 17th chapter we know that david has gone out to bring his brothers something to eat they're on the battlefield right there they're on the battlefield and they're fighting but they're really not fighting right what did the scripture say they were doing they're hunkered down behind rocks and they're they're shaking in their shoes because there's a guy out there goliath that that the truth be told that was was just a little taller than saul if we uh if we read our history he he was he was a giant and here's david what is he at this time he's a shepherd boy and david he goes out there and he's looking at this guy and he's looking at his brothers and saying what in the world what are y'all doing and he says you know i think i can take this guy now folks david i i you know he he he's already he's already done some things and god's already helped him out and he's he's slowing bears and and he's he's gotten all kinds of lions and and so he he's just he's just looking at the picture like he would normally look at it and say you know what there's nothing too big hello there's nothing too big we're talking about expectations here there's nothing too big and so he goes up and saul decides that well you know what come on in here he said if you really are dumb enough to go out there i want you to take put this on scripture says that saul has given him his armor gives him his sword gives him his armor and he's putting that armor on he saul said let me let me buckle that for you let me get that hold on you don't know how to do this i do all right listen to me you don't know how this is supposed to be i've been in war before this is the way it's done and saul helps him put all this on then david he picks up the sword he's feeling of all the armor he said i agreed to this i agreed that i wanted to go fight this goliath but what did the scripture say you got it up there the scripture says that david i don't know they didn't hear me all right that david turns around and he has buckled all this on and he's gotten all this on it and david turns around and tells saul he says i can't go with this for i have not proved this folks if that does not speak volumes to you right now the scripture says and david put them off him david said i have not proved this let me let me kind of break it down for you sometimes there are expectations that others will put on you sometimes you've got these people that walk in to your life and you don't know what what's up with this and they start setting expectations folks if you cannot prove it and you cannot prove it by the word of god you take what you know sister renee we know what applying the blood does we know what's speaking the name of jesus does we know exactly how to pray we know how to call somebody else that when i'm in trouble i'm gonna call and and they're gonna help me pray we know how to do those things do what you have proven do what you know to do don't allow other expectations to be put on you don't allow that i i learned this a long time ago is is there's there's things that that people would like for you to do they would love for you to be that person but i get caught up and say well lord is it is it just is it honest true is it something that would be of a good report paul you're telling them to think on these things you're telling them to think on these things not not these are things that that we need to be applying to our lives god help us that we can get to a place that your your word is applied to our lives daily not not just not just on sundays we can get in here and we can we can have good word we can get in here and we can have church but how am i how am i applying that to my outside life the life outside of here how am i applying that let me tell you something god has high expectations of his people and when things start getting rough and they get shaky and they've done that and you call yourself a child of god things is getting rough out there i know who i trust in i know who god is i know what he's capable of doing i know what he's done in the past i know what he's capable of doing today and i'm going to trust him i'm going to trust him i'm not going to put it behind me and say well you know what the world is changing yes it's changing but i don't think that it's meant for us to put on saul's armor folks i don't believe that it is i i hadn't been in battle with that before but i know what i have battled before that i know when the devil starts trying to cross a line i can say no that there's blood right there nope there's blood over that door's post nope there's there's there's blood all over that do you realize that in the the old testament in the tabernacle that that place in the outer courts was such a it was just a bloody mess it was always it was always just there was blood everywhere why because they believed in it they believed that when they made sacrifice that they would go and they would sprinkle blood everywhere it was everywhere kind of stunk sometimes that's okay that's okay because you're doing what god had called to do each and every one of you this morning has that opportunity and god expects it of you that you have surrendered everything in your life to him everything and you've given him everything when you give him everything you will be able to say god without a shadow of a doubt i know that you're able and when you don't you have a plan when it don't happen like i want it to happen 2020 brought to this precious congregation a whirlwind do you feel like job right in the middle of everything we're getting ready covet hits then we're getting ready for easter we're going to have a special deal didn't happen did it brother duron didn't happen and everybody's expectations you start saying now what now why now what i i want to i want to bring hope to you this morning that that god knows he knows exactly what we went through this past year and i got this feeling that he's just he's just trying to shake some things out and get rid of some stuff you know that happens every once in a while he thinks he he thinks well you know what they had eye goo gap boy that was tidy and nice but you know what he said i i need to shake that up a little bit i got something better and i don't know what you're expecting today i don't know what your expectations are but i do know that by the word of god god's plan is always better than mine it will always be better than mine even though i don't think so sometimes it will always be better than what i think i want you to stand with me today you say brother gibson you didn't get all crazy no it's okay because i really feel like that god spoke to some people today i know he is speaking in this house and he's not through yet i want you to understand this god knows what he is doing he knows exactly what he's doing and your expectations will always always just about 100 percent be different than what god's expecting oh i've seen it work i've seen him work miracles folks and i know this that by what the word says that in the last days he's going to pour his spirit out upon all flesh your sons and daughters they're going to prophesy and your old man's going to stat meet i'm going to be dreaming dreams that means we get to sleep brother toronto but then he said there is going to be signs there's going to be wonders there's going to be all kinds of things that start taking place you're going to see things in the heaven you're going to see things come to pla come into play that you've never seen in your life you're going to see people healed of things that you thought well why not you got a world that's full of disease right now what an opportune time for god to step in and show off and i can stand back and say that's my god you see because that's where i put my expectations is god it may never work like i said it would it may never come come to to fruition what what i think may never happen in closing i want to i want to share with you and i really didn't know exactly a few weeks ago i was studying on this because i've done quite an extensive extensive study on on quora in the bible and the sons of cora it was a some of you may not know who core was but he was a levite and he had sons cora got to a place that he thought he was better he was better than moses and so he gets a group of people together to back him and he goes to to battle basically he says i'm going i'm going to be the next leader god had a man he had a man in place moses he didn't really want korah to die he wanted korra to to grow and and and be a part of the work of god you see the levites they they took care of the the tabernacle they took care of everything cora thought that he could run the place and so cora brought his group and they came before moses he looked around and says you know i can do a better job moses he prayed he said lord lord would you spare him would you spare him and i i i'm saying this for a reason because i want you to understand something would you spare him and those people they did not change their mind on how they stood this is long story made sure of course in front of the man of god moses and that day the line was drawn and korah and all of the people that followed him the scripture says that the earth opened up and swallowed them then it closed back up moses is heart is troubled scripture goes on and talks about the sons of korah though that day what we don't understand and we probably won't ever understand as there was a decision that had to be made in cora's sons and as far as we know for the remainder of the time cora's sons served in the house of god they made up in their minds i don't know what your past may have been but if you'll make your mind up here's here's what god spoke to me about cora's sons his core sons realized that what their fathers had done that the only place that they could find peace was with their knees and their feet under an altar they were able to find rest in the house of god the scripture goes on and we find their hymns the sons of korah their hymns is in the proverb are in the psalm they were psalmist tell you something some of the best the best relationships you could ever have is with your knees or your feet under an altar the only way you're going to overcome some things listen to me closely the only way that you're going to be able to see the expectations of god is you've got to get close to him i'm gonna tell you this arrogance will never get you there a broken heart and a contrite spirit god help us i want you to bow your heads with us this morning or this afternoon i want you to bow your heads with us and i don't know where you are today i i listen to the voice of god but i don't i don't inquire of god on where individuals are there's times that he lays them on my heart but that doesn't tell me anything but to pray for him i don't know where you are today but i will tell you this just from the last segment that i gave you if you want to be where you need to be with god you find it in an altar you won't find it anywhere else you can't you can read the bible and if it's really speaking and if you're really reas i said i casual read not really because every time i crack i i open it up it's it's going to speak volumes but if you really want to be where you need to be with god step out from where you are the altar is there tell you something there's a dying generation there is a generation out there that needs to know god and if you're going to be a part of that signs and wonders those things that god is doing if you're going to be a part of that you're going to have to find yourself an altar you're going to have to be a part of that that sometimes god if there's no altar let me build one because i know that's my only hope that's the only hope that this world has 2021 i really feel like that god's gonna show us some things in this year that will blow our minds and we're gonna see his hand work why don't you pray with us right now in the name of jesus god you are my hope you are my refuge you are that strong tower my expec my expectations is only of you god that you will do what you said you would do god i know that you have a purpose and a plan and i know that you're doing some great things but god i want you to show up in cornerstone lord i want to see your mighty works i want to see the blind healed i want to see the lame to walk i want to see those things happen lord that that we used to talk about god i ask for divine healing lord we've got hurting people god that need a touch from you today healing virtue lord that it flows in this place your word said it god god i know that there are people here that need to hear your word speak speak lord speak through your word god let us hear what you are saying to the church in the name of jesus in the name of jesus only if it's appropriate you think that you're okay with it maybe look at somebody next to you let's pray together would you pray with someone right now in the name of jesus god i believe you i believe in your word lord i know god i'm expecting great things to happen hallelujah in the name of jesus in the name of jesus hallelujah i will build my life i will put and i will is maybe hallelujah hallelujah why don't you give him thanks right now would you give the lord thanks for what he's doing among us god's not through with us he knows exactly where we need to be he knows what needs to be taken place in our life in the name of jesus in the name of jesus hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah i encourage you flee the blood over your home flee the blood over your life over everything that is happening i don't guess i have to tell you that the enemy the scripture tells us that he is here to what kill steal and destroy so we know what his tactics are we know what his motive is now where is your expectations do we expect him to do that or do we expect god to be our strong tower do we expect him to be the one that's that's going to come in and when the enemy comes in like a flood what the spirit of the lord it raises up the standard oh hallelujah there is so many scriptures this morning that is flooding my mind of the things that god can do and will do but we have got to set our expectations there it's time for us to get out get out of that that mode that what next and say you know what no matter what happens tomorrow even if it's got a downtick it's okay why because god's getting ready to do something greater than that god's getting ready to he's getting ready to just pour it on oh hallelujah how many you believe that do you believe that today would you give him praise right now we praise you jesus hallelujah we believe in you we know god that you're able and you're going to do great things lord hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah amen amen god bless you today so glad that you were here today pray for our pastor and sister sloan that they make it home safe and we're looking forward tomorrow remember at seven o'clock we'll have in-person prayer here in the sanctuary we will be praying also if you're interested in going to nayc even if you're just interested in it please be in the meeting we're going to have a meeting right after the service here just a few moments uh where are you going to have that okay over here in conference room z amen god bless you be encouraged today go encourage somebody else and believe god amen god bless you