Great Expectations
by Doug Ellingsworth
August 6, 2023 · Cornerstone Apostolic Church (Chattanooga, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: 1 Corinthians 12, Ephesians 3:14-21, Romans 12:1-2, 2 Corinthians 5, 2 Peter 1:3-4, Jude 24, Ephesians 4, Acts 1:8

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

------------------------------------------------------------
there's a wonderful presence of the Lord here today it's not just the comforting presence of the Lord but I'm convinced it's the inspiring reminder from heaven that he's not done yet and I sense that I did yesterday as well there's something that God is doing and moving in this congregation that goes beyond just having a great pastor and a wonderful founding pastor but it goes to a bunch of people who have a heart and a passion for the things of God and you can sense that here you can sense it several things I want to say thanks so much for inviting me and my wife to be part of this you may be seated for a moment I appreciate so much being able to be in service today with brother Austin he and I were connected through our our tie to Findlay Tennessee his father pastored there for 14 years or so brother Austin was a young young boy grew up there and well spent many years there and then I was able to Pastor there for 24 years and so we share that connection if I remember correctly brother Austin when you started to raise funds to build the church in Chattanooga Findlay was one of the first ones to contribute to send a small offering I think it was only like five hundred dollars or something back then but I think Finley kind of got behind it early and and um I I'm glad now 15 years into your new pastor and then new pastor how you like that 15 years 25 years into the church being here it makes me very grateful to be able to stand here and um brother Austin made a statement yesterday that I don't know if you caught or not but we don't do very well in generational transfer in anything we don't do well in our business we don't do well in our families and we do pitiful job at it in the church but yesterday brother Austin said something that reflects his heart he said when we found the Sloans we found a gold mine and that's a tremendous statement from an elder to somebody who's taking over what he started and brother Austin I want you to know I appreciate that spirit so much and so many people here some connected to Junior Bible quizzing when you were kids some of the campground Roger Lawrence we go back 40 years to Bible school together and um so there's just a lot of good things here that I'm able to experience with you before I get wound up though I do want to take a moment and let my wife address you here I tend to get all I I would call it anointed everybody else would just say you kind of get caught up in it but but I appreciate my wife and give her a moment here it's been a privilege and an honor for us to be with you this weekend so thankful for what God is doing so thankful for the stories we've heard things that has been shared and the camaraderie the family feeling the support the unity all of that is what it takes to have Revival in his church I'm so thankful that I feel that here thankful for brother Austin and his family Through The Years they've been great friends of ours and I'm so thankful for his burden here and that the burden is being carried on you're now not just a new church 25 years it's a quarter of a century so you're you're well established and good things are going to come the foundation is strong so now you can build it up out in the city in your schools your jobs just going to Walmart wherever you go we're supposed to be a light right every day I'm so thankful for my Heritage a lot has been said today about Generations and faithfulness my grandmother is one that started this Apostolic um faith in our family and she sacrificed a lot my grandfather did not really buy into it and he put a lot of pressure on her when she stood for truth and then my mother and then now I and our children and grandchildren five generations in our family I'm grateful for my Heritage and I can testify today that it is the best thing that has happened to our family it has connected us has kept us safe tied together and the stories of healings Miracles that have took place in our family over the years are very many and I'm so grateful for that my mother is still with us now who we celebrated her 90th birthday in June the Lord told us before her 80th birthday for her to get her house in the order because she would not live to see her 80th birthday 90 all of the kids there's eight children in my family and so all eight of us were able to be with her to celebrate her 90th birthday two or three times since then the Lord told her the doctors have said I don't see how you're you're making it but God he does all things and he does it well and I'm so thankful that I have a God that I can serve and live for and be a part of his church aren't you God is good and I'm so thankful to be here with you Lord bless you brother and sister Sloan your family we love you all very much and all of the leadership here God bless you Roger it is good to see you back there brings back a lot a lot of memories a lot of memories I also appreciate Dylan and his team I don't know of any other Apostolic group that has had a simulcast church service from five different places at one time and your church did that for us you guys pulled that off wonderful job we're going to do it again one of these days and so just a lot of good things that have come from here and I'm grateful to be part of it today I appreciate brother and sister Sloan and their Ministry being a pastor um I I both feel their pain and their celebration pastoring is not it isn't as easy as brother Stone makes it look there are some difficult moments but when God has called you there's nothing that is as wonderful as as serving and I also want to tell their children thank you for being faithful with your parents our three kids made a world of difference in our ministry and so thank you all so we used to celebrate the whole family here today for your your commitment I thought since this was the Pastoral anniversary that I'd spend some time celebrating that with brother and sister Sloan today but I've kind of felt maybe moved a little bit from that it is important to appreciate your pastor it's built into the word of God you got to read the whole Bible and when you read from the beginning all the way through you realize that God puts a high priority and significance upon the people that he calls to Ministry and you've got to have those people in your life you've gotta you gotta have a church you got to have an offering plate you got to have a conflict and you got to have a pastor those are the essentials that are in the Bible and without a pastor to guide and to put himself out there especially in a world where one group says there's 69 gender variations that you can choose to be you've got to have a man of God who does not hesitate to preach truth but do it in a way that comes with the compassion and love of Jesus Christ and that's not always easy you've got to have an anointing and a passion for the things of God and I know that that your pastor has that but today I want to address this church because I believe the song selection here today has has confirmed what I felt this morning that God has a work for this church in the city of Chattanooga five hundred thousand roughly in your metro area and In This Crowd we really can't do much with that 500 000 us but but with the principles in God's word the power of the Holy Ghost the anointing of God this church can make a huge impact on the city of Chattanooga and I believe that you are primed and ready and that God is at work and so if you will stand with me I'd like to read a few scriptures here to you today or with you and then I don't know where we'll go from there but I feel a fire of the Holy Ghost burning that God wants you to understand that you are significant when I say you I mean you yeah I'm talking about your church but I'm talking about you First Corinthians 12 reminds us this is a body and every member has its place so every time you hear me say today that this church is significant understand that I'm talking about you in the place that you feel and the role that God has set you in but to start it from Ephesians chapter 3. Ephesians chapter 3 beginning at verse number 14. the Apostle writes and he says for this cause I bow my knees unto the father of our Lord Jesus Christ of whom the whole family in Heaven and Earth is named that he would Grant you according to the riches of his glory to be strengthened with might by his spirit in the Inner Man that Christ May dwell in your hearts by faith that ye being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with All Saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ which passeth unknowledge that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in US unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages World Without End amen I don't know what you thought about your conversion from sinner to saved I don't know what you think about yourself as faithful church member but you need to go back and read through matter of fact that whole book of Ephesians just kicks me in the seat of the pants every time I read it folks God did not just save you so that you could show up on Sunday put some money in the offering and rejoice with the people of God but that Christ May dwell in your hearts that you being rooted and grounded in love may be able to comprehend with All Saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height and to know the love of God which passeth knowledge that you'll be filled with the goodness of God God wants great things from you and he has great expectations if you'll join me again in Romans chapter 12 familiar verses verses one and two I beseech you therefore Brethren by the mercies of God that you present your bodies a Living Sacrifice holy acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service and be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God for a little while this afternoon I want to tell you that God has great expectations of you in this congregation Great Expectations would you lift your hands and ask the Lord to open our hearts to his voice today in Jesus name Lord we stand in your presence grateful for your goodness thanking you for what we feel and have felt throughout this entire time of worship thanking you Lord for the church that has stood for 25 years with men and women that have committed themselves to its leadership and have joined in with passion to see it move forward I thank you for every dollar that's been raised and committed but beyond that Lord I Thank you for the work you're going to do in the hearts and lives of men as we reach this community let us step up today and let us recognize that you have great expectations for us and let us step and commit to meet those in Jesus name in Jesus name amen God bless you you may be seated God has great expectations for your life everything that the Lord touches is magnificent incredible and mind-boggling the Apostle Peter writes and he says that someday this Earth all the elements are going to melt this Earth that you and I occupy is simply a temporary home for us to live and prove our faithfulness to God but stop and look at it I mean just walk out drive five minutes and look at the beauty of Just Around Chattanooga get up on the mountain and observe all and recognize that God simply has this waiting as just a holding place for us go to the ocean watch how the tides come in and out read the morning paper and some of those coastal cities that will tell you the precise minute that those waves will begin to recede or the tide will bring them in God has set those laws in order and they've been going on for centuries now and it's simply to tell us that there is a God who is faithful and everything he touches is a magnificent thing our human bodies we die these bodies dissolve go back to the dust from which they came our redeemed bodies that someday will be recreated and will zip up into the skies it's going to be different it's not going to be this human flesh but consider the magnificence of the human body we are fearfully and wonderfully made it's an incredible thing when you study the human body there's a TED Talk and I wish I remember the guy's name this is kind of off the cuff here today but he's a doctor and a scientist he's the one who developed technology did all the math and science behind many of the of the modern medical machines that can read images and create images of your body and he testifies as he's talking to that Ted Talk he said the deeper you get into the human body the more you see divinity and yet this body is just here it's just a temporary place to hold our souls and spirit to move us from one spot to the other I'm telling you God everything he touches is glorious and when you are touched by the power of the Holy Ghost and your life is transformed it cannot help but be a glorious thing a glorious experience from Lost to say a wonderful experience from bound to set free a tremendous wonderful moment when your your pressure of sin and all the weight and the burden you've been bearing is cut away from you and you're free at last what a wonderful thing and the Apostle writes in second Corinthians chapter 5 and he said If any man be in Christ he's a new creature things pass away and all becomes new and he writes at the end of that chapter that Jesus Christ who knew no sin became sin that he might exchange our sin for his righteousness and then we just sit and come you know God did all that so we could just show up on Sunday go through the motions now I am telling you God has great expectations for you that go far beyond your membership obligations and your time to worship but God will reach this city of Chattanooga through men and women who every day of their life get up and realize I am not just a sinner saved by grace but I am a redeemed part of the body of Christ that the Lord has set me here for this time and for this purpose you may hate your job you may be looking for another one just as hard as you can but in the meantime when you walk in the doors of whatever it is you tell yourself the Lord has set me here I'm not just an average Tennessean or somebody that's just got a job and I'm going to punch the clock and go home I am a child of God and my life is ordained and God has put me here on purpose and there's somebody in this building that needs to see my life or there's somebody that needs to see the light of my light shine to them and today I may hate every task that's before me but I'm going to keep my eyes open for the men and women around me and if I hear somebody tell about the sadness of their life or if I hear someone talk about the desperation in their family I'm just going to walk up and tell them my story we think that we've got to have a this you know master's degree in Bible and theology to be able to share but folks you just got to be able to tell your story if you can babysit a child for an hour if you can make a friend and if you can tell a story you can be a disciple maker back during the pandemic the Lord really got a hold of me and um I've been in church all my life pretty much I won't tell you the bad stuff I'll just tell you the good raised in a pastor's home and I knew about making disciples but when I was a kid growing up the way you made disciples was you invited your friends to come to church and then once they got the Holy Ghost the church had a discipleship program they put them in and on Sundays that's the class they would go to because when I was a kid growing up everybody went to church 60s and 70s you know it was starting to get a little wild in America the hippies and you know all the protests and but there was still a philosophy for instance when I went to school we didn't have homework on Wednesday night because that was church night foreign Mrs Ware's class we still stood up before lunch and we took turns praying everybody had a different different day and we prayed for lunch life was different back then disciple making was different back then nowadays The Whole World's flipped upside down and it's not that way anymore and so you and I can't just count on inviting somebody to church but you and I have got to take Jesus Christ to them and disciple making cannot be just a class on Sunday disciple making has to be my intentional behavior before you every single day and I'm telling you the Lord has great expectations he has higher expectations for you than you probably have for yourself the Lord believes in you he died on the cross before you ever born to redeem you let's read a few more verses here II Peter chapter 1 verse 3. according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by these you might be partakers of the divine nature having escaped the corruption that's in the world through lust now let's slow that down look at it again it says his divine power is given unto us and it's given us all the things that pertain to life and godliness listen when you get the Holy Ghost and you've got his word and you've got the church and you've got a pastor that's preaching the word you've got everything you need that pertains to life and godliness the Lord expects you to live a holy Godly life says right here he's called us to glory and virtue that means you don't lie you don't cheat you don't steal it means you don't hang around with other men's wives it means you're a virtuous person and God's called you to he's got high expectations for you we say well that's just in my nature my whole family we've had tempers and we've always got in fights well that might have been but the Lord's got a higher expectation for you than that he's called you to glory and virtue that means he's called you to make right choices and live a life that reflects his virtue before the world but it also means his glory his glory is that work in your life and I know I know we get busy in life and I know there's so much pressure on life I know there's so much you know we've got to raise our family we have to have clothes for our kids to starting school now and and we've got to get everything just right and moms and dads are having to both work a lot of hours and you seem to barely get done before you got to start over the next morning and there's never enough money never enough time never enough anything and then you come on Sunday and the preacher gets up and says the Lord has great expectations for you he wants you to reach Chattanooga he wants you to be virtuous he wants his glory to work in your life and you're just saying I just like to see Friday come but I Tell You Folks that in the midst of Your World The Lord will stop and visit you every once in a while and remind you that you're not just walking this life by yourself but there is a power of God that is ministering through you every day that you allow him to so God has high expectations he expects you to live right but he's allowing us to be partakers of his divine nature he's not just saying okay bud here you go I've saved your hive now let's see you live right make good choices now get out there and do something good that's not what he's saying he's saying look I've given you of my divine nature I've given you the power to overcome now go in the power of the Holy Ghost the next verse in Jude I like this one Jude verse 24. now unto him that is able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding Joy whatever excuse you have just went out the window I can't I can't I'm not I don't unto him that's able to keep you from falling and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding Joy Let Me Tell You Folks this is not an experience so you just kind of eek through to the end the lord gave us the Holy Ghost allows us to partake of his divine nature and he intends for us to be successful to the point that he says I will keep you from falling you walk in my word you follow my spirit and I'll keep you from falling when your trip or when the road gets a little twisty and curves here and there I'll push you back on and you won't even know that I've moved you I'll just keep you from falling if you'll just walk with me I'm telling you that God has great expectations for you because he knows how you're made he knows the power of the Holy Ghost he knows the Wonder of your story and the power of his own glory and he understands everything that you're going to face and he's prepared you for it and he will make up the difference and then in Ephesians chapter 4 he gave some Apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the Saints for the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ till we all come in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ the one who saved you who redeemed you who filled you with the Holy Ghost he expects you to measure up to the fullness of the stature of Jesus Christ I don't believe that the Lord walks around in heaven telling the angels of that guy never really had much of a chance in life don't don't expect much from him and don't don't be too mean to him just kind of you know nudge him along a little bit kind of like you know my dad was raised in the country he loves pigs okay pigs are his favorite animals so when I was a boy there was a two-year period where we had pigs 100 over 100 Hogs and this was before all the fancy pig farms this was I'm just out in the sticks the Ozark Mountains and um my dad likes those Hogs but every once in a while and some of those litters born there'd be one or two of those little Hogs little piglets that weren't quite going to make it there was one winner in particular we had a bunch of pigs and we had about half a dozen in our living room around the wood stove with towels massaging trying to get the blood flow and get them warmed up and my dad would put them in a special pen and feed them separately and as they grew and and were weaned they would they would kind of be nurtured by themselves because they were weaker I don't believe that the Lord has a pen for weak Christians because it doesn't matter what your background or Heritage is we're celebrating multi-generational families here today that have been Apostolic for six Generations but if you just walked in the door last Sunday and this is your first time and you've been baptized in Jesus name and you've been filled with the Holy Ghost you've got the same power coursing through your spirit that all of the rest of us may have had for Generations there are no special needs classes in church the Lord has more than sufficient to take care of all of our insecurities more of the things that we lack and all of the fears that we have I'm telling you he has high expectations he's not measuring you by your past he's not measuring you by your parental Heritage he's not measuring You by anything except his own power to save to forgive and to keep you from falling and I want to tell you today that the Lord has empowered you he's empowered you to be everything that he needs you to be to reach the community around you now I can preach on this for a long time but I think school starts this week right but as I mentioned to you a while ago during the pandemic the Lord began dealing with me of this disciple-making thing I know it's always been around but during the pandemic some things happen in our church in little community of Findlay and there were some people that we just kind of lost track of the first couple of times we did our our webcast and we you know live stream service numbers were good and people would make comments by about the third week most of them are watching into their pajamas on Sunday morning by the fourth Sunday half of them we're just going to catch it later and so when we got back to church I was meeting with some of our staff and I I talked about how there were some that answered emails there were some that got online but there was a couple of families there were a couple of families that just we just lost them no contact they wouldn't respond and I mentioned the names and way in the back of the room the lady raised her hand she said brother always worth I'm in touch with him every week they had ignored the pastor they weren't watching The Church live stream but they couldn't avoid the one-on-one contact from a disciple maker and as I recognize the power of that and saw it again the Lord reminded me that we can't build churches fast enough we can't raise money quickly enough you guys have found that out in six locations in six years but you can tell by looking around this room you haven't stopped disciple making and if we could see ourselves through the same eyes that the Lord sees us and if we would set some expectations on ourselves Now understand I'm not trying to put you on a guilt trip and neither am I trying to make this a mechanical action but what I am trying to tell you is you know when when I was growing up mama expected me to carry the trash out and if I didn't get the trash out while it was still daylight and it got dark I was still expected to carry the trash out and I figured out really quickly that between mama taddling on me to Dad and the sun setting it was just better for me to carry out the trash here mama had some expectations and I learned to develop my life around those expectations and all I'm telling you is is that the Lord has higher expectations and some of you want to accept and you need to realize that he did more when he saved you than just pull you out of the muck and mire of sin but he has empowered you to lead men and women to the Gospel of Jesus Christ through your life and through your actions famous verse we read it often in Acts chapter 1 verse 8 but ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you and ye shall be Witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and in Samaria and unto the uttermost part of the earth the Lord has no problem empowering people in some ways I wasn't a very good pastor in some ways I wanted everybody to be perfect before they took over any job I want to make sure they would get it right but the Lord told these guys you're going to be Witnesses unto me all around the world he didn't set up these little hurdles and everybody had to jump through you got to be in church 10 years you can't miss anything for seven weeks in a row no he just said look I filled you with the Holy Ghost you're baptized in my name and you're walking in my word and I'm going to use you and I'm telling you that this church has the potential to affect this city in far greater measures than you are anticipating today if you will just understand the expectations that the Lord has he expects you to be a witness of him and again I'm going back all you got to do is tell your story the Lord saved me and my family the Lord healed my child the Lord touched my wife the Lord moved upon me people people can argue with you all day long about speaking in tongues or how you should be baptized but they can't argue with you when you say all I know is is that my child was sick and we prayed and the next moment they're up rejoicing and feeling good you can't argue with that and if folks are hungry and if they want a God that's real and if they want an experience that is going to transform their lives they're going to start listening to your story you just got to step up to the expectations that God has just tell the world what I've done for you tell your friends what I've done show them how the thing that you did from I did for you I can do for them if God healed your child there's a good chance you're going to be working with somebody who has a sick child because God I don't want to hurt your feelings or anything but God really doesn't care too much about our comfort he's building a church and he's got bodies and an eternal home waiting for us that will never feel pain no anxiety no fear no guilt no shame so he knows what eternity is for us in the meantime he also knows that sometimes you and I won't really pray unless we're under pressure you remember Israel they had they had a horrific moment there when the priests and his sons is mostly his sons they were doing all kinds of ungodly things there in the house of the Lord and there was a lady who could not have children her name was Hannah and Hannah's husband was very good to her you know when they would go worship the mom would take offerings for her and for each of her children well Hannah had no children so everybody could see here she comes with just a little offering for one little lady and her husband in order to help her avoid that moment he would Laden her with extra offerings so that nobody would know that when she went to bring her her offering to the temple to the Tabernacle that she was just offering for herself and she could have been satisfied with that this is just my lot in life this is just who I am and my husband's helping me he's helping push the embarrassment out and so we're just going to move forward she wasn't content there was something moving inside of her spirit she said I've got to have a child and she went into the house of the Lord and prayed and she had a child but that child wasn't just given to her so that she could be satisfied in that that little desire quenched but that child became the salvation of the nation of Israel because Samuel became a priest and a prophet that stood up and declared the way of the Lord and he led them from that hypocritical way of worship into the truth and righteousness that God intended and I'm telling you that your discomfort may be the Gateway to The Next Step the church needs LED through and you can mask it you can just say well this is just my lot in Life or you can get down and pray say Lord I'm determined that you're going to work in my life you made some promises in your word and you've saved some people you can save my children Lord You've healed others and you can heal me I'm telling you the expectation that God has for you is high and you need to step up and say Lord I am your child and I'm believing you to move in this situation for me and my church and our family I'm telling you tonight that that growth does not occur within your comfort zone it's never going to happen you're going to be just who you are as long as you stay where you're comfortable praise and worship as long as you just come and clap your hands and kind of sing and move with the music you're going to be just like you are but when that song gets down in your soul and spirit and you begin to realize what God's done for you and your feet want to move a little bit and you decide I'm going to step out here and just like Let It Go you're moving out of that comfort zone and you're entering into a place in the presence of God where you can grow and meet those expectations that God has on your life Andy Andrews wrote he says that everybody wants to make a difference but nobody wants to be different but you can't have one without the other if you really want to see Chattanooga changed your community saved there's going to have to be some people that say I don't want to just see a difference I'm going to make a difference and it's going to happen because I'm going to change I'm going to be different the Lord will speak to you through the preaching of your pastor the Holy Ghost will move on you in your own prayer time the Lord will lead and guide you but you've got to be willing to respond and open to that voice of God because he's got great expectations for you we've all got to let go of what we are so that we can become everything that he's designed us to be I could preach on this for a long long time but somehow we've just got to realize the high priority that God has placed upon us and the trust that he's invested in US we are in a critical stage in human history but also in the United States critical time and the Lord trusted you this moment my grandmother was a great woman of Prayer I never knew her she was killed in an auto accident before I was born great woman of Prayer died in an accident matter of fact when brother Kenneth Haney was general superintendent he went several places and preached on prayer and he used my grandmother as his example she was a great person of Prayer but the Lord didn't set my grandmother here in 2023. he had her back in the 50s that means he's got confidence that there are men and women in this room that will step up to the Altar and it will make their home just as sacred as their Church and the power of the Lord will move there and they will make a difference in their families and in their communities God has confidence in you he has placed you here there's a guy by the name of Clayton Christensen he was back in the 1990s quite a mover and Shaker even back into the 80s perhaps in in the business he's the guy that developed some of the principles and what they call disruption or um he really Dell computers made a whole lot of money by following his plan disrupt these businesses and these um by by inserting different things and different principles and sticking your brand in there and he did so well that he was actually hired by Harvard to lead their their business school and he said that every year he would get America's 900 brightest students and he would teach them all year long but he said the last day they were in his class he would take them through all of the principles that they had learned about business and he would ask them three questions he said first of all I would ask them how can I be sure that I'll be happy in my career the second thing he asked them was how can I be sure that my relationships with my spouse and my family become an enduring source of happiness and then the third thing he asked him is how can I maintain my integrity and it's this next statement the reason why he did that caught my attention he said because doing deals doesn't yield the Deep rewards that come from building up people and I want my students to leave my class knowing that the Lord has called every one of us to build up people to be disciple makers but what we have done every culture has and we have the same we found other outlets for that calling we found Sports that competitive nature way back in the Garden of Eden the Lord said to Adam I'm giving you dominion over all this take it that is at our nature to take Dominion we're supposed to be doing it by lifting up people by taking dominion over Satan and saying you cannot do that in my family you cannot do that in my community and praying and pushing back until it's done and using that dominating force that God has placed in us to lift up people but instead we paint our faces orange and white and we scream on Saturdays and and we transfer that power that the Lord has given us to take Dominion into things that are easy and fun for us and for which we bear no consequence but how about if we could train our children from the time that they're little that the most important thing they'll ever do that will bring their satisfaction is lifting up people I'm not saying your kids shouldn't play ball and stuff kids need to play stuff but what I am saying is we need to make sure that we're not passing the opportunity to instill in them the god-given desire and the god-given privilege of influencing people and training them from the time their little bitty that they can touch lives they can help people they can lift them up because if Clayton if Clayton Christensen was telling the folks in Harvard the last day before you leave I want you to understand that building up people brings more rewards than doing those deals then you and I need to be telling our kids the same thing before they get to grade school let alone before they get to Harvard that God has his hand on your life that God is using you that God has high expectations of you that God holds you at a place of great regard and he is expecting you to influence your people around you and as you stand with me today I'm nowhere near finished but I got to stop somewhere if I could if I could figure out a way you kind of cut the top of everybody's head open and um pour this in it and then close the head back down and I would do it the thing is you've got to push through all of this stuff in your own life and world and realize that God has called me and it's an incredible privilege to be able to serve him he has called me out of Darkness into Marvelous Light he has set me at a place to where I can influence the world around me and I tell you again God's not called you to argue with everybody about what the Bible says he's called you to tell them what he's done for them what he's done for you and let them know that he can do it for them and so I want to set you free from any fear that you might have here today that you may not know enough and that you may not have all the answers what I am telling you if God's forgiven you of your sins if God set you free from some old habits some anxiety and some issues in your world if God has put your family together or if God has kept your family together if God has touched your child if God has touched you you have everything you need to open the door into somebody's world and to introduce them to the Lord we're talking about reaching Chattanooga and we pray for this Grand Revival of ten thousand five thousand or even a hundred but can I tell you that if everybody in this room just simply reached one person that they worked on at work or at school or wherever they are and in the process of working with that one you encourage them to work with one more that a year from now you'd have to have three services in this building to get them all in and you multiply that again and you let it just kind of roll over the next four or five years that 11 acres will have some open-air Pavilions where you gotta have room to put people up in there I'm telling you in the book of Acts he added to the church daily such as should be saved and I am convinced that's the way that you and I are going to influence and impact Chattanooga is just daily let the Lord let him move on you today if you'd close your eyes with me for just a moment before I have them sing and invite you to respond there are two things that I desperately want to give into your heart and the first one is that you can do this God has set this church in a strategic place you can do this you've got everything that is required Jude reminds us he's going to keep us from falling if your heart is right if you're filled with the Holy Ghost baptized in Jesus name listening to the voice and the preaching of your pastor and walking in the ways that the Lord directs you can do this we can make an impact on this city that will go far beyond the borders of just Chattanooga but you've got to understand the Lord has that expectation of you he knows you're capable he knows you're able and he knows that he can make up the difference and I challenge you today I know you know you don't have time I know nobody has time I'll let you open your eyes again for a minute think about before you got married especially you ladies bless your hearts have time to add another two loads of laundry pick up somebody's dirty clothes did you have time to wash out the sink where they shave did you did you have time for all of that no you didn't have time for it but somehow yeah you do now and then children who had time for that if you've got a child three years or younger you ladies probably haven't had a good night's sleep in four years who has time for that but can you imagine your world before you have those children it's like a foreign memory and we sit here trying to I can't do that I just don't have time just don't have time but when the Lord begins to drop things into your world and men and women start finding God through you you'll be surprised at how much time you do have to commit and how your world does it just today I'm not asking you to make these deep commitments what I'm asking you to realize is what God has called you to do what his expectations of you are how he has empowered you and you just make yourself a willing vessel that whatever God wants to do whoever he wants to lead you to you're going to respond when somebody comes up and says my family's in bad bad situation here you won't just say well that's I hate that but instead you'll grab him and say let's pray right now when somebody says my child is sick at home instead of saying well I hate that you're going to say let's pray now or let's meet at our next break and let's pray if you'll just commit to do those things folks I am telling you that the high expectations that God has for you are going to be met and you are going to be able to influence your community in ways greater than you ever thought so as we celebrate this 25th year 15 years of pastoral leadership I'm asking you as a congregation to make an individual commitment that I'm going to step out and commit to raising my own expectation level up to where God has it for me and that I'm going to make myself available instead of hiding instead of dodging questions instead I'm just going to tell my story and if you'll make those two commitments I'm convinced that this church will continue on that trajectory that you're on that's all I'm asking so I'm going to ask you to close those eyes one more time I'm going to ask them to play and sing A Chorus and just before your pastor comes back if you feel a desire Lord I want to step out Lord I want to meet those expectations you have for me Lord I want to walk in your ways I want to be used I encourage you to step out into the aisles come down to the front and as a commitment on this 25th anniversary celebration I'm committed to helping this church move to the next level and reach our community however you want to respond I'm just asking you today listen to that voice in your heart and respond as we as we sing here for just a couple of minutes in Jesus name in Jesus name hallelujah hallelujah thank you Lord thank you Lord thank you Lord yes Lord in the name of Jesus see every heart and every person here I speak in Faith Lord encourage those who may be doubting their own abilities now touch those who have fears and questions let them see through your eyes that you have called and anointed me what that they can't do this and walking with you this is why they are here in Jesus name in Jesus name yes Lord yes Lord hallelujah hallelujah I'll say yes Lord I'll say yes hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah thank you Lord thank you Lord thank you Lord you've called me to oh come on reach to heaven right now oh I Wanna Love You Lord I Wanna Love You Lord come on we've got something to tell someone what you called me to be yes Lord I agree my desire Jesus Jesus a witness for a testimony Jesus so come on that tried Lord I desire you today come on there is power in your witness today yes Lord I agree my desire Reach Out come on Church reach for the Lord right now I need you Jesus Jesus I need you today God I say yes oh that's right come on reach over pray with somebody close to you come on encourage one another come on Chattanooga needs a church we can do this come on reach over pray with somebody close by you in the name of Jesus oh come on let's try it come on somebody that's right yeah yes loss yes yes Jesus come on that's right in the name of Jesus in the name of Jesus let's try it come on Reach Out pray with somebody else let the Lord use you right now come on let the Lord use you right now Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah Hallelujah in the name of Jesus in the name of Jesus I'll be what you want me to be me oh yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah oh come on there is victory in this house today he is confirming his word come on that's right the name of Jesus the name of Jesus pray church pray church pray get a hold of God right now I need you Jesus I'm trusting in you today Jesus I see you hey yeah yeah yeah I see the name of Jesus in the name of Jesus oh come on that's right you need a miracle in your life today today reach to Heaven yeah I agree I agree I agree I agree I'll say yeah oh yes that's right come on come on pray with somebody else Jesus bind us together Lord let our witness be strong today Lord City needs you Jesus our community needs you Jesus I agree come on let's try young people pray reach for the Lord come on Mom and Dad reach for the Lord see you I'll say yes yes I'll say yes I agree the name of Jesus come on let's ride reach for it holy ghost is here today in the name of Jesus young people reach for the Lord right now come on in the name of Jesus oh come on that's right man come on run into his presence coming after you Jesus somebody wants the Holy Ghost today somebody leaves a holy ghost today yes yes yes yes yes yes yeah yeah yeah oh that's right come on reach for the Lord right now the name of Jesus that's what I'll be there you go come on there is healing there is restoration there is restoration that's right man run into his presence Hallelujah foreign agree with someone else I'll be what you want me to be I'll be what you want me to be Jesus that's right come on in the name of Jesus I love you Lord I love you Lord I will be what you called me to be hallelujah hallelujah the name of Jesus hallelujah hallelujah hey yeah yeah I'll be what you want me to be thank you Hallelujah yes hey yeah yeah Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus the name of Jesus come on you are complete in him you are complete in him you are complete in Jesus you are whole you are complete in him come on there's somebody else that'll just lift your voice right now we got some folk hungry for the Holy Ghost come on through any worshiper in the house today that'll prostrate yourself say oh God come Lord Jesus come and move Lord God breathe into this room holy ghost power I pray breathe into this house Jesus yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah I love you Lord I love you Lord I love you Lord I love you Lord the name of Jesus the name of Jesus the name of Jesus holy is the Lord Worthy is the Lord Jesus I agree I agree I'll say yes yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah I agree Hallelujah