The Call of Everyday Life | Senior Pastor Kenneth Carpenter by Kenneth Carpenter Kind: sermon Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8, 1 Peter 1:14-16, 1 Peter 2:9-10, 2 Timothy 1:9, Romans 8:28, Hebrews 3:1-2, Hebrews 11:23-27, Deuteronomy 34:1, 1 Corinthians 3:6, Exodus 25:1-9, Exodus 35:26-27 Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/kenneth-carpenter--the-call-of-everyday-life-senior Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page. Free to copy and share with attribution. ------------------------------------------------------------ How privileged and blessed we are to be in the house of the Lord tonight. Said, "How privileged and blessed we are to be in the house of the Lord tonight." If you'd remain standing with me and turn with me to 1 Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. We're going to be reading from verse number one through verse number 8. So good to be back home this evening. And there's no place like Mville, Tennessee. >> Or if you're from here, there's no place like Marvel, Tennessee. There just there's just no place there's just no place like home. It's so good to be so good to be home. and I got the good reports of uh the church Sunday morning and Sunday night and souls receiving the Holy Ghost and getting baptized in Jesus' name. And so it's always a a good report a good report to hear that. Um I do want to make mention and u you know for many years my pastor would introduce me and he always would introduce me with this verse. It seemed like I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. And then I switched that on him. I gave the uh you know, you got the KJV Kings James version and then you got the KRC version. And in a day when men years ago preached one thing, but years later they changed and preached something else. And so when I had the privilege of introducing him, I said, I have no greater joy than to hear that my father in the gospel is still preaching what he preached to me. And so I'm I'm so thankful for that. And I said that to say this. Uh I don't know who did it. I don't know if it was a group of people. I don't I just don't know anything. Pastoral team doesn't know anything about it. But the other day in our newspaper was a a halfpage, full page ad of the pastoral family and a and a great uh comments that were that were made. And on behalf of the pastoral family, thank you so very much for your love and your devotion and your willingness to make First Apostolic Church what it really is. And I love you. We love you. And we thank you. We thank you tonight. We we truly do. And uh Pastor Hammond had prayer. I had I had a request come to me that I didn't get to give him. and that is our dear sweet brother Billy Cross uh has been diagnosed with stage 4 uh lung, kidney, and liver cancer. And so let's pray for brother Cross tonight. Let's continue. Let's put him on our prayer list. Are you ready to receive the word tonight? >> 1 Thessalonians chapter 4 verse number one. Paul said, "Furthermore, then, we beseech you, brethren, and exhort you by the Lord Jesus, that as you have received of us, how ye ought to walk and to please God, so ye would abound more and more. For ye know what commandments we gave you by the Lord Jesus. For this is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication, that every one of you should know how to possess his vessel, body, in sanctification and honor, not in the lust of concupence. And what that word simply means there, the desire for wrong things. All right? the desire for things that are not yours to the wrong things, even as the Gentiles, which know not God, that no man go beyond and defraud his brother in any manner, because that the Lord is the avenger of all such as we also have forewarned you and testified for God. And I want you to look at this verse because this is really the verse that I'm going to teach on tonight. For God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. He that despiseth, what are you despising? Holiness. He that despiseth despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy spirit. Again, verse seven, for God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness. Tonight for a subject title is simply this, the call of everyday life. the call of everyday life. Father, I come before you tonight. I thank you for this wonderful group of people. I thank you for their love and their devotion. I thank you, Lord, for the desire to be in your house. I thank you, Father. I thank you, Father, for their love and for their devotion. I thank you, Lord, that you will touch us tonight, God. We are your people, God. We are your people, Lord, and we desire to be used by you, Lord. We pray for Brother Billy Cross tonight, God. You are the healer of all cancer, God. We ask, Lord, for your holy healing hand to be upon him, God, touch me tonight that I would feed your sheep. God, touch me tonight. We bind every hindrance. Lord, I pray that every soul that wants to hear the word tonight will be able to hear the word and understand the word in Jesus' name we all pray. Amen. Amen. Give him a hand of praise as you're being seated. The call of everyday life. A week ago tonight, our evangelist preached, "So strong and so anointed." Wasn't that wonderful? And he said, "Many times over." He said, "Many times over, God is calling people in this room tonight." Do you remember that? Seemed like he said that several times. God is calling people in this room tonight. I watched as the end at the end of his message, I watched as you good people flooded the altar. I mean, literally flooded the altar. Yet, my spirit was stirred. I was stirred in my spirit because I believe that there are some people that seek for the Sunday calling. I'm going to call it Sunday. I didn't say Sunday. I said, "Someday call it." Someday, someday God's going to call me. Someday I could I could be called. Or maybe we've got some folks here that maybe one of these days, one of these days, someday God's going to come. One of these days, God's going to call me. But I think you'll agree with me tonight that I think when we mention the word a calling that we just really narrow it down. We really narrow it down to called to preach or called to be a missionary. We we really we we we narrow it down to something about a preacher or something about a missionary. But I want you to know tonight that could not be further from the truth. That could be further from the truth tonight. For the truth of the matter is we are all called of God. All of us. We are all called of God. The verse seven of my text tonight, let's read it again. For God hath not called us. God didn't call us to uncleanness. And of course, the context of this scripture, Paul is dealing with uh the Thessalonians and he's dealing with fornication and he's dealing with it among the church. And he is telling them he is telling them that God did not call you to uncleanness. God didn't call you to that. That's not the call of God. But God has called us to holiness. To holiness. Listen closely to me tonight. We are all called to a holiness lifestyle. We're called, God is calling us to a holiness lifestyle. A lifestyle that affects how we think. I'm going to tell you a holiness lifestyle. When you are called to holiness, when you're called to god likeness, when he calls you, come over here. Come to my holiness, it will without fail affect the way you think. It will affect the way that you think. A holiness lifestyle affects how we think and may I add and don't think, >> how we think and how we don't think. A holiness lifestyle affects the way we talk >> and the way we don't talk. I'm I'm not really pausing for a response. I'm just pausing to let it sink in. But if you want to respond, I promise you I won't tell you to stop. But I'm talking about being called to holiness. Holiness lifestyle will affect the way you think and don't think. It will affect the way you talk and don't talk. A holiness lifestyle will affect the way you spend your time. Holiness lifestyle affects the way you spend your time. Don't get quiet on me now. A holiness lifestyle affects the way you spend your money. >> The church in Ohio, Bishop Carter's church that I was privileged to preach their anniversary. I couldn't help the way they received their tithe and offering Sunday morning. They said this and it got my attention. They said, "Now we are here to return the tithe and bring our offering." And I thought, how true that is. that tithe don't belong to me in the first place. I'm I'm just the guardian of that tithe. God's just seen if I'll trust him enough to bring what's already his to bring it to the right place. But now my offering my offering I'm returning the tithe, but I'm I'm bringing I'm I'm bringing an offering because a holiness lifestyle will affect the way you spend money and um it will affect how we dress. And guess how we don't dress. >> But let's balance it out. A holiness lifestyle will not only affect how we dress or don't dress. A holiness lifestyle will affect how we treat one another. >> It doesn't matter if you got the external down if the internal is not right. >> Right. >> It'll affect how you treat one another. Um, a holiness lifestyle will also affect the places you go >> and the places you don't go. >> That's a holiness that's a holiness lifestyle. Cuz after all, after all, it would be so shallow of us. You'd never develop into anything for God if you thought being called was just for the preacher or the missionaries. But being called is for everybody under the sound of my voice tonight. >> If you were convicted of your sins by the Holy Ghost and you repented of them and you were waterbaptized in the only saving name of Jesus Christ and you were filled with the gift of the Holy Ghost and spoke in another tongue as the spirit gave the utterance as the initial sign, I want you to know tonight like it or not, you've been called. But now whether or not you'll reach and get a hold of that phone and answer it is another step of salvation. It's another step. It's another step in your your your development. And and Paul plainly said there in verse 7, for God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but God hath called us to holiness. Look in first Peter chapter 1 and verse number 14. Peter now writes about it. 1 Peter 1:14, he says, "As obedient children," as obedient children. How many love tonight? Our kids are out of here. How many loves tonight when our children are obedient? >> How many love when you have to tell them twice? >> We had a standard at our house. We had a standard. We didn't do the one, two, three thing. All right? Because what we really teaching your child is to wait till three to do it. So we we never really had the one, two, we never had the one, two, three. We did have the thing. Do you understand clearly what we're saying? But how many knows it's a joy? It's a joy to walk by your child's bedroom and and the bed's made. I'm I'm hearing mothers tonight say a joy. That would be a shock. But it makes you feel good, right? Makes you feel good. Makes you feel good when uh they get out and get their driver's license. you put a curfew on them and and uh they're in a few minutes before that curfew. That makes you feel good, don't it? As as obedient children. Well, if that makes you and I feel good, think how it makes God feel when we're obedient children. It's interesting even as he's approaching this subject as obedient children, not fashioning. Look at that. Not fashioning. Can I tell you holiness is always in style? May not be in style with the world, but it's always in style with God. Holiness doesn't go out of style. Not fashioning. Look at that word. Not fashioning yourselves according to the former lust in your ignorance. Let's let's just talk about it tonight. Before we got enlightened of the Holy Ghost, we were ignorant of the things we were doing. We didn't cuss because we were mad. We cussed because that's our vocabulary. Oh, I've forgotten. I forgot it. But you know, it's the truth. You did a lot of things and I did a lot of things before we were born again that we were just ignorant of. We didn't go to church. Although it was God's will, we were ignorant of it. We did things that we were ignorant. We were just simply ignorant. He says, "Don't fashion yourselves." He's talking to the church. He said, "Don't dress up like the life that you used to live when you were ignorant. Don't put those clothes back on again. Don't dress up like you were before you were enlightened." Verse 15. But as he which hath called you is what? So be ye holy in most things of life. >> Huh? >> You you you've heard this so many times. You know the Greek word of all. It means all. So be ye holy in all manner of conversation. Now that word conversation there, yes it does include your speech, but it includes everything about your life. Everything about your life. Why are we to be holy? Verse 16 answers it because it is written, "Be ye holy, for I am holy." So let's get out of our minds tonight that this called business is just for preachers. This called business is for our missionaries. This called business is for every man, woman, boy, and girl in this audience tonight. And those watching online, you are called to holiness. You are called to holiness. Now, God may very well, and God is still calling preachers. God is still calling missionaries. But he doesn't call you to preach until you answer the call to holiness. >> You don't get called to preach and then get holy. >> You don't get called to be a missionary and then get holy. >> A call to holiness is the foundation of whatever God is going to do with you. It is a call of holiness. How many want to answer that call tonight? >> How many want to answer that call tonight? Man, I want to make sure I'm thinking the right thing. I I want to make sure I'm speaking the right thing. I I want to make sure I'm listening to the right thing. I want to make sure I'm watching or not watching >> the right thing. Well, let's let Peter talk some more in 1 Peter 2:9. Here's why we are called to holiness. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood. What kind of nation? a holy nation, a peculiar people. I'm going to tell you something. If we're not peculiar, we're not God's people. >> If we are not living in such a way that causes the world to say, "What meanth this?" We're not Pentecostal. Because the foundation of the church when they got the Holy Ghost in the upper room, 120 of them talking in tongues and praising God, the world came and looked in and said, "What mean this?" When we're no longer a peculiar people, when we have allowed the culture to change us instead of us change the culture. You see, we are the salt of the earth. The seasoning, the seasoning changes the meat. The meat doesn't change the seasoning. >> The world changes the church. I mean, let me say that again. >> The church changes the world >> and not vice versa. >> And contrary to popular sermons today, we don't have to become like the world to win the world. >> You hear me? We don't have to become like the world to win the world. As a matter of fact, we lose our evangelistic edge when we become like the world because we're trying to convince them to become like us. But if we're like them, why would they want to be like us? >> Peculiar people. Why? That you should show forth the praises of him who hath here's the words. Would you say it with me? We say the next word who hath what? >> You hear the call? He called you out of darkness and into his >> marvelous light. You know that word there marvelous means miraculous. How many is glad that there's been a miraculous change in you? >> That there is a before and an after about your life. There is a DC in your life. There is a before Christ. There's a part of you that you say, "That was before Christ. That was when I was in darkness, but he brought me out of dark." Oh, I'm so thankful tonight that he brought me out of darkness and into, don't you like verse 10? which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God, which have not which had not obtained mercy, but now obtained mercy. Let's flip back over to Paul in second Thessal uh Timothy, excuse me. Second Timothy chapter 1 verse number 9. How many want an everyday calling? because that's truly what it is. It's an everyday calling. It just pressed my heart last Wednesday night. And I agree with the young man. I I agree with him. But but I also wanted a balance. I told Sister Kman, I said, "Lord willing, Lord, let me." I said, "Next Wednesday night, I'm I want to talk about there's more calling than just preachers and missionaries. There's more." Um, second Timothy chapter 1 verse number N. Who hath saved us. Here's that word again, right? And >> called us with a >> holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose. Underline that now. his own purpose and grace which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began. Now watch this now. Please stay stay connected. Holiness leads us to God's purpose. God's holiness leads us to God's purpose. So now if you're asking yourself, I just don't feel like I have any purpose in life. Don't try to find the purpose until you answer the holiness. I just don't feel like I fit in. I still feel like this. I don't feel like that. Stop trying to find your purpose in life until you get built on the holiness. >> Because when you get built on the holiness, then God reveals to you his purpose. His purpose. why you are who you are, why you are made up the way you are, why you you you you have certain likes and talents and etc. Because God made you with purpose. God made you with purpose. But all of God's purposes are not fulfilled because you have to answer God's holiness. As a matter of fact, we'd like to we like to read this verse. We like to quote this verse quite often. Romans 8:28. Would you like just to to read it out loud together? Romans 8:28. And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his what? >> The called. What are we called to? >> We're called to holiness. And holiness will lead us to purpose. Now, it's very needful that we understand what God needs from us. When you understand purpose, you understand faithfulness. Because if I just if you just believe that a call is for preachers and missionaries, it'll be year after year and evangelist after evangelist will get up and say, "There's a calling in here." and you're going to come up and warm up on God for a few moments, but a day or two later, you're back to the old way you've always lived. You're back to that old lifestyle. You're back to that old struggle. Let's listen in Hebrews chapter 3:1. Let's listen as Paul begins to write about this holy purpose calling. We're four holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly what? >> Calling. Consider the apostle and high priest of our profession, Christ Jesus, who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all of his house. I'm going to tell you something. When we understand the doctrine of holiness and we get the picture, the revelation of his purpose for our lives, then we develop a faithful spirit. What is that? That's staying at it. That's staying at it. That's repeating the same thing over and over again and not getting weary and welloing. Why? Because I know this is my purpose and I know that I'm built on I'm built on holiness. So he said that that Moses, this is interesting. In verse two, he said Moses was faithful in what? All his house. That sound like an everyday calling to me. He was faithful in in in all his house. Well, let's read a little bit about Moses here in Hebrews 11 and 23. By faith, Moses when he was born was hid three months of his parents because they saw he was a proper child. In other words, they perceived there was something unusual about him and they were not afraid of the king's commandment. By faith, Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. For he had respect unto the recompense of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king. Here it is. for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. How do you keep an everyday calling alive in your life? You got to always know that God is present. How do you keep an everyday calling in your life? You got to always know that you're the winner. Regardless of what the score looks right now in your life, you are the winner. When you're built on holiness and you're built on the purpose of God and you're faithful to think even when you don't see here's that old song again even when I don't see him. So Moses little something you can just consider with me. You know Moses was put in a basket uh by his mother and uh they said he Moses was the first basket case in the Bible. It was put in a basket by his mother as a small child, shoved out into the Nile River. She didn't know that Pharaoh's daughter would come and and open up the basket. She didn't know that. You know what she knew? I'm just giving him to God. I'm just I'm just giving him to God. I can't stand to turn him over to the to the to the uh Egyptians. I'm just going to give him to God. And we know that that Pharaoh's daughter came down to bathe. And they see this they see this basket over here floating and one of the maids goes and opens it up and they know he it's a Hebrew baby. They said it look look one of the Hebrews. And uh the baby wept and uh the Pharaoh's daughter had compassion and and it was Moses's uh big sister Miriam that walked along the river bank to behold what would happen to baby brother. and she overheard uh Miam overheard the conversation. The Pharaoh's daughter said, "We need to call one of the Hebrew mothers to nurse. This is a gift for me, but but uh it needs to be nursed by one of the Hebrew mothers." And and Mary spoke up and said, "I've got just the woman." And uh they got the mama and she nursed him for a set time. We don't know how long we don't know how long it was that he was in the house of his mother. But the day came that he had to be taken to Pharaoh's uh uh palace and there he was educated in the finest and there uh he was clothed in the finest and there he ate the finest and there for years he was uh he was the heir he was the heir to uh the dynasty of the pharaoh. Moses was there. And in this simple statement right here, and I'd like for just for your consideration, it says in verse 24, "By faith, Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter." That come to years means maturity. There may have been some times in his immaturity that he liked being called Pharaoh's son. He liked being called heir to the throne. But you know something, and this is a this is a blessed thought right here. When you put the right things in them as a baby, it's going to come out when they're older. Train up a child in the way that it should go. When he's old, it will not depart. And there come a time he got mature and he said, "I am not an Egyptian. I am not an Egyptian. I am a I am a Hebrew. And then he made a decision. You see, you y you got to always make decisions. You You'll never answer the call to holiness and purpose and faithfulness without making a madeup mind. I'm making a decision. I'm going all the way. I'm making a decision. And so he made a decision choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. He saw a greater reward. Can I tell you tonight, if you could just simply see a greater reward for your life to answer the call of holiness, if you could see a greater reward, listen, you're not you're not the only thing you're missing out on is the world's trouble. A holiness lifestyle will deprive you of nothing that is good for you. If it's good for you, God wants you to have it. And if it's not good for you, God puts it off limits because he wants his children to have the best and to be the best. So Moses saw that he would rather u suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin just for a just for a season. Let's look at his life for a moment. Let's view the life. He's a miracle. Moses as an infant is put in a basket. Moses is discovered by the king's daughter. Moses is nursed sometime by his mother. She was paid for it. He comes to age. I am not an Egyptian. He even fights for his purpose. You do realize that Moses killed an Egyptian because he saw the Egyptian beating a Hebrew. And Moses with his bare hands killed an Egyptian and buried him in the sand. But let me make a note about this. You got to get it in your heart that you're willing to fight for it. >> When you have when you have holiness and you have God's purpose, you got to get it in your heart. I'm willing to fight for this. I'm willing to fight my flesh for this. He buries the Egyptian. He later he later flees into the wilderness as a fugitive from the law and he becomes a shepherd. And it all changed. It all changed when he was out with the sheep and he looks over to a bush, right? And the bush is burning. It's on fire. But that's not what got his attention. What got his attention was the bush was burning but the bush was not consumed. It was burning and burning. He might have been feeding the sheep and he looked over and said, "Hey, there's a burning bush over there." Somebody said, "A bush on fire." And he kept feeding the sheep and an hour later he looked back and said, "Man, that same bush is on fire." And he might have kept feeding the sheep and a couple hours later, "Hey, that same bush is on fire." And he walked over to the bush. And when he walked over to the bush, God spoke to him. And God said, "Moses, Moses, take off your shoes, for the ground that you stand on is holy ground." Now, what if Moses would have been of the mindset to say, "I don't want to take my shoes off. I don't think I have to take my shoes off." Who are you to tell me to take my shoes off? I'm here to tell you right now, if the man hadn't answered the holiness call, God would have scrubbed him and picked somebody else up that would have been willing to say, "If you say it's holy ground, my shoes are coming off." If you say that this is holy ground, I don't care how ridiculous it looks. I don't care what they're saying about it. I don't care what majority of people think or say about it. If God says take off your shoes, you're on holy ground. You need just need to slip them off. And evidently, evidently he did. And then God went into unveiling the plan. Now, think about this as you get Deuteronomy 34:1. Think about this for a moment. Where did he start? Where did Moses start? In a basket. In a basket. He starts in a basket. No one no one would have thought the baby in the basket had much of a future. All right. No one would have thought the baby in the basket had any future. But from a baby in a basket to a 120 year old man whom God said he had perfect eyesight and he still retained his strength. He's 120 years old. And Deuteronomy 34:1, Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto the mountain of Nebo to the top of Pisgal, that is over against Jericho. And the Lord showed him all the land of Gilead unto Dan. Can I see? I want you to see this. From a basket that nobody would have given much for the kid in the basket to a man that has marked history to a man that stands on a mountain and looks over into the promised land. And God said, "That's what I promised Abraham. That's what I said Abraham would have. That's what that's what I said." Can I tell you? Is there anybody here tonight that has the same feeling as me? I look at my life and I think, God, look how far you've brought me. Oh God, I don't think Am I am I all alone tonight? Is there anybody else in here tonight? Like just take a couple maybe 10 seconds and give God praise when I think about where he has brought me from. Come on now. From a basket to a mountain, from a baby without a name to a Moses that we still preach about today. Look what the Lord has done. Look what the Lord has done. Look what the Lord has done. Brother, Sister Fuller, would y'all stay standing back there for a moment? Would y'all Mike, would y'all stay stand for a moment? Look what the Lord has done. Look, look what the Lord has done for you, too. to a little couple that I first saw you for the first time at a Chinese restaurant and we got to talking about the goodness of God and how your husband had a sickness in his body and uh all of the things that were against him to look at you tonight. Look how far the Lord has brought you baptized in his name, filled with his spirit. God has blessed their business. God has blessed their life. God has blessed his health. Look what the Lord From a basket to a mountaintop, called to holiness, divine purpose, giftings. Giftings. Let me say this tonight. God called us to holiness and divine purpose. We all have the same holiness. All right? We all have the same holiness. How is that? It comes from God. The same holiness. We're We're drinking out the same spot. All right. Same God, same same holiness, same purpose. God's got one purpose and we're on the bandwagon with God's one purpose. But can I tell you, we have different giftings. Different giftings. I'm talking about the everyday call. What I'm talking I'm talking about the everyday call. Paul said it in 1 Corinthians 3 and 6. I planted polish water, but God God gave the increase. Now, here here's here's what happens in a congregation. Sometimes we get people with different gifts, and we get people thinking their gift is superior and my gift is inferior. All right? And and I got to tell you something. If you're gifted, you're gifted. There's no big eyes and little U's. Well, well, well, my gifting is a platform. I I get to get on the platform and exercise my gifting. Can I tell you something? If it wasn't for a greeters team that make people feel welcome, they may not have stayed long enough to hear your sing. Come on now. Y'all got to get with me tonight. I can't be gone one weekend. Y'all get quiet on me now. I I don't have any >> I don't have any ladders out here to bring in. >> I have laughed more about that. Hey, again, come on, listen to me now. There's no big callings and little callings. There's no big giftings and little giftings. My Bible study, he's on vacation tonight. Brother Richard Hines, he uh he visited here and uh he uh told me later he wanted a Bible study. Told one of the greeters he wanted a Bible study. And you know what? When when I sat down to talk to him about Bible study, he said, "Them them women and men stand in that lobby and greet people said, 'They the friendliest people I ever been," he said, 'You know, I try a lot of churches here in Blunt County. I've been to a lot of places. He said, "I've been in places. I walk in, sit down, ain't nobody say a word to me." He said, "Oround here?" I said, "They mob you around here." Said, they said, "They just mob you around here." Well, I've had a Bible study with him and I plan to baptize him in Jesus name. But guess what? Oh, yeah. That's because you got the big calling. No, that ain't because I got the big calling. That's because somebody's got a gifting in the lobby. >> Come on. I want to encourage you tonight. Somebody's got a gifting. >> Exodus chapter 25 and verse number one. Listen. Listen to this. Exodus 25 and1. And the Lord spake unto Moses. I'm going to read real fast. And the Lord spake unto Moses like one of those commercials. And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, "Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering. Of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart, ye shall take my offering. This is the offering which he shall take of them. Gold, silver, brass, blue, purple, scarlet, fine linen, goats hair, ram skins dyed red, badger skins, shidam wood, oil for the light, spices for the anointing oil, and for sweet incense, onyx stones, stones to be said in the ephod in the breastplate. And let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. Look at the different gifts. Look at the different gifts that are there. oil, spices, stones, goats hair. Look at Exodus 35 and verse number 26. Exodus 35 26. And all the women whose hearts stirred them up in wisdom spun goat's hair. That don't sound Here's what I like. Verse 27. And the rulers brought onxic stones and stones to be set for the ephod, the breastplate, spice for oil, light. Which we want, goats hair or onyx stones? Do you want to polish stones or do you want to spend I did a little research on this goat chair. It just got my attention. To spin goat's hair was an art that required excellent wisdom. In the eastern countries, there is a sort of goat. The goat's hair. It's very bright and fine. Hangs to the ground. And the beauty of it is equal almost than of silk. Is never sheared but is combed off. and the women of the country spin it. And at this day, a trade still goes on about wellspun goats hair. I'm going to just tell you something. There's no gifting that promotes the kingdom of God that is inferior. So, you may be gifted. You may be gifted with the onx stone and you may have a gifting of the goat's hair, but it's all of what you look at. It's not what you do. Please hear it. It's not what you do, but it's to whom that you do it. >> You hear me? It's not what you Well, I'm not really important here. I'm just a greeter here. Well, I'm I'm I'm not really important here. I'm ju I'm just I'm I'm just this or I'm just that. Can I tell you something? The way you serve the Lord excellent with spinning goat's hair is something that says that goes in my congregation. That goes in my church. Let me go very quickly. Paul Saul is converted. He becomes a preacher of the gospel. His old friends determined to kill him. his old friends determined to assassinate him. They've got him in a city. They've got somebody at every gate of the city. They got together and they said, "We will kill him. We will assassinate him when he comes through any gate. We got him covered." But the plot was made known to the disciples. They got a rope. Somebody know that somebody had to make that rope. Uh can I ask somebody? We got some Bible scholars here tonight. Uh brother Hammond, you got a rabbi. I I bought the the thoughts you have. You You got this rabbi that you talk to or something. It's something something. Who Who's the person Rabbi Lauren? Um who is the person that made the rope? Who What's the name of the person that made the rope? How about the the basket? The basket. Because they put Paul in a basket and they lowered him over the wall. cuz it's going to kill it. Who made the rope? Who made the basket? You'll never find it in scripture, but somebody had to make it. Somebody had to make the rope. Somebody had to make the basket. And the Bible later says that all of Asia heard the word of God because of the Apostle Paul. An entire continent heard the word of God because of a man called Paul. But do you realize that for a few short moments all of Asia hung in the balances? It hung with unnamed men holding the rope, an untamed man that made the rope, an unnamed woman that made the rope. But it really doesn't matter as long as all of Asia hears the word of God. One waters, one plants, but God give. Come on. I want to encourage you tonight that you have a gifting that is important to God. Oh, I got to I got to land this thing. There's some that are burdened. There's some that are burdened. I'm not giving I'm not giving a free pass for no anybody not to pray. Y'all Everybody ought to pray. If you ain't praying, you ain't a staying. All right. But there's those that are gifted with a burden to be a prayer warrior, a burden to ask God to saturate this place with glory. There are those that are gifted to greet. There are those that are gifted to keep the nursery. There are those that are gifted to serve on the safety team. Man, we live in some crazy times, don't we? I said, we live in some crazy times, don't we? The house of God has long since been respected like it ought to be among the world. We got crazy people in this world. We got demonic people in this world that have no greater joy than to enter a house of worship and shoot up a bunch of people. You say, "Well, brother Carpenter, God's going to watch us." Yeah, faith without works is dead. I I'm I'm glad tonight I've got faith. God's going to keep us, but we got a security team, too. That ought to that ought to make you feel good. There are men and women that feel like they've got a gifting to make sure that all these children are safe. Everybody in here There's people that are gifted to play and sing. There's people that are gifted to sound, the media, the website. Could you show me my first picture I sent you? Could you send me the first picture? I sent you three pictures. You see that tall man right there? Well, let me tell you about him. He was a man. his father his father has a a high position in a denomination and u he is Indian by descent and by an arrangement with his parents and this woman's parents they came together and they were married but the woman that he married was a backsliden apostolic so she take he takes takes her to his father's church and when they begin to mention first, second, third person and now indeed baptize you in the name of the father and of the son, it began to stir in her. And so she slipped him some YouTube of this church right here, of this church right here. And uh the YouTube you see, oh yeah, it's a brother carpenter preaching the oneness. Oh, hold the horses. Don't call him a cowboy till you've seen him ride. Come on, hold the horses. All right. How could I have been on YouTube had it not been men and women years ago that said, "We need to be online." And God knows God knows the the the the the forces that we fought to get Brother Ericson to get this church online to begin to webcast, say, "We can bring cable down there. We can't bring cable down there. You can do this. You can't do this." But we finally we finally got online. But oh, you know, don't call him a cowboy. Do you seen him ride? Don't don't don't say, "Oh, man, Brother Carpet, what a good job he did with with talking about the one." Then you got to have people that have cameras. But wait a minute. Uh, don't elevate them too much because you got to have a bunch of money to buy this bunch of stuff. >> You wouldn't believe how expensive it is. All right. But you got people here that come over weekend return tithe and bring offering so we can buy you. Y'all see what I'm trying to get at tonight? It's an everyday calling. It's not the big cheese. It's not the big calling. It's an everyday. Yeah. That little check you give at the end of the month, sister widow goes to buy a camera so a man can ride a camera and the camera can record a preacher and the preacher can go out into all the world. >> And so, so she be to talk to him. And nobody ever b been baptized any other way in the Bible but the name of Jesus Christ. And they begin to watch the the the church here. They begin to listen to the teaching here. The teaching that oh can I say it again? You wouldn't had a camera if you didn't have somebody given. You wouldn't have this or that. It's just not all we we got to see that brother Mayo. We're a team. >> We're a body. We're not all gifted the same. But uh he got the revelation. He's driving down the road and he tells his dad, he says, "Father," he said, 'You know, no one. Now, his father is in a big organization. He's part of big organization, a leader in this organization. He said, "Dad, nowhere in the Bible is anybody ever baptized, but in the name of Jesus Christ, would you rebaptize me?" And his dad said, "If you wasn't driving this car, I'd hit you right in the face." Said, "There's no way I'll baptize you. There there's no way." So, the little backsliden girl that he's got, her father is a missionary in India. He's in he he's he's a missionary there in India. He flies for the white he flies all the way to India and gets baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of his sins. All right. He gets the revelation, Sister Kay, of the oneness of God. Things happen. People begin to disown him, but that's all right. That's all right. We connected him there in New Jersey. Give me the next picture. Sister Carpenter and I were just up in in New York preaching. There he is with his wife. She's pregnant. There's their daughter and the mother-in-law standing there. We are ordaining them in the ministry. He is a licensed minister with the assemblies of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's an everyday calling and we're all a part of it. If that don't make you feel good, I don't know how to make you feel good tonight, but I'm just here to tell you it's an everyday calling. You walked in here on a Wednesday night. What were you doing? It's just my everyday calling. That's what it is. You're going to pray in the morning. What is that? Well, let me go on tonight. Let me go on tonight. Oh, won't y'all just all stand? Y'all y'all stand. Just all everybody stand. He sent me this the other day. He's starting a church in New Jersey and he sent me this. Give me the next picture. You got it. He said, "I want to see." He said, "I'm baptizing my first new I'm baptizing my first convert. You did it. You did it. You did it. You did it. You did it. You did it. You did it. You did it. You did it." Why? It is an everyday >> calling. So quit this stuff. Quit this stuff. When you hear the evangelist saying, "There's a calling here." Quit trying to look for a pull pit and a calling. God, let me tell you something. If God calls you to preach, you going to know it. I said, "You going to know it. You won't have get around. I got this funny feeling. My toes wiggled and and I just got this funny feeling and and And my mama says, "I testify real good." I tell you, my mama said, "I sing good, too." So that just go, you get called to preach. And I'm going to tell you something. Here's one thing I can't relate to, Sister Franklin. Here's one thing I can't relate to. I can't relate to having to knock down doors to get somewhere. >> If it's God's will, it's God's will. If it's God's calling, God never don't call him a cowboy >> till you see him right. And God never made a monkey until he made a tree you could climb. And if God called if if God called you to preach, the doors are going to open up. Things are going to reveal to you. And you know what? If you if it's kind of like David, David wanted to build God a house. And the the prophet even said, "It's go ahead and build God a house." And God said, "No, prophet, you go back and tell David he can't build me a house." And God said, "David, it was good that it was in your in your heart to build me a house, but it's not your will. It's not my will for you to build a house." Can I tell you, if you want to be a preacher, that's good that it's in your heart, but you got to be called. And if it doesn't open up to you, don't just sit down and suck your thumb and say, "I'm gonna sit around and do nothing." You have got a gifting and you can ask God show me my gifting. God show me my gifting. My gifting may be a prayer burden that I just come to the church and I just pray for God to send down his spirit I won't keep you standing. You'll be out of here. You you'll be out of here in just a couple of minutes. Non's got leprosy. Oh yeah. That powerful Elisha went down and told him to dunk in the river seven times and he'd be healed. Oh, hold up. Non would not have known to have called for Elisha had it not been for a little maiden girl who used to live in Israel. But Non's army had went in. Listen to this. Listen to this. Non's army had went in to Israel and had kidnapped this girl, had taken this girl out of her home and took her back to Syria. And she served in non's house. Everybody say hurt. She's hurt. That little girl wanted she wanted to grow up in Israel. She wanted to grow up seeing mom and daddy. She's now in a far strange land. But now non gets leprosy and she overhears non and his wife talking about I've got leprosy. Can I tell you something? If you see the purpose of God, it can help you overcome your personal hurt. >> Too many people make a god and a monument out of their hurt. And when you keep your eyes on your hurt, you get your eyes off your purpose. >> That little girl said, she could have said, "He's getting what he deserves. Drag me away from my hometown. Drag me away. I've not seen my mom and daddy in years. He's getting what he deserves." No. That little girl said, "Brother Tony," she said, "Hey, I got to tell you something. If you was in the land of Israel, you could call for the prophet and he could come and pray for you and you would be healed." And you know what? They took her at her word. It's amazing how hurt people can have a ministry. >> And they took her at her word and they sent and got Elisha. Elijah, Elisha, excuse me. They sit and got him. And he comes down, he's got the word of God dipped seven times in Jordan. And as a matter of fact, there's another person we got to thank because when when Elisha stepped out and said, "Dip seven times in Jordan River." Non flew mad. He had a temper, buddy. He flew mad at him, turned them chariots around and said, "There's better rivers in Isra in my land. There's beautiful rivers where I've come from." And he tells me to he tells me to go that old mud hole, the the Jordan River down there. He tells me to go and and and dip seven times in that river. And and and the Bible says he's going home. He's going home. And the Bible said, one of the servants said, "Non, see, you see, you you you can minister to people if you know how to have a cool hand on a hot head." All right, non, if he had asked you something hard, you'd have done it. Yeah. Yeah, I guess it would have. What could it hurt? He dipped seven times and come up. His skin was as the baby. He was born again. You could say he was He was born again. He goes back and it's the story. But let me just end here. Had it not been for that little girl. And I don't believe that we even know her name. And had it not been for that servant, and I don't believe we even know their name, there wouldn't be the story of non being healed of leprosy. So tonight, as we end in prayer, ask God to reveal your callings and your giftings. And when you find those callings and giftings, come to Pastor Ericson. Come to the pastoral team. Yeah. Hey. Hey. Hey folks. How come when I want to be funny, I'm not. And when I want to be serious, I'm funny. All right. I was serious. Sister Sullivan, was that you that laughed? I was. It was. Okay. That's all right. $25 Red Lobster gift certificate. and I'm over it. All right, come down and see Pastor Eric. Here's my giftings. Here's my colleagues. And let's get you plugged in because we'll reach more people if more people get to operating in their giftings and their callings. Would you lift your hands and pray? Let's ask God to bless us tonight. Father, I thank you, Lord. Thank you for this Bible study tonight. It's a calling every day, God. It's a divine calling every day. And I thank you, Lord, for the people that have received the word tonight. I pray Lord that we develop our callings and we develop our giftings and we plug them in and we submit them Lord so that they can be used for your kingdom and your glory. Lord, there's a lot of people in Blunt County that need what we have. There's a lot of people, God, that need to hear the message that goes on here. And Lord, we need divine connections all over this city, God, that we can be the church that you've called us to be. Lord, I'll give you the praise and give you the honor and the glory. In Jesus wonderful name we all pray. God bless you tonight. See you Sunday morning. Let's have some good church.