Missing Piece
by Kevin Allen
October 10, 2021 · Centerpointe Apostolic Church (Murfreesboro, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Colossians 2:8-10, Colossians 2:9, Colossians 2:10, Isaiah 59:1-2, 1 Corinthians 1:20-21, 1 Corinthians 1:25, 1 Corinthians 1:27-31, Matthew 6:25-27, Psalms 50:10-12, Matthew 6:31, Romans 5:6-8

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

------------------------------------------------------------
Back to your seats. We're going to go to Colossians chapter 2, read a few verses of scripture. Appreciate you being there. Many are traveling. This is uh the school's fall break this week, this past weekend, this weekend. I know several folks have sent a message. They're out on their way back home. We're glad they got to spend time away. Always good to spend time with family. We pray that God brings them home safe. But you were here. You made it today, and I'm glad that you were with us. And for all of our guests, we're honored that you were here.

Colossians chapter 2, verse number 8, says, "Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ." Verse 9: "For in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." Verse number 10: "And you are complete in him" — eternity never say complete — "you are complete in him, who is the head of all principality and power."

For just a little while today, I want to preach, and I title my sermons — you know, titles are interesting. I don't believe that the Apostle Paul ever titled one of his sermons. I just — I don't believe that Peter — I don't believe they came up with snazzy titles, and I'm sure they didn't have a media team chiseling out stuff on a rock to present up there for them. But we — we do titles, and we — we do that to kind of give you a handle to hang on to that later in the week you may not remember everything, but you can remember the title and it helps jog our memory back. So my handle today is simply this: A Missing Piece.

Have you ever been lucky enough to have the honor, all by yourself? I remember when the uh pandemic first hit — was it March last year, I guess, somewhere in there — and uh, you know, everything shut down. We didn't know what to do. It was new for us, and we're all just — we're — we're afraid. We were scared, and nobody was wanting to, you know, spread anything. So we — we — we went to our homes because it was just, you know, 30 days to bend the curve. Y'all remember that? That was funny. You should go ahead and laugh at it, because I laugh every time I think about that: 30 days to bend the curve. But we — we were finding unique ways to — to live with each other again, right? Because we were home. You know, a lot of families learned a lot of things about each other they never knew, like that they didn't like each other. They thought the whole time they really liked each other, but you put them in close confinement for 30 days straight and they found out, you know what, I hate you. I'm just kidding. But we were finding unique ways to get along.

And I remember my wonderful wife decided we were going to put together a thousand piece jigsaw puzzle. Now, if you know my wife at all, you know that this — this puzzle included flowers. So it was a flower puzzle, uh, and we spread it out there on the coffee table in the living room, and we did — we — we were working on it, and we would go by a little at a time, piece by piece. And if you've ever worked one of these — was anybody uh — uh like working puzzles? Yeah, look at there, man, a lot of puzzle workers here. Um, so we were working on — you know how that goes. You — you try to do the — the — the easy thing by picking the border pieces, right? You feel good. You start making the board. That's how I think most people do it. Now, you may be one that says that's too easy, so I'll go for, you know, just pick a random piece and start there. But as you work on it, you know, you go back and forth, and at some point, almost with every puzzle, that —

You — you get frustrated and, you know, complain about, you know, the — the idiot who put it together in the first place. But here's — here's a hint: that's why they call it a puzzle. Yeah. But four or five, ten pieces at a time, you work through it until finally you're down there and you're working, and then — then you get that — that last little piece, right? And — and if you're the one who gets to put the last piece, you just — you put that in there, and — and you just, you know, you dance a little jig. That's why they call it a jigsaw puzzle, is that you're supposed to at the end dance a little jig that you did it. You put that together.

Colossians two and eight, for me, I feel like is one of the most instructive passages in the Bible. Now, for the Apostolic, one God believer, we know what Colossians 2 and 9 is: "We're in him dwelleth all the fullness of the God—" We have that. We know that. When — some of you probably have a needlepoint on the mantle in your house. It's Acts 2:38 and Colossians 2 and 9. It's right there. But what I'm afraid happens, especially in the Apostolic world, is you almost missed the context to which Paul was writing to the church there, the — the — all the information in the chapter. Now, I like our one-line verses. We go — I believe in them, and we like having them in moments. But we got to be careful, because I believe you're going to get so hung up on — that is talking about the fullness of God in the body of Jesus Christ — that you miss his instructions that were given to you with the knowledge that is there. See, I believe that this passage alerts the believers to the dangers that exist in our world and the dangers that actually come against our faith.

Did you know that we can be spoiled? And — and not in the like, oh, they get everything they want kind of sense. And it doesn't mean that we're turning rotten or, you know, have gangrene in our body. But it means more of the ancient sense of the word: that we were stripped of value and left with nothing. To have knowledge alone in itself is good, but knowledge by itself doesn't save anybody. There's a whole lot of people who — who know the scriptures, man. They are studied in the word, and — and if you go into a theological discussion or debate with them, you better know what you're doing, because they will take the word of God and eviscerate you, but they themselves bear no fruit of the word in which they have committed to memory. So knowledge in itself is not enough. It's good to have knowledge, but you need to have something else there.

See, I believe that we can be stripped and left without value according to the world. We can be stripped by vain deceit. We can be stripped by tradition of men's. We can be stripped by the rudiments of the world. In other words, evil spirits and worldly views. The Bible's answer to this threat is found in our understanding of God, because it says, after this warning, "In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily." See, too many times we think of the doctrines of the Oneness of God as mere theological positions, but it's more than that. There's big words we use: theology, Christology, and so forth. And actually, the complete indwelling of God in Christ Jesus — to come to an understanding of the mighty God in Christ, the revelation that all of God, his height, his depth, his length, his breath, is somehow located in the man Christ Jesus — is a powerful concept. All that is great. I'm not — I've preached that, and you guys have been here, and you call me pastor. You know how I feel about the — I'm as one God as we can be, okay? But don't miss the next part when it says, "And you are complete in him." Don't get so hung up —

On your one God theology, that you walk around missing something, that you walk around with an incomplete life. Because knowledge in itself is great, but don't miss the fact that it's telling me that I — if I have Jesus, I am complete. You're not getting it yet. It's okay. I gotta unpack it first. I wouldn't expect him to get it right now, otherwise we get to say amen, go home.

To me, I get so intrigued by this, that I am completing him. In this reading — and — and in the King James, New King James, you see there's two words: the fullness and complete. They both come from the same word. In fact, if you have a more modern translation of the Bible, you probably noticed that it was the same word used in both verses. See, here's what I — I'm trying to get to, and this is how I feel like you and I should understand what I'm — what I'm trying to read, and what I feel like Paul had for us: that because God dwells fully in Christ, I am full by living in Christ. Because Christ has access to every attribute of God, I have access to every attribute of God, because I dwell in him and he dwells in me. And because Jesus Christ is utterly complete and full of deity, I am also complete as I live with him. That if I find myself trying to find meaning or searching for something else in this world, I am settling for something that's less than. I will only understand my completeness. I will only understand my purpose. I will only understand my existence and the plan for my life when I am fully embraced in who he is. I find my meaning in him. I find my purpose in him. I find my significance in him. I can't find it in this world. I can't find it in degrees. I can't find it in money. I can't find it in acquiring stuff. It's not about relationships. It's not about all the things that I can acquire in the store. Those are emptiness. Those will leave me shallow and wanting for more. But when I understand that my God died so that I could have a relationship with him, and that was — that relationship brings fullness into my life — I don't search elsewhere, because elsewhere leads me to nothingness. But in him I have completeness. "In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily," and you and I are complete in him.

But that word there leads me with a thought, that there's an opportunity and a possibility that I could be incomplete. Not complete. Not filled up. Not finished. Not having all of its parts. Not having them all adjusted. Imperfect. Defective. To me, it something that is always in the back of our mind, that I don't measure up, that I'm less than, that I'm missing. It carries with it the baggage of failure and the weight of disappointment, and it brings on with it, always looming in the background, depression. The fact that I could be incomplete. That I don't measure up. That — that they don't make the grade. I don't complete the test. I — I don't finish the treatment. There — there's — there's nothing good about an incomplete pass in a quarterback's mind. There's nothing about an incomplete game to a pitcher. There's nothing about missing a three-point shot to a point guard. There's nothing right with an incomplete manuscript, or an incompetent call, or an incomplete contract, or an incomplete portrait.

It feels like the reality of incompleteness is not something that we, as humans — we don't like. In fact, we tend to avoid it as much as possible. We don't like the feeling that comes with it: the emptiness, the hollowness, the shallowness that is there. For you and I know there is much more meaning to life. But isn't it amazing what we will fit in that spot? Isn't it interesting what we try to fill that void with? The things that we come up — the creative ideas, the ingenious of — of humanity, and — and how we can —

Entertain ourself to feel a momentary void, only to find that once the entertainment is over, I feel just as empty as I've ever been. Does anybody know what I'm talking about? Has anybody — anybody felt that? I'll do anything to try to fill that hole that is there, but that hole can only be filled with one thing. So let's you and I take a look at a few areas where we have the highest opportunity for incompleteness. Because when I go back to Colossians 2, I see that I'm to be complete in him, which means without him I'm incomplete. And through my study, I feel like there's a few areas that we must be mindful of.

Number one: we are incomplete in who we are. Now, you may be a self-made man. You may be a self-made woman. You may be highly successful according to the world's standard of measurements. You may be well educated, well thought of, and well respected, and all those things are great. I'm — I'm not against any of that. I'm not against higher education. I'm not against advancements in your job and vocation. I'm not against you and in any way uh having those things in your life. But I will tell you this: those things do not fulfill you. You'll find them to be empty and void. They — they may bring you moments of satisfaction and happiness, but in the long run, I promise you, if that's where you're trying to find your sole purpose in this world, you'll find yourself coming up short.

Isaiah 59, verse 1 and 2, says, "Behold, the Lord's hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither is ear heavy, that it cannot hear: but your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear."

Incompleteness is directly associated with loneliness. Anybody ever feel lonely? Anybody have moments where you're just like, man — I'm not talking about solitude. There's a difference in solitude and feeling alone. We are incomplete, and our incompleteness oftentimes will lead to isolation, and this in itself will lead to you being mentally unhealthy. The worst punishment for a prisoner that they have, outside of putting them to death, is putting them in solitary confinement, because it has the most torturous and debilitating effect on our emotions and our mind.

I know that the class going on has been teaching that of the Whisper book by Mark Batterson, and he references the world's quietest room, which is interesting. And if you're bored later on today, you can do a little Google search and read up about it. It's — it's quite a place. You can actually go and visit it. It's — it's — it's sound — bishop, that's measured in the negatives. Negative. There's — there's no sense — it — it is interesting to — to the people who go into this room and are — are shut up in there, that — that your ears will continue to adjust while you're in an environment of sound. And even if you have a hard of hearing, it is said that you spend enough time in this room that all of a sudden you can start hearing your internal organs work. That's pretty quiet. Now, I'll be honest with you: I've been hungry sometimes. I've been hangry a few times, and I've heard the old tum tum rumble. Some of you may be experiencing that right now while I'm preaching. But I'm not talking about a tummy rumbling. They're talking about that you can actually hear your lungs expand. You can hear the blood flowing through your vessels. It — it — it's a fascinating read. In fact, it's come to — to — to their study and research that people, after 20 to 25 minutes, will start hallucinating while they're in this room. That people have the — have — have — have — have experienced where they get dizzy, and they can't hardly stand up without holding onto something, all because sound has been removed.

You and I were not meant to be alone. In fact, the very first instance we have in the scriptures of God saying that something wasn't good is —

When he said it was not good that man was alone. See, we were meant for something more. Being incomplete, being less than, missing the ingredients that are there, we are lacking, we're wanting something, often times will take us into a place of aloneness. And guess what? Our enemy pushes us in that area, because he knows that if he's ever going to conquer you, he has to get you isolated unto yourself. There's — there's, to me, there's — we should be not surprised at all that our world is — is suffering in the emotional state that it's in right now, that — that — that mental health is at an all-time high, that people are struggling with what's going on around them, because we are in the last days, and he is fighting tooth and nail to make sure that all that can will possibly miss out on the rapture.

God — he created you and I to be emotionally and spiritually knit together. In our world, there is in fact a direct correlation between physical and emotional disease and isolation. But I'm going to tell you about me, because I can speak with authority by me and my life. Something happened inside of me when I knelt at an altar one day. Something happened inside of me when God filled his — filled me with his spirit, and a part of me that felt so incomplete suddenly changed. And I have this revelation now, that I am not by myself. I may be by myself in a room, and physically nobody else is there, but he is with me all the time. I need somebody to listen to me today. You may be feeling like you're alone, but I promise you, you're not alone. I promise you, you're not by yourself. I promise you that if you can just muster enough to — to whisper his name, you can feel his presence, regardless of how dark the hour is in your life, regardless of how much weight and pressure you are feeling going on around you. I have a God that will meet you in your lowest hour, in your darkest moment. If you have the opportunity to just say his name, he will be there, right in the middle of your trial, in the middle of your problem. You're not by yourself.

But we can be incomplete in who we are. We can also be incomplete in what we can know. You can be incomplete in what you can know. Have you ever been in a place where you feel like everybody around you is speaking a foreign language? Now, I didn't mean you're in another country, okay? That's a given. I didn't mean you were in Miami's airport. I meant, ever been in a place to where they're talking and you — you have the ability to understand the words they're saying, but you're not able to comprehend what they're talking about? You know, it might have been there — you ever been — you ever been around a bunch of engineers? Yeah. You ever been around women talking about sewing? You ever been around somebody loves cats? Every time I mention a cat, I get more cat gifts. It's hilarious. I'm gonna start taking a picture of all the things that come to my way because the cats. Have you ever had a moment to where you seriously considered buying The Complete Idiot's Guide to Life? I know nobody's gonna raise their hand and admit that, but let's be honest: you stopped at Barnes and Nobles and actually looked at it. You wanted to be like, I want to open it up and see what it actually is saying.

See, we are finite in our knowledge. There are many things that — that we cannot know. There — there are many things that we know are not really true, but yet some people believe them as truth. There's many things that we know today that will be irrelevant tomorrow. Have you noticed that? If you have technology at all, you know what I'm talking about. For some of you, about the minute you learn how to use it, nobody else is using it anymore.

The wisdom of this world does not solve the incomplete feeling we have. I will say that again: the wisdom of this world does not solve the incomplete feeling that we have.

First Corinthians, Paul talking again here, chapter number 1, verse number 20: "Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?" Verse one — "For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that belief." This — what I do, what I'm doing right now — the world looks at, says is crazy. Some of you may be thinking I'm crazy too. It's all right. I get that a lot. But this is what God chose. He chose the foolishness of preaching. The world says it's crazy. The world says it's nuts. The world says this book is outdated. That's what the world says. But God says, you know, I just allow them to be foolish in what they do. Verse 25: "Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." Verse 27: "But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confine the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring not those things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who God has made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorieth, led him glory in the Lord."

See, when I understand that, I find my completeness and my purpose and my life in him. Not in this world, but in him. What the world says is wise, God said it's foolish. What the girl — what the world says is foolish, God says is wise. And here I am, and here you are. We're stuck between the two, trying to decide what we need to do. That's why you have to be in tune with the spirit that he fills you with. That's why you have to allow it to order your steps every day, because you're going to go into some places where the world says this is okay, but something inside of you says, I don't feel right about it. I don't think I can make this decision. What's going on is, the two worlds are warring inside of you, and at some point you have to declare who is really going to be Lord of your life. Are you going to be Lord of your life? Are you going to let him be Lord of your life? If he's Lord of your life, then let his spirit lead you and guide you and direct you. After all, his word says it'll be a lamp into my feet and a light into my path. There's going to be some times — you've got to have this in you. You've got to have this in you, because you're going to have some dark places where you can't see, and you've got to start quoting this scripture, because when you do, it'll illuminate so that you can see there's stairs in front of you. You're about to fall off the edge of a cliff. You got to have this in you. Without it, you are incomplete. But with it, I am a complete, whole person.

It's a missing piece. I don't have a need to know anymore. I have a need to abide in him.

The next thing that's important is that we are incomplete in what we can do. We are incomplete in what we can do. Matthew 6:25 says, "Therefore I say unto you, take no thought for your life, what you shall eat, or what you shall drink; nor yet for your body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more the meat, and the body more than remnant?" Behold how —

The fowls are there: they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are you not much better than they? Which of you, by taking thought, can add one more cubit to his stature? Now, for you short people, that's unfortunate. Sorry, Aaron. Good to see you, buddy. Glad you're home.

Anybody try to work a miracle lately? Any takers out there? Any — anybody just wake up like, I'm gonna work in the miraculous today? No, not me neither. Yeah. Anybody here ever tried to cure cancer? Anybody here ever tried to stop arthritis from — in your joints? Anybody here — now here — you now remember in the house of God now. I want to answer — you gotta listen this question really good. Anybody here try to slow down the aging process? Point in — amazing what we'll buy and spread on us. I mean, people make you smear stuff on your face — you don't know — we won't even go down that road. But we'll do it, won't we? You'll do everything short of getting the iron out. See, here's the deal: you can buy more hair. It's not yours, but you can buy it. Or you've moved it from places in your body that shouldn't be on top of your head. He can replace joints, but she can't replace the whole skeleton. We can get glasses. We can buy new teeth. We can make our ears work better. We can get new voice boxes. A whole list of parts that make it sound like we can just go down to AutoZone and just overhaul. But we cannot create life. Oh, they try. They try. But there's only one author of life. Only one. We can make death run a little longer, a little faster, to catch up to us, but we can't outrun it. We can brag about things that we can do well, but we don't have too much room to talk and the many things that we can't do.

See, here's a real handy piece of information to have: there's a whole lot of things I know I can't do, and that's handy. And the older I get, the longer that list gets. Yeah. Last night we were — we were — we — we — we have gotten rid of the old pews in the sanctuary over there, as we're doing the remodel. And we had a group show up last night, and Pastor Michael and I was helping load those pews up. Those two little young bucks showed up over there, and Michael and I said, we'll meet you boys on the trailer. I may look dumb. There's a lot of things that I figured out in life, that I am incomplete in what I can do. But I am complete in him.

There's sin running rampant in the world. There's stuff all around me. There's stuff that's out of my control, and I don't like being out of control. I'm very much a type A personality. I like to be in control. I — I don't — I don't like it when I'm getting that situation. But I've also learned to understand, there's some things that I'm just never going to have control over. And — and when I've learned to relinquish that over and to say, God, I trust you in this situation — this isn't what I would want, this isn't how I would do it — but I know that you said in your word, all things work together for good. Even though this wouldn't be the path I would choose to walk around, now, God, you have me walking on for a reason I don't know. But I know that you love me, and I know that you're going to take care of me. And I know that, looking back and what you have done in my life already, that every valley I went through, I got to experience another mountaintop on the other side, as long as I kept holding onto your hand.

We are incomplete in what we can have. Now this one — this one, man, this is going to go against the American way right here, okay? Because —

America says, hey baby, you can have it your way. We — we — we're living in such a selfish and self-centered world. I talked about that a little bit last Sunday. It's very bothersome how we are always consumed with self. But here's the reality: I'm incomplete in what I can have. Now, you may say, well, Pastor Kevin, you don't know — I read that — I want to read you something. I stumbled across, as I was putting this together — I — I found it very interesting, but I believe this will strike a chord with — with — with most of us in the room. Okay? Let's listen to this for a minute.

They simply — simply stated, "I don't need much. Okay, I don't need much. I just need one more thing to make me happy. Well, that sounds like my youngest daughter, actually. I just need a bicycle, that's all. If I had a bicycle, I could ride to the store. And of course, if I did ride the store, I'd have to have a basket on the bike so that I could carry more stuff. The truth is, if I had a car, I could put a lot more stuff in the trunk, and I could drive a lot further and get better bargains and sales. I — I don't ask for much, really. But in order to drive the car, though, I would need a license and license plates, and I would have to put gas in the tank, and I would have to get some minimal maintenance done. And of course, if I had a car, I would need insurance. And you realize that if I have a car, gas, and insurance, then I'm gonna have to have a job to pay for all this. What I really need is an application, a couple of references, maybe a string or two pulled from me. I can do anything. I'll flip hamburgers, run a cash register. I don't need much. But in order to get a good job, I need to get my degree. I just need one more class. If I get the class I need — if I — if I get through — I — I just need tuition, that's what I need. Oh, and book money, and lunch money, for a few new clothes, and a laptop, and a cell phone, and a high-speed internet connection. But if I moved closer to campus, I wouldn't have to get to a car. That would save me a lot of money. I could get an apartment or walk to class. And if I walk a lot, though, I may have to get some new shoes. Come to think about it, if I got a place to live, though, I need some furniture. I wouldn't need much, just a sofa, bed, table, some chairs, that's all. Of course, I need a few extra things: curtains, linens, pots, pans, a few pictures to hang on the wall, a refrigerator, a microwave, a can opener, a coffee pot. A washer or a dryer would be nice, maybe one of those stackable kinds. Oh yes, and some dishes. If I had dishes, I would need a dishwasher too. But before I start all this, I need some time off to get myself mentally prepared. You know what I'm talking about. Maybe a little vacation. Go down to Florida, maybe out to California. Ooh, I need a plane ticket. Really, I just need one more thing to make me happy. I think what would help if I got a credit card. I think what would help if I got an extra credit card. Now I just need interest rate to be lowered, and if I could just get a lower minimum payment, I would be happy. Really, if I could just move into a smaller apartment. If I could just sell my bike, that's all it would take to make me happy. Now, if I could just get a raise, maybe a minimum wage — no, not really. Maybe I could just get a better job. Actually, you know what I think would be better, if I just moved back home with Mom and Dad. I just need one —

More thing to make me happy." Isn't that interesting? Just — just one more thing. Now let's — let's — the end. Michael Bardwell, this is for you. Be honest in church: how many of you thought to yourself, if I just had that one more thing — I'm gonna raise both of my hands. Yeah, yeah. If I just had that one more thing, yeah, it would be okay. Man, if I could just — just — just that. What a lie that is. How shallow, how hollow that always feels. Because here's the deal: guess what? You'll never get that one more thing, because every time you get that one more thing, it always comes with an attachment to one more thing, and it's a constant chase after the one more thing that always leaves me feeling incomplete. It always leaves me desiring a little more. But you can be complete in Jesus Christ, who's the head of all principalities and powers. That's what his word said. It says, I am complete in him.

Psalms 50, verse 10: "For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the fowls of the mountains, and the wild beasts of the field are mine. First off, if I were hungry, I would not tell thee, for the world is mine, and the fullness thereof."

Matthew 6:31: "Therefore take no thought, saying, what shall we each show should we drink? What should we wear?" I just went over all that. It's there. He says, look, if that's all you're going to be chasing, all you're ever going to be chasing is that. If that's all you're ever chasing, that's all you're ever going to be chasing. You're never going to catch it. You're never going to catch it.

There's — there's realizing and understanding — this was something that I personally had to experience myself. I had to get to a point to where God had blessed me so abundantly — this is before I came on work in the church — that every — every dream, every aspiration, every degree, every opportunity that I had dreamed about, as I was spending nights studying and going through my classes and — and passing my courses and getting my degree, all those things, I thought — the salary that I wanted and all those things — I reached, I obtained them all. Everything on my list, I could check off the box. God had been good and faithful to me. And guess what I did? I made another list. Because just because it was checked off didn't give me a sense of fulfillment and satisfaction, because I was trying to find fulfillment and satisfaction in the wrong things. And when I realized what I was doing, it convicted me at my core, and I prayed a very hard prayer. I prayed a very hard prayer. I prayed a very hard prayer. Because I prayed, God, help me find contentment. Because I was not content. The word of God says that godliness with contentment is great gain. And I thought I was being godly, but I was not being content, and I got convicted about it, and God helped me. It wasn't immediate. God helped me find contentment and joy, because I was trying to find it in things, and things never brought contentment and joy.

We are incomplete. The last one I have for you: we are incomplete in what we can be. I love this part. This — in the scriptures, when Jesus is approached and the young guy comes up and he's saying, you know, "Master, what must I do?" "Good Master" is how he approaches. And Jesus like, "Why are you calling me good? There's only one good." He tells him what he should do, and the young man responds and says, "I've already done all those things." And this is where it gets really good, okay? Because I think this is good. Now, you guys are good folks. I know I'm not good. You guys are good, all right? I — I struggle a lot of stuff. I just have a — you guys are my therapy session. I get up here and just confess all —

My faults. But when I look at this, when Jesus says this, "You lack one thing" — you know, when I read that, you know what I read? When I think about Doug, he only has one thing. If that would have been me — Nancy, you know what he said? You need to sit down on a stump right here and get a piece of paper out. Get some parchment. Get a couple of pencils. You're going to be here for a minute. But this guy only lacked one thing. You like, well, that's that — Jesus' words, red letter words: "You lack one thing." But that one thing was a big one, wasn't it?

Do you ever look around, look at your environment, look at yourself? You ever find yourself in church looking around and saying, I don't even deserve to be here? Where did any of us get the idea that we could enter into fellowship with God, that we could approach his holiness? How can the highest walk hand in hand with the lowest? When I really think about his word and I understand his personality, this is what I think to myself: everything I do offends him. Do you ever think about that? You ever read his word and think to yourself, oh my, oh my, everything I do offends, yet here he is. Here he is, desiring a relationship with me.

We are not just less than God. We are a difference of degrees. We are the antithesis of God. A difference of essence. We are different as day and night, as black and white, as hot and cold, as wet and dry, as good and evil, as up and down, in and out, guilty and innocent. But a love that — his word says this in Romans 5: "For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet pre-eventually, for a good man, some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, and that — yeah, we were yet sinners." While we were yet sinners. He didn't wait for me to get cleaned up. He didn't wait for you to get better. He didn't say, well, if you'll do X, Y, and Z, then I'll do my part. Instead, while we were in our worst state, he said, I love you enough, I'll die. How amazing is that reality? How amazing is that, that our God, while we were yet sinners, he died for us?

And I — I — I — I have zero doubt in my mind that God's desire is to transform your way of thinking today, because I know that there are individuals in this place that you got on a good face, but inside you're struggling. I — I have no doubt. And — and I'm in the moment — the musicians, go ahead and come on. I have no doubt in my mind that this is a truth in this room, that when people talk to you before and after service, you just pray they don't bring up that one subject. Because if they bring up that one subject, there's no way you can stop crying. It's because you're missing a peace. You're missing a peace.

In my Next Steps class that I teach on Sundays — I teach the first of every month — I hold up a Rubik's Cube, and it's kind of jumbled around, but there's two sides that are complete. The rest of it's incomplete. Now, I'm sure that there's probably somebody in this room that can work a Rubik's Cube, but for the rest of us lowly human, we — we can — I've watched the YouTube videos. I've done my best, but I always fall a little short. But here's the truth: I know it can be done. I know it can be done, because it's a pattern. And if you can work the pattern, it'll work out. Here's what I know about our lives: there's a pattern for our life. You have a pattern. I have a pattern. And when we can get into a right relationship with God, the Creator, the one who made us —

And find out the pattern, we can become complete. Now, here's what happens to most of us, okay? Is y'all okay? Everybody awake? Here's — I'm just going to give you what normally happens. Is service will end. They're going to get up here and sing a song. God moves, and we often find ourselves down here around this altar area somewhere, and we cry out to God, and God moves and touches our heart, okay? Now, again, the world thinks it's foolish. The world — oftentimes I've had people have discussions — they say, man, you have the stocks. Y'all just got to ramp up everybody's emotions, right? So emotional, what goes on. Well, I — I don't know how you separate somebody from their emotions. If you can figure out how to do that, let me know. But as we feel this presence move on us, we'll feel that emotional pull and tug.

Now, I will tell you what we Yappa Stocks are really good at, is we're really good at writing songs that they'll pull you right up there to the stratosphere and just, you know, rip your heart right out. I mean, you think about what we just sing: "The veil is torn. The doors swing wide. I feel glory as I run inside the throne room." I mean, if you know anything about the word of God at all, I don't know how that doesn't affect you. The song we sing before that, that I will praise you — something in me has to, right? Every time that — every time that's impact — I don't even know they were saying that today. I would — I sing when I'm by myself. I don't always enjoy it, but I sing when I'm by myself. And I was singing this morning in my prayer time — I was actually singing that song — because when it gets to that part, it says something to me, man. It just — because there is something in me, when his presence moves — oh, I can't stop it — something in me has got to worship him.

So we come down here. We — we experience that, right? And we will — we'll pray. And — and — and I'm going to talk about me. I don't know about you. You're good people. I'm not. But I can't tell you how many times I've been down here and I made these promises to God: God, I'm not going to do it again. God, I'm not going to say it again. I'm not going to act like that again. How many times I've made those promises there, and I get up, and I'm going to leave, and — and — and I wouldn't even hardly get the parking lot and I would not keep my promise. And then what — you got to be very careful about, I feel this in the Holy Ghost, you got to be very careful, because for some reason we feel like that, you know, a couple of times down here, you know, once every now and then, it's okay, but we don't want to come on a regular basis, because, man, people like, man, he must be a rank center. I mean, every time that altar is open, he's down there boohoo. And it's not — I don't get that. I — I — I don't get that. You know, I love you all, but I don't care what you think about me. I want to go to heaven. I want to go to heaven. Evidently, you're real good. I'm not. You know, I have to repent. I have to repent every day. Maybe you can go a week or two without it, but you can't. You can't. You can't.

See, what — here's where — here's where I'm going is, we get just like that Rubik's Cube. We can get a couple of the sides looking real good. So when someone comes in and they say, how you doing? I'm doing good. Everything's good. Yeah, everything's good. Is everything good? No, it's not. It's terrible. I'm an emotional wreck. Relationships are busted and broken. I'm worried about all this stuff. I'm in a constant state of — of anxiety. But what do we do? I'm good. I'm fine. It's right Southern. And how you doing? We're good. Good. How's your mom and him? Good. I ain't talk to them in five years, but they're good.

And what are we doing? That Ruby's Cube — we're showing the good parts. I'm complete here. I'm complete here. Don't dare spin it around, though. Don't — don't spin it around, because I'm — I'm missing pieces. I know this in a flashing message, but it's what I failed to preach today, that the word of God says, "In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily," and you and I are complete in him. I — I'm not going to figure it all out in this world. I'm not. There may be one or two spots that I do okay with. There may be a couple things that I do. But — but I'm gonna find that I'm — I'm gonna fail at a few things. There's gonna be something I'm just not gonna be able to do right. But I'm not trying to find my completeness here. I'm trying to find my completeness there.

So here's the easiest altar call I've done a long time. If you are incomplete, if you are missing a peace, this altar is open, because you can find your completeness in him. I'm not going to beg you. I'm just going to tell you, if I was missing a piece, I would come to the Creator and the author of life and find it, because his word says I am complete in him.