Sunday Evening Worship & Word | Pastor McCool “The Difference Maker”
by Mark McCool
August 21, 2022 · First Apostolic Church of Knoxville (Knoxville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: John 5:1-9, Mark 7:31-37, Matthew 8:23-27, John 11:35-44, Mark 6:1-6, Ezekiel 44:23

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/mark-mccool--sunday-evening-worship-word-10
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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would you love jesus at this house right now would you praise jesus in this house right now the deliverer is here the savior is in this house tonight hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah glory glory glory thank you praise team i think you call that the jesus medley i like it it's everything jesus aren't you thankful i'm still full out after this morning to celebrate jesus and all he's done for me oh would you just join with me a little while longer let's praise him let's glorify him let's worship him yes [Music] bless your name glory glory i'm gonna let you start moving to your seats but don't sit down yet i joined with the words of bishop mccool and telling you we went to a homegoing celebration yesterday in springfield ohio [Music] and it was so amazing to get to meet some more of our great big family the family of god folks that i had never met before but you could feel the kindred spirit because of the jesus name apostolic message there were so many who had come to celebrate the life of dr james elder james my friend johnny james and i found out i just thought he was my best friend but he was about everybody's best friend because there were so many there he had so influenced their life with the jesus name apostolic message and i promise you that's what was preached at his homegoing service the jesus name apostolic message so that's all we know to be that's who we are and that's whose we are so that's why we sing about it that's why we celebrate it we make no apologies i am going to let you be seated because i know we've been on our feet for a long time i do honor all of the ministry the elders our pastoral staff the ministers of first apostolic church it is always a an honor to preach in this pulpit but i would also tell you uh after the many messages that we have heard recently it is a daunting task to prepare i was out of town a couple of weeks back and got to hear just a portion of pastor whitley on sunday morning by way of our internet ministry and he blessed us so mightily and the lord had been dealing with me about uh some passages of scripture then we came back last sunday and brother gore so mightily blessed us and i'm thankful to have all these uh fired up young folks on the front row in this beautiful [Applause] i'm not near as big as brother gore but i promise you tonight i at least won't pour any water on you okay so y'all are good on the front row and then bishop on wednesday night he went right back and started talking about making differences and i gave testimony and i didn't know whether i needed to change my message tonight or go ahead and preach it so i told him a little bit about it he said you better preach it said you're in trouble if you don't so it's nothing of any great revelation but i hope that god is continuing he seems to touch all the ministry to get a general thought across and reaffirm it and confirm it time and time again so i hope that i would be in the will of the lord of course pastor anthony mightily blessed us today reminding us do we know what we really have do are we aware of what we have and i always want to be so thankful for what god has blessed us with i'd call your attention to the book of jude tonight bishop said it was intended to be an encyclopedia and turned out to be one sheet of notebook paper i don't know if they had notebooks or scrolls but it wasn't much but even in that few passages there's mighty word that goes for it from jude in that one chapter so jude 1 we'll read it verse number 17. jude 1 17. but beloved remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our lord jesus christ i pause here for in studying this i found out that jude according to the opinion of many scholars was again reaffirming other passages of scripture so it happened in the bible as well many scholars think that [Music] verse 18 and 19 was a restating of 2 peter 1 3 and 4. so i submit to you that in the word things were reaffirmed by other anointed writers verse 18 says how that they told you there would be mockers in the last times who should walk after their own ungodly lusts these be they who separate themselves sensual having not the spirit but ye beloved build up yourselves on your most holy faith praying in the holy ghost if you pray in the holy ghost it ought to build you up you ought to feel built up when you come to the altar when you pray in the holy ghost you ought not to leave here as debbie down or you ought to be debbie delighted when you leave this place when you pray in the holy ghost keep yourselves in the love of god looking for the mercy of our lord jesus christ unto eternal life verse 22 and notice and of some have compassion making a difference everybody's saying making a difference and others save with fear pulling them out of the fire hating even the garments spotted by flesh 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 for a few moments my title would be this question do you know the difference maker do you know the difference maker let's pray savior i love you god we are so grateful for your mighty word for the wonderful things that we experience every time we come into your presence lord i'm so grateful for a most wonderful congregation of believers that's here tonight and savior i pray if there's someone that this is their first time in your house or there's someone in this place who's troubled and needy to feel your touch that you would be here to make a difference in every life lord we thank you we praise you we love you in the name of jesus we pray amen and amen lauren ensley was an american anthropologist educator philosopher and natural science writer lorne enzi composed a book or authored a book entitled the star thrower and since that composition the story has been repeated and circulated in a lot of different versions normally without mentioning the author and been and been paraphrased in many different stories most of you may have heard this but i would read it again for maybe that one or two that has not because it is entitled the starfish thrower or the starfish story while walking along a beach an elderly gentleman saw someone in the distance leaning down picking something up and throwing it into the ocean as he got closer he noticed that the figure was that of a young man picking up starfish one by one and tossing each one gently back into the water he came closer still and called out good morning may i ask what that is that you're doing the young men paused looked up and replied throwing starfish into the ocean the old man smiled and said i must ask then why are you throwing starfish into the ocean to this the young man replied the sun is up the tide is going out if i don't throw them in they'll die upon hearing this the elderly observer commented but young man do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile you can't possibly make a difference the young man listened politely then he bent down picked up another starfish threw it back into the ocean past the breaking of the ways and said it made a difference for that one it made a difference for that one i submit to you this night that we have the opportunity to be difference makers in many lives and those who are connected to us but i also would tell you you can't be a difference maker until you know the difference maker you cannot truly do what you need to do to make a difference in others lives until you truly get to know who the difference maker is and i want to introduce him to you tonight most in this house probably know him because he's already made a difference in your life but i want to remind us of just what a great difference maker our savior is in john the fifth chapter verse number 1 we read about the impotent man the man who could not walk he was lame verse 1 said after this there was a feast of the jews and jesus went up to jerusalem now there is at jerusalem by the sheep mark of pool which is called in the hebrew tongue bethesda having five porches in these lay a great multitude of impotent folk a blind of halt withered waiting for the move into the water there were thousands of miles of beach and thousands of starfish there were a multitude of impotent foe do you see the parallel for an angel went down at a certain season into the pool troubled the water whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had now many of us may not understand this passage or how it could be that god would deem it so but it's not ours to question the mode and method simply this is the story being told the first one into the water after the angel troubled the water received their healing and a certain man was there which had had an infirmity 30 and eight years apparently he had been in line for a long time when jesus saw him lie and knew that he had been now a long time in that case he said unto him will thou be made whole and the impotent man answered him sir i have no man when the water is troubled to put me into the pool but while i am coming another step down before me and jesus said unto him rise take up thy bed and walk notice verse 9 and immediately the man was made whole and took up his bed and walked on the same day was the sabbath i'm here to tell you the difference maker knows how to put you at the front of the line for your healing some of us feel like we've been waiting on something for a long time and it seems like everybody else gets in before us he something just seems to happen good for everybody else if you'll get to know the difference maker if you'll get jesus in your life and tell him what your situation is he knows how to move you to the head of the line it doesn't matter what's happened for 30 plus years you need to know the difference maker today but i give you other examples from the word in mark 7 31 we read and again departing from the coast of tyree and sidon he came under the sea of galilee through the midst of the coast of decapolis and they bring unto him one that was deaf and had an impediment in his speech and they beseeched him to put his hands upon him and notice verse 33 and he took him aside from the multitude and he put his fingers into his ears and he spit and touched his tongue some of us would stay deaf and unable to speak before we would allow such to happen to us preacher hadn't you heard of social distancing haven't you heard of good hygiene i've got news for you sometimes the difference maker will do some very unconventional things when you are in need sometimes he's going to ask you to do some stuff and have faith that doesn't seem like the thing to do to stick his fingers in your ear say stick your tongue out you see the difference maker shows up and does some stuff but sometimes he may ask you to take a step by faith to stand there can you imagine that man who was deaf and could not speak to stand there in front of all you see jesus did try to at least reduce a little the embarrassment said he pulled him away from the multitude but he stuck his fingers in his ears are you willing to let jesus touch you in an unconventional way are you willing to let some unorthodox manner cause you to find what you need you see the difference maker had showed up for this man and looking up to heaven the bible says he sighed and said unto him epithet that is be opened some of us are needing jesus to step in our life and open up some things that have been closed for a long time some of us are needing to let jesus step in and open our ears spiritually and touch our tongue that we can say what needs to be said the bible says in straight way his ears were open the strings of his tongue was loose and he spake plain you know what happens when the difference maker shows up on the scene the praise team and the worship team sing about it if it wasn't for the lord where would i be my life was nothing until he set me free what a change he made in my life no more compromising the wrong from the right he made the difference he made the difference in my life i don't walk like i used to walk i used to be the impotent man and people were pushing me around i used to couldn't talk i don't talk like i used to talk i don't live like i used to live [Applause] you see the way you talk is going to be changed when the different makers come in you don't need your four-letter expletives to explain yourself suddenly you'll talk a different way you'll walk a different way you'll live a different way if you'll let the difference maker step in [Applause] he said be opened straightway his ears were open the strength of his tongue were loosed and he spake and they charged him and he charged them that they should tell no man he said i'm not doing this this time for any display but the more he charged them so much the more a great deal they published it you see there's some things you just can't be quiet about when the difference maker steps into your life you just can't be quiet about i've seen folks their lives so torn and tattered come into the house of god and them submit to the difference maker in their life and suddenly they can't be quiet about it they go to work and they'll have so much zeal you have to handle brother yeah i don't want you to get dismissed you know at least wait a break time before you start testifying you know i want you to know the difference maker tonight but gore already preached the message about the disciples in the tempest the of the synoptic gospels diversion in matthew 8 it says and when he was entered into the ship his disciples followed him and behold there arose a great tempest in the sea and as much as the ship was covered with the ways but he was asleep and his disciples came to men and woke him saying lord save us that we perish and he said in them why are you fearful oh ye of little faith then he arose rebuked the wind and the sea and there was a great con but the men marveled saying what manner of man is this that even the winds and the sea obeys him he can open deaf ears he can unstop all of those troubles and he can also calm the storm why because he's the difference maker we go on again and i'll paraphrase because it's just recently been preached in detail the demonic of the gatherings if you get to know the difference maker i'll simply say this the difference makers know how knows how to deal with bad spirits he can heal the impotent whether it's physical or a spiritual inability to walk with him he can open ears he can loose tongues he can calm storms and he can also heal bad spirits you see if you're going to walk with the difference maker you'll change your attitude you won't want to be involved in self-destructive behavior like the demonic the gadarenes who cut himself you won't be possessed with legions of bad spirits because the difference maker knows how to clean house well all of those things are wonderful but pastor i just feel like i've done too much and my opportunity my life is dead i i could never serve god i could never do a work for god my spiritual abilities are dead i got news for you i know a difference maker that knows how to deal with death too in john 11 35 the first says jesus wet shortest book in the bible a rather verse in the bible if you want to be like johnny james you can wear a turtleneck and there's at least one verse you can remember jesus wept i got one but he goes on and said then said the jews behold how he loved him i want you to notice get the picture the aristocracy the super pious religious leaders of the day as long as jesus was exhibiting human emotion and frailty they were with him as long as he showed up at the funeral and cried the oh look at jesus oh how he loved lazarus as long as we will stay in the natural in the ordinary the world will be satisfied with an apostolic church in the community and some of them said could not this man which opened the eyes of the blind have caused that even this man should not have died now others begin to criticize no matter what you do somebody's going to have some criticism you may as well get ready for it if jesus had healed him that that a group because it was on sunday if jesus didn't hit him and say why didn't he come to him looks like if he could do this why couldn't he do that jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave it was a cave and a stone lay upon it and jesus said take you away the stone martha the sister that was dead saith in him lord by this time he stinketh for he hath been dead four days there's a lot of stinks that take place as long as we stay in the flesh there's a lot of stinking things that can get in the church and get in our lives but oh when the difference maker shows up jesus said unto her said i not unto thee that if thou would has believed thou should see the glory of god then he took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid and jesus lifted up his eyes and said father i think thee that thou hast heard me and i knew thou had heard me always but because of the people which stand by i said it that they male may believe that thou has sent me and suddenly he went from the grieving jesus in humanity at the side of the tomb and he thus had spoken he cried with a loud voice lazarus come forth lazarus come forth now let me pause here we're not trying to wake the dead but sometimes we do get loud sometimes we get too loud i realize that but sometimes you got to realize that jesus spoke with a loud voice for a purpose sometimes we lift our voices and praise so vociferously because we want the world to know that we have the difference maker in our life you know after all here just a few weeks the tva and i fair will be in town they'll be advertising the tva in our fair and they'll one of the things they do usually at the fair they have a tractor pull anybody around here ever been to a tractor pool don't raise your hands you don't have to your neck can still be red and you know now we've got a john deere tractor around here and it it's a little bit loud but you got one of those tractor pulls they've souped up those john deere's and massey ferguson's and all all of those uh uh kubota tractors whatever they've got they some of them they'll have chevrolet motors in them or two motors in them and they got a great big load of weight and those gals will get that now they could probably pull that load conventionally but before they ever say fire shooting and then you know what they'll do they'll sales down and they'll drag that weight and see who can drag it the farthest or the quickest or whatever their their line of winning is and you know what the crowd does they go yeah [Music] oh i'm not into that ever gone by naylan stadium on a football saturday ever been in the stadium on a football saturday let the ball score i mean the place rumble there's fireworks going off it it's nuts in the house they go absolutely crazy now please understand i'm not advocating being uncomfortable and inordinate a few years years ago sister jamie and i flew down to florida and didn't know that anything was going on but we happened to go through the city of daytona and we went right by the daytona international raceway and there was a restaurant out in front we decided to get out of the car and go in that rest as soon as i got out of the car i could hear whoa whoa all they were doing at that point was just testing that was only one of them it wasn't all 43 or however many they raised preacher what are you trying to say i'm going to tell you sometimes we're going to get loud why because jesus cried with a loud voice for emphasis sometimes he said make a joyful noise in the lord worship the lord on the loud sounding symbols and the high sounding symbols sometimes we're going to run sometimes we're going to dance sometimes we're going to shout why because somebody made a difference in my life somebody made a difference in mark mccool's life sometimes not just a little testimony and a golf clap's going to take care of it i got to get excited i've got to worship i got to pray i got to lift my voice oh hallelujah [Applause] it said when he cried with a loud voice he that was dead came forth there's some dead spirits that will attack the church if we aren't careful there's some dead spirits within us that will attack us and make us inhibited listen you need to also realize that different people worship different ways i realize not everybody is as demonstrative as i am that's okay i've seen some folks they can be so happy about what god's doing and big tears be running down their face they're not out of order they just feel things different than i do i've seen folks that so ornately will worship god with their hands raised i've seen other folks that that run they probably couldn't catch brother michael but they'll still run folks will dance folks will shout let me tell you if the difference maker has made a difference in your life you will find some way to worship him i'm not going to criticize you how you choose to but you will find some way to give him praise and adoration and honor because you're alive you're a living creature that you've had a difference made in your life he made a difference look back no somebody hear me if you can't walk he'll make the difference if you can't talk if you can't hear he'll make the difference if you got a storm if you got a bad spirit if you're dead he can raise you but i give you this aside there's only one thing that inhibits the difference maker and we find that found in mark 6 1. it says and he went out from fence and came into his own country jesus went back home and his disciples followed him when the sabbath day was come he began to teach in the synagogue and many hearing him were astonished saying from whence has from whence hath this man these things and what wisdom is that which is given unto him that even such mighty works are wrought by his hands see the people that knew him as a child as the carpenter's son they were amazed at the difference in his flesh is this not the carpenter's son the son of mary the brother of james and joseph and of judah and simon and are not his sisters here with us and they were offended at him it wasn't his message that offended him them it was they were offended because he was one of them and he had all of this enlightenment that they were not expecting but jesus said unto them a prophet is not without honor but he in his own country and among his own kin in his own house please notice verse 5 and he could there do no mighty works jesus now could do no mighty works save he laid his hands upon a few sick folks and heal them now in our minds you know somebody getting healed that's man that's mighty jesus did that on an off day and there he could do no mighty work say if he laid his hands upon a few sick folks and healed them and he marveled because of their unbelief if you won't believe in jesus he can't make a difference in your life it's just that simple if you can't submit yourself completely to him he can't make a difference in your life so tonight i ask you to ask yourself the questions that the song said praise team musicians get ready where would your life be without the difference maker where would your marriage be without the difference maker where would your health be without the difference maker where would you would your job be without the difference maker don't fool yourself oh i would have been successful no you would have been lost and no matter what fame wealth or notoriety you may feel that you could have attained on your own talents you would still be lost i take you back to our beginning text for it said keep yourselves in the love of god looking for the mercy of our lord jesus christ and eternal life verse 22 said and of some have compassion making a difference now here's where we as the church need to come to a realization he didn't make a difference in our lives for us to sit pat and be satisfied i said at the beginning of the message for that we must be a difference maker but you can't be a difference maker until you know the difference maker but i submit to you that now all in this house who know jesus you have a responsibility to make a difference in somebody else's life preachers that preach the gospel i read in ezekiel 44 23 the levitical priests were charged it said that they shall teach my people the difference between holy and profane and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean i as your pastor and every minister that comes to this platform we're not doing our jobs to make a difference in lives if the message does not direct us toward holiness versus being profane if the message does not differentiate between clean and unclean oh i i don't want to go to one of those churches that condemns anything and says anything that's wrong i've got news for you it is the responsibility of the levitical priesthood of the ministry to cry out against right and wrong and know the difference between the two to cry out against the unclean and exalt the clean and in turn our testimonies as a church family should make us difference-makers our witness should make us difference-makers but the passage also said and of some have compassion first apostolic church we must always be a church of compassion not condemning not looking at folks with a pharisaical i but having compassion that we make a difference for others and lead them to christ verse 23 struck me and i would not do violence to this passage but it said and others save with fear now let me pause here because what i'm about to say this is my personal interpretation and if you disagree you have the right to be wrong no you have a right to have a different opinion bishop mentioned that he ran into a very prominent man of god the man of god that he ran into again is the general superintendent of the world pentecostal fellowship the wpf brother kenneth go there a wonderful a mighty man of god and as he was relating to bishop he said bishop mccool i came to the lord in your revival when i was just a child his brother by the johnny godaire testified to the same thing but he said something that i drew a parallel from this scripture he said i remember the message that bishop that you preached the night i came to the lord and of course obviously bishop didn't know what he preached that night he said the name of the message was though i make my bed in hell brother godair said i decided that night that i did not want to go to hell i wanted to go to heaven and he went on to say and i honor him he said we have too much preaching now that's afraid to scare people [Music] now i'm not up here trying to give you scare tactics but i'm here to tell you we can be so soft-soaking on the evils of sin we can be so non-committal on how bad hell and being lost really is that we forget to put the reverential respect in our children and those that we need to make a difference in i don't want to go to hell i don't want my children to go to hell i don't want my grandkids to go to hell if that scares them so be it i hope i scare them to the altar and they repent of their sins and they find out that ours is not a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind whatever it takes he said some having compassion others saved with fear pulling them out of the fire hating even the garments spotted by flesh stand with me hell will be an awful place hell will be a terrible place hell will be a place that none should ever want to be it's not a place of cartoon characters with little pitchforks and fork and tails it's a horrible place with no hope it's a horrible place for everlasting torment so i want to let you know the difference makers in the house tonight you don't have to worry about not being in heaven if you let the difference maker walk into your life preacher how'd i do that he gave us a simple plan he said repent of your sins preacher how'd i do that you tell jesus i'm sorry for my sinning now now if you need another message on that we can do it but it's just that easy you go before him and say jesus i'm sorry for my sinning i'm not going to do it anymore please forgive me you ask forgiveness that's repentance it's just that easy and then you take his name on you say i'm part of the difference maker now i go down in water in the name of jesus and i become part of the difference maker and he'll fill you your promise the gift of the holy ghost evidenced was speaking with tongues it's just that simple i want to know is there anybody in the house tonight that would raise your hand and say jesus has already made a difference in my life has he made a difference in anybody's life in this house then here's what i want us to do we're going to have a time of celebration of the difference maker if you haven't let the lord make a difference in your life i want you to come and say jesus i want you to make a difference in my life i want you to change me we're going to sing here in just a moment and when we do i believe everybody in this house that he's made a difference in your life is gonna step out and gather around this altar and thank him for making a difference would you help us with that song would you sing for me right now come on sing it if it wasn't for the lord where would i be my life was nothing until he set me free what a change he made no more compromising the wrong for [Music] where would i be my life was nothing until then [Applause] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] that cannot be surpassed i'm on a cloud from the first moment to the last he walks with me and talks with me telling me i'm his own he calms all my beards telling me i am now the rest of that passage said this now unto him that is able to keep you from falling i just believe when he makes a difference in your life you don't have to backslide all the time and get up he can keep you from falling [Music] he's going to be with me if i fall but i got news for you he can keep me from falling and to present you faultless in the presence of his glory with exceeding joy folks who the difference has been made in their life ought to be happy get the mullet grubs out of your life and off of your face be happy people be joyous people if you're going through a trial put a smile on your face make the devil wonder what you're up to goodness is coming joy is coming it's going to happen he's made a difference he's made a difference i want you to sing that second verse about joy would you sing that for me see it now hey he gives me joy that cannot be surpassed i'm on a cloud from the [Music] all my fears [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] i don't look like i used to live [Music] [Applause] [Music] was [Applause] [Music] 10. [Applause] [Music] keeping me [Music] me [Music] would you love jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] first apostolic church you are a bunch of difference makers go from this place tonight out into this world affecting this world with your joy with the blessings of the lord go out as difference makers making a difference for the difference maker i love you don't miss wednesday night bible study we're going to have worship in the word then don't forget next sunday we're celebrating 65 years here in the city of knoxville don't miss the services with bishop j h osborne would you greet everyone as your personal protocols make you comfortable you're dismissed in jesus name