That's Why I Hate Birds
by Mark McCool
May 9, 2021 · First Apostolic Church of Knoxville (Knoxville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Job 12:7-9, Psalms 84:1-4, Luke 12:6-7, Isaiah 49:14-15, Galatians 4:26, Psalms 113:9, Isaiah 31:5, Isaiah 40:28-31

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/mark-mccool--sunday-morning-worship-service-192
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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we'll let you keep your seats today but i want to read you a passage of scripture and give you my title and you will not understand it unless you're a an avid social media person to later but you folks that understand it don't give it away okay let me put it that way calling your attention this morning to the book of job the 12th chapter the book of job the 12th chapter we're going to read two verses job 12 beginning with verse number 7. we read but ask now the beasts that they shall teach thee and the fowls of the air and they shall tell thee or speak to the earth and it shall teach thee and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee notice verse 9 who knoweth not in all these things the hand of the lord hath wrought this for a few moments this morning i want to speak to you on this subject that's why i hate birds see some of you have been on social media let's pray savior i love you lord i'm grateful for this wonderful sanctuary full of believers and i thank you for your presence that we feel here in this house lord what a sweet sweet spirit of dedication on this mother's day now god i pray that your word would minister mightily to us let us entertain your presence and be believers who act upon your word for all this we're grateful in jesus name we pray amen in our text job tells us that there is much to be learned from the animal kingdom they can teach us if we will be observant time would not permit us to detail the instinctual actions that we can observe among god's creatures which he made himself migration hibernation did you know there's most animals have enough sense even to get out of the rain which is better than a lot of us you know the unique hierarchy of a pack of wolves or a pride of lions or a troop of monkeys the order of a school of fish or the flight order of a flock of canadian geese there's a lot we can learn from these creatures but job said who knoweth not do you not get it all of these things happen at the hand of the lord he's the one who calls this he's the one who wrought this if there's any doubt it didn't just by happenstance evolve all of these things that the animals we see around us that survive and flourish it didn't just happen god put that instinct inside them and we can learn about those innate natures from all that we find in nature if we'll just observe here in our community i live five minutes from the church between my house and being here at the church i've been blessed to record a lot of actions of creatures just in our community on my phone i have pictures taken here either at the church or at my house five minutes away of deer coyotes turkeys man i've counted as many as 19 turkeys at once in the backyard now you know what there's coyotes around i've got a picture of a turtle last week we had a raccoon come to church when it was cold couldn't get him away from the front door i have a picture of a family of skunks that i might tell you i took that picture from considerable distance with the zoom lens whitley sent me pictures and i got to meet a couple of noisy canadian geese that were at our front door just a few weeks ago i also have a picture of a copperhead that was in my mowing shed day before yesterday and he has already gone on to meet his eternal reward i might have brother whitley has encountered those geese brother whitley's backyard for a while he would try to get out and mow that yard and there were birds would dive bomb him he was getting too close to their nest and brother whitley i hate to preach about you but i just know you don't really have an affinity for birds and i know with us having baby dedications that you pass some of that stuff on to your children and their children and another generation and that you've been singing about that well you know sister jamie and i we appreciate nature we we've got a dog that we love and all these animals around our house and and uh sister jamie in particular wants her grandbabies to be familiar with all that's around so a few days ago sister jamie wanted to introduce easton to a new house guest that joined us this past spring if you've got that first slide media the front of our house we have a a wreath now i know that's long distance but just left of the front door there's a wreath could you zoom it just a little bit please now to the next slide we're getting closer you see that's a welcome wreath on the front of our house can you zoom just a little closer there it is close and if you notice right in the center there's a little nest there i don't know did i get one any closer is that as close as i got i don't recall that may be as close as i got okay we'll just stay right there anyway but i would tell you that sister jamie wanted to introduce our granddaughter easton to our house guests now if you look close inside that you find three small kind of pearl to white speckled eggs in that and there's a little brown bird a wren or a sparrow i i'm not not a uh ornithologist by any way that's an expert on birds but it's a brown bird a little brown bird it's not a bird of prey it's not an eagle or a hawk with sharp beak and sharp talons it's it's not a speedy ostrich that can outrun you instead it's just a little brown bird so sister jamie decided to introduce easton to the bird and we do have a security camera on our front door so media if you would please i would like you to meet our little brown bird and sister easton oh and listen carefully [Music] [Applause] [Music] that's why i hate merge thank you media i told you she got something from her daddy let me tell you the nature of god that he put in mamas on this mother's day it don't matter how little or how small mama may be if you mess with mama's babies god put a nature down inside a mama to take care of her children she may be a little brown bird but with everything she's got in her she's going to defend those three little pearly white eggs so her babies can be born one of the most dangerous creatures in the world is a mama grizzly when her cubs are threatened get near them and you will likely discover just how bad mama can be in fact the term mama bear has now become synonymous with the characteristics of a mama a woman especially a mother who is extremely protective of their child or children she is now called a mama bear that wonderful mother who is protective acts like a mother bearer in all sense of the world caring protecting helpful loving powerful strong a refuge of sorts you think mama's reputation isn't good several years ago when the united states was in the middle of a difficult military conflict they dropped their largest non-nuclear weapon notice they didn't call it the father of all bombs they called it the mother of all bombs there's something about the protectiveness of mama when mama gets round you've all heard the statement if mama ain't happy see you can help me preach but let me tell you in a spiritual sense scripture lets us know that the church is also mama elder james preached to us he said if the church is not your mother god is not your father and i want the world to know that there is a motherly instinct of the church to look after all their babies i don't mean just in chronological age but when new baby saints come into the church there's a special desire to be protective to look over them to look after them and to teach them you see we we have dual roads here we as the church family become mama and have a mama's spirit yet we look after each other the psalmist said in psalms 84 1 how amiable are thy tabernacles o lord of hosts my soul longeth yea even fainteth for the court of the lord my heart and my flesh crack out for the living god yay the sparrow has found a house and the swallow a nest for herself where she may lay her young even thine altars o lord of hosts my king and my god blessed are they that dwell in the house they will still be praising me i want you to know the church becomes our mama when we commit ourself to god our father that little nest that i showed you a picture of from our little brown bird has twigs and leaves and even a piece of plastic from an artificial bush that's been intertwined carefully in her nature in her ability to build a safe haven for her babies that's what the church must become that's why we labor as we do we're putting a safe place together for our families for our babies for new converts to come in it's a hiding place and mama's going to defend this place you see the church of the living god must be a haven that safe place a spiritual mother we will have baby saints who must receive special attention and care in the infancy of their new birth experience the church should be a mother to them and look out for their well-being and spiritual safety god knows everything about us and we are valuable to him and he is remembered or a rememberer of all of us luke said it this way in luke six are not five sparrows sold for two farthing five sparrows in man's eyes aren't worth much there's gonna be a lot of folks come through the doors in the world's eyes they're not worth much oh but mama sees the value mama sees the value not one of them is forgotten of god but even the very hairs of your head are all numbered fear there fear not therefore ye are more value than many sparrows god thinks about us and loves us and creates an atmosphere a home place a nest a mothering church that loves new babies god's not forgotten you you're in a safe place here if we at first apostolic church want to be what god has called us to be we must be a place of safety for those who come from the horrible wicked world of sin and need a mothering place to care for them isaiah 49 14 said but zion said the lord hath forsaken me my lord hath forgotten me can a woman forget her suckling child that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb yea they may forget yet will i not forget thee listen you may have come in from the outside you've been beat up by the world sins been attacking you let me tell you you are not forgotten god has not forgotten you first apostolic church has not forgotten you if you somebody hear me today i didn't know who was going to be here but god did if it's been days or weeks or years since you've been through those doors let me tell you god hasn't forgotten you first apostolic church hasn't forgotten you you're our family this is your safe haven this is your resting place this is the place that wants to care for you and love you don't you listen to the enemy this is your safe place hallelujah the church must have a spirit of mama galatians 4 26 said but jerusalem which is a which is above is free which is the mother of us all understand the figurative statements that are being made scripturally it's that place it's the homegoing place psalms 113 9 said he making the barren woman to keep house and to be a joyful mother of children praise ye the lord let me pause just a minute i feel in my spirit to tell some women something because there are women in this sanctuary and women out there listening to me you have desire to have a child and god has not chosen to give you children yet hear your pastor right now hear what i'm telling you in this house the enemy will try to take a day like mother's day and rather it be in a time of joy make it a time of sorrow for you he'll try to make you feel incomplete and inadequate you need to rebuke that spirit in jesus name you are valuable in the kingdom of god oh i if god so chooses he'll give you a natural child but if he doesn't you have a motherly instinct about you with the church somebody hear me today i'm talking to somebody in this house don't you let the enemy depress you and take you down you take the will of god and continue trusting in god a dear friend of mine sister jenny russell she's the executive vice president of urchin college and ocean graduate school she and her husband tried for many years to have children and god never chose to allow them to have children they went through the horror of a miscarriage and she gave a wonderful testimony i read an article that she had pinned in a little book called reflections and she told of the battles of depression that she went through but little did she know what god was equipping her for for sister russell now being the exec executive vice president of an undergrad college and a graduate school she said i've got more children than i know how to deal with hear me god will fulfill the desire inside you if you will stay faithful to him it may not be as conventional as you might be expecting but don't lose hope god has a plan for you you're with mama today you're with your family today would somebody receive this word from your pastor and let me tell you the true church will defend its babies isaiah 31 5 said his birds flying so will the lord of hosts defend jerusalem defending also he will deliver it and passing over it he will preserve it we must develop an attitude hear me when satan attacks somebody in our church when satan attacks a saint in the church let me see how many people i can tell about this no when satan's attack comes on to say oh it may be a weakness they have in their life it may be from without or within but when satan attacks the church i saw one t-shirt that said if you mess with one of us you've messed with the whole trailer park listen when satan messes with one of us he better know he's got to deal with everybody in this house you hear me i'm not going to go sprint it i'm not going to go gossip it you know what i'm going to do i'm going to fall down on my knees and in my spirit i'm going to fly out of this nest just like that little brown bird we're going to attack we're going to attack you know what i want to hear i want to hear the devil screaming and squalling and saying that's why i hate apostolics that's why i hate christians every time i get close to the church that bunch starts praying every time i get close to the church somebody will start down to that's why i hate apostolic calm down preacher this is mother's day listen let discouragement get near the church we need some prayer warriors that starts praying encouragement on people when somebody starts going through a test somebody's down and depressed we don't need to be walking around saying i knew that was coming i knew they wouldn't last let me post it quick we need to be sending messages i'm praying for you you're not alone we're lifting you up it's uh we preach like this to the young folks some of us who are not so young may need to point back at our own selves we tell young folks don't get in clicks some don't leave anybody alone let's go together let's if you see a new young person make them welcome listen if you see somebody not so young and they're feeling alone they may have isolated themselves you don't know the issue get to them make them feel welcome but listen we're in this list together we're in the mama church together if one's under attack we'll all fly out a negative report speaks too close to the church here comes a testimony a good report a negative diagnosis comes into the doctor we're all praising and giving praise reports we've got witnesses that can tell you you can be healed of cancer you can be healed of these situations you're not alone there's somebody praying with you i want the devil to be squalling and crying that's why i hate apostolics every time he gets close we need to attack would you stand with me praise team get ready now before you decide this message is for the birds we're not needing a bunch of ducks in the church and i need a bunch of quacks okay we're not needing a bunch of parrots talking about everything but you know what we're needing we're needing a church family that as isaiah said in isaiah 40 28 hast thou not known hast thou not heard that the everlasting god the lord the creator of the ends of the earth fainteth not god's not passing out he's not unconscious he's not tired he neither gets weary there's no searching his understanding don't question god he's got this just trust in him in fact he give power to the faint if you've been going through something if you've been feeling weak he gives power to the faint and to them that have no might he increases strength pastor i don't think i can pray against that listen just send your prayers up and let him put the power with it even the youths shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall but they that wait on the lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as eagles listen i believe this church family that's full of prayer warriors that look after each other during this pandemic time during this season that folks felt so isolated time and time again i heard the stories and the messages i was so thankful so-and-so sent me a text message this person called about me i i i went out on my front porch and this was somebody brought me something we had all kinds of things going on secret sisters even stopped being secret and just started being sisters and and going and checking on people why because the church is the mother of us all they that wait on the lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings as eagles they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint that comes from what waiting on the lord waiting on the lord i realize today's mother's day we have some things to give away at the end but i wonder if we could just have a season of prayers the praise team begins to lead us right where you are i want to ask you to do this i want you to ask god to renew your strength and i want you to pray for your church family this morning i want us right let's make this entire place a sanctuary of praying one for another just for a few moments let's talk to the lord right now mighty god i love you jesus i come before you right now i'm so thankful for my church family god on this day that we celebrate mothers lord let first apostolic church have a mothering spirit god let us minister lord let us minister to the lost to our community around us to the lost loved ones that we have god if there's somebody in this house right now come on church family let's pray don't let it just be me praying if there's somebody nearby you be sensitive let the holy ghost speak to them would you pray in the holy ghost right now would you pray in the holy ghost right now savior i pray for my family i pray for my family i pray for my family [Applause] yes i've got the freedom to mount her i've got the freedom to mount her hallelujah yes like an eagle hey make that proclamation make that proclamation yeah lost another one i am free i am free hey i am free i am [Music] [Applause] you feel free to come and give the lord praise you're with mama you're safe right where you are foreign [Music] get up get up get up get up out of that grave [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] because [Applause] i thank god somebody thank god this place somebody lift up your voice and thank god oh i'm thankful for the church i'm thankful for the church hallelujah hallelujah one more time clap your hands unto the lord oh hallelujah i thank god i thank god for the church amen you can start making your way back to your seat and you could be seated there that's why i hate birds amen i'm glad she wasn't in here to see that she will be complaining to me about seeing that and the screens but we're thankful for the church aren't you i'm thankful for the church the mother of the church