The Struggle is Real | Kids Quest Pastor Nolan Carpenter
by Nolan Carpenter
First Apostolic Church of Maryville (Maryville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Exodus 2:11-14, Acts 7:22, Hebrews 11:23-25, Proverbs 4:23, Job 3:25-26, Matthew 9:29-30, Mark 5:34, Joshua 1:8, Hebrews 12:15

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/nolan-carpenter--the-struggle-is-real
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 go quickly into the word of the Lord tonight. Exodus chapter 2 and verse number 11. I give honor to pastor and sister Carpenter tonight. Mother and father as they're traveling back home from preaching and I give them tremendous honor. What a tremendous word we heard this morning about grace. How many enjoyed Pastor Ericson's message about the grace that went beyond my thoughts. I'm so thankful for that tonight. So thankful for what God did uh this morning. If I could, brother Sharp, just have a little bit more in these monitors of myself. That seems kind of prideful, but it helped me out a whole lot. You know, I I I begin to just go through the lyrics of that song tonight. How God, I'm just grateful, just grateful for you. You look back over this year and look past look to last year and just how many great things God has done thus far. And almost gets me a little bit emotional to just think about the blessings of God that has been upon this church. And um I I I probably saw not probably I would say it's the greatest miracle I've ever seen in my life. and uh happened Friday morning and it's it's a praise report and um I don't want to downplay physical miracles but something much more than a physical miracle is a spiritual miracle. I watched two kids Friday morning at rush hour right in a row right over here. I was standing behind this this uh speaker here right in the row. I saw a a brother and a sister, siblings worshiping God, seeking for the Holy Ghost. And Brother Lucas, I know you're back there and you look all tough and mean, but inside of Brother Lucas Briggs is a big old teddy bear. Sister Jackie and how they've raised their children to fear God and to know God. and [name redacted] and and uh [name redacted] received the baptism of the Holy Ghost Friday morning. And God, I'm just so grateful for you, Lord. It was so It was so beautiful. I I that's a I think of all the things that them kids have been through. God would bless them with wonderful parents that would raise them in the fear and the knowledge of the Lord and that God would give them the Holy Ghost on the same day. And then it was so so cool. You had [name redacted] and you had uh [name redacted] and then you had [name redacted] in the middle. Had his little sister, little brother almost in a headlock. But all three of them were speaking in tongues. [name redacted], it was like he was talking like a Japanese man. He He was just going at it. I was waiting for interpretation. It was so good. But I've come to ask us a question. Isn't the Lord good to us tonight? The Lord is good. And I believe it's the first of the many blessings that God's going to pour out in 2026. How many believe that tonight? Do you believe this is going to be the year maybe not a financial blessings, but what more of a blessing could we receive than our children receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost and miracles, spiritual miracles are happening and we are blessed, we are blessed to be a part of it. Exodus 2:11 says, "And it came to pass in those days when Moses was grown, and he went out into his brethren, looked upon their burdens, and he spied an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew, one of his brethren, and he looked this way, looked that way, and it was when he saw there was no man, he slew the Egyptian, and hid him in the sand. And when he went out the second day, behold, two men of the Hebrews strove together, and he said to him that did the wrong, "Wherefore smiteest thou thy fellow?" And he said, "Who made thee a prince and a judge over us? Intendest thou to kill me as thou killed killed the Egyptian?" And Moses feared and said, "Surely this thing is known." I'm going to preach from those first two verses I read. verses 11 and 12. And I've learned I've learned very quickly that I'm I'm no longer cool with the young people. Um, matter of fact, how you know you're not cool is when they have phrases and sayings that they say, for instance, it's really a good thing. It's twofold. It's it's a slap in the face on one, but it also helps us out when they have like a a term or a fad that goes through. For instance, they they used to have this language last year. Words like skippy, toilet, Ohio, riz. Okay. The craziest things ever you would ever hear out of somebody's mouth. But the moment that the adults start saying, "Hey, skippy riz Ohio toilet." It's like that's the weirdest thing ever. And so it really is a wakeup call when you begin to talk like that because then that means you're old. But then the second thing is it's great because they stop saying those things. for instance 67 once we start the adults start saying huh 67 they're like man that is so weird you know once the adults started seven uh saying 8 n or whatever afterwards but you try to preach titles that are relevant I know this this title used to be a phrase that they would say all the time but once you figure out something to preach with a a phrase it's no longer cool that's how the Lord works but I want to preach for just a moment on the struggle is real The struggle is real. Look to your neighbor and tell them the struggle. The struggle is real. Put your Bibles down. Lift your hands to heaven. But most importantly, lift your hearts. Let's ask God to touch us here for just a moment. I just feel like the Lord is going to do something in this place tonight. Come on. Let's lift our voices. Lord, we thank you, God. We praise you. We lift you up, Lord. God, I'm so overwhelmed with your presence. I'm so overwhelmed with God, what you're doing in this church, in this season, Lord, God. God. And I pray you would do something tonight, God. I pray, God, something your word would say, God, would challenge someone's heart, God. It would convict us tonight, God. It would challenge our hearts, God. God, I pray you'd touch someone's heart, God, in the name of Jesus. Anoint my lips, God. And I be so careful to give you all the praise, all the glory, and all the honor in Jesus' name. Could someone say in Jesus' name? Now, before you're seated, could we clap our hands all across this room tonight? Come on. Come on. If you know the Lord is good, would you lift your voice while you're clapping those hands? Come on, let's tell the Lord how good he is, how great he is, how marvelous he is. Oh, I feel victory in the house tonight. Come on. When we begin to think of all that he's done for us, what we are facing is not too hard for the Lord. I thank you tonight in Jesus name. You may be seated all across this house this evening. The struggle is real inside each and every one of us. There is a struggle. Doesn't matter if you're the preacher tonight or you're the the person who slipped in the back late after service had already begun. There is a struggle in each of us. This struggle is God-given. It's God designed for us to make a make a choice. And we see we see that through our lives we can look back and we can think this title is very true that the struggle is real. You don't you don't find a a better story that goes along with this than Moses. This Moses is a man who has a a struggle. But before we understand Moses, the struggle that he faced, we must go back to his beginning that God gave him a good mama. If you got a good mama in the house, would you say amen? >> Amen. Mama jockabed. Mama jockabed, a faith warrior. Jockabed heard the words of Pharaoh, how Pharaoh charged all his people, saying, "Every son that is born, ye shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive." We see this principle very quickly in the book of Exodus that there is nothing worse than something that is half Hebrew and half Egyptian. We see that the men, the boys would be thrown into the river, but we see the daughters would be saved. And of course, this was no great revelation, but that that was so they could produce an offspring that would no longer be Hebrew, no longer be a child of God, no longer be a spiritual line of the Hebrews. There is nothing worse than something that is half Hebrew and half Egyptian, half spiritual and half worldly, half godly and half worldly. So Mama Jacobed went to work on an ark in a few hours, maybe even a couple days. The scriptures not so clear on how long it took Jockabed to make this ark. But we see that when Moses had had had come to to years or or come to uh an age where she could no longer hide him, the Bible said that Jockabed made an ark. Leave it to a woman to save the day. Leave it to a good old mama to save the day. It took a man and three sons by the name of Noah, his three boys to build an ark. And it took 120 years or maybe less 100 years. We really don't know the exact. We don't know how. It took years though. 70 years to 120 years. And that ark only saved eight souls. But it took a mama couple hours to two days to make an arc to save a nation. And I want to encourage every mother in this house tonight that your efforts are not in vain. That what you are doing in the home is not insignificant. What I can point you back to is a sister Jackie Briggs who taught her children at the house of the way they should go and how they should pray. And you saw the results of a of two kids being saved on Friday morning. And I I want to encourage every mother in this house. I know what you feel might be insignificant, but really you're saving a family and you're saving a future. If you're thankful for a good mama, would you say amen? I believe all our mothers deserve a good round of applause. I wonder if old sister Noah would have got involved with the project of the ark. How long it would have took 120 years to save eight people. Mama jockabed two days or less to save a nation. So she pushes him down the river obeying Pharaoh's law, but just to build him a safe environment to protect him. And that's really what dedication is. When we bring our children to this platform and we give them to God, there is going to be one day that we're going to have to throw them in the river of Egypt. There's going to be one day where we're going to have to trust God by throwing them in the river of Egypt. But we can build something around them that will protect them. We can build something around them through principles in God's word to insulate them and guide them. I believe that's why it's so important for just a moment if I could take just a detour just a little bit. It's why it's so important to have a Christian school because it's an arc of safety that when our children are thrown into the river of Egypt that Egypt wants to have their way with them. We have an arc of safety to protect them and to insulate them. It is keeping them from drowning in the floods of judgment, but it's also keeping the judgment out of them. Thankful for the ark of safety. And Pharaoh's daughter sees while she is bathing, she sees an ark that there's a noise coming from the ark stuck in the weeds on the side of the Nile River. And Pharaoh's daughter, we know the story very well. I'll skip through this kind of quickly, but Pharaoh's daughter then has Jockabed to raise Moses. And there was a time after that that period of time that she had to bring him back to Pharaoh's daughter and he became the grandson of Pharaoh. Here's the struggle that Moses faces. He grows up an Egyptian, but inside he's a Hebrew. grows up in the culture, brother Tony, of Egypt and all that Egypt has to offer, but inside he's got the DNA of a Hebrew. If you're Moses, there's a struggle going on. You know what you're in is not. It feels good on the outside, but on the inside, you're struggling because what you have on the inside, what a mama put in you for a couple years, you know something is not right about your surroundings. As Moses, the struggle you were raised in slavery, but as a as a teenager, you're raised in Pharaoh's house, the best that the world has to offer. It's the struggle of being raised in an Egyptian culture, but deep down inside, you know you're a Hebrew. You have the finest Egyptian clothes, the finest Egyptian food. The best that Egypt has to offer was at the fingertips of Moses. Even Acts 7:22 tells us that Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and in deeds. Grows up mighty in Egyptian words. But then we see him several years later and the Bible describes him as someone who has a stutter, can talk like an Egyptian, but when he starts talking for the Lord, he's got a stutter. And I've come to tell us to take a pause right here that God would rather use our insufficiencies than use anything that the world would ever give us. God would rather use a stuttering Moses than someone who sounds like the world, who can talk like the world, who could communicate like the world. And I've come to preach to the church that God would rather use someone who's not skillful than use someone who is worldly. God would rather use somebody that don't have it all together, don't have the right pedigree, don't have the right talk, can't really put the sentences together, but let somebody come up here that's worldly, God's not going to use them. God would rather use someone with insufficiencies than use somebody who is worldly. maybe talking about per somebody personally or or I could preach this to the church as a collective body that God would rather use a church that isn't the best use a church that is full of Egypt because there's nothing worse than half Hebrew and half Egyptian. There's nothing worse in all of scripture than a little bit of godliness and a little bit of worldliness. God would rather use some church that doesn't have it all together, doesn't have the programs, doesn't have the the systems correctly, than a church that's full of pride, a church that's full of flesh, a church that's full of sin. God will wipe us away if a little bit of Egypt ever creeps in unaware. But let us be completely trusting in God. Because when you have insufficiencies, you could completely and totally rely upon God to do the work. It's not in our skill. It's not about how good we can sing. It's not about how good we can play, but it's all about how good God is. Oh Lord, it's all about how good God is. If we are relying on our own self, >> we're nothing better than half Egyptian and half Hebrew. A side that knows the truth, but a side that enjoys to do wrong. In us, there is two sides, an Egyptian side and a Hebrew side. In the very beginning of creation, God makes us with two ingredients. The Bible says that we're made up with a little bit of the dust of the earth and we're made up of God breathing the breath of life into us. two ingredients. A little bit of the worldly and a little bit of the heavenly. Little bit of the ground that God made us with and a little bit of heaven. And through our struggle, we get to decide which ingredient will rule our life. We can allow the worldly side to rule us, rule our thoughts, or we can allow the heavenly side. And I feel the Lord right now. We can allow the heavenly side to rule every single thing, but there is nothing more odd than a church that is half Egyptian and half Hebrew. I've come to tell us tonight that we are nothing without the presence of the almighty God. If our if our God does not move in our services, all we are is a gathering of a group of people. But if God will move on a Sunday night at First Apostolic Church, we become the church. But God will not move if we have a little Egypt in our heart. God will not move if we have a little bit of Egypt in our priorities. That we'd rather be somebody else. No, no, no. Make me a Hebrew God. Make me a Hebrew people that is a little odd, but we have God working on our behalf. There's nothing weirder weirder more weird, excuse me, than someone who's half Egyptian and half Hebrew. I don't want to I won't tell you the show cuz we're webcasting, but a bunch of men who make duck calls. Lord, help me through this. But there's just there's one. I won't tell you who it is. She lives between here and Vietnam. She's the weirdest one out of all of them. All right. You know, there's something different about her. She's the weirdest one out of all of them. What What is it? What's the difference between her and everybody else? She's a backsliding apostolic. She's got a little bit too much Hebrew in her to be a normal Egyptian, >> but she's got a little bit too much Egypt to be a Hebrew. >> And that's that's where we find ourselves tonight. There's nothing more weird. You don't you're too you're you're you're you're too odd to fit in the church. But if you're a Hebrew in the world, you're too odd to fit in the the world as well. You never fit in. And I really got you treated right now. If you're here right now, there's a little bit of Hebrew in you. I've come to tell you, you're not going to fit in out there. you're not going to fit in with the world, the worldly ways and the worldly desires. Why? Because there's a little bit inside of you tonight that you know that God is in your heart and and you can't enjoy yourself out there through the pleasures of sin. But when you be when you become a half Egyptian and a half Hebrew, all it takes is a decision that I'm going to live for God. No matter what comes, I'm going to live for God. Why? Because I know deep down inside of me, I I know there's a little bit of Hebrew inside my heart. Half Egyptians make terrible Hebrews and half Hebrews make weird Egyptians. It's just how it how it works. And and we see Moses grows up the same way. We we see Moses grows up with the best that Egypt has to offer. But deep down inside that the struggle's very real. He knows that there's something there's something about him. His he talks like an Egyptian, but his DNA is a Hebrew. And we see in this this Exodus chapter 2 verse number 11 that it come to pass in those days when Moses was grown that he went out to his brethren and looked on their burdens and he smied he spied an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew, one of his brethren. The first thing that Moses had to answer was, "Who is my brother?" Because if you're Moses, you got to struggle. Both of these guys are your brothers. You've been raised as an Egyptian, but deep down inside, you know your bloodlines with the Hebrews. The first thing we've got to do is decide whose side we're going to be on. And I've come on this Sunday night to make a an obvious, bold declaration. The church on its worst day is better than Egypt on its best day. I choose to be identified with the people of God and the ways of God. The world is not my brother. That's an odd group of people. But the church is who I've got to be identified with. I want to tell somebody tonight that the first step to you getting help and the first step to you getting victory is to identify yourself. That this is my church. This is my doctrine. This is my way. >> Who is >> who is my brother? If you're Moses, it's it's both. Do I go with the odd Hebrews, or do I go with what seems right, the Egyptians, that odd group of people, those odd Hebrews, or or those odd apostolics who dress funny. It's odd. Apostolic. It's 115 degrees in a CrossFit gym and got britches on. It's pretty odd. An odd people who covers themselves to be holy. An odd group of people who knows their identity. But it's all about who? Odd to who? Odd to people who don't be holy or don't dress holy. odd to people who don't know their identity. I'm gonna identify myself with the people of God and the ways of God. Can I get an amen in the house? When I identify myself with with with whose God's on their side, it came to pass Moses was grown. He looked on their burdens, saw an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew, one of his brethren. We see that there was a decision here. My brother is the Hebrew. I identify myself with the Hebrew, not what I've been in the last 36 to 37 years. I identify myself with what I saw, what I felt as a child. I identify myself with the Hebrews. But Moses on that day looks out the window and sees an Egyptian smiting a Hebrew beating beating down. And he felt he felt something in his heart. And with his eyes, he sees what his heart has felt all his life. If you think about this for just a moment, when when Moses looked out the window, Brother Mike, when he looked out the window, he saw with his eyes what had been the struggle in his heart. He had he he saw the Egyptian smiting the Hebrew. He saw two sides. And really, if you're Moses, you got to stop just a second because you're seeing what you're with your eyes, the struggle that is in your heart. You see that an Egyptian is smiting a Hebrew. He sees on the outside what he has felt on the inside his whole life. And he makes a decision. You got to kill the Egyptian. You got to kill the Egyptian. Because we know when there is half Egyptian and half Hebrew, the Hebrew will never survive. When there's a little bit of Egypt in our heart, the spiritual side of our lives will never survive. I like how it doesn't say they were fighting. It says that the e the Egyptian was smiting down the Hebrew. And I want to preach to someone tonight. If we leave a little bit of Egypt in our heart, it doesn't matter how small or how great it is. If we leave a leave a little bit of Egypt in our heart, the Hebrew side of us or the spiritual walk with God inside of us will always be smitten, will always be destroyed, will always be oppressed because there's a little bit of Egypt in my heart. But I've come to make a decision on this Sunday night. I don't want the Egypt part of my life to be alive. I don't want the Egypt part of my life to be growing and to be thriving. I would rather be here tonight worshiping an almighty God, feeding the spiritual side of my life than feeding the worldly desires, feeding the Egyptian. But Moses looks and he sees with his eyes what his heart has spelt his entire life. Come to ask somebody a question, who are you going to let live? the Egyptian side or the Hebrew side because both cannot live together at the same time. You can't have two masters. You can't have a little bit of Hebrew and a little bit of Egyptian in your heart. It cannot work. If the Egyptian side will be alive, it will continue to beat the Hebrew the spiritual walk that the the the want to and the will to live righteously before the Lord. Hebrews 11 and23 says by faith Moses when he was born was hid three months of his parents because they saw he was a proper child and they were not afraid of the king's commandment but by faith when he was come when went by faith Moses when he was come to years refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter we see that this this term come to years means maturity and this scripture even a can uh It kind of suggests that there was a time in Moses's life that he wasn't mature. He may have liked to been called the the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Who wouldn't want to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter? The best the world has to offer is your at your fingertips. But then we see of a day he chose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. I've come to tell somebody, the Egyptian side is only pleasurable for a season. But if you want to have a lifetime of happiness, you need to get inside the church. If you want to have a lifetime full of joy, it's only on the side of the Hebrews. Because just a few years from now, we're going to be going across the Red Sea. And what used to plague us, and what used to fight us is now drowned in the Red Sea. I've come to tell somebody tonight, when you are spiritually mature, you're going to choose the Hebrew side. You're going to choose prayer in the morning. You're going to choose Bible reading in the morning. You're going to choose Wednesday night midweek Bible study. Why? I've got to feed what's going to give me peace. I've got to feed what's going to give me joy. You will only there you will only go for that pleasure of sin for a season. But if you want a lifetime of pleasure and a lifetime, an eternity of pleasure, you got to choose the Hebrew side to your life. Let's go deeper in this with this concept. We could see that Moses looks out the window and and sees the Egyptian fighting the Hebrew. And what you see and how you see how you see something, the way in which it's portrayed, let me put it like this. What you see or how you see something will always be reflected by what's in your heart. You could put two groups of people, put them in the same situation, and one could come out with a negative report and another could come out with a positive report. How did this happen? Same people, same situation, same issue, but different outcomes. Why? It's because there's something in your heart that affects how you see and what you see and how you pro what did that person really mean? Well, it's all about what's in your heart. If you if you've got self if you've got self uh competence issues, you'll always see people in a different way of how they they said that I was looking good. I looks like you've lost some weight. Well, that might be a compliment to some, but then some stand and they you're saying I used to be fat. That's how it works. Why? There's something in my heart that I feel some way about myself. And and matter of fact there and I hope I can say this word without spitting everywhere but uh American Academy of Opthomeology I didn't do a good job. American Academy of Opthalmology April 27th 2022 a new study finds that people with heart disease tend to have retinas marked by evidence of eye stroke. Okay. The title of this article is early signs of heart disease appears in the eyes. Early signs of something that is wrong with our physical hearts will then go to our eyes, our physical eyes. And boy oh boy, you better believe it's the same way spiritually. That the first way we know there's something wrong with our heart is we begin to view people differently. We begin to view situations differently. Or maybe I've got something in my heart against the preacher. I begin to see his words a little bit different. I begin to see as my some people's feeling conviction, but then I'm just feeling like he's playing rude. Why? In the same group, in the same church, in the same pew, we have two different reactions. Why? It's a heart issue. >> It's a heart issue how we see. And Proverbs 4:23 tells us this is the truth. Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life. Keep thy heart with all diligence. You have one job. Keep your heart pure. You have one responsibility is to keep your your heart pure. My mama used to tell me this way. You better just worry about yourself because it's a full-time job. >> You don't have time for any other jobs. You don't have time to worry about anybody else. I've got one responsibility and that is to keep this heart pure. Because if I let anything inside this heart, I begin to see people diff people differently. I begin to see things I go through differently. All the while it is a heart issue. Keep thy heart because for out of it are the issues of life. You cannot hide what's in your heart. We have to guard our hearts because it will affect how we view everything. Job 3, there's a couple little stories I'm going to run through to show you the inward what inward what they thought and the outward result. Job 3 and 25. For the thing which I greatly feared, that's inward is come upon me and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet. Yet trouble came. What he feared was inward and trouble came which is what he got outwardly. What he thought in his heart is what he saw with his eyes. He feared that trouble would come and that's exactly what he got on the outside. As much as a negative thing, this could be a positive thing. In Matthew 9 and 29, it says, "Then touch ye their eyes, saying, according to your faith, be it unto you." And their eyes were open. And Jesus straightly charged them, saying, "See that no man know it." Their faith was inward, but outward their eyes were open. Come to tell us what's in our heart, we're going to see with our eyes. What's in our heart, what we think about things. I feel a scripture coming to mind. As a man thinkketh in his heart, so is he. I've come to tell every father, every mother, every son, every daughter. I don't care who you are. You got to guard your heart. What is being put in your heart? What are you listening to that's affecting your heart? Who are you allowed to to speak into your heart? Because who speaks into your heart will affect how you see things. Are you listening to someone that's talking negative about the preacher? Because if so, you're going to see his message is a totally different way. We have got to guard our heart. >> We've got to guard it. Matthew 5 or Mark 5 and34, he said unto her, "Daughter, thy faith has made thee whole. Go in peace and behold of thy plague. Inward was faith and outward she was made she was made whole. Joshua 1 and8 the book of law book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth but thou shalt meditate therein day and night that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein. For then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. People want the outward of prospering and having good success. But true success and true prospering only comes through meditating on God's word. If you meditate on God's inward, the Bible says that prospering and good success is what you are going to see. Something inward comes outward. Mentioned it a moment ago. Somebody can hear the same sermon and in your heart you're thinking about everything else. You don't see the message the same way somebody else sees it. You're thinking all the things you shouldn't think. How much longer can he go? Can he just be like Pastor Ericson this morning? Just preach a little shorter and the and God will move. We saw that this morning. Can you not just get the hint, Bubba? or how much louder can you be? How much more can you spit all over your dad's pull pit and all over the altar you expect people to kneel at in about 45 minutes or so? Some of you might be thinking, "When in the world's pastor coming back, that's you. You won't get anything out of this message." >> All right? Because it's a hard issue. >> It's a hard issue. But somewhere there's 99.999. Round up. 99 Let's finish that statement. 99.9999% of you are thinking, "If I can get the right thing in my heart, I'm going to see it with my eyes. If I can get the word in my heart, if I can meditate on the word, I know that victory is coming." That's what the word says. Prospering is. If I can worry about this heart, I'm going to see the joy that's on the way. If I can worry about what's in this heart, I could see that success and and prospering and blessings are coming. Do I have anybody that wants to have a prosperous year? Do I have anybody on the sound of my voice that you want joy to come in your life? You want peace in your family again? You want joy to come? If so, there's a heart that has to be focused on God's word. That's why I have a huge problem with people who cannot praise and worship God during church. It's not just somebody up here trying to get you to lift your hands. It's not just somebody up here trying to cheerlead you to, hey, let's let's make some noise. Hey, let's make some noise. And and and you you you're thinking in your heart, man, just leave me alone. Go look at somebody else and and get them to worship. No, it's it's much bigger than just a Sunday night that I chose not to praise and worship God because it's a heart issue. If you're not a praise and worshipper and you don't like to express that outwardly, there's a problem because it's truly a a heart issue. It's not a praise and a worship issue. It's something much deeper. It's not just a Sunday night we're going to take off. We It's It's It's I just don't have it in myself to to give something I feel like God deserves. When somebody doesn't praise and worship God and I I don't want to look anybody, I may just preach to the back wall so somebody thinks I'm making eye contact with them. I'm not preaching. I'm not pointing anybody out tonight. I didn't see I'm not thinking of somebody in my mind that didn't worship when the best choir in all the world was singing. I I wasn't thinking of any family in particular when when people begin to jump and people begin to run. So, I'm just going to preach this LED screen back here. If you can't worship God, there's something wrong with you. If you can't praise God, there's something wrong with your heart because you really don't think that God are you just a self-made man that you think every blessing was from your own works. No, no, no. I've got it in my heart that if it had not been for the Lord that was on my side, I'd be lost. I'd be plum crazy. I'd be plum out of my mind. But I know in my heart that God deserves something. God deserves some praise. God deserves some worship. If you can't worship, there's something in your heart living. And that's an Egypt that's going to rob you of joy. That's an Egyptian that's going to rob you of peace. But I've got to give God something from my heart. >> If you can't praise God, you don't think that his mercyy's good. >> If you don't think that God deserves a little bit of something, >> do you not think God's been good to you? >> What else does he have to do for you to get you to do something for him? Does he have to come again and die for you? Does he have to come again and resurrect for you just to get up off your feet and begin to worship God? And I'm not single anybody out, but if you haven't worshiped God through this whole service, I tell you like my mama told me, there's something wrong. And the who is you. The who is what you got in your heart that you'd rather be a million places other than the house of God. When I come to the house of God, I've got to have my heart right. That he deserves something. That he deserves a little bit of my noise. He deserves a little bit of clapping my hands. He deserves a little bit of lifting my voice. Oh yeah. Oh yeah. Sister Slack. What she got in her heart? She's got a joy of the Lord in her heart. She knows if it had not been for the Lord, the Slack family wouldn't have made it. But I look at three children that love God. I look at a husband that loves God. Oh yes. Oh boy. I just come to ask somebody a question. Has God not been good to you that you could give him a little bit of praise and worship tonight? Or is Egypt too far in our hearts? Do we think the church has gotten too big and the church has gotten too popular? Do too many people watch our webcast that we think that we can't give God some worship? That we can't thank. It's a heart problem. It's a heart problem. Five years ago. Five years ago, you may be seated. Five years ago, I was with Mike Fuller, playing a few rounds of golf during CO. We kept the six feet, social distancing, blah blah blah. But we had a good old time, man. It was great. Nobody was out there. Me and old Mike, I affectionately call him money maker Mike. And that's swag he walks with. We're walking up and down the fairways at Green Meadows. Matter of fact, I think it's a month before we're getting married. plan and uh and uh come to hole eight green meadows little par three it's beautiful sun set in brother Isaac just wonderful time thinking about the Lord you know that's what we were doing that's what that's what we do I had pitching wedge 135 yards slight breeze right to left downhill playing about 132 brother Brad Odman hit a pitching wedge little saw off finish club twirl. Wonderful. Some of y'all make it fun. It's really how it happened. I remember it. Why? Cuz it's in my heart. It's in my heart. Well, Mike, I remember. I hope you remember, too. Cuz it happened. Thing never left the flag. I mean, it was like God was painting a picture. It hits the green and disappears. I looked. I said, "Boy, Mike." Said, "Money maker, do you see that?" He said, "Oh, yeah, man. Down on the green. I see the ball right there." Like, "No." I said, "Mike, that thing went in the hole." He said, "Let's run. Go check." So, I'm running. I'm running. I'm going down the getting down there. And lo and behold, that thing is I see it. It's in the cup holding one. I screamed. Woo. >> Walked around this with my chest flexed. Walked around this. Everybody's looking PGA Tour. I I'm I'm waving the grand stands. I'm waving to everybody. Them people on hall number nine of Green Meadows think there's a crazy man in britches when it's 97° and 150% humidity outside. There's two men over there acting like fools on a green because some ball went in a hole on 135 yard par three. And I just can't help but think that I'm a little crazy if I can make a hole in one and scream and jump and act like a crazy fool. But I can't come to God. That God had one chance on me. And if it had not been for the Lord that was on my side, I don't know where I would be. And I've come to tell us what God deserves something from us. God deserves some worship. God deserves some praise. Because if you cannot praise God, something is wrong with your heart. It's not just one Sunday night. It's a heart issue that will plague you your whole entire life. Are your motives not right? Are your priorities not right? Because God deserves something. I feel the Holy Ghost in this place right now. Whatever you have in your heart for God, come on. Could you give it to him right now? Whatever you think about him, whatever you meditate about God, would you give him on the outside? what you feel on the inside. Come on. Could your outward expression be just a little window inside of your heart? The wonder of the Bible says out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. If you can't lift your voice for God, something's wrong with your heart. Something's wrong with your heart. If you can't praise God, if you can't worship an almighty God, it's a bigger issue. There's too much Egypt in your life. I feel the Holy Ghost right now. Come on. Some of you are want a miracle. Some of you are want a miracle in your life and inwardly you got to express your faith. Your faith has got to be made outward. It's got to manifest itself on the outside. Come on. On the outside. On the outside tells me what's going on on the inside. Come on. On the outside tells me what's going on on the inside. Come on. What do you think about God in your heart? What do you think about him in your heart? You need to give him some a little worship on the outside. Oh yeah. Come on. I feel it right now. I feel it stirring right now. Come on. If you need something from God right now, if it's in your heart, it needs to be made outward. It needs to be made known right now. Come on. Everything else gets your attention. Everything else gets your efforts, gets your energy, but it's where our heart is. It's where our treasures are. Come on. That's it. Lift your voice for just a moment. I feel the Lord in this place right now. Come on. It's a heart issue. Come on. Shake yourself. There's a little bit too much of Egypt inside of you, Moses. You got to be You got to be identified with the people of God. Come on. One day we're going to be through the Red Sea. We're going to see what's been fighting you and what's been plaguing you drowned in the Red Sea. No wonder when they got on the other side of the Red Sea, somebody broke out a tambourine and begin to worship God. Begin to magnify God. Come on. Some of you are want to deliverance. You got to show God what's inside your heart. Come on. How when's the last time you worshiped him? When's the last time you left the Egyptian out the pew and you let the Hebrew stir up something? Has God not been good to you? Oh, I'm just so grateful for you, Lord. Hallelujah. Come on. of two grown men can act a fool on a green and green meadows. What can save sanctified people do in this house? Oh God, I'm nothing without you. Oh, I want my outward expression to tell you what I feel in my heart. God, nothing else matters but my worship to you. Come on, fathers. What is your parent? What is your sons and daughters? Think about what you have on the outside right now. Come on. Does your efforts and your energy get spit everybody everywhere else other than the house of God and your worship to God. Come on. Just a just a moment or two longer. >> Come on. That's it. Come on. If you need something in your life right now, we can fast forward through this message, but if you need something in your life right now, what's on the inside has got to be made known on the outside. Come on. What you think about God being a healer on the inside, it doesn't matter what's on the inside. If it doesn't work its way out, it starts in your heart. It comes out of your mouth. It starts in your heart and comes out of your eyes. It comes through your hands. If I don't clap my hands, I don't have some in my heart. It's a hard issue. It's a hard issue. If you can't praise God, it's a hard issue. It's a hard issue. Come on, one more time. Let's lift our hands. Let's ask God to direct this service right now. Come on, Dad. What? Mama, what's in your heart? Come on. Some of you are seeing conflict in your eyes. And the only way you get what's in your heart out of your heart is you got to deal what's in front of your eyes. You got to kill the Egyptian. You got to make a decision. And I know them apostolics, they might be crazy. They might not be popular, but I'm going to be identified with the people of God. I'm going to identify myself with the ways of God. I know I could go with the flow of the Egyptians. I know I could go with the culture of the Egyptians, but one day the Egyptians are going to be dead in the judgment. I've got to identify myself with the ways of God. I tell you if you would everybody just put your hands over your heart for just a moment. Come on. I said it's a strug the struggle's real. It's in every single one of us tonight. Come on. It's God-given. There's a Hebrew side to you and there's an Egyptian side to you. Come on. As a preacher tonight, I'm going to pray for my heart to be pure. I don't want anything in my heart. God, if I've got anything in my heart towards somebody, God, if I've got anything in my heart, God, about somebody in the church or God, a situation, God, that I God, you've been convicting me about, God, don't let it change how I view something, God. Even though I am in it, doesn't mean it has to be in me. Just because I'm in a situation doesn't mean the consequence or the bitterness of the situation has to be in me. Oh Jesus. Oh God, I believe you're preparing our hearts for the word that's about to come forth. God, God, I believe you're softening our hearts for the word that's about to come forth, God. Come on, just a moment longer. I'm going to ask you to soften up your heart for just a second. I believe the Lord is going about to move in a a stronger way here in just a moment. Can we prepare our hearts Jesus? Thank you, Lord. Hebrews Hebrews 12 Hebrews 12:15 says looking diligently lest any man fell of the grace Pastor Ericson of God lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you and thereby many everybody say many >> be defiled inward It's one route outward. It's many being defiled. I feel the Lord just a moment ago and I felt it in the prayer room. I felt it just a moment ago confirm his word in my heart. We have praised. We had worship God through the choir. We praise and worship God through through the altar. We praise and worship God have our pew. The reason that God allows us to do that, it softens our heart. I was reading about David and I believe God brought me some something back in my memory. But one rooe of bitterness thereby many being defiled. If I can go through with it without it getting in my heart, God will bring something out of my heart. Let me let me let me try to explain this for a moment. Just because I'm in a situation doesn't mean that something gets in my heart. Just because I go through bitter people doesn't mean or or or or people who hurt me does not mean I have to get it inside of me. Just because I'm in it doesn't mean it has to be in me. >> Just because you go through parents that hurt you and and and and and people who walk out on you does not mean it has to be in your heart. one root of bitterness, many being defiled. David is chased by Saul, hunted by Saul. He avoided spears being thrown by Saul. And now he has the opportunity to kill what's trying to kill him. End what's trying to end him. David's men are saying, "Hey, David, you this is the perfect opportunity, David. Just go ahead and kill what's trying to kill you. Just go ahead and end what's trying to end you." And and we see that through this story that David and his problem finds themselves both in a cave. And the Bible says that David went for a cla and cut off a piece of Saul's skirt. And the Bible says, "Came to pass afterwards that David's heart smoked him because he had cut off Saul's skirt." I believe the Lord reminded me of a word for somebody here tonight. If David were to kill Saul, it would make him no different than Saul. If David were to kill what was trying to kill him, it would make him the same as Saul. And I feel this word for somebody tonight. That the reason that God allowed David to go through Saul was to simply get the Saul out of David. The reason that God allowed him to go through a man who was jealous, a man who out of rebellion, a man, a man who was wanted war against people, he of God's anointed was was the reason was God was trying to get Saul out of him. That's the reason God has allowed us to see certain things. And if we could go through it without it getting in us, God will bring that thing out of our hearts. And I hope that makes sense to someone tonight that the reason God's allowed you to go through seasons. The reason God has allowed you to go through people is not for a root of bitterness to spring up in you. But God's trying to pull something out of you. God's trying to pull jealousy out of you. God's trying to pull hurt out of you if you'll allow him with a softened heart tonight. God's trying to pull some hurt out of your life if you don't get bitter. God's trying to pull some things out of your life. But somehow we affect it affects what we see. We've allowed it to affect how we view people. It's all we can talk about. It's it's the thread through every conversation, the thread through every conflict with marriages and parenting. All goes back to that one thing. It all goes back to that root of bitterness. And I've seen bitterness work in a lot of ways. I remember I feel like my whole life we've been through the eternal building program. Eternal. Everybody say eternal. >> Eternal. >> Eternal. started with this latest thing is the movement training center. Before that this building and before that we used to live with pastor and sister Ericson. Hammonds used to live with us. I used to live as a married man with pastor and sister Ericson. I remember I remember Pastor Ericson used to pay me a dollar to go out in the mulch beds and pick weeds out in the mulch beds. One of the many times we lived with them, they lived with us, whatever. Pass church and pay me a dollar. Now, somehow them weeds had a good way of breaking in two. I could take one weed and make like five bucks because it looked like five weeds in the trash bag. All right, confess my faults right now to Pastor Ericson. Pay me $5. But somehow begin to pick up weeds. for Jeter. As I begin to pick up the fruit, the top of that weed, thing would wind up over here in the grass. I see another weed. Pick up that weed. That thing would tangled up through this beautiful flower. As I begin to pick up the fruit, the root of it was way, way, way, way over there. I believe the Lord just gives us a simple illustration tonight that there's some conflict that you're going through right now. If we really picked up the fruit of the conflict, it would weave its way back to when you were a child. >> It would weave its way back to when you were hurt on your worst day of your life. You've got marital issues right now that you just can't seem to get along and you don't know why that you keep acting like a jerk of a husband. But if we really pull those issues out in the office, we'd go all the way back to when you were rejected and when you were neglected. I've come to tell somebody tonight, you're going to be the exact same way if you don't get that out of your heart. What plagued you and what haunted you if you don't let that get out of your heart, you're going to be the exact same way. It's affect how you see. It's affected how you parent. It's affected how you've been a mate. But if we go back to it all, God put you through that to get that out of you. God put you through that person to get that person out of your heart. God put David through Saul to get the very thing Saul represented out of David's heart. No jealousy, no resentment to somebody who's maybe better than me or more popular than me or or or more anointed with me. Then we flip the page. We flip the page and then we go to David and Nabal. Nabal, his very name means fool. And God allows David to go through a a fool because we see that David and I don't have time to get into the story, but we know that David protected some of his men or David protected some of Nabal's things and and David wanted payment rightfully so. So he sent 10 men to go get payment from Nabal. And Nabal the fool begins to say, "Who is David?" Brother Clayron, who who is who is who's Jesse? I don't even know his daddy. Hey, what do you mean? I'm going to give him something. That enraged David. David said, "Man, 400 men. Let's gird our swords up." He said, "Boys, it's time to rock and roll. It we're going to hit that man. He's not going to know what's coming. It's like America going to Venezuela. They ain't going to know what hit them. They're not going to know what hit him." But then Abigail comes and says, "David, have mercy. David, if you go in there and rage and knock over Nabal, you're no better fool than he is. You're no better of a fool than that man is over there. My husband a fool. I've come to I was praying about this today and God allowed David to go through a fool to get the fool out of David. I've come to tell somebody tonight with our hearts softened up that the reason God allowed you to go through those things was to get that out of you. to get that out of your heart, to get that out of your spirit, not affect the way you see things or the way you see teachers or the way you see a principal or the way you see a preacher or a pastor or a Sunday school teacher. The reason God allowed you to go through that was to get that hurt out of you, to get that rebellion out of you, to get that jealousy out of you. Everybody's hands raised all across this house. I feel like the Lord's about to minister to somebody. Come on. You've been wondering why your whole life God allowed you to go through that. God allowed you to go through that thing. God allowed you to go through that jealous person. God allowed you to go through that mate that didn't treat you right. God allowed you to go through that thing, that son that God allowed you to go through that father that was was mentally abusing you. God allowed you to go through that person, come on, that treated you unfairly. Was it unfair? Yes. But don't let it get in your spirit. Don't let it affect your heart. Don't let it affect your dedication to God. Come on, let's lift our voices right now after the Lord's about to minister. Come on, musicians, would you come? Singers, would you come? Whatever you have to sing, God's about to do a work in somebody's life. The reason God allowed David to go through Saul was to get the soul out of David. To get the rebellion out of him, to get the jealousy out of him, and the reason God allowed you to go through it was to get pride out of your heart. Come on. Would you lift your voices with me right now? Come on. I feel the Lord is going to minister to me. This might not be for everybody. This, but this is for something. God allowed you to go through something, but that something got in you. That bitterness got in you. You got to pluck it up. Your your your the rest of your life will be joy. It's affected everything. One root has affected your marriage. One root has affected your worship. One root has affected your dedication. You got to pluck it up. Come on. Pluck it up. I know it it goes back to the worst moments of your life. It goes back to when you were wrong. That it was it goes back to when you mentally didn't know what was going on, but you got to visit those moments. You got to visit those moments. Come on. As they begin to sing, I believe God's going to bring some healing right now. Come on, singers, begin to sing right now. God's going to bring the healing to someone's life. God's going to bring healing to someone's heart. Come on. That's it. That's the reason God allowed you to go through it. Let's find somebody right now. Would you link arms with him for just a moment? >> Come on, let's link arms with somebody right now. God's in this place. >> Come on. God's in this place. >> Come on. That's it. >> That's it. Find healing right now. >> God, find healing right now. Come on. The reason he allowed you to go through that mate was to get those things out of you. >> To get soul out of you. Get that Egyptian out of you. Get that lack of consecration out of you. God. Come on. You don't have to be the way your daddy was. You don't have to be the way your mama was. You don't have to be the way that person treated you unfairly. No. God, remove those things. God, remove that hurt from your life. God, remove that jealousy. God, re remove that abuse. Oh, I thank you today. Come on. And once we pick the rooe up, worship is on the way. Once we leave Egypt, worship is on the way. Come on. We're across the Red Sea. Come on. We have victory. We have deliverance. Come on. That Egypt is no longer in us. That Egyptian is no longer in us. Come on. We're a Hebrew. Come on, let's sing for just a moment. You took me by. You watch me out into Yeah. Heat. Come on. If you believe he's fighting for you now, would you lift your hands all across this room? Come on. Allow God to pull some things out of you. Come on. Allow God to pull that abuse out of you. Come on. You've been wondering why you're struggling with anger issues. Come on. God allows you to go through that to pull that anger out of your heart. Come on. Pull that neglect out of your heart. Heat. Heat. Come on. Can we lift our hands? Lift our voices all across this place tonight. Come on. I believe the Lord has ministered to a few tonight. Come on. The Lord has ministered to those God that you've wondered why you've gone through those seasons. That's to simply get those seasons out of you. God allowed you to go through those moments of your life where you've questioned him to get those questions out of you. Come on. To get those characteristics, Saul, out of you, David. Get that jealousy out of your heart. Get that resentment. Get that neglect out of your heart. I know you were neglected, but it's to get that neglect out of your heart. You won't treat somebody that way as long as it's not in your heart. Oh, I feel you, Lord, in this house. I feel you in this place tonight, Jesus. Come on. Can we clap our hands unto the Lord this evening? Oh, I thank you today. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you so much for coming to God's house tonight. Just because you're in it doesn't mean it has to be in you. Let God pull those things. God, pull those things out of your heart. Greet someone in the name of Jesus tonight. Thank you so much for worshiping. Thank you for coming to the house of the Lord. You're dismissed in Jesus name.