Finished
by Raymond Sloan
December 26, 2021 · Cornerstone Apostolic Church (Chattanooga, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Hebrews 13:8, 2 Corinthians 4:7-10, James 1:17, 2 Corinthians 11:22-31, 2 Timothy 4:7-8

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

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pray with me church would you lord we have gathered in this place today to love you and to worship you and to hear from you we have lifted our voices today unto you god we have lifted our hands our praise unto you we have wept in your presence today lord you have moved dear god you have heard our petitions and our hearts cry but right now lord jesus in this moment we need the word of god to help but lead us and change us i make myself available one more time to you jesus please take holds from the altar touch these lips of clay in the name of jesus honor us today lord with your word let it take root within us god let it do its work that only the word can do we will trust you lord forever we will bless your name we'll honor you jesus and in everything we'll give you thanks hallelujah to your name come on church would you love him before you sit down i love you lord and i thank you thank you thank you i believe in you lord and i trust in you today thy kingdom come forth thy will be done today in this house in jesus name and let the church say amen that the church says let it be amen thank you so much for being in the house of the lord again to our guest we welcome you we're so glad you're here today amen it's good to see dr rose back there oh would you stop she's home for just a bit twix and tween the best for her thank you brother duran thank you singers musicians thank you to everyone who helps today with the service be back midweek and then over the weekend you may be seated if you feel like you need to give honor to all of you for being here today as we come together today to worship i am reminded one more time the incredible and wonderful blessings a child of god huh thankful for the great goodness and blessings and the miraculous power of god everybody in this room we've had quite a interesting past 12 months have we not yeah yeah we've all got stuff experiences over the last little bit that kind of uh helped us to be who we are today some of us have endured sickness some of us have gone nigh to death's door at least i felt like it and i let everybody know i was there some have lost jobs some have gotten better jobs there are some here who've seen firsthand the effect of loss of a loved one and it's broken your heart there's some who know others that have died because of illness and sickness and you didn't understand it yet you still come to the house of the lord and you still love god some of you here have seen some of the greatest and most incredible promises of god unfold in your life over these past 52 weeks and it has blown your mind welcome to the last sunday of 2021. another year come another year we'll be over in just a few short days and my year this year is going to end on an interesting note and if you know my family somebody do this thank you lauren every one of us has undoubtedly reached a point of life and great expectations unfold within us the possibilities of a future because of the possibilities that we came through with our past not one of us really wants to redo 2020 2021 right there those are in the history books thank you a man schools close workplaces close prices of inflation increasing on and on companies businesses uh they're built on stilts and they're teetering about the fall possibly some graining strength uncertainties unknowns on and on and on we could go i know that there's a lot of things that you look at when the uncertainties of a year turmoil and all the obstacles come to the place where the year is soon to end this sunday this this last sunday if you will 2021 allow me if you will for just a moment to remind all of us of a few things that are worth remembering hebrews 13 8 jesus christ the same yesterday and today and forever huh second corinthians 4 7 but we have this treasure in earth and vessels that the excellency of the power may be of god and not of us we are troubled on every side yet not distressed we're perplexed but not in despair persecuted but not forsaken cast down but not destroyed always bearing about in the body the dying of the lord jesus that the life also of jesus might be made manifest in our body listen god has not left you alone come on i've come to tell somebody it's worth remembering some things at the end of this year james said it in 117 every good gift and every perfect gift is from above cometh down from the father of light with whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning listen the good stuff that you go through comes from the hand of your holy god somebody ought to be glad today god's on your side somebody ought to be thankful today that the power of god is still working in your life these are just a few examples i wanted to remind us with of the sustaining presence of jesus in our lives every day he's the same no matter what somebody glad to hear that troubled perplexed persecuted cast down presenting the powers across our lives our stress every day yet through all of this we are still his children everything that comes comes by his hand therefore we will trust the one who holds our hand a reminder for all of us today to hold fast for what we know to be the facts listen to it don't go to the things that you're not sure of stay away from the untruth and the lies of the enemy run away from them do not do a turnabout on the road and decide now is a time to change my way and go follow something else no friend jesus christ is the same truth many times is questioned have you ever wondered truth many times comes to us and we've got to decide is it real or is it not but the fact of the matter is this it doesn't matter what has happened so much of our lives is dependent on the things of this world but listen we are not dependent on this world your job your finances the education you have the food on your table the clothes on your back i got to tell somebody as good as you look today angels did not make that dress what would you brand it anyway sorry a sidetrack there come on the hand of god is working in our lives even though we are in this present world every year every year i am drawn to this reminder of the previous years it's that that year in moment does anybody else have this or is it just simply me it's a reflection sister renee i look back and i the lord did i was i able to do anything that i wanted to do this year oh i know i failed with the diet but lord i tried january 1st is so hard though you know i'm saying you got to i mean you got to get past that dave somebody's going oh yes huh i consider the possibilities what could have been i look back at the last 300 plus days and i said lord what did i what was i able to do did i would have shoulda coulda have i have i this have i that what is happening what is not and everything that i look back at i am reminded every step of the way god has proven himself to be god through covet and through through jobs and through financial difficulties through inflation through tragedy through through triumph through all of the things of life i know that god has always been god earlier this week i was reminded of of our great friend and and apostle paul that you read about in the bible anybody ever heard the name yeah his life was ups and downs agreed his trials man this dude went through them i guess i need to remind us his second letter to the corinthians in chapter 11 22 says this they are hebrews so am i are they israelites so am i are they the seed of abraham so am i are they the ministers of christ i speak not as a fool i'm more listen and labor's more abundant you hear this in stripes above measure in prisons more frequent in deaths oft of the jews five times received by forty stripes save one thrice i was beaten with rods once i was stoned thrice i suffered shipwreck a day and a night i have been in the deep in journeyings often in perils of waters in perils of robbers in perils by mine own countrymen in perils by the heathen in perils in the city in perils in the wilderness my my in perils in the sea in perils among false brethren in weariness painfulness watchings often hunger thirst fastings often cold nakedness beside those things that are without that which cometh upon me daily the care of the churches who is weak and then i'm not weak who is offended and i burn not if i must needs glory i will glory of the things which concern mine infirmities the god and father of our lord jesus christ which is blessed forevermore knoweth that i lie not listen to this paul notices in his memory as he recorded it to the corinthians he said i see in my past i look back into what happened before i was challenged yes i was in my working in my labor and the stripes that were placed upon my back and the prisons that i went through the deaths that were often thrown at me five times 39 stripes were given to me three times i was beaten with rods i was once stoned three times i was shipwrecked i spent over a day and a night in the deep of the water i journeyed much i had perils and water i was being robbed by friends by enemy perils in the country in the city i'm watering on the land i was weary i was in pain i had sleepless nights i was in pain again i had hunger and thirst i was in pain again i was fastings i was cold i was naked and with all of that stuff the church responsibilities were on me but here's what paul said all of this stuff i have endured because i realize that in my past it has made me who i am today come on we're on the last sunday of 2021 and i simply mentioned the account of paul for this one thing these last 12 months i don't know what you've gone through i don't know the journey that you have taken the challenges the difficulties the questions that you faced but one thing i do know is this when i look back at the life of paul he mentioned in his whole life the things he'd been through but i got a feeling that he took inventory often to recognize not everything is going to be bed of roses not everything's going to be a positive good time that makes me happy and gives me goosebumps there's going to be things i wish somebody to hear the preacher on this last sunday there's going to be times of challenge and difficulty there will be times of obstacles and tripping and falling on your face but in every situation in all of those circumstances there's a god that loves you he shed his blood on a cross for you he knows your risings and you're lying down he knows what gets you up and what puts you to bed if you can ever trust anything of 2021 you need to recognize my god is still god he'll not stop being god he was god before i got here and he'll be god when i'm gone maybe you've not had an easy road it could be that just over the last 52 weeks the challenges have been great the questions have been greater than the answers allow me if you will one more opportunity to mention our dear friend paul in second timothy he's writing to the young boy to the young man and he's trying to give him encouragement and this is what he tells him towards the end of this particular encouraging letter second timothy 4 verse 7. i have fought a good fight i have finished my course i have kept the faith listen to what he says timothy henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness which the lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day and not only to me only not to me only but also to them that love his appearing he finished his course now some of us would simply identify this as the effect of a lifetime well lived through all of the things that happened a lifetime well done because you made right choices and you didn't mess up but the fact of the matter is the lifetime is full of single days that turn into single weeks that collectively make a single month that turns into a year which rotates into a lifetime the fact is paul even have the the audacity to tell his young preacher friend i have finished how did he know he was finished now he he realized here that the circumstance if you go back and you read the history and you you tear it apart you put it back together where you understand it through through through your study this this boy had been through a lot he could see right now there was some writing going on on the wall and it was not a pretty line being written his fate did not look so good out there but for him to be able to write in this letter somehow some way to this young guy to say you know what i have finished my course i i've i've kept a hold of the things that have gone on and and i have somehow reached for this crown of righteousness and i know it's there for me it might be friend that today you might be worried fretting about eternity it could be that you're you're trying to discover how do i make the choices that are eternal i i want to ask you today would you simply live today as if tomorrow could be that day make today the one that counts i i have an opportunity of course many times to to counsel folk and try to try to help and i'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer and i i realize that i don't bring a whole lot of sharp things to the table but i know this i know this if you will live today it will lead you to tomorrow and there's some times that you simply have to agree today i will do the right thing and when you wake up in the morning it becomes your prayer god lead me today the steps that i need to take don't lead me to temptation deliver me from evil for yours is the king yours is the plan and when you lay your head on your bed at night on your pillow you can say god did i please you today and you can know god's hand was on you then lord tomorrow's going to be another opportunity paul's greatest testimonies he never never planned for do you think paul uh maybe maybe he was smarter than us probably next week they'll stone me so uh i might need to do some working out so i get you know built up some muscles so i can withstand the beating yeah katie does that make sense i could foresee now i don't know by this time next year i should have been beating thrice with rods that sounds like a good thing to do no you know what he was doing today i love you lord i serve you today i don't know what this day is going to hold but i bless you i honor you i thank you i give myself to you today order my steps and lord when i hit the bed tonight if you'll allow me remember he said i spent a day and a night in the deep you think he slept i don't think he did do you think he simply ran around with all these cuts and bruises saying it's cool i i am working have been for for for quite a long time now of paul's journey to mars hill i've been trying to understand how this guy got a chance to talk to the king some of us in our minds would say and in our hearts we would hope that if we had an opportunity to to speak and to represent something so great and grand that we would be all prim and proper i wonder sometimes if my if my accidentally my shirt tail or my wife says how your ties are crooked i'd wonder if i'd stand before the king and i didn't know it my tie was crooked would he look over and go well how would i do but i read this story sister renee of of him standing there on mars hill and i gotta wonder what did he look like all these smart guys are sitting around all these wise guys you gotta remember what mars hill was for it was for philosophies let's discuss this wait let's think of this bring me grapes let's consider and then this guy allow me my imagination to unfold in front of this guy making his way his arms all crooked fingers all bent scuffs and scars you don't think you're gonna get stoned and get up and simply walk away he's gonna have some scars that didn't heal and some wounds that never got taken care of and he's dragging his foot maybe and he don't look as good as he used to you think his back's going to be all pretty after being beaten and left for dead he stands there in the face of all these smart guys and i am perplexed in my mind why in the world did he pick the unknown god to talk about tell you i'm working on this because i'm trying to understand if it had been you or i we would have stood up there and said i want to talk to you about this idol called raw over here sun god or i want to mention to you something about we would have tried to negate everything about what they did wouldn't we paul staggers to the platform or whatever it was and he has now the attention of all the philosophers and he says to them i've spent a few hours here in this temple and i've seen you've got gods for everything now imagine these smart guys sitting there saying yeah that one was mine it's the frogs yeah i went back and did history and found out that frogs were worth studying and worshiping so i put this one together or this other guy yeah that one's lice head lice especially not off cows but heads of people and i notice you've got all these idols i notice you got all this stuff but i noticed one that you don't even know how to give it a name in fact you even call it unknown that's the one i want to talk about and i wonder sister rose in my mind why did he bring that up why did he say look at this one i mean he should have just torn down every one of theirs but instead he said the reason you called it unknown is because you haven't met him yet but i stand here today with the scars in my body and the broken bones and the wounds that i've come through i've come to tell you through everything i've been through hell on earth and water and everything i've come through in the underground and up and down in my own family my own friends my own ones that should have loved me they stabbed me they tricked me they put me under they tried to kill me they tried to stop me and every day i had to wake up and decide am i gonna give in to all of that foolishness to all of the doubt and the fear or am i going to say this is another day the lord has made listen for him at the end the last day the last service of this year somebody needs to rise to your feet and say it's finished i lived every day this year the best that i messed up i hit the ground but i got up and today i'm in the house of the lord i refuse to live a captive i refuse to live some way where the enemy's controlling me with a leash i'll turn loose to that and i call on the name of the lord god he got me out of bed this morning he got me out of bed yesterday morning tomorrow if it's his will i'll get up out of bed again but i refuse to end this year on a negative i'm making heaven my home i'm going into the place he's prepared for me he left this earth with one goal in mind i'm going to prepare a place for you so that where i am you come and be with me come on brother duran everybody stand to your feet today at the end of 2021 are you able to say it's finished this is my last opportunity on a sunday to come into the presence of the lord have i finished it lord have i done according to your will if i have i thank you for that but if i still have a year to live i ask you god give me what i need to be found doing what i need to be doing finished paul looks back i went through all of these things with one goal in mind that i may gain him that i may win him that i may know him paul knew what it was like to have the entire world walk away from him all that he loved cared for and wanted but at the end he told timothy i finished laid up for me the crown i'm going to get my crown this is not a gloom and do message today i'm not preaching somebody's funeral i'm not talking about the end of all times or am i only the lord knows but what i am saying is this ending this year you can make it as positive as you so desire lord it's me it's me again i've determined lord to finish 2021 in the posture of the positive hands high head back eyes wide open mouth full of praise i love you jesus i worship you god you are the mighty god the everlastic come on i have decided to end 2021 sunday services with praise and worship on my mouth in my heart and in my mind so anybody today that's not afraid of the altar you would come to the altar and you would again complete this oh god i've come on a sunday lord to love you and to bless you and to worship you help me lord to finish strong this year god i don't know what next year holds but i know god that every day is a gift from you every day is a gift from you come on that's right it's prayer time in the altar today young and old would you come and pray come on that's right talk to the master i call upon your name jesus i need you jesus i need you jesus i trust in you holy holy holy is your name savior i believe in you oh come on that's right lord only you know the steps that i've come through this year only you know lord what my family said about me or what my co-workers think about me or what i've come through when i've lost what i've been challenged with but lord i want to finish strong this year god loving you worshipping you praising your name i want to end strong lord god loving you believing you for great things jesus is holy is the lord holy is your name jesus oh come on right now spend some time talking to him come on get heartfelt with him lord i'm reaching to you lord i'm hungry for you oh god i'm thirsty for you i run to you today jesus says oh that's right let him encourage you today let him remind you of his goodness allow him to remind you of his mercy and his blessings holy is our god holy is our god worthy is our savior worthy is our savior come on church that's right reach out to him today finish 2021 strong oh god our god i've come to love you today jesus blessed be the name of the lord blessed be the name lord god i praise you lord i bless your name lord come on that's right you are holy god i love you jesus i love you jesus i love you jesus i praise your name i bless your name lord i bless your name lord i bless your name come on that's right now thank him for his love and grace come on thank him for the house of god thank you for the altar thank you lord for a place i can come to love and worship you i will bless your name i will bless your name i will worship you great god i will worship you jesus hallelujah if your family is here today would you get close to them please i want us to pray for each other today as a family come on we're going to pray one for each another as a family jesus damn come on it's a great way to end the year praying for your families pray with them right now lord i thank you for my family thank you for my wife lord thank you for the church house god each family that's in this church those that are watching online today those that are sick lord those that are hurting today by buying together lord with my family there is power in the family lord the family that prays together will stay together jesus bless lord encourage and move in every heart and every life today i pray in the name of jesus come on mom and dad pray for your kids pray the hand of the lord will be upon them pray the glory of the lord will shine round about them that's right in jesus name in jesus name in jesus name oh that's right in jesus name i love you lord i praise you lord i praise you jesus holy is the lord god worthy is the name i love you lord i love you lord blessed be your name jesus how i love you jesus how i praise you lord how i praise your name how i lift up your name how i lift up your name glorify you i glorify you jesus i glorify you jesus i glorify praise you lord hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah jesus come on sisters church help me pray right now would you in the name of jesus lord god you know god you have all power and all ability to honor faith god i pray right now lord for sister renee i pray god for whatever her need whatever she's believing it for lord honor her god honor her lord i pray the handmaid of the lord touch her right now in jesus name i rebuke fear and doubt in jesus name in jesus name we're believing it for claiming it in the name of jesus in the name of jesus in the name of jesus i love you lord i love you lord i love you lord i love you lord jesus thank you lord turn to your neighbor and say man i'm glad you're here today tell somebody i'm so glad you prayed with me come on look at him say i value your prayer thank you pray with me right now lord go with us this week keep us safe protected lord in your care in your hand lord as we walk out of these doors i plead the blood of jesus over every home every heart that's here today let the glory of the lord work dear god i pray in jesus name i love you lord i honor you and i thank you bring us back lord this week will come rejoicing loving you in jesus name we pray and everybody say man i love you guys shake hands and be friendly one with another greet somebody encourage them jesus