The Plan
by Raymond Sloan
December 7, 2022 · Cornerstone Apostolic Church (Chattanooga, TN)
Kind: teaching
Scripture: Isaiah 7:14, Genesis 1:1, Genesis 2:7, John 3:16

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

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if you have a Bible let's go to the book of Isaiah while you're going there we are in the month of December and the last several years the month of December I would my topic for the sessions would be the gift we talk about the gift because that's what happened at this time of year agreed uh at whatever level that is or whatever place that is but I think it very pertinent to us as the church that we realize that the gift that we have been giving given has so much power and possibility amen and so we're going to talk about that over the next several weeks in fact let's go to Isaiah chapter 7. and this is probably familiar to a lot of us Isaiah chapter 7 we'll read one verse verse number 14. I have to wonder about my media crew they have put message length up there now it's all zeros am I done Oh that's oh gosh I'm like man I don't even have time I'm like it's okay all right everybody you ready let's read this out loud voice ready therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign Behold a virgin shall conceive bear a son shall call his name Emmanuel is anybody the the Bible scholar the meaning of the name Emmanuel Nosotros God With Us this time of year of course is very special time um and a lot of it of course too is spent talking about topics and themes and and whatever about the birth of the Christ child decorations music family Time games exchange of gifts buying and sales all that stuff going on cold weather in our part of the world sometimes there's great anticipation about what is to come and the unknown I don't know about you but the excitement on a child's face is just very I like I like to see that and the disappointment on teenagers face is even better um for some of us too I know that we we relive past hurts and disappointments at this time of year missing loved ones or those who have died and gone on we we remember the times we had with them uh I'll ask this and I'm not asking for anybody to spurt it out or yell it out but what is your fondest Christmas memory it probably entails family or friends around in some way shape or form because that's important to us agreed um others view this time of year for a time to reflect time to restore things and and bring some unity and Harmony together Christmas is still and I said this on Sunday and I'll probably will this next Sunday it's still my favorite time of the year right now in Bible study nights we take a topic and we we look into what it's about and and how it works and why it's there and so forth uh we're going to talk this month about the gift and tonight in particular I'm going to begin with the plan we read in Isaiah that there's a sign that's going to happen a sign what does a sign do for us why do we as people need signs what does it do for us Direction what else confirmation of what yeah or yeah I promise or where you are you ever been driving with your GPS and and not find your location there's nothing more encouraging than that no it's right there and we did that once in Florida we were going to eat at a restaurant and we pulled up brother Seth big open field my kids looked at me and Michelle said baby this ain't it you think oh we're gonna have to go and kill it and slay it and eat it I don't know I don't know what we're gonna have to do put it back in there and recalculating oh but we're looking for signs we were looking for arrows we should we should have known the truth is um the gift that God has for Humanity includes the start and the Finish it wasn't simply a let me kick the ball and see what happens next kind of plan now I know that for a lot of what I'm trying to see the age we're about average age in here notice I didn't put a number with that um it was on average what um anybody here know what it means to be spontaneous and that relates to combustion right now I'm joking what does it mean to be spontaneous it's what spur of the moment on a whim are you going to question a whim no Andy Griffith fans sorry anyway um spur of the moment most of the time though we spend time with planning and we look for signs and indications that we are arriving or we are completing or we are doing what we have planned to do again back to Isaiah a virgin will conceive bearish son and you'll call his name Emmanuel the reason this is important is because the prophet was speaking about a plan now imagine if you were Isaiah and this came to you what would have been your reaction why why do I care God With Us is mentioned about a name or an individual why why is a virgin going to conceive I still don't understand that Isaiah perhaps scratching his head tries to give all the indication of what's going on but he can't see it but everything that he writes here from the unction and anointing and the voice of God the prophetic is for a sign and the sign was going to point to events or things that were going to transpire point A to point B if that's the case suffice it to say that the entire Bible the word of God that we have has a purpose you can't simply pull a verse you really shouldn't simply pull a topic but you should focus on what the entire plan if that's the case then in December and this time of year we talk about the birth of the Christ child it is then in this verse where it's first established from the prophetic God had a plan we read then from for an example in the beginning God created Heaven the Earth we know that it's establish the way Moses wrote In the book of Beginnings this is what happened in the beginning God created his creative and his active word is what allowed everything in the universe the Galaxy the whatever you want to call the by and by all of that came from the active word of God there's something in all of the nothingness that begins to take shape you with me this lesson tonight is not simply about in the beginning God created but suffice it to say that God's plan and purpose jump started at that point with a meaning for all of humanity interesting that God would speak into the void into the darkness into the chaos into the disconnected and the spirit of God would speak into it listen carefully knowing full well humanity is not walking in shoe leather so Humanity at that point would not have needed Emmanuel but God doesn't work on day-by-day basis Our God sees it all end beginning and all in between if you ever wonder if God is still on the throne simply stop pause notice where you are and consider your location God is here he is here he was there he was there he is here he's been there he'll be there he is here and that should bring all types of consolation to us to know that the God who spoke it all into existence knows exactly where you are right now elbow your neighbor and say God sees you God sees you now the beauty of this in all of the confusion and the the structure of the the chaotic that was going on in the beginning God said let there be he had separated he had pulled he had pushed he had again no fingers no toes no reason for those God's that's not even a Sam I Am book is anyway God spoke and the active voice of God things began to happen the plan God had a plan if you were to take time to look at the smallest detail of everything in our world around us friend you would see the complexity and the way that things would function god left nothing to chance anybody here ever grown a garden how successful were you why are you laughing and how successful were you so you want to plant a garden this is what you need to do learn something you ready for it in the month of January you need to go plant your seeds in the ground and you need to water them greatly and then the month of February you can go out and you can reap from those seeds the plants that have grown and you will have starvation 101. why what not the right season doesn't work that way now for those of you who are younger at heart let me let you in on a secret um the canned corn at the store doesn't grow that way I I gotta let you know I know you wonder uh y'all with me disappointment right the carrots and the can don't grow like that friccoles don't grow that way right Seth what you got to do with them you got it what you do what do you have to do there's the process agreed they have to be prepared cooked whatever cleaned all the things that happened to the I know that it sounds very basic but friends so many times you and I as humans we complicate things so much because we think for some odd reason that we're all of that in a box of Cracker Jacks and God has pulled us aside to make us be the one that God's not taken care of well how special are you no if God's got this one God's got this one if he's in in control of one he's in you understand do you think that God has a gap between his fingers and he would let you slip through come on but yes so many times what's the battle that we face as humans God don't you see me don't you know where I am has anybody else said that God if you just knew and the whole time God's what are you talking about I see you do you do you see me because I'm watching you right now are you not watching me Stay With Me so in the month of December we talk about the gift and the gift there's four things that I'm going to talk about tonight is the plan God had a plan to give us a gift because he knew that we would have to have a way to have God With Us where else in the scripture somebody helped me here born in your Bible theologicals uh where else in the scripture was God with them where which Garden of Eden in the garden God did what he walked with you did you say met okay I didn't catch it okay he met with him he walked with them what purpose did that have why was that necessary with what what kind of relationship y'all hang on to me we're headed somewhere with but it didn't matter and why that was the purpose in the creation y'all hang on to me I'll pull it from you otherwise you're welcome to ask you one that you got your arm wrapped around right now because they're chilly ask them why in the world are you here oh y'all be nice you shouldn't ask it that loud why are you here the truth is God has a plan and you're in that plan and if we understand that then we can jump into the plan that God has and we can understand the details of it to realize that in the good the bad the ugly the up the down the right the left Whatever It Is God is right there with his plan working problem many times is what us we complicate we pull things out of kilter we make mistakes we dropped the ball we fold the towel whatever you want to call it the fact is is God has a plan if you looked at the smallest articles of anything around you you would see how complex it is because God had a plan everything that you that is needed for a tree to grow is contained where in its seed anything that is needed for corn to grow is where in its seed after its own kind is how Moses pinned the words now that's the cool part about what God's plan does guess what he did for man everything needed for man is inside of man listen to me but because of the nature of man is sin Disobedience disconnection God says I have a plan for that also otherwise we would not have a need for this building tonight there would be no need for you to wake up in the morning and say your prayers there'd be no reason to have faith shouldn't couldn't believe in the word because it would have no value the fact is is you have to believe that God is working in you on you through you to you and all of life's situations why because God has a plan God has a plan animals feed off other animals how cool is that fish feed from the smallest plankton other small fish are eaten by bigger fish trees need compost from the leaves that fall Hit the Dirt they become compost the trees need that everything has a place everything has a purpose Rock stuff all of those things what you and I would call maybe Gathering the trash actually that trash that stuff that discarded stuff has a place the Bible says talks a lot about wheat I'm not a I've never been a much of a wheat farmer I buy it occasionally in the store and I I try to use the same harvesting techniques that they used in the Bible days and I got in trouble at Food City I threw the bag in the air let the chaff Blow by brother Nathan and then well the guy next to me got all covered in I was it was really embarrassing my wife she had to come and I thought maybe I was trying to be biblical here throw it in the air let the wind y'all okay never mind you know the the seed that okay tried well I can get all kind of trouble right here suffice it just everybody I thought wheat came in bread don't they grow in a loaf of bread no all things work in conjunction all things have their place listen to this God's processes do not need perfected hear me God's processes are right do you realize that baptism in the name of Jesus hear the preacher tonight has always been the way of salvation why then is it complicated in 2022 what happened well in the Council of Nicea 310 I mean no no what happened is men's ability to wrap their mind around God's plan they considered God's plan to be too simple let's make it real complex here because that'll make us sound smarter you know my wife says that I have The Gift of Gab sometimes and I can expound upon the propagation of the gospel of Christ in many ways and I can throw a lot of fluffy words in there because I have learned that if I have three minutes or 30 minutes to speak it all depends on how many words I can get on the page no and I can do as some do and I can speak slower because I need 30 minutes of material see but again this you all are going but I I've learned that if I can sound smarter or swifter people are like and then I've been corrected sometimes because of Siri I have to cover my watch otherwise yes because people are fact checking me you know but here it is all things work in conjunction with its surroundings you cannot take a seed corn whatever you want to call it and plant it in the middle of the air why not part of the plan hear me now I know that's very simple but again 99 of our problems issues and all the stuff that happens to us is why we're expecting something to happen that's not way God made it and the complications come in and and we get disgusted and discouraged with God because evidently he doesn't hear me when I pray and the whole while God's saying but I've got a plan what did Isaiah say you go further in that particular reading and he said If my people okay what he's saying is I got a plan here we are again 2022 and we want to make sure that the world knows how smart we are and how intelligent we are and we have figured out how to get to heaven without God come on there's a world out there that'll tell you I found out I find all kinds of stuff out in the news and I have to watch myself because I discover things that I I didn't really know Brother Gibson about God that an Oxford Professor explained it to me this way that Jesus was both male and female everybody's looking at me y'all didn't hear this it was part of the Oxford School of Theology that they gave the dissertation from the teacher that said Jesus was male and female that's why I had long hair that's why I had a cut on the side and went into exact details of what that meant that Jesus would have been male female transgender and everything in between yeah I didn't know that I mean all these years I've been following him as Jesus the son of God a male and I'm like wait a minute I don't even know I don't even know what pronouns I still don't know what that means what do you identify a pronoun with what's a pronoun he is the one true God how much you want to say that he is God with us I don't know how to say it why do I need to then feel like in 2022 that I'm smarter than God and evidently his plan is wrong therefore I can jumble it all up and dice it out the way I want to you know what I'm doing don't you I'm following the same design that every pagan country religion has done throughout all of the eons of time anybody does their their research on Pagan religions what does that mean um what country they would take what they did in the churches and they the miter on their head and the cloaks and the things they wore and when they left they couldn't get into the church until they didn't have enough money out in the country and they they were poor people come on that's where the goat's head because it had horn they said okay this looks like they're miter the Wolves and the the materials this is country but it looks like theirs so and they begin to do practices that were called pagan it all had its basis on what the church was doing at that time we don't have Pagan religions today do we sure we do one's called NBA one's called NFL one's come on it's all kind out there what kind of God you want to follow you're not both know people that lost everything they have because of one of those gods little G because uh am I gonna be trouble stealing my good okay I have to walk with the red lights on when one of those people are talking millions of jillions of dollars guess what their plan is different than God's because God anybody here want to be the the accountant for God keep up with all those zeros how many zeros does God have in his bank account how many you want keep making them NFL NBA whatever how many they have they have a limit you see what I'm saying but yet we are considered weird because we want to trust God's plan for our lives come on make it happen yourself I will Lord Jesus I need you today to help me wait no no get up and go do it I'm going to but I need some direction here first I don't know the plan I'm finding the plan come on let's go make your meals okay Lord God if I'm a pauper if I'm poor and don't have nothing can I still have you amen Lord I Choose You huh there's no millionaire out there that's sitting there saying I wonder how much this really means to me value has no meaning why because it's all based on how much can he keep in his hands because it's falling through it's unable to be contained why because his plan doesn't work God has all the details in mind I'm watching the clock we're okay somebody started a timer I'm joking God's plan listen to this God's plan makes no mistakes has no errors there's no cracks in it does not have to be recalibrated nor realigned okay God has a plan and he has it all planned out over the eons of time God's plan has always been there UPS Downs fires floods pestilence doesn't matter God's plan works and if Isaiah spoke about it Emmanuel God With Us that is still a plan Through Fire flood erosion sediment all of those things that happen God's spoken word was working anybody what was the first word spoken by God that we know of what was it let there be in their how is that possible that a god with no fingers and toes could make that happen because it's his plan if God is concerned about Humanity if God cares about how far that we have come from that big pile of dust back in the beginning that God breathed life into if the Lord God is still concerned about us today it suffice it to say the plan of God is still right I believe still that the sacrifice on the cross of Calvary was enough for all of us that's the plan I believe the name of Jesus has enough power because that's the plan I believe the peace of God I believe the power of God the word of God can work in any life that will call and Trust on him why because that is the plan if God was so concerned about leaves on a flower the wings on a fly if he was concerned about the biggest and the smallest then certainly he would be concerned about those who were made in His image imagine if you will God it has a power and a force put things into place are you with me that God formed from the recently created dust on the Earth's surface a shape and that forming voice that had made everything and then shaped this pile in the image that he had who no one had ever seen him he breathes into that with no lips and no lungs to attach itself to it but when Man became a living Soul God said that's the plan see you and I again we want to make sure that everybody knows how big and how bad we are but the truth is is that we need the Breath of God In Our Lives why because that's the plan God formed that but then he made the breath to give it life so the soul of man becomes that the breath of an unseen God caused the created being to open his eyes to stand on two feet to Blink and to move with fingers and things and and simply to breathe inhale to Exhale heart beating cause the breath and and things happening why because that was God's plan Genesis 2 7 says this the Lord God formed man of the Dust of the ground breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and Man became living Soul that's the plan everybody say living life in God's created so again at Christmas time at this season of time we talk about the gift that God gave himself a plan this is why when God created man what was he thinking of at the end of it all a place where he could spend eternity with is created from the very beginning the plan was to prepare a place so that where he is you could come and be there also the plan God's plan a soul the definition of a soul is a person's total self active or essential part the moral and the emotional nature of human beings in that place that we know that God created and breathed into man into the pile of dust breath Man became active and essential Man became knowing morals and moralities Man became the attributes of who God was very specific that God made Man In His Image so God put attributes in man everybody blanked for me three times now God put that ability in you everybody take a deep breath and hold it for three seconds God put that ability in you is there anybody here that's willing to say I love you Jesus come on God put that ability in you why because that's his plan the complications come in this world in which we live is when we begin to take our eyes off of God's plan and we begin to focus on man's plan the gift that we're talking about in this particular month is going to be the greatest gift that's ever been given to anybody in any place God's plan from the beginning point that was his intent and his desire we know that when he breathed into man what did he finally say once man finished naming and claiming the animals was what it is not good that man is alone in this God's plan so God made the man to go to sleep took the rib from his side closed it back up and out of that he made the woman God's plan Pastor why are you why are you going through this lesson I'm telling you because our world in this culture in which we live in they are trying to confuse these things and it makes us to forget God's plan they're trying to twist these that God did do what he did with with distinctions and separations and yet our world is trying to say yeah foreign not to be political or gross in this hour but there's a whole lot of stuff that's going on in our world and I'm sitting there going why are you trying to change the basic makeup of man and it's all again it's intriguing to me that the words that come along with that is they have to take drugs synthetic particles that they have to put in somebody to make them change who they are does that sound strange to anybody but me that's not God's plan God's plan is what the way he made the way he put it together that was God's plan we discover again let's go are you ready for it John 3 don't know this one's 16. for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life we would consider that to be the powerful most powerful phrase of giving God loved the world that he gave he didn't have a million Sons to choose from he had one the relationship that Jesus brought to this world was by divine plan of God to that point nor since that point has there ever been a baby that was born of a virgin that knew no man never just that one why God's plan God loved and the gift that we're talking about this month we have to base this on God's desires because he had a plan when you come to the house of God do you realize what you're doing you are loving the God who made you you are worshiping The God Who created and put everything in you if you have questions about what God's doing in your life don't ask me ask God don't ask your neighbor ask God why because it's his plan tonight in the beginning of this particular series I want us to realize and recognize that until we know that God's still in control then if we don't know that everything's up for grabs we're going to talk about prophecy we're going to talk about the power of we're going to talk about the peace the prince of peace and how that all of this comes to us for a reason because God planned it this way friend of mine you are in the best place you could ever be when you are in the presence of Jesus why because he knows you better than anything brother John would you come he knows what makes you mad he knows what makes you sad he knows what makes you glad why because that that was the plan imagine if you will there's probably 30 or 50 or so of us in here tonight what if God had to re-acquaint himself with you every time that he saw you oh I'm sorry what was your name again yeah let's see I gotta take inventory let me get the computer out let me run your DNA okay all right yeah this is how this is what okay oh huh that must have been an off brand or something or yeah the mechanic or the assembly line made a mistake then now you only get that with what yeah Volkswagens I'm choking choking choking fact is this God knows you for you he even has plans for you the other Prophet said too and expected end he even knows what those plans and how they're going to end but yet here we still God I don't know why you're doing what you're doing Lord have you left me or why can't why can't I have that job or why can't I get that money or why can't I drive that vehicle why can't I live in that place all the while God's saying because that's not my plan I got a plan for you why then would I be born at this place and then years later here and then years later there and years later there and years later there I'm convinced that when God knew I was going to be born he went planned have always been in the perfect will of God I'm afraid to ask him I do know this his plan includes the grace and the mercy that I need when I go wayward the plan God loved the world that he gave his only begotten son a gift when you and I got to realize friends that this season and time in in our world and where we are is things are happening with Breakneck speed just fast stuff's going on I I know that the Bible says that he's going to return with a shout Trump of God voice is going to yell come on let's go whatever that looks like we're going to be caught up plan of God knows that I can't get that far neither can you what are you laughing at but he's got a plan for that change in a moment twinkling of an eye got that one covered but again in our world we're going to be here forever yeah in fact we're going to be here forever so much that we're worried about our Earth so we're gonna go set up a community on Mars that way we can make sure we got two planets covered because there's not enough room here well there's a house in my neighborhood empty well it wasn't who's going to live there I know I'm oversimplifying it but again our world we're looking at this do you want you want to retire I'd like to retire one day wouldn't you anybody else Josh thank you but I'm told now that I can't retire until I'm like 149 or something crazy amen we can't all work at Walmart as greeters foreign my wife you know she's trying to take care of me in this retirement thing because she's that honey I said baby I could use that money right now and she says that's not in the plan oh me and my big mouth right hear me don't ever forget about why we are here Heaven is still there guess what heaven is for those who will follow Jesus the gift I want to go there I got a lot of loved ones that I think I'd really like to see again and I'd like to be able to worship with them around the throne how about you and I realize there's probably going to be some there that I'll be surprised Maybe let me go I'm just wondering you know staying with me would you listen carefully the gift the it's interesting to me that John writes it this way God so loved the world that he gave why why couldn't John the Beloved why couldn't he have simply written God so loved the world that he had a plan God so loved the world that he put this system in order no it's that he gave why because giving means what I planned this gift you can't give something that you don't think nothing of I mean who that's not giving that's what that's passing it along the plan of God has everything needed for all of eternity would you lift your hand tonight and just thank him for his plan come on he hasn't wavered he hasn't faltered he hasn't backed up and had to regroup over it and recast the die and try it over you know it's his plan from the beginning he put it into motion he knew exactly what it was going to be how it would work how it would function the ups and the Downs the goods and the he knew all of that why because he planned it and our God plans everything in and of itself he knows everything that is needed and included in that that's how he gives gifts oh I thank you for that Jesus I thank you for that Jesus I thank you I thank you for the gift I thank you Jesus for salvation Emmanuel God With Us you've given us that hope and that future in you we thank you for that Lord and we love you and we trust in you in all things we thank you savior because you're good you're you're God you have a plan you know the end from the beginning it's your plan you know all in between because it's in your plan you didn't leave any detail out because you don't plan that way you plan all things thank you for that Jesus we'll love you forever and thank you Lord bless every home every heart that's represented in this room tonight every family every individual let us not forget the power of the gift that you gave us Jesus how the Playing Lord will work if we will simply know the plan study the plan understand it comes from you God it's your purpose in us we love you and we serve you tonight Lord let us in this season Walk with joy and a smile on our face to know the plans working and we're in that plan because it's yours I plead your blood Lord tonight over every heart and every home here I pray the blood of Jesus would cover and cleanse and wash us pray Lord for our city I pray for our nation I pray God for a move of the Holy Ghost in our midst every time we come together Lord let us come with an expectancy that your plan will unfold we love you Jesus come on Church would you love him for just a moment I thank you Lord and I bless your name You Are Holy and wonderful and righteous you are the great god Jehovah Emmanuel God With Us you're with us you're with us that your plan is to be with us to be with us Jesus thank you for that Hallelujah to the name of Jesus Hallelujah