What do I Do?
by Raymond Sloan
March 21, 2021 · Cornerstone Apostolic Church (Chattanooga, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Acts 2:1-3, Acts 2:32-36, Acts 2:38-40

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/raymond-sloan--what-do-i-do
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 right now lord jesus we're going to your word we have prayed we have sang the songs today we have heard the testimonies today our desire right now lord is to be close to you right now we desire the word of god that does make the change in us one more time lord i make myself available to you i need you jesus you are alive and well in this place today your glory fills this room as we go to your word lord give us strength and direction i pray let us follow after you with all diligence this is the hour we must know you in the name of jesus we praise you forever can you give him one more praise before you sit down i love you lord jesus i love you jesus thank you so much musicians singers thank you teachers workers staff in the video whatever going on lots and lot people out in the parking lot thank you all so much thank you so much for making church possible amen you can be seated today if you feel like you have to now so much of our daily lives our daily activities they revolve around those who are very dear to us agreed that could be a meal together could be a trip to the school or from school a trip to the store uh it could be a vacation or a weekend at grandma's house a church service a social event birthday parties wedding celebrations on and on the list can go as we come together as humans there is comfort and collection of energy and there's love as we spend time with one another look at your neighbor and say i love you okay we'll do that again later and kind of see how it changes we find that friends and family takes priority in our lives agreed we make choices and we make our plans so many times around those who we hold dear to us we are drawn to the ones that we love the the old adage birds of a feather get shot together no joke i mentioned the simple very basic aspect of our day-to-day lives only today to remind each one of us that we require connectedness with someone amen the ones we love are the ones that we spend our time with it makes us better okay it makes us worse how many have that person in your family then don't answer that and don't elbow your neighbors just stay straight here come on depending on the scope of influence in your life if they are bank robbers and you spend your time with them chances might be that you'll become a police officer no a bank robber if they're concert musicians it's very very possible that you indeed will grow up with a love for music and you will become you don't know do you a ticket buyer to go watch them right okay yeah we all know that we are the products of our surroundings agreed when it comes to life-altering moments it takes time things happen and that strong will and determination causes us to make some very tough choices if we have become who we are because of the ones that we associate with then it only stands to reason that to break from that cycle or that circle you've got to put some thought into it the fact is they're very simple when when you have times of hard-headedness you've got to make some very difficult choices when you find that those you want to love or those that you want to spend time with are very stubborn or they're difficult to change you realize that the things that cause us to become what we are are because of the influences that we have inquired or we have seen in our lives for an example how you vote the foods that you like to eat where you like to take trips or vacations these are things that you learn about those that you are gathered around the conversation how what they think and how they feel about things it kind of determines who you're going to become as i as i stand here today behind this podium i am a representative of what has been influenced in my life and every single one of you are the very same as well some of those things that i have become are okay good maybe positive some of those things i work very hard at trying to change now when we look and stay with me for a moment when we look into the reasons and and the what fours and the why comes if you will that we are the way we are then it is very challenging and difficult maybe to get to the root of who we have become when it goes down into the root system of who we and i'm not a psychologist and i don't claim to know understand a lot about the brain and and i can demonstrate that by how little i use mine but the truth of the matter is simply this when we look at things going on in our lives and in the lives of those people around us i think that it is worth observing that some of my family members say that i resemble my mom but they can see the actions of my dad in me interesting isn't it others say that my grandparents had a great influence in my life i can say that there are times when i wonder why and how come my grandparents did the things that they did my wife and my children for an example they've had an impact on my life and my development since i've been married for so many years i realized that my wife has had a lot of influence in me just look oh you husbands in here go yes lord um come on they said there are influences in our lives we're here today on a sunday afternoon it is almost one o'clock i'm watching the clock we have come to this moment in time with all of our past influences all of our past investments of good bad ugly and indifferent whatever it is my mind is turning to a moment in time when something very very strange happened it's a testimony of actions that went very contrary to what was then considered the norm it was a celebration of a religious feast was part of the makeup and the development of an entire culture of people this time this celebration was there in in their culture as a time to remember the past and to celebrate its powerful life-changing effects on all the generations prior and all the generations that were yet to come there was a time here in this celebration that you talked about and you told stories of of when things happened way back in the distant past and how that how that great great great grandparents and and the lives that they lived and the influence that they had you talk about in this particular celebration the challenges that they had to overcome through persecution so it was even called bondage and slavery to those that lived in that time and now here they are as families and friends and loved ones gather together to remember where they had come from and to where they were at that moment men women and children they had been bound and changed they had tasks that they had to do and they were very difficult big men were given whips and sticks to enforce the rules and and they they knew that if there was an attitude adjustment to come that these big guys knew how to correct it no freedom to come and go as please no choices and to just take a week off with pay there was none of that tough rulers and bosses with no room for excuses and so at this particular celebration there was a whole lot to talk about the mere reason that each one had gathered together for this focused festivity is a testimony listen to the power that they had received in simply listening and talking about times gone by i understand this particular festival if you will because i did some research to try to understand it it was simply called pentecost it was 50 days after passover again they remember they talked about the events that had happened long time before but here they were in this group this culture this society of family and friends that had developed into a group of people who were finally established within themselves they each one walked in the truth of what they had been taught by their parents and their peers and their loved ones from generations on by but on this particular day in history it would simply prove to be life-altering and changing acts chapter 2 verse number 1 when the day of pentecost was fully come they were all with one accord in one place and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind and it filled all the house where they were sitting and there appeared verse 3 says unto them cloven tongues like as a fire and it sat upon each of them and they were all filled with the holy ghost and began to speak with other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance city at that time the celebration at that moment was full of these people who had come to spend time with family and friends and loved ones a time to reflect and to focus on the goodness of their god it was in that environment that something supernatural took place it was a sound it was a wind blowing it was a fire that began to appear it was an infilling it was a strange language an event that would soon change all of life's purposes and all of life's priorities this event was not planned for by a committee who got together there were no t-shirt cells there wasn't anything declaring a new way but it was a culmination here the preacher today of a generation that had prayed and sought for something to come we look for salvation to come we look for answers to prayers to come and on that particular day there was a ruckus that nobody expected it shook every house every city street that could be seen for miles all heads began to turn everybody began to march towards the noise the wind the ruckus that was going on everybody's scratching their heads what's happening here wait a minute we normally just talk about how our forefathers did this how the patriarchs did that how they began to do that for a reason but lo and behold there's a sound that we don't understand we've never heard it before granddaddy never told me he was in this grand mama never said anything about this but lo and behold these men are drunk things took a turn in that particular chamber in that place called an upper room as the cultures and tribes came together what they saw and what they heard was being talked about so much had transitioned from the beginning when the those that were privileged to be called god's people came out of bondage and slavery into a land that was promised to them so much was talked about through the old testament prophets and the minor prophets of something that's out there but on that particular day everything came to fruition everything came to the boiling point and a wave of electrical excitement rippled through the streets something is different about this i don't understand it i can't comprehend it i've never seen it before i've only heard the stories told when you notice the history here you find out that god himself is manifesting himself into humanity the preacher stands up and he begins to declare with peter's loud voice this is that that joel talked about he began to talk about david one of the patriarchs one of the kings this is what david wanted this what's happening here today is exactly what the men and women of old look for but lo and behold today it's coming about it's taking action the wind is blowing the spirit is moving the anointing is moving the glory and the unction of the lord is touching a whole generation what does this mean this simply means that those in the street that day begin to see what was happening and transpiring and something took over an entire generation acts 2 32 this jesus hath god raised up whereof we all are witnesses therefore being by the right hand of god exalted and having received of the father the promise of the holy ghost he hath shed forth this which ye now see and hear hmm for david is not ascended into the heavens but he saith himself the lord said unto my lord sit thou on my right hand until i make thy foes thy footstool therefore verse 36 let all the house of israel know assuredly that god hath made that same jesus whom he have crucified both lord and christ that when they heard this they were pricked in their heart and said unto peter and to the rest of the apostles men brethren what shall we do something was happening the glory of the lord had descended upon humanity it was more than an angelic visit to a young virgin girl it was more than an angelic visit to a young carpenter boy but no now something had manifested itself and as the wind blew and the fire sat and the languages came i understand that these people on the street on that particular day they had questions that they wanted answers for what do we do with what we've seen i've come today to this podium to tell somebody as apostolic as you might feel that you are and is well versed in the scripture that you might feel like you know i've come to tell somebody remind you that it is because of the scriptures it is because of the promise of an old testament promise and prophecy that happened that this particular event happened on that day but the word still echoes into 2021 i'm simply here today to make an appeal to the heart of land there is still repentance to be dealt with there is still baptism to be understood and there is still receiving the gift of the holy ghost to be comprehended and received it don't matter where you come from you've got to understand that when you continue in the story in verse 38 peter said unto them repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of jesus christ for the remission of sins and ye shall receive the gift of the holy ghost for the promise is unto you your children to all that are far off even as many as the lord our god shall call and with many other words did he testify and exhort saying save yourselves from this untoward generation it could be today that the connections the families and friends that you have connected your life to they might be in the middle of salvation and the plan of god as it unfolds but it could be also that as you sit here and listen to this preacher today that you wonder what is repentance what is salvation what is the name of jesus what is that to me i come to declare to you if you're going to have to make a choice and if the question mark is in your mind today what do i do can i bring it fast forward 2021. we live in a world of question marks we live in a world come on you don't believe it wait tomorrow the news will change the outcome will be different the laws will have changed people's attitudes and their mindset will have altered all of the stuff that is so unsteady that it's so uncertain there's got to be something in the midst of it all that says can anybody bring order into my life can anybody take the chaos and the question and settle it down i've come to tell you these what you've been seeing in the worship time today these men and women they're not drunk as you suppose but what they are is they submitted to a plan of salvation that an almighty god established and when peter stood on that day with those gathered around him the message he preached was the anointing of the lord god it was such a powerful word that those in the street said what do we do well i'm glad you asked if you think for one moment that your life is full of pain and suffering and sorrow now without jesus you wait until the trump of the lord's sounds you just thought hell was a myth see as much as i believe that we serve a god of love a god of compassion i'm convinced that he's all-knowing and all-seeing but i'm also convinced that he is that that he will be our judge he is jealous i don't want anybody else but me to be first in your life with that said in 2021 if you think for one moment you're going to figure it out and you're going to be able to write a thesis or a doctrine on it and you're going to be able to fix our world and all the mess it's in you need to back up and realize something you didn't put sin on earth and you certainly can't do anything with it but there is only one blood that is the blood of jesus christ there is only one name and that is the name of jesus christ if you think for a moment friend that you can live whatever life you want and figure it out at the end hear me hear me i have been to funerals of caskets this big and i've been to funerals of the old but i've come to tell you it is appointed one time i don't understand that i don't comprehend it but one thing i know when i lay my head on the pillow tonight i want to breathe that last breath that i recall and i want it to be knowing that if i die before i wake i pray the lord my soul to take why because i have saved i have looked i have ran after i have hungered for i have pursued i can't save myself i know it but myself can be saved when i decide it when i yield to the promise and the principles of an almighty god what peter was telling them at that day is the same thing i'm telling you today you better find salvation friend and you better run to it as fast as you can get there you better know that it's only the blood of jesus that can wash away your sin you better know that it's baptism in that name you better know it's the holy ghost and fire that'll keep you alive it'll wake you up in the morning it'll put you to bed at night ah what do we do i'll tell you what to do fall in love with jesus develop a relationship with the master let his plan come to life in you stand all over this place in the name of jesus i stand here today so encouraged in the holy ghost because i have seen the hand of the lord work the miraculous heal bodies touch broken homes and lives anybody else will witness a testimony to that but more than that today i am hungry to see the hand of the lord work in an individual's life as they surrender to the lord and they decide this world is not my home i want to go to heaven one day i want to hear him say well done i want to walk on streets of gold i want to be in the presence of an almighty god forever come on have we come too far in our society that we negate heaven and we decide that this is as good as it gets no friend no friend as good as this music might be as talented as the singers may be as good as all the things going on at cornerstone i've come to tell anybody that'll listen to me if i'm not here tomorrow because the trumpet has sounded and i've gone home you're welcome to all of it i don't care you pay the bill best you can it don't matter to me you can have all the instruments and lights and the carpet and the paint you want but as for me i've got a chore i've got a challenge i've got something that i've got to follow after when i asked that question years ago what do i do i fell at an altar and i began to pray as a young man and as i repented of my sins the spirit of the lord came in and changed my life when i went down in the grave and water and baptism in that name my life was changed at that point i realized i am not my own i am born with a price and i'm gonna make heaven my home one day as i sat in my office this morning early lord our church knows this message our church understands this why why are you pushing this into my spirit again and the lord declared and i heard i tried to so very clearly hear what he said and he said there's a voice crying out of the world what do i do and i was reminded that was asked before and the answer then is the same answer today it's jesus if you're here today and your life's a mess this altar is open just for you come on you you just need some help come on you might know somebody close by you here today reach out take a step of faith say come on i'm going with you we're going to pray together it might be that you're here today and the joy of the lord has far been gone from you and you haven't rejoiced in the lord in a long time this altar is wide open you need to come and say lord i want salvation to be exciting in my life i want to know that i know what do i do god how do i fulfill it lord how do i pursue it lord i've come to tell you the answer is still in jesus christ the answer is still in jesus christ the answer is still in the blood that was shed on calvary for you and i repent of your sins ask the lord to forgive you of your sin do an about-face and walk away from that lifestyle come on repent of your sin lord i'm sorry for what i've done and what i've done to destroy those around me but god almighty i want a new life i want to become a new creature i want to walk upright before the men and women around me i want to be a good example to those that's coming behind me lord i'm sorry that i messed up but please forgive me please wash me come on as you pray that prayer begin to love the lord jesus but i love you today lord i might not understand you i might not comprehend all about you but one thing i know is knowing you has to be better than any of this come on begin to worship the lord god lift your voice to him lift your hands to heaven let the glory of the lord work in you come on it's prayer time church find you a place of prayer he is salvation he is salvation i need you lord i trust you jesus it's all in you jesus it's all in you jesus come on begin to call on the name of jesus if you need the holy ghost today this altar is open for you if you need a touch from the lord today this altar is open right now come on this is a great day to praise and love the lord what do i do i tell you what you do you fall in love with jesus you fall in love with jesus as much as he can heal a body he can save a soul as much as he can provide for your needs he can save your soul from a devil's hell yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah come on that's right every hand in the house lifted up every voice right now speak out to him i love you jesus i believe in you jesus i trust in you jesus my soul says yes to you lord yes to you lord yes to you lord jesus i bless you lord i love you lord come on that's right come on let's try this prayer time come on maybe you need to get next to somebody just pray with them come on get next to somebody and pray with them lord bless my brother today my sick come on get a hold of somebody jesus you're still the answer jesus salvation is still in your name jesus that's right come on bind together with somebody oh god for you time and again you have demonstrated you love us lord you've got a plan jesus i love you jesus jesus i believe in you jesus i love you come on that's right get a hold of somebody else pray with them in the name of jesus the name of jesus the name of jesus the name of jesus the name come on that's right pray with somebody close to you god you're the answer oh jesus you are the answer you can do anything lord you can forgive jesus our sin you can wash us and make us whole yes you can jesus come on that's right get a hold of somebody pray with them i believe in your lord oh yeah that's right come on the holy ghost is here in this place come on worship him love him lift him up lift him up lift him up jesus i lift you up jesus i praise you jesus i lift you up you are god and you're holy see yes jesus yes jesus yes jesus every hand to heaven would you pray with me right now before we go home sweet jesus we love you we believe your word lord beginning to end to be true we know that you're a god of love and you're a god of compassion but you're also a god that has put a plan into place for us to understand that love and compassion heaven lord is your plan for us you've gone to prepare that place but also your word tells us very specifically that there's a place lord called hell that for those who don't decide for those who walk in their own wisdom in their own way jesus today i pray that we would fall in love with you and your plan for our eternal home let it be heaven i pray the convicting power of the spirit of god would latch onto the heart of the center today wake them in the midnight hour disturb their daily walk we'll let them know that your coming is so soon jesus we love you and believe in you lord and we trust you for great things lord anoint us as we go our separate ways this week let the spirit of the lord god touch our hearts and minds let us reflect the good things of god in our world jesus jesus jesus jesus i believe you savior i trust you today go with us lord let us come back loving rejoicing and expecting good things from you in the name of jesus somebody say in jesus name thank you all so much for being in the house of the lord today i love all of you and i believe in you and i pray god's blessings on you listen if you're waiting on something wait no more it is all in jesus