Sunday Morning Worship Service | Pastor Anthony “A Walk to Remember”

it's the greatest honor as Bishop McCool spoke about earlier I reiterate and Echo his comments on the the most benevolent congregation and I'm so honored to serve with you all uh Bishop talked about the many years this is a congregation who keeps the fire burning from before the sun comes up to the Sun comes still the sun goes down every single day passed by here yesterday and uh brother Stanley brother Jimmy Smith out on the lawn you know just just preparing for today making sure there's no debris out just so many different facets so many different Ministries God sees every single one of them and only heaven will truly be able to account for the impact that you all have that we have on each other that we have on this city and around this world uh awesome move of God with the missionary from Argentina and as we work toward building that Convention Center down at in Argentina and this past month we've we've done the cold weather drive for Knoxville area rescue Ministries and so many items came in and I I thank you all no matter what the Need Is That Goes Forth it's it's immediate and you you all are amazing if you have your Bibles turn with me to II Peter chapter one I'm so blessed by the preaching and the teaching just I just think just over this recent weekend from Pastor Whitley you know giving us a real theological understanding of why we conduct ourselves the way we do why do we speak the way we do just one of the greatest message took us from Genesis all the way to Revelation and he did that in like 35 minutes which was pretty amazing and then Pastor McCool last Sunday night talked about consistency a consistent walk and that's what this church is a consistent a consistent flow of the of the Holy Ghost and the spirit working through you and then Bishop up this past Wednesday night just stirred my heart and I'll mention a few of the things he said but if you have your Bibles second Peter chapter one we'll begin reading at verse 12 through 13. wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things though you know them and be established in the present truth yea I think it me as long as I am in this Tabernacle stir you up by putting you in remembrance for a few moments this morning I want to minister to you on the subject and it's God's word I'm just the middle man and Overlook all of my inadequacies I want to preach to you on the topic A Walk to Remember If you would pray with me right now mighty God we thank you on this Sunday morning we thank you for once again bringing us together father as we lift up your name on high the name that is above every other name we call out on it today calling your name Jesus Lord asking you to convict our hearts and touch our minds that we put us in the frame of mind to acknowledge what you have done for us that it build our faith here in the present to know that you're not done working that Miracles are still alive today that signs and wonders can take place on this day through your name and your name Jesus we pray amen A Walk to Remember our remembrance of past blessings Will Keep Us humble and give us Faith to face the future to forget God and his mercies is to forsake God and his promises to air is human to forget is everyone's faults and we accept the human traits as a matter of fact sometimes nonchalantly I have a few pictures for you this morning that might put some forgetful things into your remembrance if you would start those pictures for me this is a Snickers bar it seems like the factory forgot something I think the chocolate exterior that would be very disappointing somebody forgot let's go to the next picture if you notice the the gentleman in the band right there he forgot his instrument that is uh but he's just carrying on his as normal that's that's a bad thing to forget if you're in a marching band right next picture please uh from my understanding there's there was a real bad storm and they forgot to unplug the the drain plugs to let the water flow out properly that's a that's a expensive thing to forget next picture oh these attorneys at law you know you need help call us right now call us today but they forgot to post their number up there with it and last one that's the start to a great vacation right there in the airport parking lot when you've got everything you need but there sits your suitcase forgetting is human the failure to remember even on the natural Plank and oftentimes even be tragic to forget to turn off an electric appliance can be the cause of a fatal fire to forget to put medicines or poisonous substances out of the reach of children can result in dire consequences I had a very scary incident happened to me this past year we my wife and I and our family went to National youth convention at the Gaylord Opryland and if you've ever been to that hotel it's absolutely massive it's humongous there's all kind of of walking and trails and you stay lost most of the time and it's it's just enormous and Callaway at the time was five months old and we also have our three-year-old Eleanor and a very scary incident I'll just be completely transparent so we got all of our luggage and preparation for for that entire week and we got up to the into the lobby to check in and we had our stroller and we began to put the car seat on the stroller and we strapped Eleanor in first and then Callaway had his car seat that's supposed to just snap right in the front but there were two brackets extension brackets that someone left in the garage at home scary scary and I heard my wife say and that tone of voice babe uh yes dear don't you look beautiful today this this car seat's not fitting in here or are the brackets in the vehicle and I knew right where the brackets were luckily luckily my mom and dad came to the rescue and brought those the next day but um I survived through a great deal of forgiveness from My Wife and forgetfulness you know is it it can happen and it can prove embarrassing aggravating and injurious at times it wasn't interest for me in this situation but we're still married today and we made it and we're here so I'm thankful for God's Redemptive plan but God's word goes beyond the mere forgetting of those things that pertain to us in the natural living it delves into the severity of forgetting God and this particular sin can receive the greater condemnation and for a brief character study I would ask us to look at second chronicles 16 1-10 and I'm not going to read the verses out loud but it gives us the life and character of King ASA he was one of the eight good Kings of Judah the southern Kingdom and the Kingdom of Israel of the northern kingdom and he had a very prosperous and successful Reign for 35 out of the 40 years that he ruled and during these first years he was well recommended in the historical account in fact the Bible tells us that he did what was good and right in the eyes of the Lord what what a magnificent thing to your name recorded in his word that says you were a just king and you did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and it's no worthy to understand why the display of God's power in his life came about he took away the altars of the strange gods and he broke down and destroyed the images he cut down Groves that were elevated higher than the altar he commanded Judas to seek the Lord and keep his Commandments and he built fences around the city for protection as well and he was not only just Kingdom Minded but he was also interested in restoring the spiritual Integrity of the land and he had said God gave him rest in those years but like the Christian walk it wasn't rest always the Peace of Aces Kingdom eventually became at stake and he had he was threatened by the invasion of a enemy Army and that this Army exceeded one million soldiers and 300 chariots in the immensity of this Army no doubt caused him to have great concern for himself and Kingdom but with God's help he was not only ready for battle but he anticipated the Victory and he went out with confidence knowing the Lord was on his side and his trust was not only in his army and not only in his strategy but in God's ability to demonstrate his power and he communed with him in prayer ASA knew that the only way to win the victory was to ask God for help and he had prayed in the time of peace and now we see the precedent that he prayed also in a tough time when there was war and he would pray for victory in battle Psalms tell us that some trust in chariots and summon horses but we will remember the name of the Lord Our God and this this perfectly personified King ASA and it was a short but vehement prayer that he prayed he said Lord it is nothing with thee to help whether with many or with them that have no power help us O Lord Our God for we rest on thee and in thy name we go against the multitude O Lord Thou Art God but not man Prevail against me and we can see the same language that David went out to Goliath he said you come to me with a sword and shield but I come to you in the name of the Lord and then we also see the foreshadowing where we we know that Peter and John healed a man by saying in the name of Jesus Christ rise up and walk facing our battles facing our circumstances in the name of the Lord from the beginning it could be said that he was a righteous man he believed God and it was accounted to him for righteous sake I mean it says he did that was which was good and right in the eyes of God and the Lord just like he promised smote the enemy and ASA before Judah and the enemy fled and ASA had every single reason to always remember the blessings of God too always remember the victory that would come by consistently communing in prayer to always remember that God was going to be on your side regardless of how many horses and how many soldiers what God wrought in his life and kingship was more than circumstantial it was clearly evident it was unmistakable ASA found that God was a prayer hearing and prayer answering God In His Marvelous works on his behalf should have caused him to no doubt be faithful to the end to remember his proper worship of God and to forget is to forsake when God's people forsake God they forsake his mercies they also become open to the pr and be a prey of this world they open themselves to their flesh and the enemy and there is a constant vexation of spirit and an overrunning of the tide of fear and there will be spiritual famine and despair and it's not all wants to forget God it's it's it's not all that wants to just simply say that Lord I'm turning away from you but it's the gentle pool like an ocean current when you were close to Shore that all of a sudden you find yourself out where you cannot make it back by yourself and many people fail to see the congruity of the total life the past the present and the future as Bishop has been ministering to us on Wednesday night that our heritage is a blessing for us and we are not worshiping ashes but we are preserving fire and with that being said there is a human nature in every single one of us that in order to complement the past we have to be critical of the present or vice versa there are those that would be critical of the past in order to complement the present there is the need sometimes for whatever reason maybe there's a a particular singer that you you love their tone of voice it's it's not enough just to tell them man you really did great on that song today I like your singing so much better than this person you know or man I love how you play that I really like when you're up there as opposed to this person oh what a sermon that was you're my favorite preacher I I I love when I see you going up there instead of this or that we have to remember the right things remembering is not romanticizing I be cautious with the words that you use when people you know you see those posts up that who's your favorite preacher what's the greatest sermon that you've ever heard I was talking to my grandfather last night and they were telling he was telling me just amazing stories from the past and uh you begin to when you when you look at the roots of this particular congregation the outpouring of the Holy Ghost on my grandfather's side and my grandmother's side neither one of them received the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in another tongue in an Apostolic Church my grandpa went to a was it a Nazarene Revival outside repented no not a person prayed for him on that night but he continued to stay humble and he continued continued to stay hungry and he went to another Revival that took place in a it was it was a small church building and he received the Holy Ghost that night and it wasn't it wasn't an Apostolic Oneness Pentecostal Revival my grandmother's grandmother which if I'm think if I'm wording this right which would be my great great grandmother was of a particular mainstream denomination in the foothills of North Carolina but had such a desire for God had such a hunger for God that she was praying outside and God filled her with the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in another tongue and she did not even know what she had [Music] and do you want to know how I received the Holy Ghost do you know who was preaching a clown and you're probably think well that explains a lot I was in kids church at a national youth convention and the clown was preaching and do you know what being in a small church house being outside being in a circus perhaps none of those are a recipe for receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost it's it's a desire of the heart it's a hunger for God every one of those instances are miraculous and not one of them deserve any type of criticism they're all magnified equally on their own oh now if I get up here and we're going to have a holy ghost Revival make sure there's about four balloon animals right after offering make sure somebody's juggling right here uh make sure maybe we can get a lion jumping through a hoop and have another class no no no don't miss the point it's God moving and meeting you right where you're at what God did 50 and 60 years ago is absolutely amazing and we need to acknowledge it and we need to remember it and what God is doing on this day is absolutely amazing it's not a call can he give me the Holy Ghost if I go outside absolutely can he give me the Holy Ghost if I go to a small church house absolutely but he can also give me the Holy Ghost right in here now when I think about those stories it does need to keep me in check when I hear about the one of the first miracles of this church and how God delivered the the concrete for the steps that's not me needing to go back and and get those steps Bishop said no I don't want to take those I'm keeping the story I don't want an idol it makes me want to build larger it makes me want to expand further it makes me want to extend my reach even further when I hear stories about when my grandparents came to Knoxville that they would have to go into the gas station restroom so that would be their facilities to change and get ready for church that's not a call to go back to that but I do need to remember it when I step into this place and I look around that I know that there is a road that got me here and I didn't get here by myself and it needs to Humble me and it needs to convict my heart it's not something I have to romanticize but I do need to remember I hope you understand what I'm saying this morning God's called us to remember but we've got to remember for the right things we're not going back to the event center with this congregation you know why because it is already occupied Primera Iglesia apostolica is about to grow out of there we remember the past we recognize the past to give us motivation for today it's not worshiping ashes but it's preserving a fire the past is motivation when I think about it it's got to make me hungry when I think about it it's got to keep me humble the invitation is greater than condemnation Inspire others don't condemn others invite others don't shame others the tremendous resources God have given us we must never forget and never forsake the sincerity that got us to this point my great-grandfather saw this outpouring of the Holy Ghost he and his family were voted out of their the church denomination they were in by their own family and he went and started a church didn't even have the Holy Ghost yet by evidence of speaking another tongue but he believed it so strong that he would get up and preach about it and he continued to preach about it and preach about it and one night he went down he was the first one in the altar which is the sermon in and of itself to every preacher right after he preached he was the first one on the Altar and God filled him with the Holy Ghost and what that needs to be to me is I can't just kind of you know come just jogging into this building and like man man I've made it well I look I've done something no no it was set a long time it was a road that was paved to this point and any miracle that takes place on that road is significant and magnificent by itself and nothing else needs to be condemned in order for it to be great the total life of King Aza would have been significantly different had he remembered the god of the future as well of the as the god of the past and the present we've got to remember the tremendous resources God has given us and used them used them as they as a good stewards and we must never forget or forsake the sincerity that got us to this point and the faithful saints that allowed us the Privileges we have here today after the great victory against the Heathen Army that had millions of soldiers and 300 horses the kingdom was without War for 20 years peace and prosperity can be a dangerous thing to us and these were the rewards and blessings for trusting God but nevertheless after everything God had done he's a began to depend on his own political strategies his own popularity to the people in a season of security a season of wealth a season of expansion he thought his diplomatic Acumen could be of more benefit to the security of his kingdom than the Reliance on God he made an alliance with the Pagan worshiping enemy for the future protection of his kingdom he did so by bribing him with gold and silver Treasures from the house of the Lord Asus saw a diplomatic success and he was astute with his political relations and this Alliance turned their crosshairs on the king of Israel who should have been their Ally they should have been working to reconcile with one another and instead the king of Judah ASA plummaged the treasuries of Israel to be used for the expansion of his City the people applauded his political Maneuvers but God did not he called him foolish second Peter warns his friend had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness then after they have known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them the reason Ace of sin was so noticeable was that he sinned against experience and knowledge his experience should have taught him better than to make an alliance with the enemy in his fall he was heightened by his refusal to make God his only trust and during the 35 good years of his Reign he had lived up to all the knowledge he had of God and his Commandments yet in the last five years of security and resources and wealth of his Reign and political power he rebelled against knowledge and he rebelled against his trust with god with foolishness and a prophet of God came unto him the word of God came unto him to try to get his attention and the prophet hananas told him that you need to turn back to God and you need to trust in God but King Ace is pride and his he was manipulated through his own success and through his own talents he had the prophet of God thrown into prison and censored everyone else that believed the same and persecuted them drifting further and further from what God had called him to his Foolish Pride and self-reliance was clearly shown and so much so in his last years he no longer trusted God and Judah paid dearly for Ace's sin ASA suffered with the disease in his feet the last two years of his life and it's noted when this King began to stray there was nothing that happened to turn him around and we read in first chronicles 16 12 it says yet in his disease he sought not the Lord but to the Physicians he died trusting in man he died trusting in his wealth he died trusting in his Prosperity a man that was so close to God a man that had relied so much on God he got to a point in his life where there was success and there was notoriety and there was there was political strength and each thing was seemingly a blessing that would serve as the vehicle that would drive him out of the presence of God we must know where to go to calibrate our life we can never have the attitude or spirit that I have every single ounce of the knowledge and the truth of the Gospel so Lord just take us here on our spiritual cruise ship on to the promised land no this has to serve as an ark for anyone that we can get a hold of no matter what instance they are in their life no matter what season they are in their life we've got two get on our knees to them and say hey there's there's a gospel here and I want to tell you I want to tell you about it and if you'll turn your life over no matter where you're at if you if you go down in water in the name of the one who died for you he's going to empower you and he's going to give you power from on a high and he's going to pour His Spirit into you and you're going to receive this gift by the evidence of speaking another tongues we've got to remember and we got to do it in the right way and we must know where to go to calibrate our life to ensure that we're walking in the way that we should go Bethel in Genesis chapter 28 is where Jacob spent the night when he was running before his life he had cheated his brother Esau out of his Birthright Bethel is where Jacob had his open Heaven encounter with God Bethel was where Jacob vowed to serve God and honor him with giving him his first portion Bethel was also a place of weakness it was a place of vulnerability Bethel is the place where Jacob made a pillar of stones and he poured oil up on it and declared that place to be the Gate of Heaven using anything he had in his midst to build an altar Bethel is where Jacob had a personal experience and an encounter with God it's the place that made him aware of his shortcomings it's the place where it seemed as if life was surely over but God showed up and met him as he was hiding as a convict Jacob's life was in utter distress and demise but the dark place where he was in complete isolation and all by himself and that's the place that God met him the worst night of his life that became the place in his life synonymous also though for where God met him and the gateway to heaven the first time Jacob came to Bethel he was running for his life he was not a holy man he was not deserving of God's divine intervention but God met him where he was at and said if you'll trust me I will provide you with the blessings of your inheritance and he promised him favor in his distress but once again we read as human nature years after Jacob trusted God and followed God blessed him and God prospered him Jacob had increased in all facets of his life he had grown wealthy this this man who had nothing made an altar out of some stones and oil he had was now wealthy he was no longer alone he his family had increased and it was large he had new and many descendants he had heirs and he had many flocks he had an Entourage and a great support staff if you will but once again we read even though God had blessed and prospered him Jacob had drifted off course the blessings became the vehicle that drove him out of God's presence and with every success and every Victory it seems to just push him away from his so humble beginning and not only was it Jacob but his family his his heirs his descendants his Entourage they had all began to stray and they mingled with the culture of their world and they became comfortable with other gods and their hearts grew cold and indifferent toward the one true God one of the greatest challenges we'll have as a congregation and as a church and in this day is to have too much success is to have too many blessings that can be the pitfall for for many of us now now when Church shuts down you know we can have a holy ghost fit and I can't wait to get back in there I'll tell you what I do we can't have enough church and then when it opens back up after that season of you know excitement coming back together Fades just a little bit or I I can be going through a trial in my life and I'll fast and I'll leap and I'll run God and then God performs The Miraculous and then it's like hey I'm good for right now and tell something else bad happens or he can bless me with financially or he can bless me with with with great provision and it's the very thing the very thing that separates me from his house because it you know I I I'm the one that's that's made this I I've got all the security in the world I don't really even need God I'm too dignified to lift my hands in a worship service I I I don't know if I can get down on the altar ain't no much might brush up the knees of my my pants too much or hey you know you know I I you're not going to see me running you know one of the most difficult things we'll ever face is to manage the blessings God has given us and to do so while still keeping the same hunger and that's why that's why we have to remember that's that's why we've got to say hey bishop tell me those stories about about miracles taking place and tell us about where we came from and tell us about how God moved [Applause] but the difference in Jacob and King Asia the word of God came to him and he said arise and go back to Bethel dwell there make an altar unto God where I first appeared unto you when you fled from your brother Esau Jacob told all of his household they they probably didn't even know about that but you could see Jacob getting convicted and Gathering all of his family around he goes guys I want to tell you about a place I I know we've drifted and I know we've strayed and this might sound a little bit crazy for you but let me tell you about where you came from let me tell you about where we came from there's a place I I know we have a a fine home and I know we have lots of land and I I know we have everything that this this world could offer us but but but we're not we're not worshiping the one true God where we're not doing what he has called us to do and I want to take each and every one of you back to a place where God met his head because none of this everything that we have we we wouldn't have if if God wouldn't have met me where I was if if God wouldn't have met me in the middle of the night when I had nothing and he said arise and go back to Bethel and Jacob told all of his family he said change your clothes and you need to repent and let's get clean and I'm going to take you back to a place I'm going to take you back to a place where God is going to meet you at because all these these blessings are great and all this is good for this life but there's nothing Eternal in it and I want you to know if I'm getting I'm getting on up in age but you all are going to have to know where to go to when you need God to provide you're going to have to know where to go to when you need to when you have a need and you take he took his whole family back to Bethel and he made an altar there and the same God that met him in his day of distress was the same God that met him right then there wasn't that that first instance wasn't any greater than this next sense we serve a powerful God he's not limited to a certain year he's not limited to a certain day he's not limited to a certain location everything God does is great he can't do anything that's not good anything I don't have to criticize anything else to magnify what he's doing right now stand with me and musicians come remembrance will strip away the accumulation of the things of this world remembrance will call us and convict our hearts unto repentance King David who had risen to the highest seat in the land every single need or luxury that one could ever want right at the tip of his finger at his command he could have anything he had drifted so far off course in his flesh and in his pride that he arranged the death of a woman's husband because he desired her nothing was off limits for him he wore the finest of kingly garments he ate eight finest Foods he lived and the finest of dwelling he was a man of war I can't say for sure his heart was countless to the sacrifice of the many men who were out fighting for the kingdom but perhaps he was just desensitized to the death that would take place to so many that went out in battle and after doing this misdeed this man who could have anything he want had a man killed so he could take his wife and cover up his wrongdoing the Lord sent a word to him through the prophet Nathan and Nathan meets David David's probably sitting in his throne in His kingly Garment eating only the finest Foods open to the prophet coming in but you know probably was busy with several other things the prophet came in to King David and said hey King David there were two men in a certain town one was very rich and had many flocks all the resources that life had to offer and the other man was poor and all he had was just a small you lamb and it wasn't just a you lamb to him the prophet told King David and King David probably not listening it at first but he here's about a lamb and he ears start to tune in just a little bit more and it wasn't just a you lamb to this poor man King David this he he brought he raised this you lamb he he let this you lamb drink from his cup he he he he he would rock this little you lamb in his arms and he it's the Bible says that the prophet told King David that he this this poor man treated that little you lamb like a daughter like a child King David says okay King Nathan okay okay Prophet what and he says the rich man to eat instead of taking one out of his countless flocks he took that poor man's little you lamb and used that you lamb for food and to eat when King David heard this that man of war his heart was vexed and he raged with anger and he said as surely as the Lord lives you know how King David got in the Psalms he starts talking about the planets and the atmosphere and he's going to rain down just this meteors down on his enemy that's that's the kind of moment King David and kind of Rage he I'm the king I can make whatever happen I want he said as surely as the Lord lives the man who did this must die he must pay for that lamb four times over that King who was preoccupied when the prophet entered into his presence turned over his table and now King David was ready to go after that rich man because he did such a horrendous thing [Music] then the prophet Nathan looked at King David and said thou art the man you talk about convicted prophet of God the word of God had pierced the heart of David unto repentance the prophet had taken the King David back on a walk of remembrance to a Shepherd field the heart of the shepherd is revealed in this moment the king who had it all the war hero who had seen and tasted death the Giant Killer the master politician this Warrior and also harpist who had every ability who had every resource who wouldn't blink an eye to hear that many were lost in battle we find him enraged over the death not of a soldier not of a citizen not of a high-ranking official but of a poor man's lamb underneath all the layers of this hard-hearted King instead of poor Shepherd boy at his Bethel where God met him in his empathetic instincts the word of God had pierced that king's heart to remember a time in the shepherd field when that's all I had was just to watch over my sheep if a bear came I was going to go after it well what what whatever would come after the flock and that King in his costly array and every resource available to him was struck to his knees over the thought over the remembrance of that small little lamb David became a better King on that day David repented on that day we must never forget where we came from we can't take one Gathering one service for granted if we if we really put into remembrance the sacrifice and the Miracles that God is here there wouldn't be one complaint that exited our lips [Music] I'm not saying that I'm not living in some happy-go-lucky world where things don't happen or things don't need addressed oh no but we'd be hard-pressed to ever step foot in here and not just have our hands lifted high and say God I thank you God I love you strip away strip away the things of this world before I I turn before I look down on someone else's misdeed maybe I'm that person I'm that person that was delivered from fornication I'm that person that was delivered from lying I'm that person that was delivered from that substance abuse and calling into remembrance that's how we govern our life is to step back to the altar remembrance will birth the supernatural Miracle signs and wonders start at the altar in prayer remembrance also brings about faith and right here I have her camera magnification probably zoom lens can't probably can't even see that it's a mustard seed Jesus said if you have this much Faith that's all it takes this this much faith and then you could speak unto that mountain and just tell it to move out of the way so I want to invite you today that remembrance brings repentance remembrance brings gratitude and Remembrance also will build your faith because no matter what you're facing in the present could you remember a time where God moved in the past and maybe let that be a promise to now to say you know what he did it then and if I can just have that much faith he can do it right this very moment I'm not going to have a formal altar call where everybody bows their head I want to open this entire area up to every single one of us I invite you to be like Jacob right now if possible and bring your family to The Altar and say this this is where we came from this is what's going to take us from Earth to Glory this is what's going to calibrate our lives this is what's going to keep us entrusted and in his presence maybe you're dealing with a circumstance where you need a miracle to take place can you remember a time all you need is just a mustard seed all you need is just a little bit of faith maybe you're going through something and a brother or sister has already gone through it maybe you use their testimony this morning to say if they made it then I could make it I wonder if we could just all lift our hands across this place and pray a prayer of repentance right now and go back to that time where God met me God I remember where you met me oh let your spirit move right now God I remember where you met me