Sunday Morning Worship & Word | Pastor Anthony “The Proof is in the Pain”

but before the sermon I wonder if just as a community of Believers if we could just utter the name of Jesus and let that be of acknowledgment that whatever you have need of this morning whatever trouble whatever whatever need that you came here just by saying out that name let that be a public profession of your faith of one body of one community of Believers as we send up our praise and our worship into the heavens Believing by faith that God is more than capable to move in your life this morning we thank you and We Praise You In Jesus Name that name that is high and lifted up above all other names you can be seated across this house I greet you and welcome every single person in service with us in person and all of those tuning in online and those that will be checking out the television broadcast we welcome you all just the same and we're all worshiping together this morning and if you are a guest here on behalf of First Apostolic church I want to say what an honor it is to have you with us and alongside us as we lift up the name of Jesus I want to reiterate one of the announcements from this morning the fac Women's Service entitled flourish that's next Friday night March 24th and this is going to be just a special time of community and coming together the event is casual so if you're just getting off work and you're just running in here that's perfect come as you are 6 30 there's food there's snacks and it's just going to be a time of connection there's going to be a special guest Ashley Grizzle she's a licensed counselor and she's going to be talking about so many different topics as it pertains to women so schedule your child care your husbands we'll be on Child Care Duty that night it's a perfect opportunity of Outreach so remember that there's invite cards in the lobby so take advantage of those and it's going to be a special time and I want to welcome my mother-in-law Angela Gardner here this morning let's give her a great big hand I love her so much she is the absolute best if you have your Bibles this morning or just tune into the screen maybe it's your phone your iPad whatever whatever the case may be Gospel of John chapter 16 verse 33. and just one verse of scripture to start out with this morning John 16 33 it states these things I have spoken unto you that in me he might have peace peace in the world even though ye shall have tribulation but be of good cheer I have overcome the world I want to speak to you for a few moments this morning on the title the proof is in the pain the proof is in the pain would you help me pray this morning mighty God we thank you Lord we thank you for the outpouring of your spirit here in this place Lord you know every need that is in the house you know all of the details you know the incomprehensible circumstances and the burdens that are being carried father I ask for your hand of Peace your hand of comfort to be with them today to know that by the end of this day that we can have your peace that passes all understanding and a comfort from your spirit in Jesus name we pray amen the proof is in the pain the Christian can expect trials and difficulties circumstances which may cause great consternation in the hearts of some the Christian life is not as some suppose in our modern day contemporary Christianity uh interpretation the gospel of Matthew calls the kingdom of heaven says those will suffer violence the Apostle Paul refers to it as a race where one must have endurance and focus and discipline in the apostles letter to Timothy he even referred to it as a war we must not fall into the sinking sand type of mentality where we become under the illusion that in order to effectively minister or to somehow gauge the level of favor that God has placed on my life or to find contentment for that matter that I find myself almost in a Covetous type State an ungrateful to a certain extent where I say if only this would take place then I could truly accomplish this or be where God has called me to be if I could only have more money than I could truly be happy if I only did not have this problem on my job then I could truly be victorious if I could only receive this break then I could truly step into the realm that God has called for me and I could truly you know worship without any restraint these Whimsical desires to remove circumstances do not lead to Victorious Christian Living rather learning to trust in the all-sufficient grace of God is what leads to True theological sound Doctrine Victory instead of worshiping and trusting regardless of our circumstances whether we're on top of the mountain or find ourself in the valley our relationship and worship can be a result of the current climate in which both extremes can be disastrous for our spiritual life knowing that all circumstances of Life happen to the just and the unjust I remember my Uncle Bob preaching one time this is my grandpa's twin brother and he said God Reigns on the just and the unjust and he said I personally feel so guilty that all of those just people have to endure the same suffering that I do but ideal circumstances are not the antidote or the answer in the English language we have words such as Paradise Utopia Camelot places in Humanity's dreams which promise a tranquil Carefree environment to their inhabitants it's such an environment crucial to Our Success the question I pose or must a Christian have a Serene environment with no troubles to truly be viewed as blessed we are given numerous incidents in scripture which tend to nullify the thought that a life of Victory is dependent upon certain and such circumstances in fact there are often times in direct contrast for Lucifer himself for light bearer was the name ascribed to the devil in the days prior to his fall from Heaven the scriptures describing him certainly until that he lived an idyllic circumstances full of Beauty full of wisdom clothed in precious stones and the ability to play Beautiful music he was given the privilege of the covering and the guarding of the presence of the most high I would say that is an ideal environment but wickedness was found in him his pride and Rebellion resulted in him falling from Heaven though living in the presence of God living as an anointed chair of living in the ideal circumstance he was still cast out I deal circumstance chances can sometimes oftentimes be the most difficult condition for the Christian to serve God in Pride sometimes arises when a person's circumstances are so close to Ideal or blessings can be the very vehicle that we find ourselves in that drive us away from his presence when situations are at their best hearts are often turned from God to Pride somehow we begin to think that it is through us through the labor of our own hands through the talents that God has given us is why we are able to achieve our just reward Carrie nywolf author said the most difficult test of character is not failure it's success here's why it's pretty easy to Humble when you're falling it's just far too easy to take all the credit when things are going so well pride and accomplishments pride in talents and pride and skills can lead us into a way excuse me from a dependency on God Moses warned the people of Israel concerning the danger of forgetting the source of their provision once they entered the promised land it is in the calm sea that a novice Captain sometimes becomes overconfident of his ability to Pilot and steer the ship Adam failure in the midst of a near perfect environment made in the image of God given a companion all of the advantages of a tropical all-inclusive resort I suppose living in the most ideal circumstances but their lack of contentment caused them to inch toward eventually disobeying the one command that God had given them King Ahab King Ahab desired one small Vineyard that was refused by him by naboth and this desire even though he had vast amounts of land large Vineyards that he could never even consume in one lifetime or several lifetimes he wanted the one thing that was not available to him and for this reason murder arose from his passion for the vineyard King David the Bible says in a time when men when kings go to war he said I'll send the troops and I'll kick back you know in the kingdom and this idleness this blessing of a false peace to a certain extent led him to conspiring to take a man's wife and then have him murdered Judas one of the original 12 disciples who was picked and had conversations and with the Messiah with God wrapped in flesh saw Miracles firsthand yet sold him out for a financial gain and we know the story of the disciples right after the the Last Supper The Last Supper in the garden of the Gethsemane Jesus asked them to pray for an hour and they fell asleep not once but twice and then Jesus was captured they had been with Jesus so much such an ideal circumstance that his words no longer called them into action they were they were already so blessed pastor Jerry Dean where my mother-in-law is out of the church and my wife Kelly as well he preaches a sermon and he he he he went through all of the places that he had traveled and and been able to minister to and he said the one conclusion that I came to is the people that have the least praise God the most and I'll tell you why he was preaching that you know those inflatable um uh deals that are in front of uh different businesses sometimes to get your attention and they flat back and forth he had this set up like a 15-foot one behind him and he called him Judah for praise and every time the people weren't praising he would turn that thing on and start preaching to it just to to get the point across that sometimes our comfortability and sometimes the vast amounts of blessings can be the very prohibitor to keep us from worshiping us who hear the greatest of singing and the greatest of playing and the greatest of preaching most of the time maybe not this morning but we can have so much stuff and we can misinterpret what blessings are and we can fall into this trap where the people that have the least are closest to God and the people that that are that are that seemingly have the the least in this world praise God more than we do clearly ideal situations are not Necessities for victorious Christian Living in fact it seems that in struggles Christians often Thrive and it is through the struggle that we grow in Christ a man was watching a cocoon shaking violently as the butterfly inside tried to escape it appeared to the man that the butterfly was in trouble and would not be able to get out so he cut open the Cocoon and extracted the fledgling butterfly yet the butterfly never flew its wings were not developed enough to support its weight and by helping this insect the man had done much more harm for it was the struggle of escaping that the butterfly gained the needed strength to soar heavenward we often misinterpret our material accumulation of stuff or our utopian blessings the easy life as God's hand of transforming power and think that the seasons of difficulty are a lack of God's favor on our lives this is really a carnal and shallow interpretation of God's Divine Purpose and really the seasons of difficulty are the proof that God is truly doing a work on us and through us and we can fall into the same vain philosophy and the same bad theology as the disciples when they asked master who did Sin was it this man or his parents that he was born blind Jesus answered neither hath this man's sinned nor his parents and just in my interpretation of it I think Jesus gave them a very blunt rebuke but he said but by the works of God should be manifest in him and we can ask ourself how did I get myself in this very contentious situation or Lord why am I being asked to carry this burden why why are you giving me this responsibility and we need to win remember those words of Christ that the works of God be manifest through you well now who did something wrong that that this much happened that's bad theology that that things happen in this life that God Works through them that God be manifest God is shaping God is making God is transforming in the stress and the pain and the press that you feel is proof that God is up to something our vain interpretation of blessings May mean that we've thrown our spiritual walk into neutral and the enemy claims Victory when we're Spectators instead of participators when all hell breaks loose it may mean that you are stirring some things up and that God is shaping and that God is forming to prepare you for battle author Samuel Chand and I would encourage everyone to grab this book it's entitled leadership pain he asked the question do you want to be a better leader then you must raise the threshold of your pain do you want your church to grow do you want your business to reach Higher Goals do you want to be better parents do you want to be a better employee reluctance to face pain is your greatest limitation there is no growth without change there's no change without loss and no loss without pain he says bottom line if you're not hurting you're not leading if you're not hurting you're not progressing Chan gives principles and practices that make our pain a means of fulfilling God's Divine purposes for our Church's communities and us he makes a very powerful statement he says the greater the level the greater the devil Joseph had a dream of excelling above his brothers and becoming someone great his dream however was realized that it was going to come at a tremendous cost Joseph live can be categorized by three different coats the first coat we know that his father gave to him and not met be our vain interpretation of blessing and favor on his life for that was the thing that made him stand out and cause his brother's jealousy and this caused him to be thrown into a pit by his own family but he still continued to dream and then he worked his way up still trusting in God to Potiphar's house and Potiphar's wife made an improper Advance on him and made unjust claims against him when he denied her and grabbed his coat from him Bishop I've often heard him say that Joseph in that situation lost his coat but he kept his integrity and he kept his dream alive this time he was thrown into a prison but the third time Joseph received a coat he continued to trust in God he continued to dream he continued to serve others around you he was elevated to second in command and the most powerful Empire of that time by a pagan King who claimed to be God himself and this time the coat he received was one fine linen and one that gave him Authority there was eventually a transfer of authority that was eventually a great deal of responsibility given to him if he was able to handle the pain that came with it in order to effectively lead in order to fulfill God's calling one must have a threshold of pain and the proof is in the pain not in the Whimsical Utopia of a shallow interpretation of God's blessings and favor God told Jeremiah if you want to really understand how I operate and how I work to go down to The Potter's House and there will I cause thee to hear my words there are three major elements involved when Jeremiah went to The Potter's House there was first the Potter that was second the will and there was third the clay the Potter the purpose of this Workshop was the manufacturing of vessels and the key to the entire operation was the Potter no vessel in that Workshop had made itself nor had the will they were all molded and took their shape under the hand of the master artisan and there lies the clay a shapeless Mass with no hidden power to form itself no dormant possibility to generate change no secret principle of evolution to work it into something orderly but it was the hand of the Potter the hand of God that molds the life and it was not a comfortable process the second element in the parable of The Potter's House with the will the instrument which God uses to shape the will of his Providence the will is an indispensable Implement in the craft of the Potter so life itself is the will in which God Fashions us into vessels the circular motion on the potter's wheel is an apt symbol for Life The Circle of Life don't sing that for altar please or maybe we could have a really good altar call but the rotating motion is the evidence all around us day following night spring following winter the Earth not only rotates on its axis but it revolves around the Sun and orbits in the galaxy but how ruthless the will of life seems to deal with us yet without it the clay remains shapeless yet without it the clay remains imperfect yet without it the clay has no definitive shape but the hand of the Potter gives it form and the spinning of the will gives it symmetry how fast the will of time spins but we are not flung away because not only are we shaped we are also stayed by the hand of the Potter and through the Mad pace of the sequence of the seasons we come to realize that these forces are not destroying us but only changing us and out of the midst of the chaos and out of the indefinite as the master Potter gets to work up from the whirling Center they're slowly emerges a vessel growing into a definitive shape Moment by moment and the clay probably the most difficult of elements is you and I trusting in Him when it's seemingly utter chaos and disarray all around us But please understand my heart this morning I don't want to come across as from a tone of this is what you should do and if if I were you you need to just you to get over it and pick no no no no Jesus didn't get over it he carried it and he was the victory for us so I want us to unders my goal this morning is for us not to fall into the false Theology and the the really bad interpretation that somehow some vain depiction of blessings is God's hand of favor on our life because in fact it's the moments of trial and it's it's the moments of uncertainty when God's Saints are faithful are the times that he moves and shapes us and makes us what we are the most Jeremiah 18 4 said so he made it again another vessel as seemed good to the Potter to make it notice that the Potter here was not repairing a faulty vessel but he made something brand new the clay was needed and shapeless and brand new vessel was formed and the pressing of the wheel and the molding by the hands was the proof in the pain that God was continuing to work as mentioned earlier the events in the Garden of Gethsemane olives had to be crushed and pressed In The Garden of Gethsemane its literal interpretation means the place of the press it's no accident that these were the final moments where Jesus would be captured for his crucifixion and though the enemy thought they were defeating and crushing Jesus though they they thought they were just depleting everything that he had established it was the beginning of Triumph and it was the true beginning of victory in this life they thought they were crushing Jesus and they sarcastically called him the king of the Jews and no doubt asked him where are all your disciples now whereas all those guys that were sitting with you at the Last Supper saying they were going to die with you saying they would never betray you all alone thought they were crushing him but out of that crushing out of that crucifixion what was really taking place is there was an extraction beginning to happen oil is a very sacred ointment it's used for healing it's used for anointing it's used for nourishment it's used for preservation and this was the place or that extraction began to take place and there was a crimson river that began to flow and every wound was an ointment for our sin every bruise was a remedy and Faith for us that I can trust in him and go one more day and to know that he is working and moving in my life he was the Messiah the anointed one out of this suffering would be poured out a desired result his Spirit would be poured out and be continued to be poured out until this day till we are with him forevermore each and every single person under the sound of my voice has pressures and has stress in your life some today carry burdens and weights that are all but too heavy to handle you may feel the pain of having a a coat if you will ripped away from you a certain level of control that you had in your life it's just stolen away from you and maybe even multiple times or maybe you have felt and are currently feeling the pain of the Will from The Potter's House maybe you're feeling the pain from the Press it seems the weight of your work or maybe your friends or maybe a familial relationship is ever more just weighing down on your back and weighing down on your mind but let this wait let this pressure this pain I I ask you this morning Let It Be proof that a Divine anointing is going to flow out of it let it let it be proof this morning that because I'm enduring these things because I I am living in this situation that that is the true sign that God has handled my life that God is shaping that God is forming people can find themselves in unimaginable circumstances and if the praise team would make their way forward after this time where you're enduring suffering pain affliction it could be physical or mental health mental pain maybe there's a financial pressure that weighs heavily on your family this morning maybe you're a parent or maybe you're a guardian who you're doing every single thing you can to maybe step into a situation and and provide a family member help or provide someone else with a need and all of these pressures of life just kind of all way down on you at the same time you're balancing your work life for your family life your church life maybe a situation a storm just came out of nowhere with all of those things just accumulated together maybe you're a high school student maybe you're in college a young adult in your career and you you go to school you go to work and you publicly live out your faith and you live it out with peace and love and maybe maybe you're the only one in your family maybe you're a young person I had the privilege of you know on Sunday morning if it was you know time to get up I didn't really have an option whether I was going to sleep in or not the the lights would come on and it's time to get up and go to church and I and I thank God for that but I know there are some young people even under the sound of my voice where you set your alarm clock and it was your decision that you made it here today and you might be the only one here in your family I applaud you this morning maybe you work in a very stressful stressful environment that it's difficult for anyone to even identify with and maybe you don't even talk about it much and your soulless is to come into his house and uh yes you you find peace but you you know that tomorrow morning or by the end of the night you're going to find yourself once again and just such devastating circumstances and it weighs on your mind and it weighs on your peace of mind and you you just pour yourself into so many different areas whatever your profession is maybe you're a teacher a builder a contractor balancing all of the work life balancing all of the family life stress is involved but with all of the pressures of the day even when you feel like your mind is in constant assault we can fall into that thinking of God doesn't have his hand on my life God's forgot about me I I don't have his favor and we can look to a false interpretation of what victory truly looks like and as I mentioned earlier we can Define it as the accumulation of stuff or once I get to that tranquil place where I'm I'm in the easy life then that's what equivocates to God truly moving in my life and that is utterly false our pain may look different and you may experience at different points of your life but I believe this morning that whatever stress whatever pain whatever burden you may be carrying that's pressing you down or it's the will and the life I believe that there is an anointing that is able to flow through it we read that they oh whose day that's you all the saints us they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony and they love not their lives unto death your life your testimony your story the anointing that comes out of the things that you are carrying the anointing that flows through some of the situations [Music] that are incomprehensible to me and being completely transparent I don't have the words I try to read the Bible and as I mentioned I I try to interpret it and and preach faith and preach hope but I don't want to be guilty of getting up and just giving you bath Theology and fake cliches but I do believe and and you can have the televangelist and you know I love youth conferences and camp meetings but you can have you you you you'll see these things what's the greatest sermon you've ever heard preached and you'll hear these uh famous names and these famous sermons The Greatest sermons that are ever preached are when his saints of God Faithfully show up to his house and Faithfully serve him and those are the times because I I know some of the circumstances that the people in this house have faced I know some of the things that people in this house carry and those are the times that I need to sit down at my desk and get my notebook out and begin to write that person showed up another Sunday and begin to give God praise that person dealt with this health issue and still began to give God praise this this person had a a family situation and there in a really difficult situation I need to just shut up and just start writing my God what what a sermon I'm seeing lived out this this person worships regardless of the circumstances in their life and that is what true Victory looks like in this day if you would stand with me please understand this morning only one person on this Earth could possibly identify with everything that you experience in his name is Jesus my words will fall short I try to seek acceptable ones but they'll they'll fall short but I just I want to invite you this morning and just believe by faith for for just this morning if I could offer any any ounce of hope that maybe something has been Stripped Away From You by no fault of your own but you've remained faithful and Stripped Away Again by by knowing you've done everything you were supposed to to do and you you you're still having difficulty trying to reconcile while you would have to endure this I don't know but I I believe that God can issue a transfer of power and I believe that God can prepare you to to work and to move in a way that none of us can that the greatest sermon someone ever hears preached is not from behind this Pulpit where they might not ever meet any one of us but through your daily walk and through the testimony of how you remained faithful I believe this morning the life of the will and maybe somebody is experiencing the Will from The Potter this morning it's it's it's uncomfortable it's it's uncertainty it's it's utter chaos but I just believe this morning that right in the midst of that disorder right in the midst of that uncertainty that there's a vessel that just starts to to make its appearance here this morning a vessel that says so so answer to some questions that that start to make sense in our minds is my prayer this morning and lastly maybe you've felt the Press of the oil [Music] I believe through your testimony I believe through your experiences I believe through the the greatest sermon ever preached the testimony of his Saints who faithful to his house whether they're on the mountain whether they're on the valley whether this happens whether that happens I believe this morning that there is an anointing that just flows out of those things that they carry an anointing that flows out of that testimony that they have and those are the times where I need to sit back and just take notes and I believe and others see you worshiping and others see you praising and you're a hero in our lives because I know if they can do it oh I I I can do it another day I know if I I mess up that I can make it cause they made it I know my family can make it because their family make it I know I can make it to Glory one day because us they made it I want to open up this altar to you this morning just to find peace to find Comfort at whatever stage in life you may be living in whether it's the transition of power maybe it's the certainty coming from the chaos or maybe you just turn yourself completely over to him this morning and say God I don't know how but some way somehow there's going to be an anointing that just flows out of this and you're going to get to heaven one day and somebody is only going to make it because of your testimony through the things that you carried in this life are only those going to be able to make it from Heaven it wasn't a message behind this pulkit but it was your faithfulness to his house it was you praising his name regardless of what was taken place around you I believe that this morning yes Jesus [Music] falls upon fail cause the Gunner sir knows only how to try it [Music] my God [Music] oh my God will never fail so I'm gonna see a victory I'm gonna see a victory for the battlefield [Music] thank you for your testimony thank you foreign [Music] [Music] your life is the proof that God your life is the proof that God is working [Music] [Music] foreign [Applause] I never know right away all right please [Applause] foreign [Music] memories [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] Belong To You Lord [Music] in Scripture one of the most dreaded diseases that's ever mentioned is the disease of leprosy if you study its history one of the major symptoms of leprosy is one loses the ability to feel pain [Music] consequently when you can't feel pain you don't know when you're injured [Music] and healing can't take place many who suffered from leprosy would have ghastly injuries that they did not even know how it happened because they couldn't feel pain some of the most dangerous Criminal Minds that have ever been is because of a problem psychologically that they have no emotional ability to feel pain and empathy oh God help me to take the pain that I've experienced it and turn it to Victory let me be able to feel let me be able to feel so that I may repent so that I may feel for others that I may endure the pain and suffering to realize that there's Victory ahead because Christ is with us