Pastor Brad DeLong - Be The Church

i said it on sunday night but i will say again it is such an honor and privilege to be a part of god's church to be a part of this apc family and i thank the lord for the opportunity to serve you all and to serve in our city and in our field and i use that word serve on purpose this evening because that's what ministry truly is serving the lord serving the people he has placed around us that's what we've all been called to do and i'm grateful i get to do that here my home church the church where i was raised i love this church i love each and every one of you and i love the god that we get to serve together and i also recognize that apc is and always will be his church it's his church he is the great shepherd he's going to lead his church as he always has he's going to order and direct our steps as he has for the past 86 years and beyond tonight i thank god that the same spirit who has led us since 1935 will continue to lead us in 2021 and beyond the same spirit who led brother brandon brother black brother green and pastor willaford

is leading apc into its future and into the destiny that god is playing for us both carefully and collectively and if i have any confidence tonight in my part in that future it is because of his spirit who i'm trying to follow because of the call of god that i feel on my heart these are the true sources for my certainty tonight for the passion i feel the direction i follow and for the vision for apc that i see and desire to share on this wednesday night that vision stems directly from the following sources the word of god the spirit of god the vision of my pastor in the dna of god's church here at apostolic pentecostal church considering all these things i want us to turn to the book of john chapter 4 and verse 34 and you can be remain seated we'll read through this in just a moment but jesus has just met with samaritan woman at the well he's explaining to his disciples why he feels so fulfilled and so nourished at the time he says my nourishment comes from doing the will of god who sent me from finishing his work everyone say his

work you know the saying four months between planting and harvest but i say wake up and look around the fields are already ripe for harvest the harvest harvesters are paid good wages and the fruit they harvest is people brought to eternal life what joy awaits both the planter and the harvester alike you know the same one plants in another harvest and it's true i sent you to harvest where you didn't plant others had already done the work and now you will get to gather the harvest he says along with john 4 i reiterate a scripture it's been a theme the last several weeks from philippians 1 and 6 paul emphasizes to the church being confident this very thing that he who has begun a good work and you will complete it until the day of jesus christ tonight as jesus mentioned to his disciples we have god's work that needs to be finished the fields are white and ripe for harvest from generations of planting done by the people of god and specifically by generations of faithful apc members since the inception of our church god has continued to

use apostolic pentecostal church to sow into the field to send laborers to plant seeds to gather the harvest and now true to his word in our dna as a church i feel a call to lift our eyes again to the fields to our field to the vision our pastor has cast and to the people and the city god has called us to reach knowing this that the god who started the work in the first place at 11th and hickory in the year of 1935 will lead his church 86 years later and complete the work until the day of jesus christ he started something then and he will use us to finish that work until the day of his return which we believe is coming soon that alone makes what we're discussing here tonight so critical and important as we look to the field and seek to be god's church fulfill our role in his kingdom that in mind i want to present to you tonight a familiar thought entitled very simple you probably will recognize it i want to speak to you tonight be the church be the church we're going to be the church we're going to be his church and we're going to be

the apostolic pentecostal church he has called us to be i need you to help me pray tonight i need the lord's help we need the lord's help to be his church would you lift your voices with me church and ask for god's help and direction lord we thank you jesus for the vision that's been cast by our leader and our pastor lord and i thank you jesus for the calling that's rested on your church apostolic pentecostal church we feel it we have felt it in recent days and weeks as you have prepared us for our future and for what you have called us to do we're asking for your help tonight order and direct our steps give us fresh vision give us a burden and a calling lord to do and to be who you've called us to be we're asking for your help and anointing tonight and we thank you for the outcome and everything that will come of apostolic pentecostal church we thank you in advance lord for who we're going to be and what you're going to do through us can we clap our hands and thank him oh we worship you jesus thank you for your word and direction

thank you for your church which is victorious we love you we praise you jesus amen amen i spoke with a friend a mentor of mine recently and in a roundabout way he was encouraging me concerning the future of apc he jokingly said something though that just rattled me for a moment knowing my demeanor and my my tenor especially in that moment he asked me said so you feel a calling to help lead and shepherd a legacy church that has existed for over 80 years with pastors like brother branning brother black and brother williford i sheepishly said yes and he followed that question with just a quick jab he knew what he was doing he said okay no pressure thankfully he offered spiritual advice to alleviate that pressure but he painted a brief picture of the legacy that apc has and continues to carry one that brother d.j hill reiterated at our youth week several weeks ago when he reminded us who we really are as a church of course we have no right to pride and we have no right to self-acclaim this is god's church and he alone has sustained us

anything we are anything we do for the kingdom is only by his spirit and by his power we know and we understand that but brother hill and others have simply reminded us and celebrated the fact that not only has god used this church in times past and in our history but he's also continuing to use apc in the present and he will do so in the future as well not only do we have a rich history and legacy but god is presently using us to reach beyond our walls and even beyond our state in our region into the harvest field around us and whether we realize it or not we are cemented in god's past present and even future plans for our city our district our region and beyond so tonight i celebrate the fact that apostolic pentecostal church of saint louis has been used by god to sow into the harvest around us and continually reap that harvest i celebrate the legacy that's been left for us by our elders our pastors and by the help of the holy spirit i rejoice over the church history and the rich history and past leadership which have shown us how

to be the church and tonight in doing all of that i also highlight the path they have laid for us in 2021 as well i thank god for the legacy of apc but i also recognize that our legacy has a built-in road map to our future as well we are still apostolic pentecostal church we are still the body of christ we are still laborers called to reach a harvest we are still disciple makers commissioned to reach the loss and proclaim the praises of him who has called us out of darkness into his marvelous light and just like our elders in the church at 11th and hickory we are still built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets jesus christ himself being the chief cornerstone in whom the whole building being fitted together grows into a holy temple in the lord in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of god and the spirit we are the same church with the same foundation the same doctrine the same life-changing gospel and the same calling and commission to be the church god has called us to be we have a well-worn legacy

at apostolic pentecostal church but i thank god that our legacy is not a hook for us to hang our hats on neither is it a stopping place for us to rest on our laurels and past accomplishments instead it is a road map and a commission for us to continue to be who we have always been to be the church that commission is built in and inherent in our legacy and our history at apc a legacy i i want to spend a few moments telling you about and i do that in order to showcase the dna of apc and also provide clarity for who we will continue to be i've heard it said before you cannot know where you're going until you know where you've been kind of sounds like something i'd read on a mug at hobby lobby but i think it's fitting for tonight so i'll use it a couple years ago i did a little research on where we've been as a church in a modern pentecostal movements class at ocean college i wrote a paper on our founding pastor brother braining i was just struck by what i discovered about him and his leadership as recently as tonight our pastor pastor

wilfred has directed us to have a soul consciousness to be mindful of people around us especially in light of eternity and in doing so he has walked on a well-worn path it's been laid out by both our founding pastor by brother black and by pastor williford himself as well as many of you know the lord miraculously led by the branding to apc which was a small group of believers at the time brother reaver said that there may have been around 30 or so members at that mission when he came they started our church officially in 1935 and just one year later in 1936 over 75 people received the gift of the holy ghost that year at least one person every single week of that year they effectively if they retained all those people tripled in size in one year they quickly outgrew that space moved to purchase a new place at 13th and gravoy and thankfully that new environment didn't slow their growth but instead that soul consciousness drove them to reach as many people as they could in the south st louis area but it wasn't limited to that area alone

our legacy doesn't stop there see my research i discovered apc under brother branning was directly responsible for at least 22 church plants throughout the region and even throughout the world that's not to mention the 80 plus churches for their branding and our subsequent pastors helped to establish in missouri these include churches like the sanctuary the life church in kansas city the church in bonterre peace tabernacle tpc in memphis lighthouse in pacific first upc in mexico missouri all either daughter works of apc or pastored by men and women from apc but tim brady told me a while ago that brother branning was one of the ones who reached out and empowered brother rome and helped him start a church in bridgton missouri called new life st louis i was told this week that elder brother thornton who pastored the great church in lebanon missouri felt called to start that church at a service in which brother branning was preaching brother park he told me that cornerstone and popular bluff another great church in our district was

started because of brother branding's influence and leadership he then followed it up by telling me he said brad there is destiny on that church he said there is destiny on apostolic pentecostal church tonight i believe that with all my heart and i thank god for the legacy we have at apc one that continues to compel us and commission us as we walk into the future together and that legacy all started with the soul consciousness that's been carried by each of our pastors including our current pastor pastor willoffer this is just who we are church this is in our dna this is who god has called us to be not only in our past but in our future as well we have a well-worn path and a legacy to follow i want to tell you a little bit more about that legacy i read an article about brother brandon that said he was so desperate to get kids to church he actually fastened a trailer to his car some of you probably heard this in order to fit more people in his car so he could bring them to apc i believe he actually planned to put kids in that trailer

it was a different season in time okay that was the plan until he was driving and the trailer came undone and the article said it ran into a couple cars on the street the archway read said and i quote this was humorous just said he then turned to buses it was a humorous re but it just showcases the soul consciousness the commission the desperation for the loss the call to the harvest that these men carry that's in our dna and most of you know that after that moment for the branding turn to buses and volkswagen vans can you put that picture up sister hollis the famous photo shows that they bought 13 volkswagen vans to use to bring people to church they were laughed at in many ways criticized by some but they had a call to the field and they were bringing in the harvest in whatever way if they possibly could you know this was revolutionary in that day and time people may not have understood why do you go out and buy that many vans and put that investment into something like that they wanted to reach the lost they had a harvest to reap

they wanted to see the lost found and saved they used every method they could in order to seek and save the lost they had a mindset that focused on eternity like our pastor preached several weeks ago in fact in my personal email signature it reflects that mindset it's taken directly from a one of brother branding's famous lines he said only one life will soon be passed only what's done for christ will last he said that and he lived it and in doing so he laid a road map and a well-worn path for the rest of us to fall and thankfully that's what we've continued to do brother brandon's son and the gospel our current pastor have both had the same mindset as we've looked to the fields with eternity in my i remember my dad tell me about brother black that when he was giving his altar appeal after preaching my dad was a young man listen to him preach he said often times he would be so broken and would almost plead to those listening for them to respond to the word of god and to the gospel he was desperate to see the lost saved pastor told me

recently he had a great gift to pray people through the holy ghost and under his leadership we saw hundreds and thousands of children bust into our sunday school classes he himself went and helped establish the life church in kansas city a church that continues to have the soul consciousness he carried with him he left a legacy there and he left one here for us to follow tonight i thank god he was followed by a man and a pastor like pastor williford who has the same soul consciousness just a couple weeks ago i witnessed our pastor helping a lady who has been chronically broken for many years and i saw firsthand the care and the concern he has for souls and for the loss under his leadership and with the help of the holy ghost lives have been changed churches have been planted our entire district and region have been affected and strengthened by his care and concern for souls i remember pastor got back from washington state earlier this year and after all he's given to apc and and given to god over the past 40 years plus i listen to him

talk about our field and talk about the burden he has for st louis and for our community i'm telling you tonight this is in our dna this is our legacy church this is our history this is who we are this is who we're going to continue to be this is who god has called us to be this is our identity this is our future one that we are stepping into in this season being confident of this very thing that he who has begun a good work and you will complete it until the day of jesus christ the same god who started to work at 11th in hickory in 1935 is gonna finish his work through apc in 2021 as we continue to be the church he has called us to be this is who we are this is who we've been this is who we're going to be we're going to be the church there is indeed destiny on apostolic pentecostal church and it's a destiny that was decided a long time ago when god started his church in 1935 it was further ingrained and cemented through the faithfulness and the sacrifice and the prayer of our elders elders like sister aretha davidson precious men and

women of god and truthfully i think often about the prayers they prayed over our city and the promises they receive concerning our field i had a minister come to me recently he told me he said brad there are roots of revival at apc and promises we have yet to see fulfilled promises received because of our elders and our predecessors who knows tonight what god promised our elders that we've yet to see who knows tonight the amount of prayers our churches pray for the lost like we did on monday to and other times who knows the amount of promises that we've received have yet to be fulfilled concerning lost loved ones and prodigals in the harvest in many ways our elders and our predecessors have been like the heroes of faith in hebrews 11 verse 13 these all died in faith not having received the promises but having seen them afar off were assured of them embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth there are prayers they pray and promises they received for which they never saw the answer but they were

confident that the god who started the work in them would complete it even if it was over 86 years later they were confident this field and this harvest would be reaped they were sure this city in this region that they poured their prayers their time and their treasure into would be reached they were certain their collective prayers which i believe still stand as a memorial before god would be heard and answered even if they never got to see it themselves or with their own eyes so there is undeniable destiny on this church there are promises to see fulfilled there is a harvest to be gathered there's work to complete there's a city to reach there are souls to seek and to save there are prodigals that we're going to receive back home there's a path to be followed there's a commission to be obeyed there's a call to be the church that we have always pinned and there is a command to look up a pc for the fields are right for harvest jesus as i sent you to the harvest where you didn't plant others had already done the work and now you'll get

to gather the harvest he says matthew 9 37 he says to his disciples the harvest truly is plentiful but the laborers are few therefore pray the lord of the harvest would send out laborers into his harvest we have a destiny and it revolves around the harvest in the field that god has called us to reach in fact just this past week but jason huckabee a man i trust a man who loves this church a man who god has used throughout our fellowship to minister to many churches he came to me at men's conference told me he was praying for his uncle one day for pastor willaford after one of our crude sage services in union missouri a couple years ago driving in his vehicle after that service when he said the lord spoke to him about apc i asked him if i could share what the lord said this is what he told me and brother huckabee had no idea what i'd be talking about tonight he said the lord told him apostolic pentecostal church has been the cistern of the waters of revival for this entire region that's been our past and our legacy but the hub can be

told me that if we had a map of every daughter work of apc and granddaughter work of apc it would blow our minds it's been the cistern of the waters of revival for this entire region but then he told me the rest of what the lord said now the waters of revival from apc are going to open up again and flow again throughout the entire region i'm here to tell you there is destiny on this church god's church there is a commission for this family there is a call to harvest and to revival there is a divine destiny for apostolic pentecostal church so look up he says for the field is right for harvest and there is work god's work to beat and there are promises to see fulfilled there are disciples to be made there are bible studies to be taught there are small groups to start there are churches to plan and there is a destiny to see fulfilled one that god has started and one that he most certainly will finish there is a city our city our field our community to reach and i believe wholeheartedly that our calling our commission and our destiny as a

church directly affects that of our city in our field who we are what we do as a church affects the outcome and the potential destiny of our field and our city you know the captors in babylon were instructed in jeremiah 29 7 seek the peace of the city who have caused you to be carried away captain pray to the lord for it for in its peace you will have peace they were instructed to pray to seek peace to build some houses plant some fields to build some things in their city to get to work in the field in which the lord had placed them captive or not it was no accident they were in that field and in that city that they were in and the destiny of their city was intertwined with the destiny of the people of god and their response to god's call and his command tonight i'll give the disclaimer i recognize we cannot control the outcome and the destiny of saint louis and our surrounding areas i know individuals have to make their own decisions and that our destiny ultimately is heaven itself but i cannot shake the call and the responsibility

we have to our field and to do everything we can to help change the eternal destiny of the broken and lost people around us as we heard our pastor mentioned several weeks ago he said many have a reservation with judgment we want to help them cancel that reservation and to make a reservation for redemption and said so what i'm saying tonight is that we have a calling to the field to our city one that i feel very heavily in my spirit one that i've felt for quite some time and one that i'm trying to communicate tonight as we seek to be the church and that call to be the church simply cannot be separated from the call to be laborers in the harvest the two are indivisible and inseparable and that's why i feel the lord simply helping us to lift our eyes to the field look up apc look up again lift your eyes in order to look to pray to and get into the harvest like we always have as a church family fulfill our mission and vision as a church which is to seek serve and save in st louis and beyond this is the vision our pastor has cast this is

the vision i feel to reiterate and to drive home during this time and hour of change and transition and i know that during this season that some things may change but i thank god that who we are and what we believe and how we respond to the call of god they will not change we are going to continue to be the church carry the baton and commission has been passed to us by our elders and our predecessors and on a personal level tonight i feel a direct responsibility because of that legacy that destiny and that commission i mentioned it briefly in the night of pastor's announcement as a teenager in the youth group i began to feel the call of god in my life and you have to pardon the personal reference tonight but i want to give context to the vision that i see and i'm tempting to cast for apc one that i feel reinforces the vision of our pasture as well as the dna of our church i was 16 years old i was sitting right where justin's sitting but the miller was preaching about hearing the voice of god i had never heard god's voice before about

my head and i listened three words came to my mind reach my people reach my people those words stuck with me every time i pray over the next six months and beyond those words kept coming to my mind reach my people fast forward three years later 19 we're on a missions trip to greece we had a time of devotion at lydia's creek in greece it's the place where the first person was baptized in the continent of europe we're there having a devotion in that moment i felt the lord speak to me the word just said pastor a friend of mine leaned over and he said hey man i feel like the lord just gave me a word for you i don't know if this means anything to you but he just gave me the word pastor does that mean anything to you i had no idea what that would mean thank god i'm realizing it now several days later we visited paul's altar in thessalonica and this is the place where paul is said to have come to pray over the city at the altar there was the painting of the man from macedonia who called for paul to come to macedonia in acts 16-9 his words

were simply come over to macedonia and help us those words resonated with me then and they do all the more today i've shared this before i don't know how broadly i have but when i got home from that trip no less than a week but when i felt a specific call to pasture i went to go see mariah in south st louis i was feeling a burden and a stirring for souls in our city i drove through the downtown area on my way home and i prayed over the city while i was driving past the arch i looked to my left down one of those city streets and all at once i could see a vision of a man looked like the man from macedonia on that inscription i could not see his face but i heard him yell out to me help us help us help us it's 10 years later and i cannot unhear that knowing what i want to around the same time that brother court chavis was driving our pastor's car in our city heading to headquarters to meet with north american missions they wanted him to write a song for general conference in st louis and i'm thinking he heard a similar cry that day he

titled the song help me which i believe echoes the cry of our city the cry of our field there is most certainly a cry of desperation from our field and one that i believe god is hearing one that he's responding to by calling us to wake up lift up your eyes to the field for they already white with harvest pray the lord of the harvest would send laborers seek the peace of the city pray the lord for it for in its peace you will have peace go therefore make disciples of all the nations baptizing them in the name of the father and the son of the holy spirit teaching them to observe all things that i have commanded you this is more than just a personal calling and commission but i believe it is universal at the same time specific to apc tonight look up pray plan plant seek save harvest be the church god has called us to be one that sends laborers into the field that responds to the cry of desperation that is so obviously emanating from our city to this day i mentioned that cry stirs me and that's why i felt compelled to echo the lord's call

to the church tonight look up lift your eyes look beyond your own patch of ground and the ground that's beneath your feet look up to the fields and be the church you have always been and the one that i've called you to be look up to the field this is the collective and universal call that we share tonight and i thank god i'm not the only one who's responding to it and hearing it in recent weeks leading up to this i've had texts and phone calls that echo both the cry of the lost and the call of god to reach those who are lost [name redacted] wasn't able to be here tonight but she's been ministering to a young lady at her school she said they began to talk about the things of god and that young lady looked at [name redacted] and she said you know i just need to get back to jesus how many people are right there how many bruce clitheros is god stirring remember bruce saying he just felt like i got to get back to him i got to get to him this young lady broken in her school and the way i was all to put those words and speak those words i've got to get

back to jesus [name redacted] started a bible reading playing on an app with some friends she told me a couple days ago she said that young lady has read her bible every day she checks it on that app she's seeking after god look up the field is white kendall told me as a young lady at work asking about the gifts of the spirit wanting to know about speaking in tongues kaelin had a dental hygienist just so happened to talk about the holy ghost and the hygienist said you know i spoke in tongues once said it was awesome but she hasn't since there's hunger other apc members have shared testimonies recently of people coming to them unsolicited with questions about the bible about god about the supernatural we're called to go into the highways and byways and compel them to come but we don't have to go far they're right here my wife told me a story this week she's been praying over a classroom praying over each desk in the morning before the kids come in young lady walked in you wouldn't believe what some of these kids deal with their native speaker

class that had kids kidnapped overseas before and they make their way to saint louis and they're just trying to find their way this young lady walked up to ryan she said i love coming into your class i feel a peace here there's such a peace in this room look up look up they're right there our schools need us to be the church our young people met last week it's hard to talk about and strategize about p7 bible clubs and cmi chapters in their schools and colleges garrett told me they had at least 10 young people stick around for that meeting which is just another indication there's a call of god in their lives and a cry for help from their schools in their fields lastly before i have you stan i got a call from lolo this past week told me they got a co-worker named patrick that they've been working on at the shop at easy die he had an interest in the hunger for the things of god and he said he had been to church previously but he couldn't remember what it was what the name of his was or where it was aaron wright by happenstance gave them

a ride home a couple days ago they drove past 13th and gravoy and the man pointed at the building he said that's where i went to church they gave me a bible there after 13 weeks of attendance sounds like us said a man named dan a man named john used to pick me up and take me there he who has begun a good work in you we'll complete it until the day of jesus christ apc we've got work to do and god's going to help us do it we've got promises to see fulfilled we've got prophecies that we've yet to see fulfilled there is a call to the field to the heart there's a cry and a hunger to get back to jesus there's a commission to be who we are tonight to be the church to allow god to finish in 2021 and beyond what he started 11th in hickory in 1935. there are promises we've yet to see fulfilled prodigals that have yet to come home and i believe there are some patrick's out there who have a seed planted by generations past and god is calling for us to harvest there is a call to be the church tonight and i feel the holy presence of god