Stuck Between Chapters | Associate Pastor Chad Erickson

Open your Bibles with me to Acts 7 and verse number 22. I want to preach in your hearing. Begin in the book of Acts. Such a great great book to begin in. And while you're looking uh for that scripture, uh I want to give honor to Pastor Carpenter. I talked to him. Uh Sister Carpenter, I I spoke to him on the way to Cleveland and thank the Lord he was an hour he was still an hour out. He said, "I'm going to preach the sixth anniversary of the Fallon." I said, "Bishop, I don't think it's the sixth anniversary." And he said, "Well, I've got an hour to change my message." He called me at a really good time. called me at a good time and he said, he said, "Oh my," he said, "Six, that's a number of man I've got to start." Woo! Seven, I got to go beyond the number of man. I got to work with this one. Give him honor today. Give first lady honor. Amen. Uh give my mom and dad honor. They're here this morning and they usually view our services online. They they attend the Seville campus. Uh but they're also our our uh treasure here at the church at First Apostolic Mville. and they have after service uh this morning, this evening and again on Wednesday night um they will have our giving reports and um every family uh if you gave and I know you did offerings tithe uh throughout the year uh they'll have an envelope with your name on it. Um there'll be some tables in this back the lobby side over here. Uh if you want to exit through there and pick that up from them, they'll be very appreciative. Um, last I knew they had two or three boxes filled with envelopes. And that just that's a sign of a giving church. That's a that's a beautiful thing. It's a lot of work. I think it took them about about 15 hours to stuff all those envelopes. But that's a great sign of a giving church. And I'm so thankful to be a part of a giving church. Amen. >> Amen. Acts 7 verse 22. This is uh Stephen. He's uh he's standing before the Sanhedrin and he is giving a recount of the history of Israel. And he says this, "And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was mighty in words and in deeds. And when he was fully 40 years old, I like that right there. He was fully full 40 years old. It came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. And just for time's sake, uh I I believe you probably know the story. He leaves Pharaoh's palace where he's been raised for 40 years. He steps across the tracks, if you will, and walks into the Hebrew land, and he discovers an Egyptian beating a Hebrew. And the Bible says that he looked one way then the other and and he thought nobody was watching and so he went in and defended the Hebrew, killed the Egyptian and buried the Egyptian in the sand. However, story goes that there was at least one person that saw that happen and apparently that Hebrew went and told his his brothers and his friends and it didn't turn out well and of course Pharaoh found out about it and and so Moses has to flee. In verse 29 says, "Then fled Moses at the same and was a stranger in the land of Maiden where he begat two sons." And then two sons in 40 years is is not a whole lot of that day. Verse 30. And when 40 years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of Mount Si an angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in a bush. when 40 years, did you see that? When 40 years had expired, he finally received his calling of God. And I'm going to read about it to you here in just a few minutes out of the book of Exodus. But the life of Moses begins in chapter 2. He's at the age of 40. And by the end of the chapter, it just gives us one verse in chapter 3 that concludes a whole another 40 years of his life. There isn't even one scripture that even specifically gives details about his life. Just one scripture in chapter 30 that concludes 40 years. This man is 80 years old. And I've come to preach on this topic today. Stuck between chapters. Stuck between between chapters. the the in between place where the last chapter slams shut, maybe with pain, maybe with confusion, maybe just with silence. I I don't know. And the next chapter hasn't begun yet. And I know there's people probably in this place wondering what's all these blank pages. Has God ran out of ink? But hear me today. The God of the burning bush never sleeps. He never slumbers. He's always working. He's never late. He's just preparing you >> while you're in the wait. Amen. >> Stuck between chapters. Come on, let's pray together. Father, we love you. God, I'm thankful for this church family that I'm a part of, Lord, that I get to serve with. But God, even in a in a family of God such as we have here before me today, God, there are times, oh God, when we are in question, there are there are dormant seasons of life when it doesn't feel like we're even alive. It doesn't even feel like anybody knows where we are and what we're doing, where we're going. Maybe people don't even I don't I don't feel sometimes people even know my name. God, it's a it's a lonely place to be, Lord, when we're here waiting on you to give us the next chapter of our life. God, I just pray, Lord, somebody in this place today who's here, who's come with questions in their mind. Lord, I want to I want them to leave with hope. God, I I want them to leave with a promise, Lord, that you care about them, Lord. That you see into their future, Lord God, that they're they're here for a purpose. They're not here by accident, but God, you have a plan for their life. And Lord God, I want to know what that plan is. And I want you to fulfill that plan in my life. Come on, if that's you today, clap your hands and give God praise one more time before you're seated. Oh, come on, lift up your voices and give God praise. Come on. As pastor preached on Wednesday, why don't you lift up a shout? Give God praise today because he's good, because he's great, and because he cares for us in Jesus name, you may be seated this morning. Amen. Turn back with me to Exodus chapter 2 or if you're there to stay right there because I want to I kind of want to read this because you got to hear it straight from the word of God to really uh let it kind of hit home. But but we have a we have a Hebrew baby in a basket on the Nile, hidden, vulnerable. Pharaoh's daughter is there bathing in the same river. Draws him out of the Nile and calls his name Moses, which simply means to draw out. And it only took one moment to draw or to pull the baby from the water, but it took some 80 years to pull the deliverer out of the baby. 80 years, y'all. That's a long That's a long time to be in process. Somebody say process. >> The process of time. Moses, he he grows up in the palace, a palace of power and a a palace of privilege. He's learning Egyptian ways. But but one day he sees injustice being done by an Egyptian to one of his brothers. And he he looks left and he looks right. Strikes, kills, buries the Egyptian. And the very next day, his own people turn on him. And they say, "Who made you prince over us?" And look with me in verse number 15 of Exodus chapter 2. The Bible says, "When Pharaoh heard this thing, this this murder that had taken place, he he sought to slay Moses, but Moses fled from the face of Pharaoh and dwelt in the land of Midian. And he sat down by a well." Now, here's an interesting story. We don't read this part of the story very often, but there was a priest of Midian who had seven daughters, and they came and drew water and filled the troughs of water to to to feed their father's flock. And when the shepherds came and drove them away, Moses stood up and helped them, and he himself watered their flock. And when they came to Raul their father, he said, "How is it that you have come soon today?" And they said, "An Egyptian delivered us." And and this is interesting to me that they thought he was an Egyptian. An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and also drew water enough for us, and watered the flock. And he said unto his daughters, "And where is he? Why is it that ye have left this man? Call him that he may eat bread." And Moses, watch this right here. And Moses was content. Everyone say content. who's content to dwell with the man. And he gave Moses Zapora his daughter, and she bare him a son. He called his name Gersham, for he said, "I have been a stranger in a strange land." Now, the story of Moses now is going to pick up in chapter 3. That was the last verse about Moses in chapter 2. But here we are. Chapter 3 now summarizes all 40 of the years that he is in this far off strange land. Look at verse one of chapter 3. Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the backside of the desert. That's interesting to me. And came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And from the end of chapter 2 to the beginning of chapter 3, 40 years go by with nothing notable to write about. And here the author of Exodus is Moses. He's he's writing an autobiography of himself along with the Exodus or deliverance of the people of God. And he is absolutely look in your Bibles. He has nothing to say about 40 years of his life. He He's simply stuck between chapter 2 and chapter 3. Again, I want this to sink in. For 40 years, he walks in a 40-year-old. And he walks out of this wilderness, an 80-year-old. And and and I I I asked I asked G to make me an image of a 40-year-old Moses standing next to an 80-year-old Moses. I want you to I I want you to see this right here because sometimes we read things in our Bible and it really doesn't sink in that Moses went to this wilderness looking like that or something like that and walked out looking like that. I'm talking a a time of process that that aged him. a time when he was in a place where he just didn't know where he was going, what he was doing. He had a wife, he had two sons, but that's that's all he had to his name. And and I think sometimes that kind of reminds me of you and I in ministry or or or you and I in life itself when we get to a place where we go in thinking in terms of this and come out looking like that. Come on, somebody nod your head at me. You've been there. We end one chapter of our life looking like this and don't begin the next chapter until we look like this right here. And he flees Midian and he he flees a fugitive prince on the run as a 40-year-old. But here we are. We have this this this priest who has seven daughters. Jethro, their father, takes him and gives him Zapora. And and listen, the these arranged marriages, let let me kind of these arranged marriages, they they must have been filled with drama. Can you imagine living in an arranged marriage? I mean, people have enough problems with the person they choose. I mean, you dated him. You were engaged to him. and things didn't go good in the marriage. What about when you're just set up with somebody when when dad just says eeny meeny miny mo you you are going to be his wife. I mean can you imagine can you imagine what that must have been like? And and believe it or not this this type of thing is still happening today. um this matchmaking process in in the Orthodox in Orthodox Judaism. It's called the Shiduk process. It's a matchmaking process where where one Jewish Orthodox family will desire to marry into another Jewish Orthodox family and one will present a son for the other's daughter or vice versa. And um when I was in uh Jerusalem a few months back um I I got some pictures I want you to throw up throw up I got two pictures and I want you to know I took these pictures and I took them in a way so that the people that were in the pictures wouldn't know I was taking their picture. All right, that's why it's so blurry because I was like walking through I was walking through the lobby like this. I was click click click click click click click as I was walking. I think there's another one that's a little bit better. I That's a little bit better. And what what you're seeing right here is for one hour, where's my strong tower students? For one hour, you get to sit across from your maybe future forever mate. And you talk. You've never met them before. You've not text them. You've not been on Facebook with them. They're meeting for the very first time. and they're getting to know each other for one hour while their parents are in another lobby. I saw the parents also. Didn't get any pictures of them. I didn't know what they were when I first saw them. And the parents also get to know each other while the soon to be bride and groom are getting to know each other. And now this is not this is not forced. Matter of fact, if if if she just decides he's a creep, she can get out. She she can turn she can get out of it. Okay? if he looks at her and is like, "You got some tender eyes?" You know what I'm saying? Like, he can he could probably back out of it. All right. But basically, probably every couple that I saw in this lobby, the hotel that I was staying at, are now either married or they're soon to be married. I think they might have maybe a five to six month engagement where they don't see each other. They just go off to to prepare for the wedding and then the wedding day they come back together. They've only seen each other for one hour about five to six months before. But let me tell you about Zapora because Zapora comes from the Hebrew word zippor which means bird. And most sources interpret it as bird as in evoking imagery of something something freespirited. And I, Sister Johnson, I just have a feeling that old Jethro was like, he didn't eeny me eeny miny mo his daughters. He was like, freespirited one, you leave my house and you marry this guy right here that watered my sheep. Does anybody else think this is a little bit crazy? Brother Dean, all he did was was was scare some other shepherds. And Jethro was like, "You get the free spirited one. She's all yours, buddy." So here here Moses is. He's a stranger in a strange land, married to a free-spirited woman with two sons, and one is named Stranger in a strange land. Y'all follow me? I mean, this guy, we don't know much about the 40 years, but I'm I'm here to tell you there's a reason why Moses didn't write about these 40 years. All right? There was nothing good to write about. He lived through 40 years being married to a free-spirited woman and being not only a stranger in a land, but the Bible says he was a stranger in a strange land. This this land was crazy, y'all. And I got to move quickly because I don't want to stay here very long. But there was a process of time, right? It came to pass, look at look at verse 23. It came to pass in the process of time that the king of Egypt died and the children of Israel side by reason of bondage. And they cried and their cry came up to God by reason of the bondage. Chapter 2 closes. Chapter 3 opens. Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro, his father-in-law. He led the flocks to the back side of the desert. He came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. And Horeb ought to sound familiar because a lot of things happened here. When he was in this strange, crazy land, it wasn't just any kind of strange, crazy land. This was a land where the burning bush took place. This was the land where God called him up to the mountain, received the Ten Commandments. This was the same mountain where he struck it with his staff and water came out of the rock. This was the same the same mountain where the people of Israel worshiped a golden calf. This was the exact same place. He didn't come from one wilderness and brought the children of Israel into another wilderness. God had him in this wilderness for 40 years before he even went to Egypt and drew them out of Egypt back for another 40 years in the same wilderness. y'all. But now instead of just a crazy wife, now you got crazy people that want to stone you and kill you because they're not eating what they want to eat and they're not going and seeing the places they want to go and see. But but don't you see what God did here? Even though Moses didn't even write about it, do we see that God taught him how to be a shepherd to lead? Oh, please help me here. I I I don't mean this in in the way it's going to sound, but he he was he was taught and trained how to lead dumb animals through the wilderness. Sheep are very dumb animals. Sheep, they follow the leader. Wherever the leader leads them, that's what the they're followers. If anybody ever calls you a sheep, that's not a good thing. Sheep follow. You're such a sheep. That's an insult. They're telling you that you're just a yes man. All you're just a follower. You You can't make your own decisions. But God trained him and taught him. Matter of fact, he was taught meekness. I love this right here in Numbers 12 and 3. The Bible says, "And now the man Moses was very meek." Watch this right here. above all the men which were upon the face of the earth. He goes from walking into a fight and killing somebody because he thinks he has a right to kill him to being the most humble, meek person, the Bible says on the face of the earth. It took 40 years of of frustration, but frustration marks investment. Listen right here. You don't grieve a stock market crash if you have no money invested. You understand that? It's okay to be frustrated. It's okay. It's okay to be in a place and you might be stuck between chap chapters this morning and you're so frustrated, but don't let that frustration don't let that turn to offense. Don't don't let that turn into something where where all of the sudden we become a people who expect things and and think that God owes us something. >> Oh, I don't know about you, but this is this is how I feel today. God owes me nothing. >> Oh, that's been in my prayer, brother Schnitzer. Every day this week, I don't know why that just keeps on coming back into my mind. I keep on saying, "God, you owe me nothing. You got to imagine them Moses to be as meek to be the most meek person on the face of the earth. He must have had the spirit and the attitude, God, you owe me nothing. God, look what you did, God. You saved me out of the Nile. You put me into the richest home. I I lived in the palace. I got educated in the palace. I got the wisdom and knowledge of of those that were teaching and and all these great scholars in the palace on my own accord. I made a bad decision because I was hottaughty because because I thought I could I could fix this on my own because God I thought that I was big and bad enough to do it. I messed things up. I murdered somebody. I sinned and and here I am. And for 40 years, Moses does in one time. He could have filled up two or three chapters of Exodus complaining about the state that he was in between chapters. But oh no, some things are not even worth talking about. Some things are not even worth putting on Facebook. >> They're not worth it because people are watching us and they're they're watching what we write. And listen, I'm not throwing off. You all have legitimate wrong that might be done to you. I get it. I get it. Just like Moses, you you might have had to be pulled out of your house as a kid and put in a foster home or put in adopted. And I know there's so many situations that that cause grief, family issues, and abuses. I get it. But Moses is such a great example of staying silent between the chapters, just waiting, y'all. 40 years. You saw the picture I put up there. Can you imagine him looking at himself and thinking, "Oh, I had so much opportunity. I could have done so much back in Egypt, but here I messed up, but just because I messed up, just because I have issues that happened in my past, I I don't have to stay there. I don't have to live there. I'm just going to continue to do what I know to do, and that's to serve God and to do whatever my hands find to do. >> Do whatever my hands find to do. I'm going to do it with all my might. And here he is watching his father's sheep. Reminds me, reminds me a whole lot of David, the future king. Reminds me so much of David who says, "You know what? I've got so much talent. I got so much ability. I've got oh my I'm a fighter. I'm a singer. I'm a musician. I've got so many things going for me, but I find myself on the backside of the wilderness with my daddy's sheep, and I'm just going to make the best of it. I thank God for people who make the best of it. Even when they're living through hell, >> even with Oh, even when they're living through high water. That's we always say, though hell or high water, I'm going to make it somehow. >> Woo! Come on. Some of y'all got testimonies today. Some Some of you could just absolutely blow our minds. You can take a microphone and testify today and you can shame all of us who have ever felt sorry for ourselves because you've been through so much more than we've been through. But oh my god, if we could learn from this patriarch uh if we could learn from this man who whatever it took uh 40 long years in a strange land but he felt it was worth doing whatever he had to do to keep on keeping on. Romans 5 and3 says and not only so but we glory in tribulations also. What are tribulations? Tribulation is trouble. It's great suffering, but it produces patience, experience, and hope. Uh the Bible says uh we glory in tribulations also knowing that tribulation workketh patience. >> And patience experience and experience. Here it is right here. Hope. That's what I'm trying to preach right here. But you can't get hope without some trouble in your life. Because trouble is what causes us and teaches us how to have patience. God, I don't want to be patient. God, that's the last thing that I want to do is be patient. But I can't have hope without patience because patience lead to experience, and experiences give us hope. >> James 1:4, but let patience have her perfect work that she may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. This is complete. If you want to be complete, you've got to allow patience to work in your life. God, give me patience. Leverage the weight. Study God's word. Fast, pray, and serve God in secret because the need is the call. We preach this all the time. When you're stuck between chapters, look around and discover the need. And I promise you, there's always going to be a need. >> Let's talk about ministry, cuz you know, this this this could apply to so many things. Some people are stuck between chapters of your health. Doctors giving you a good report on cancer, but you you still got to go back and and and make sure that it's still gone. Make sure that it hasn't somehow come up somewhere else in lipnotes or come up somewhere else in your life, right? and you're stuck in a chapter and you want to do things with your life, but you're scared. You're worried about your next doctor's report. >> Stuck between chapters. This this some of you business owners, you you sold one business and you're looking to buy another one, but nothing's coming open and you're getting a little worried. Funds are running low from the sale of the last one. I don't know. between jobs. There's there's all kinds of chapters in life, relationships, the last one didn't work out, hoping the next one works out better, but you're still stuck. You haven't found that special someone. I I live more on the on the on the uh uh leadership, ministerial side, because that's all I've ever known my whole life. That's all I've been a part of. That's all I've ever known. So, I think in terms of leadership, I I think in terms of ministry, so please bear with me. But you can apply this to any chapter that you're between in your life. But there's always going to be a need. And let me tell you something where the need usually is. It's the very thing that nobody else wants to do. Which is why it presents itself a need. If everybody wanted to do it, you do you know why we're we're hardly ever looking for drummers? Because I think every young boy at the age of seven picks up a couple sticks and starts beating on things. Every mother say yes. Pots and pans and whatever. We my When I was a kid, I play Mom and Dad got me a drum set. Drove them baddy. They they they got me an acoustic a trap set for the house. And this might have been before electric drum sets came out, Sister Jean Philippe, I don't know. But I highly recommend electric drum sets for the house. But but what about positions that we're looking for because nobody's really wanting to do them because nobody's ever thought about, you know, blowing off the sidewalk. That's what I want to do. But I thank God for a brother seat >> who I see out on Sunday mornings at 8 a.m. blowing off a sidewalk. I thank God for Brother Yates >> who I see with w with with God forbid, Sister Carpenter, with a with a scraper scraping gum off the sidewalk >> cuz we all know we don't chew gum around here. >> Some of y'all swallowing gum that's going to be eight years before digesting your stomach. People aren't lined up for certain positions, but that's where the need is. >> And so people, Moses's are bright enough to look around and say, "You know what? What in the world are seven girls shepherd and sheep for? I'm a man. I can defend myself. I can defend these sheep. You girls do girl things. I'm going to go take these sheep. I'll take these sheep. I dare those shepherds to mess with me. These sheep are going to be watered first every time. Do you see what I'm saying here? He could have left the sheep in the care of his sister-in-laws, but he said, "Oh, no. I will, Jethro. I'll take care of your sheep. You gave me a free bird. The least I can do, take care of your sheep." Thank God. Thank But who wants to go to the backside of the desert? I I don't want to become a shepherd. You know, the last thing, think about this, yo. This guy grew up in the palace, brother Alter. He was royalty. He was the grandson of the pharaoh and he's doing the lowest of lowest. The Bible talks about shepherds as being the dirtiest lowest position. Matter of fact, whenever Abraham and Isaac when whenever these shepherds would go to Egypt, it was al always a thing where they would say, "Now listen, whatever you do, don't tell them we're shepherds. Right? They would always call their wives or sisters, which that's always weird. And they'd be like, "Don't don't don't just don't tell them we're shepherds." Because shepherds are the lowest of the low. But here we have a man who grew up for 40 years in the palace who's finding himself as a shepherd. God help us. I want I just want to stop right here. God help us never to get so highminded and hardtaughty in spirit that we can't do the lowest of low ministry jobs. And oh God, >> I don't even I don't even like to place ministries in certain levels because the way we grade ministry might be totally opposite the way that God grades ministry. >> We we we look at the preacher preaching it because the times as as being the top as being the the highest. Woo. if I could ever go get to that peak of ministry. I'm not preaching against them. Maybe God looks at it different. Maybe God looks out and says, "You know what? I see Brother Yates as being the highest form of ministry. I see as a person taking the toilet brush in the toilet as being the highest form of ministry." I I don't know. God help me, Lord. never to grade people and to judge people and to stereotype ministries. But God, help me to be open and willing to do anything that I have to do. I want to get my hands dirty doing the things, Lord God, that mean the most to you, that make the most difference in your kingdom. I just want to add value to the house of God. I want to add value to the ministry. I want to say, God, give me something to woo, put something in my hand, oh God, that makes a difference. 40 years. 40 years. But here we go. Here's a few things. And I'm going to be very quickly. I've already been 30 minutes. I'm going be very quickly. I want to end the next 10 minutes or so. But I believe we ought to strengthen our character while in the quiet. This is the greatest time to strengthen character. Your success stops where your character stops. You can never rise above the limitations of your character. You see, Moses went from a killer to a meek leader while in a hiding place. It wasn't on the platform. Things things don't always take place up here on the platform. Sometime some things take place in hiding when nobody's watching and nobody can see. 2 Corinthians 3:18 says, "But we will all but we all with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the spirit of the Lord." Another translation says it like this. "And we all with unveiled face, continually seen as in a mirror of the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into his image. from one degree of glory, even more glory which comes from the Lord who is the spirit. I love that translation because I want to be in the image and likeness of my God. >> I Oh my God, the spirit of God is conforming us right now, even in the quiet. Character is not de developed here up on a stage. It's developed behind the scenes. Character is built at the academy for 13 years, students. Apostolic Christian Academy. It's a school that builds character. That's in our mission statement. Build good character. Now, you can't wait till you graduate to build character. You got to do it. We're trying to our teachers, our our staff, we're trying to put inside of you a godly character right now in while you're while you're living in secret, while while nobody knows you. They're going to know you. I promise you, they're going to know you one day because our young people are going to do great things. But right now, the character that's being developed within you is the same character that you're going to take with you the rest of your life. >> Come on, let me preach our strong tower students. If you cheat now, you're going to cheat later. >> If you gossip now, you're going to gossip later. Don't think that when you when you turn your tassel all of a sudden, whatever you did in high school, all of a sudden everything's going to change and now now you're going to be in the glory of God. You're you're going to be as the Christ. You're going to be as the image of Christ. It's not going to work that way. If you create drama now, you're going to create drama later. That's going to that's going to follow you into marriage. It's going to follow you into your your family lifestyle. If you lie now, come on. I need some I need some adults to help me. >> Well, we're building character in these students. You hate Now, if you can say, "I hate her. She's so pretty. I hate her." If that spirit can be within you right now, my God, the character that we have between the chapters when we're when we're living on the back side of the desert, when we're not known, we take this into the new chapter. That's why it's so important to love one another. That's why it's so important to respect one another. We ask you, please respect your teachers. Please respect one another. Respect your classmates. >> Honor them. care about them, love them enough, respect, be like Moses and and learn meekness and humility. Listen, meekness and humility is not thinking less of yourself. It's the mindset to think of yourself less. >> We don't need a bunch of young people hanging their head, >> looking all fourlorn and people see you in the community and saying, "Oh, bless their hearts." Oh, they got to go to that academy. We want you to hold your head back, shoulders back, chest out, and say, "I'm a child of God. I live this day and night. I go to school every day. I hear about God. I go to church on Sunday. I hear about God. I play basketball. I play volleyball. I do it in the name of Jesus." But at the same time, you can be meek and you can be humble and you can have humility. One more thing, I'm hurrying to an end. We got to play to our strengths while harnessing fears and uncertainty. I'm talking about living between the chapters. The pathway to success lies in maximizing our strengths. We hear this is any leadership book that you read, it talks about maximizing your strengths. There's some things in your life you're not going to talk about, you're not going to bring to the surface. But man, if you find yourself strong, if you've got abilities and skill sets and talents, maximize in those things. Moses, his palace mind and his desert grit, he added those together and he gave him a divine combination. He was brilliant and wise, yet he had been through some things. Uncertainty is a permanent part of leadership landscape. It never goes away. There's always things we're uncertain about. 2 Timothy 1:7 says, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, >> but of power and of love and of a sound mind." You see this right here? I can liken this unto Moses uh because here he is and he could have fear because there's so much uncertainty in his life. But instead, woo, he instead has power and he has love and he has a sound mind. Our greatest fear often points directly to our greatest calling. Oh yes, let fear drive you to your calling. Moses may not have been a good speaker, but he was a great leader. And don't you know he had an elder brother named Aaron. He had a brother that was about three years older than him. They was a good speaker, very eloquent in his speech. However, he was not always a good leader. And so here we have a great team when it was finally time to deliver the people of Israel out of Pharaoh's bondage. We have Moses who played to his strength as being a good leader. And we have Aaron who was full of faith uh and could speak to Pharaoh in place of Moses. And although he act he lacked the leadership skills, thank God together they made a difference. I want you to stand with me this morning. I'm trying to close and I I want to encourage somebody this morning at this very moment. God is working behind the scenes. And this is what you got to believe. That he's working behind the scenes in your life, arranging things not against you, but for you. >> Not to trip you up, not to cause you to mess up, but in your favor. And just because you don't see things happening, doesn't mean that God is not working. >> Even when I don't see it, you're working. Even when I don't feel it, you're working. I like the song. It says, "You'll never stop. You'll never stop working. You'll never stop. You'll never stop working." >> He's not preparing. He's not preparing to bless you. Oh, no. He's preparing you for the blessing that's about to take place. >> The blessing is always there, already there. We just got to be prepared for the blessing. So, if you're here today between chapters of life, you're frustrated, you're waiting, you feel overwhelmed. Listen to Philippians 1 and 6. It says, "He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it >> until the day of Jesus Christ." He's not done. This was in my notes before they sang this this morning. He's not done with you. I've preached it before and I'm going to continue to preach it. We read the scripture about wait upon the Lord. We we read it. It's in Isaiah Isaiah 40:31. David that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. And early in my ministry, I I I misqued this scripture into making it sound like an excuse to to just sit back and soak in the strength of Jesus. But this Hebrew word wait right here, you got to look up the Hebrew what this word weight truly means. In our English vocabulary, it means waiter or one who serves. And so when you read this scripture, it's not about sitting back crying over the things and oh God, I should still be in the palace. Oh God, I should be back in Egypt. I should be I should be delivering the people of God right now. But when it says to wait upon the Lord, look with this, look with me of this in verse 31. But they that wait upon the Lord, they that serve the Lord, they that are busy working for the Lord, shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint. >> You're never going to do that if you're just sitting down and doing nothing. >> We can't wait until the bush begins to burn and it's not consumed. But oh God, I'm going to serve God in the desert for 40 years until you show yourself in a burning bush. I'm going to surrender doubt, the delay. I refuse to go into the why mentality, but I'm going to pray. God, have your way. Conform me. Strengthen me. clarify your vision within me. And if I I want to open this altar to someone today that's stuck between chapters. And I want you to know it's not a bad thing to be stuck between chapters. I don't want anybody to think that you're all alone. Because I promise you, you're not. Because if everyone would be honest in this place today, there's some point in their life in some way that they're stuck in waiting for an answer. It's not a bad thing. It's a God thing. It's a time of process. It's a It's a time of waiting. It's a time of serving with humility. I'm not calling anybody forward this morning to have yourself a pity party. Oh, no. I'm calling a person who who wants to see themselves mature during this period of life. I want to preach hope while you're still living in this silence. Oh, if God prepared Moses, a man with a speech impediment, a man who probably stuttered and couldn't even get sentences out of his mouth, and if God turned him into a great deliverer, what's he going to do for us? >> Oh my God. How about you just raise your hands in this place and I open this altar and say, "God, I need you to prepare in me, God, my future. God, I refuse to stay where I am. God, uh, I'm going to be content until you move me forward. But God, I refuse to be satisfied where I am. I'm going to work myself, my hands to the bone. I'm going to do whatever you want me to do. God, just speak into my life. It may not be things, oh God, that look, oh, that look to others like success, but oh God, it may be things that you consider to be successful. It may be the very things, oh God, that I need to help disciple people in. It may be the very things, my God, I wish you would make a way right now for somebody in this room who can't see, who can't hear, but oh God, they have enough faith building inside of them to say, "God, I know my next chapter's coming. I know there's a pen that you're about to write my next chapter. God, I'm giving you a clean slate. I'm giving you a clean page, a clean chapter of pages. Oh God, that you begin to write way maker, miracle worker, promiseke keeper. I need you to show me, God. Show me, oh God, what you have in store for me. Come on, pray that prayer right here. Come on. Don't be weary and welloing. Oh, church family, don't be weary and welloing. Oh, don't faint. Don't give up, but press toward the mark. Press toward the mark. There's a high calling in Christ Jesus. Uh, but you've got to keep on waiting until you get there. You got to keep on serving until you get there. Come on, cry out right here. I can't pray this prayer for you. This is not a prayer we can pray together. God, help me through this. Help me through this space of silence. Come on. for every ministry. I'm preaching at the ministers right now, man and woman. I'm preaching at you today. You've been called, God spoken. You've got a burden, but you don't know where to go. You don't know the next step to take. Just keep on doing what you're doing. Keep on serving where you're serving. God's going to make something great out of your ministry, but he wants to take you through a process. Let him take you through the process. Oh, be patient. Be patient. Be patient. God, I'll do whatever you want me to do. Come on, pray that prayer right there. God, I'll do whatever you want me to do. I'll do it. I'll do it. I'll do it. I'll do it. I'll do it. I'll do it. I'll do it. I'll do it. Oh, God. I'll do it. I'll be faithful. I'll pray. I'll fast. I'll study my Bible. I want to show myself approved. Uh I'll hide your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. I'll be ready in season, out of season, instant. I'll be there, God. Just, oh God, help me, Lord. Oh, come on. Work in our midst. Oh, God. Come on. I don't want you to stop praying. I just want you to give God glory for what he's going to do in your life. Come on. Give him glory. >> I worship you not because of what I know or what I see. I worship you because your word says it. And you promised us, oh God, that you will always be by our side. You're always going to be faithful. >> You are here. >> You're here today. >> You are turning. >> You're turning lives around. You're turning >> I worship you today. >> I worship. >> I wish worship would just break out in this place. >> Come on. He's working right here within us. >> I worship >> I worship you. >> I worship you. >> Oh yes, I do. >> Way make miracle work promise. Come on. That's who we're praying to right here. >> Come on. I know it's dark. I know it's dark. I call you a way maker. Yeah. promise >> keep it forever. >> He's going to do it for you. >> Come on, Moses. He's going to do it for you. >> You're here touching every heart. >> That's why we worship you. >> I worship you. You are here every morning. >> Come on. Let the Holy Ghost minister in this place right here. Let the Holy Ghost empower you in this place right here. Oh yes, you are here. I need you to mend every heart in this place. Oh God, every broken heart, every abused life may go away. That's who you are to me. Yeah. Why don't you grab somebody? Grab somebody by the shoulders. Grab somebody by the shoulder right here. Come on. Grab somebody by the shoulder and pray for him. Pray for him. Say, "God, help him. God, help him get out of this chamber and get to the next chapter. Come on. I worship God. He's a light in the darkness. He's a light when you're in question. Miracle work. Come on. Break through. Break through. Break through. Break through. Come on. Break through. I will not feel sorry for myself. But God, I give you praise for the process of it. Listen this right here. Listen right here. Even when I don't see it, your word. Even when I don't feel it's your word, you never stop. Come on, somebody give a glory for it. Even when I don't see your even when I die, I don't see it. I can't even feel you. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Now listen, I could have started in Genesis and gone all the way to Revelation and just given example after example, the Joseph's in the pit. Could have talked about David backside of the desert. could have preached about Jesus in a wilderness. Could have preached about Jesus 30 years before his ministry even started. It always kind of humors me when when I hear young people that are in their teens and 20s talking about, "I just don't know why I don't have a ministry." Talking about John the Baptist. His ministry comprised of one thing and then he had his head handed to him on a platter. Times darkness, quiet times. Sometimes I feel that we can get so dressed up and we can play the part of the Pentecostal, the apostolic so well that people look at us and we just kind of allow them to assume that everything is okay when all along we're all by ourselves, lonely, hurting, got too much pride to tell anybody about it. for fear that they may lose respect for us. But oh God, today as we close this morning, lift up your hands. God, I just want to be a vessel that you can do something with. However long it takes, whether it's 40 days, whether it's 40 years, oh my God, whether it's on a church pew, whether on the back side of the desert somewhere, God, I I don't know what you want to do with me, for me, through me, but oh God, I'm willing to be patient and I'm willing, oh God, to wait upon you, God, and let you know whatever you have in mind for me. God, I want to be willing. We sing one more song. I'll be what you call me to be. I will be what you called me to be. Come on, sing with me. I'll say. Come on, sing beautiful. Lord, I agree. My desire, passion of me is to be what you call me. >> Make this declaration. And that's what I'll be. Come on, every hand lifted to heaven. Pray this prayer with me. Sing it. I will be what you called me to be. I say yes, Lord. I agree. My desire, >> passion, >> passion is to be what you call me to be. That's what I'll be. That's what I'll be. Come on, let's go to the bridge right here. Cuz this what we got to say right here. Oh, this is what I want to say in every situation. Yeah. I'll say yes. I >> Come on. Let's just be a choir. I want to drag him today. Come on, lift up your voice and say, "I'll say yes. I'll say yes. I am." Come on. Go in the parts right here. Make this pretty. Make this pretty. This is a pretty thing. Hey, I'll say yes. That's beautiful. Yeah. Yeah. I say yes. I say yes. I agree. I like that. Feels good. I'm starting to feel hope in this place. I say yes. Yes. I agree with your will, with your ways, with your word. I say yes. I say yes. I say yes. Stay right there. Stay right there. I say yes. I say yes. I say I say I say yes. I say I agree. I am I am free. Yes. I to your will and to your way. I >> I will be what you call me to be. I say yes for I agree. My desire >> passionately passionately is to be what you call me to be. >> That's what I'll be. That's what I'll be. >> Can we just sing this one more time through? But we got to sing it with the right lyrics. I do this all the time. The lyrics are not I'll say yes. The lyrics are I say yes. Because I'll means that in the future. Let's let's let's sing the present. I say yes. Yes. I agree. >> One more time. We're going to the chorus. We're going to sing it. Right. I say yes. Oh, I say yes. >> Oh, I love that. >> All right, let's go a chorus. >> All right, sing it right this time. I will be sing. >> Here it is. I say >> I say yes. Lord, I agree. My desire passionately is to be what you call me to be. Is to be. Yeah. Is to be what you call me to be. >> One more time. Yes. is to be what you call me to be. That's what I need. Clap your hands on the Lord. Give him praise. Thank you, Jesus. Oh, thank you for giving us hope for a future. Thank you for giving us hope for an expected end. Oh, thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Hallelujah. Is the choir sing tonight? Hallelujah. The choir is going to sing tonight. Come on, somebody put your hands together for that. Our worship team did amazing, but it feels so much better to have about 150 people behind them. Amen. Singing. Pastor Carpenter is going to be bringing the word tonight. Just go home, be safe, just chill. I like it. And come back ready to have some church tonight. All right. God bless you in Jesus name. Make sure you go back if you have and you should have giving statements. Make sure you go back and pick those up. 2025 giving statements.