The Weak Moments | Senior Pastor Kenneth Carpenter

turn within your bibles we need some word tonight before we go home genesis chapter 25 verse number 29 genesis 25 verse number 29 boy said a mouthful somebody's watching you somebody's watching and uh just you know i said me and this brother fellowship and the produce department at walmart you know we got to talking about the goodness of god and uh you show up this morning and god's got something for you my brother god's got something god's got something for you god's got something and jacob sod pottage verse 29 genesis 25 verse 29. and jacob sod pottage and esau came from the field and was faint and esau said to jacob feed me i pray thee with that same red pottage for i am faint therefore was his name called edom and jacob said sell me this day thy birthright and esau said behold i am at the point to die and what what profit shall this birthright do to me jacob said swear to me this day and he swear unto him and he sold his birthright unto jacob then jacob gave he saw bread and pottage of lentils and he did eat and drink and rose up and went his way thus esau despised his birthright hebrews chapter 12 verses 16 and 17 hebrews chapter 12 verses 16 and 17. paul said lest there be any fornicator or profane person as esau who for one morsel of meat sold his birthright for you know how that afterward when he would have inherited the blessing he was rejected for he found no place of repentance though he sought it carefully with tears just for a few moments tonight i'd like to have your undivided attention i'd like to minister to you on the subject of the weak moments the weak moments father i love you tonight i ask you lord to please help me god help me to minister the word tonight lord by the preaching of your word you draw people into a relationship with you i pray tonight father that you would anoint these lips of clay with your spirit god that i could say these words and god they would draw them lord touch hearts tonight in this place increase our knowledge that we may know how to walk uprightly before you in jesus wonderful name we pray amen amen you may be seated the week the weak moments the weak moments esau is very interesting because as the scripture gives us a description at his birth and the scripture gives us a little outline of the occupation that he would choose that he would hone his skills to become a hunter he would take on the occupation of being a hunter it also informs us that he had the high privilege of being the firstborn which meant that he would have the honor of bearing the birthright he would also have the honor of receiving a double portion at the time of his father's death but the bible interrupts esau's life and shows us where he forfeited his privilege of a birthright he would forfeit his privilege of a double portion you see the bible tells us that he went out into the fields one day to hunt and evidently on that day or days the field was not good to him we know that he returned after some period of time the bible simply gives him one word that he was faint he was weak he was faint he was hungry but he wasn't far off until he began to pick up the sweet aroma of his brother jacob as his brother jacob was stewing some pottage some red red lentil some red beans we understand that the bible even throws this in that when he said to esau said to jacob sell me some of these beings these red pottage for i am faint verse 30 throws it in and says therefore was his name called edom his name was gotten derived by what he desired his name was called edom which simply means as matches the lentils it simply means red it would be jacob that would say to him in this weak moment sell me your birthright and in a weak moment esau made a decision that would be irreversible in a weak moment he began to use judgment in a weak moment he began to look at his birthright in a you know in a weak moment and he says well what prophet would the birthright do me if i am about to die again jacob tells him the price the price he saw for the beans is your birthright in a weak moment in a weak moment you see i really believe that there are people that make decisions in weak moments that they long long live to regret but they are in a weak moment we know by paul's writings that esau after he made the decision to sell his birthright that he later regretted the decision that was made in the weak moment he would later regret it as a matter of fact he would later regret it to the level of shedding tears but not only regret it to the level of shedding tears but he would regret it to the level of trying to find a place to turn it around and the bible simply says he never found that place he never found that place because church family tonight there are some decisions that can be made in a weak moment that can ever define your life it's a weak moment a weak moment of your life can forever change your life just a week just a weak moment of course tonight i am not preaching this to bring further condemnation on somebody that has had a weak moment and you're living with the consequences no no a thousand times no i'm preaching tonight to prepare all of our minds for the weak moments that will come to each one of us pastor will have some weak moments saints of god will have weak moments but it's in those moments that we need to nail down some decisions about what we will do and what we won't do there's some things you can live without but there's some things you can't live without i can live without a lot of things but there's a few things i can't live without and one of them's god i can't live without god his spirit lives within me my victory my victory that's more than just a song that's a lifestyle i can live without a lot of things i can live without a lot of friends but i can't live without the friend that sticks closer than a brother weak moments weak moments would be in judges chapter 16 and verse number 7 samson finds himself in the arms of delilah the bible said in judges 16 and verse number 7 samson said unto her if thy bind me with seven green with ropes that have never been dried then shall i be weak and be as another man now what you have here is part truth and part lie the truth of the matter there was something in samson's life that rendered him more than just another man there was something in the life of samson that yes if taken away he would become just like another man can i tell us all tonight that there are blessed convictions that will render us just another church if we let them go there are things that set us and separate us apart from this world and there is a delilah of the times that would like to cuddle the church up close to her and would like for us in a weak moment to think we will get more people if we will just lower our standard we will get more people if we will just not have convictions can i tell you tonight samson if you lose your distinction you lose your power and you become just like any other man a weak moment a weak moment when the college professor for whatever reason signals you out in the classroom and begins to make you question begins to make you answer questions about your faith can i tell you college student don't you buckle in a weak moment don't you buckle in a weak moment but come on daniel come on shadrach come on me shaq come on bendy go it's time for you to stand up in that college class and let them know that you have some convictions and you're not just like the rest of them a weak moment a weak moment a weak moment leave leaves it it leaves esau a shell of a man in a weak moment judges 16 and verse number 20. she said the philistines be upon thee samson he'll walk out of his sleep and said i will go out and as as at other times before it shake myself and he wished not that the lord was departed from him but the philistines took him and put out his eyes and brought him down to gaza and bound him with fetters of brass and he did grind in the prison house two examples of two men who make decisions in a weak moment he saw you can never get your birthright back and sampson you can never get your eyes back in a weak moment but i want to turn the corner tonight and i'm going to tell you the strength of your weakness is recognizing your weakness the strength of your weakness is recognizing your weakness let him that thinketh he stand take heed lest he fall over confidence in your flesh is a weakness that will bring you down we've got to understand tonight the problem with esau he never recognized he was weak and the problem with samson is he never recognized he was weak but the psalmist in chapter 6 verse 2 the psalmist cries out with these words have mercy upon me o lord for i am weak heal me o lord for my bones our veins one of the greatest strengths you'll ever have is to crucify pride and to admit to yourself and any other close associates you're looking at a weak man you're looking at a weak individual that's why i go to the rock of my salvation and i let the rock of my salvation know i am weak it would be the prophet joel in joel chapter 3 verse number 10 joel would say you're going to get the victory if you will beat your plowshares into swords and you're pruning hooks into spears and then listen to what joel says let the weak say i am strong you see this evening there is power when the weak begin to confess there is power when the weak do not remain zipped in their lips and they begin to say i'm weak but thou art strong i'm weak but god you've got the strength i'm weak but god by you i can run through a troop and i can leap over a wall i'm talking about weak moments weak moments the difference that will set you apart from esau and samson will be that they never recognized they were weak and what will cause you to hold on to your birthright will be because you understand that you're weak what'll keep your eyes in your head is when you understand that you are weak i stay away from the world because i am weak there are some things i do not bring close to me because i am weak well why don't you allow this in your home and why don't you allow yourself to go here why don't you take the restraints off and let our young folks go wherever they want to i'll tell you why because we're weak and just as sure as we think we can walk through the garbage can of life and come out the bride of christ we are glorified fools to say the least i stay away from a lot of things because i am always somebody praising with me tonight i just want to preach a few moments tonight on the weak moments you can't get any weaker than this woman in mark 5 25 a certain woman which had an issue of blood 12 years that meant she hemorrhaged she was passing blood pick her out of a crowd because she's pale in color she's weak she's frail she's continually passing blood she had suffered many things of many positions and it's been all she had and was nothing bettered but rather grew worse or could i add grew weaker she grew weaker but when she had heard of jesus you know it's amazing how loud the volume of the altar is when we're in trouble sometimes when we let the world deafen us to our self-confidence and we get to thinking that we've got the world in our fist and we got it all in control and we got a 45 an hour job and we've got a 401k that's bubbling over and we've got good health can i tell you the altar is mighty silent when prosperity is blaring in our ears but allow the allow a layoff allow an upset allow life to turn upside down and it's amazing how loud the altar can become in our life and let me preach tonight and tell you if it takes trouble to keep the altar loud god keep me in trouble if it takes hardship to keep the altar loud god keep me in hardship because i would rather live my life on an altar than to live my life separated i'm talking about weak moments when she had ever md that was wanting an office visit with her when she had ever promised cure offered to her that sandal-footed galilean that was born in bethlehem didn't sound very enticing but just as sure as she had spent all and was growing weaker by the day when she heard of jesus came in the press behind and touched his garment for she said i think she'd been reading the book of joel for she said if i can but touch his clothes i shall behold sounds like the weak was saying i am strong i'm not talking about self-motivation self-motivation gets you nowhere i'm talking about god motivation that begins to say god you know i'm weak but god i know you're strong and if i can just get in the presence of god god can turn it around for me if i can just get to church and get in the choir god will give me the victory if i can just get back to the prayer room if i can just get weak moments for she said if i may but touch his clothes i shall behold and straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague isn't it amazing that one weak moment can cause a man to sell his birthright but another weak moment can cause a woman to get her healing one weak moment drives a man away from his future another weak moment gives a woman a new lease on life talking about weak moments well paul began to talk to us about some weakness paul says in first corinthians chapter 1 verse number 25 paul says it this way because the foolishness of god is wiser than men and the weakness of god is stronger than man when was god ever foolish and when was god ever weak can i tell you the preaching of the gospel is called the foolishness of god it please god that by the foolishness of preaching you see people have no problem people have absolutely no problem paying major dollars major dollars to go lay on a couch somewhere and tell somebody that's studied at some university that's going to help them to deal with life and they'll just shell out big dollars to have somebody try to help them on a psychiatrist couch when the answer is in the foolishness of preaching you see that leather couch makes a lot more appeal to your flesh than a cloth pew does and that psychiatrist with all his degrees on the on the wall and all the people that he's so-called helped out and medicated that's a whole lot more appeasing but to go to a church and watch a bunch of people run around a building watch a bunch of people shout about a name watch a bunch of people and a preacher get up and get a little red face how can that help you i tell you how it can help you it's called the foolishness of god oh it's called the foolishness of god well when was god ever weak because paul says the weakness of god is stronger than man i tell you when god was weak i tell you when god was weak when god became flesh god became weak when god robed himself with flesh but he had to become weak so that you and i could become strong for second corinthians 13 and 4 says though he was crucified through weakness hey you didn't kill the second person at calvary if you believe in three separate persons you got to believe that the second person died at calvary and that for three days the world was with with only two-thirds god but they didn't kill deity at calvary they killed his weakness at calvary but that's all he could do they could do for though he was weak through the crucified through weakness yet he liveth by the power of god for we also are weak in him but we shall live with him by the power of god towards you oh hallelujah do you understand the weakness of god was when mary conceived and the man christ jesus was born that's why the devil tried to get him because the devil had him at the weakest moment but he overcame through the power of the word he died on the cross they didn't kill deity at a cross they killed the weakness of god but when they killed the weakness of god the power of god entered back into what man had killed and resurrected what man had killed can i tell you tonight that there is nothing that has happened to you there is nothing that has happened to you man cannot put you so far down that god cannot resurrect you and bring you back up stop feeling sorry for yourself stop riding hopeless over you you're a hopeless if you say you're hopeless but if you can begin to see that through the power of god come on let's worship right there for a moment let's worship right there for a moment well you don't know what they did to me you don't know what they said to me you don't know that he walked out on me you don't know he took the money you don't know she did this stop it stop it stop it because they can crucify the man that god can raise him up weak weak moments weak moments the bible tells us in second timothy 2 11 it is a faithful saying for if we be dead with him we shall also live with him if we suffer we shall also reign with him romans 8 16. romans 8 16. i'm talking about weak moments the spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of god and if children then heirs heirs of god join heirs with christ if so be that we suffer with him that we may be also glorified we may be also glorified together look at verse 18. for i reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us you having a weak moment you got to understand when you're changed in a moment in a twinkling of an eye when you've made it to that celestial city when you've walked through the gates of pearl when you have seen jesus face to face nobody's gonna talk about what they went through to get there what a deal what a deal what a deal all we had to do was repent all we had to do was be baptized receive a holy ghost live a godly life and we get streaks of gold wilds of jasper dates a pearl brother arnold brother arnold weak moments i want to tell you something it's too many people you may be seated it's too many people believe something i don't know why we would i don't know why we would remain dedicated to god and then become undedicated because our kids don't want to become dedicated you don't want me to change this church to be palatable to your children you you don't you don't want that you hear me you don't want that but don't leave it when they decide to leave it because when the prodigal son left home the father didn't put the farm up for sale you know why we need to keep this church going brother on july the 1st 2019 at noon i picked my baby brother up from a correctional institution where he had been an inmate for 34 and a half years 34 and a half years and on the way to nashville we're wanting to connect him with the church and we connected him with one but before he could go to that church he called me and he said can i just ask you something he said does the choir still shout he said can i ask you something kenny do they still run the aisles so help me he's asking me do they still run the eyes does the choir still shout does the preacher you know how brother mccool used to really come down the line on preaching does the preacher still call it what it is i was glad to tell him jerry yes yes yes and yes can i tell you when our children leave this thing we don't need to sell out we need to fatten up the calf we need to keep the barn red we need to keep things going on mom come on go in a weak moment sell out hold on your daughter's coming home hold on dad your daughter's coming home hold on they're coming home in a weak moment in a week in a weak moment in a weak moment we need to understand there's something far better waiting for us on the other side come on paul talk to me paul because there's people here tonight that think they're the only ones that have a weak moment there are people here tonight paul that believe they're the only ones that have ever went through hardship talk to me paul second corinthians 12 and 7. ii corinthians 12 7. and least unless i should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations there was given to me a thorn in the flesh a messenger of satan to buffet me lest i should be exalted above measure for this thing i'm assault the lord three times thrice that it might depart from me and he said unto me my grace is sufficient for me for my strength is made perfect in weakness most gladly therefore will i rather glory in my infirmities that the power of christ may rest upon me therefore i take pleasure in infirmities in reproaches in necessities in persecutions in distresses for christ's sake for when i am weak then i am strong there are some weaknesses you can't pray out of your life because god put that weakness in your life to keep you coming to the throne of grace to find strength in the time of need so why don't you stop wandering from pillar to post wanting somebody to pray for you so you'll be delivered when god has said you'll never be delivered because that's your greatest i said is that you know you're weak and that you know you need me yeah go ahead yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes come on right now let's just receive that word weakness weakness oh god weakness come on all over this building let's just linger a little bit in the lord jesus come on come on let's lift up our prayer just a moment let's lift up our prayer just a moment oh yes lord oh yes lord can we lift up the volume of prayer for a moment come on yes weak moments weak moments i would imagine tonight that a parent that is here that's had to bury a child would have weak moments weak moments can occur to us when we look around life and try to figure out is god fair weak moments i would imagine tonight that those of you that are here that have children that are sick would carry a weakness that a parent that has a healthy child may not carry i would imagine tonight i would imagine that a person is that is single no fault to their own because their mate decided they didn't want to be married anymore i imagine you would carry some weaknesses i think there's just some weaknesses in life but you'll only understand when you get over to the other side where there's no sick children in heaven there's not one crippled child in heaven the prophet zechariah said their children play in the streets there's not one sick child in heaven there's not one cemetery in heaven i imagine that if i get to heaven and god reveals to me my struggle of why why can't i read erickson why can't i read a page why can't i read a page and remember what's on that page why do i have to read that page over and over and over and over again to grasp five percent of that page how come some of you can read the same page shut the book and tell me 95 of what you read i can ask god to heal me i can ask god to help me what if i get over there that day and god says i gave you that weakness to get you here i gave you that weakness so that it would develop some things in you that would have never been developed you hear me tonight god gives us weakness so that we can develop some things in us that would never be developed had we not had the weakness in our life paul may have never known where his power come from until he first knew what the weakness was but when he understood the weakness he could rejoice in the power that he had just stand with me right now musicians and singers would you come weak moments weak moments what shall i say hebrews 11 32 somebody say praise the lord what shall i more say for time would fail me to tell of gideon of beric of samson of jephthah of david of samuel and the prophets who through faith subdued kingdoms wrought righteousness obtained promises stopped the mouths of lions quenched the violence of fire hold on to this escape the edge of the sword out of weakness or made strong you can tell me all the heroes of faith you want to but there's some unnamed saints of god that out of their weakness they became strong he's a young person here tonight and in a weak moment the devil will tell you you're not as good as the rest of these young people while the rest of these young people have their moms and dads and grandparents and they have it all together don't you think don't don't you i know you got in the prayer room i know you went to strong tower youth camp and you thought you heard god call you to be a missionary god didn't call you to be a missionary look at you can i tell you tonight that although it's a blessing to have your mom and dad and grandparents here it can become a curse because you can begin to take this thing for granted but you take the little girl tonight or the little boy that goes home to a house filled with cursing you take a little boy or girl that leaves here tonight and goes back to a home where somebody's gonna make fun of her because she pulled a dress out of the closet you go home with that little boy that young teenager that's got a bible that he bought at the dollar store he's reading that bible and i tell you the greater the blessing the greater the responsibility but it just may be that little girl's environment that turns her into the next sister carpenter turns her into the next soul winner because out of weakness was made strong a weak slingshot can kill the giant a widow giving a penny can become the illustrated message for jesus christ deborah can lead an army jail can kill the enemy hannah can take the weakness of her womb and go to a prayer room and come out with a samuel how about it i want to read two last verses psalms 39 4-5 weak moments psalms 39 verses 4 and 5. lord make me to know mine in and measure the measure of my days what is it that i may know how frail i am better realize something tonight you better realize it in a hurry the only thing that matters about your life is that you're ready to meet god it's the only thing that matters i'm old man i'm my own man no you're not you're frail you just don't know you're free help me to know how frail i am behold thou has made my days as a hand breath my age is as nothing before thee verily every man at his best state is all together vanity sila you have two steps tonight you have two steps tonight you can choose to keep your macho image you can choose to keep your 21st century feminine air about you but i've got it all together you can do two steps tonight it's to confess to god how weak i am god i'm so weak god i'm so weak god covey came out of nowhere god my wisdom is so weak questions i've never been asked before now i'm being asked god i'm so weak god i'm so weak god i'm so weak i wish you'd follow suit with your pastor tonight god i'm so weak god i'm so weak god oh god your family's falling apart and i have no strength to keep it together god i am so weak god i am so weak the first step is to confess that you are weak the second step to find yourself a place around this altar god help me god help me god help me god i need your help god god you are the vine and we are the branches god you are the potter and we are the clay oh god i can't make it without you lord god i don't know it all god god i'm a horrible wreck without you god i'm a failure at anything i do if i don't have you oh god i need you lord god i need you lord i need you lord i need you lord come on church you'll never get help until you realize this weak moment you gotta realize this weak moment right now for the next few moments can we pour our hearts out to god i'm weak i'm weak i'm weak i'm weak come on church bringing it call the seed jesus jesus you make the darkness tremble jesus jesus your silent spirit jesus jesus you make the darkness tremble jesus jesus call these you make the darkness you make the darkness triple cheese cheese you make the darkness jesus once again you make the darkness you make a darkness jesus silence fear cheese overcome your name is your name is a lie that the shuttles can't deny your name is jesus your name is is your name is a lie that the shadows can't deny your name is jesus she's oh yeah right now yes hey hallelujah victory for the bad we need a victory in this place belongs belongs to you foreign you foreign what the enemy meant foreign foreign victory foreign you're not already standing when you're staying with me right now we'll close in prayer weak moments weak moments is a story that is told in the gospel of a man who had a withered hand and to some writings that are not in the bible it keep has tethered itself to this man had a hand that he was a stone layer and that his hand had actually been crushed by a stone and his hand was disfigured and it was there in the temple jesus asked that man to stretch out his hand you see a lot of times we want to come to the temple and put the pretty side of us out notice jesus didn't say stretch let me see your withered hand he just said stretch forth your hand he'd been left up to him do do we want to play pretty church because if we want to play a pretty church i can put my good side on but god doesn't help us unless we're willing to in his presence show him the ugly side see we want to come to church we've we've read too many self-help books we've read too many new york number one top selling books not read enough of the bible to know that when we get in the house of god like this the only way you get help is to put that ugly hand out you know i'd like to tell you this i'd like to tell you that sister ericson began to battle high blood pressure years ago and i'd like to tell you that we prayed and fasted and she's never had any more high blood pressure see that be the pretty side wouldn't it brother arnold would that be the pretty side to tell but the side that the enemy says keep that back he said she wasn't here this morning nor tonight because she's laying over there in bed sick with high blood pressure yeah i thought i think i heard somebody say healer because we never gonna get what we need unless we're willing in public to stick that ugly hand out and say god it's my daughter god i don't want you to touch sister erickson tonight god y'all she's blessed us with music she's blessed us with her yo she's blessed us with just working around the clock she's blessed us god she lives and sleeps and eats and drinks this church and how to take us feather god would you heal felon denied of that high blood pressure come on right now help me pray oh god in the name of jesus god let that blood pressure come down young may her heart stop racing god may may she stop having god heart meets it or not in rhythm god i ask you lord to touch and heal or deny god this is our weakness god we need you lord god in the name of jesus oh god oh god just for one more moment oh it could it could actually alter your life would you stick your ugly withered hand out tonight whatever it is that you have and would you show it to god tonight hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah i believe god's moving when we when we show our weakness i believe god's moving he resisted the proud it's all right for you to say i don't understand god it's all right for you to say i don't understand in god is all right hey lord that i trust you but i trust you god but i trust you god man i trust you god father i thank you tonight this time in your house god help us when we face our weak moments this week help us to allow our weak moments to drive us into your presence and into our future and not as simpson and not as esau but as the woman of the issue of blood she