God Desires To Use You

You see all that. We're going to go to John chapter 4. I'm going to read a rather lengthy portion of scripture today, but I feel it important for where I believe that the Lord wants us to go.

Did you know that God desires to use you? Do you know that God desires to use you? Yeah, look at, look at somebody beside you and say, God desires to use you.

Now, one of the jobs as pastor is to try to communicate the burden and the vision that I feel like God has for us as a local church. Now, if you've been around here for a little while, you've probably heard us say that we're an apostolic church. We grow apostolic families. That's who we are. That's what we're about. We're reaching into our city, reaching in the middle Tennessee area through daughter churches, trying to fulfill that mission. We are committed to this cause, and we know that a lot of it depends upon leadership, but the leadership has to bring that vision to the church, and then as a church body we have to buy into that vision and move forward. And the, and part of that is that I have to define the mission.

I started off this year talking about that I felt like God was bringing us back to a point of focusing on discipleship, and we were still kind of on the edge of dealing with everything involving covet and what was going on, but we, we're kind of hopefully turning a corner and getting into whatever our new normal is going to be. I feel like God is still putting that in my spirit that we have to be about the business of discipling people. Each of us have a part to play in this, and I want to read this passage of scripture, and I hope you'll, you'll bear with me because I'm going to read about 25 verses here, but I want to lay out a story and then from that story move forward into what God has for us.

John chapter 4, verse number five: Then cometh he to the city of Samaria, which is also called psycho, near a parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, set thus on the well. It was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink, for his disciples were gone away into the city to buy meat. Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, ask drink of me, which is a woman of Samaria? For the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knowest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink, thou would have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. From whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again, but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well water springing up into everlasting life. The woman saith unto him, Sir, give me this water, that I thirst not, neither come hither to draw. Jesus saith unto her, Go call thy husband and come hither.

Now, this is where it gets tense. Look at your neighbor and say, Hang on, it's going to get a little tense. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said in her, Thou hast well said, I have no husband, but thou hast had five husbands, and he whom thou now, whom, whom now thou hast is not thine husband. In thy set us thou truly. The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art prophet. Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and ye say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, A woman, believe me, the hour cometh when you shall neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem worship the father. Ye worship ye know not what. We know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jew. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the father in spirit and in truth, for the father seeketh such to worship him. God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. The woman saith unto him, I know that Messiah cometh, which is called Christ. When he come, he will tell us all things. Jesus said unto her, I that speak unto thee am he. And upon this came his disciples and marveled that he talked with the woman, yet no man said, What seeketh thou? Or, Why talk his thou with her? The woman then left her water part, water pot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men, Come see a man which told me all things that ever I did. Is not this the Christ? Then they went out of the city and came unto him.

Now, I know there was a lot to read, but I want to unpack this for just a minute. What I feel like is the sermon today, that God desires to use you.

Now, this woman's past was, was a little bit checkered, a little bit dark to say the least, and she came to the well in the heat of the day desiring to draw water and avoid criticism and the other women that would be there to draw water from the well. And we see by the reading of this passage that she was confused as to what was worship when it came to worshiping God. I love the fact that Jesus was direct in speaking with her. I don't feel like he was being unkind, but he was very forthcoming and direct in his dealings with her, and he told her that she didn't really understand what she was talking about when it was coming to the subject of worship. Her understanding of scripture was very faint. In fact, all she really knew was that someday that the Messiah was going to show up, and when he showed up he would tell everyone what it was that they were supposed to do. So, a brief recap here: her past was dark. She didn't really understand scripture or who it was she should be worshiping. What little bit of knowledge she had was so vague, and the only thing she could answer Jesus' question was, was when Messiah comes, Messiah is going to tell us what it was we should do.

When I look at this, I begin to think to myself, in relationship to the church, where this woman was. I feel like she's like a person who attends church enough to be added to the membership list, but not enough to really be changed by Jesus, not enough to even really know all about him or to share him with someone else. Not much to work here. But it looks like when Jesus shows up and begins to pull her aside and begins to talk to her about where she is, on a one-on-one basis, that something starts to change inside of her life. Without a doubt, he lets her know, the one you're speaking to right now is the Messiah that you speak of. And this information is all this woman needed, and what she did with that tiny bit of information changed a whole lot of people's life. She went and told somebody else about the truth that had been given to her. She went and told somebody else about the truth that had been given to her. She decided, I'm not just going to be a consumer of what I have been given, but I'm going to take what I have been given and I'm going to go and tell somebody else about what has just happened in my life.

Ladies and gentlemen, that is the mission of the church, for you and I to take what has been given to us, and we go find somebody else to tell it to. Now, what I find interesting here, that she didn't just go tell anyone, but she went and told the men who were the elders of the city. She went to the very gates of the city, if you'll keep renting the chapter, and, and she gathered them together. She didn't hang around the well sheepishly just waiting on somebody to show up, and if they did, maybe mention the experience that she had. No, she went to the ones who had the most influence in the city without any fear. She went straight up to them and told them, Let me tell you about the man I just ran into. He knew all about my life and what I have experience with, and I want you to come with me and let me show you this man.

That is the mission of the church. And what happened as a result? They went out of the city and came unto him.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm talking to the church today. You have no idea how powerful your testimony is. This is not the day nor the hour for you and I to be setting back and waiting passively for God to drop somebody in our lap with a note that says, Please tell me your testimony. We should take the experience of this woman to heart in our own life. Has God done something for anybody in this place? Has God done something for anybody in this place? Then when's the last time you told somebody about what God has done for you in your life? God desires to use you. We are supposed to be about the father's business. We are supposed to be in the business of discipling people, and the only way we can do that is when we open up and start talking to somebody about what God has done in our life.

When I look back at this story, I want to show you what her qualifications were. She had one and only one qualification. If you look at this story, I'm going to ask you: Did Jesus heal her of anything? No. Did he fill her with the Holy Ghost? No. Did he forgive her and her sins at this point? No. Did he bless her with a job or a better marriage or kids that would stay out of trouble? No. None of those things. All she had was a knowledge or a revelation of who the mighty God was, and that's all she needed to go out and tell somebody else about what had happened in her life.

I fear, I fear that we have to set back too many times and think through what it is that we need to be qualified for before we'll ever try to do something for God, and I'm telling you right now, if you're breathing, God is qualifying you to talk about the good things he has done in your life. You don't have to have a long pedigree. You don't have to have a big education. You don't have to have a doctorate in theology. What you need is to talk about the experience that you have had in your life with Jesus Christ. God has changed you. He has filled you with his spirit. He has set your feet on a solid ground. He has helped you in your life. You have all you need to tell somebody about God.

Who are you willing to talk to about Jesus? Who are you willing to talk to about Jesus? This is a message that's meant to make you feel uncomfortable. Who are you willing to talk to? I wonder, I just really wonder how many days have gone by that Jesus has purposely put people in your life, but you and I have been so caught up in the hurry that is all around us that we've missed open door opportunities to tell someone about him.

You know what really frustrates a pastor is when he has so many good saints that sit on church pews and show up when it's service time, but they leave it up to the new converts to invite all of their friends to church, and they never do any outreach themselves. It really grieves a pastor's heart to see people who have been living for God for 20 and 30 and 40 years, but they never ever talk to anybody at the cash register. They never tell anybody anything that goes on at their workplace. They never bother anymore, because people just know that they're a religious person, and that's the life they live. When did it become acceptable that we're not to be about the father's business? When did it become okay that we pacify our conscience because I show up when I'm supposed to be a church, and I have a ministry inside the walls of the church, that I pay my tithes, and I'm a regular attender, that I'm okay, God, everything's just right, when there are people all around you and I each and every day that if somebody doesn't say something to them, they're gonna die and go to hell. Are you okay with that? Because I'm not okay with that. I'm not okay when I look around me and I see that there are people who are not living the way they're supposed to be living.

Oh, you shouldn't be judging. Judge not lest you be judged. I'll get into a debate with you in scriptures if that's what you want. I'll meet you after service, and I'll promise you, you won't like the results of that debate, because the Bible also tells me that I'm to judge with righteous judgment, the fruit that you bear. And right now I'm not talking about what goes on outside these walls, but I'm speaking to the church that are sitting here on these pews today to tell you, it's time for you and I to wake up. It's time for you and I to stop playing church. It's time for you and I to stop being comfortable on these pews when there's a world outside these walls, when there's brothers and sisters, when there's friends and co-workers who don't know about Jesus Christ, and we seem to be okay with that. You cannot read this book and not be convicted to your core if you're not reaching out for somebody's life around you.

Oh God, convict us. His desire is to use you. He purposely places people in your lives every day, opportunities for you to talk about, not deep theological discussion, but just to tell somebody about what God has done for you. You don't have to over complicate it. You don't have to overthink it. You don't have to put flattery words with it. Just talk about what he's done for you in your life. Has he filled you with the Holy Ghost? Anybody in here have the Holy Ghost? Anybody excited about having the Holy Ghost? That life-changing resurrection power that we celebrated last week lives inside of you. That's all you need to be an effective witness for him.

I'm tired of playing church. I'm tired of just sitting by and seeing what new people happen to come by and see the building and drift on in. I'm tired of growth by the fact that people are just moving here from other apostolic churches. The kingdom's not growing that way. Oh my God, when will we wake up? When will we be convicted to talk to somebody about what God has done in your life?

One of the lies that people who make mistakes are told by Satan is that God cannot use them because they have sinned and made a mistake. You're sitting in a room full of sinners that made mistakes. This whole room is filled with people who have sinned and made mistakes. People involved in, are called to ministry, which is every one of us in this room, are often hit with this. When a person makes a mistake or falls into sin, it's a healthy thing to have a reasonable amount of guilt and remorse. You should have a consciousness active. You should have something that convicts you, yes, but not disqualifies you to move forward. Once you have repented and placed that sin under the blood of Jesus, you need to move on in your walk with God and get back involved in ministry. We have to ask ourselves, if God cannot use a sinner that has repented, what hope is there for any of us? We all make mistakes. We all sin. We all doubt. We all from time to time lose faith. Nevertheless, the one lie of the enemy literally cripples the entire church's potential for revival and growth when we think just because you had a bad thought that you can't tell somebody about God. I'll rebuke that lie in the name of Jesus Christ. You make mistakes. We all make mistakes. Get up, pick yourself up, ask God to forgive you of that sin, and move forward, and go find somebody. If you want to counteract what the enemy's trying to do, then you go find somebody else and you let them know about the life-changing gospel of Jesus Christ. You want to push the enemy back? Then you march right into his territory and start talking about what God has done in your life, and I promise you, you can put the enemy on the run. What you don't realize is the, is that the devil is more afraid of you than you can ever imagine. He knows who you are. He knows you're a bloodball child of the king. He knows you have the authority and the jurisdiction power, if you're in a right relationship with your pastor in your church, that you can walk with authority into his area of expertise and say, Not today, they belong to me. I'm claiming them in Jesus' name.

I'm trying to get somebody ramped up today, that you have power in your testimony.

Satan tells us, You made a mistake, you failed God, you backslid, so let somebody else that's more spiritual doing it. But guess what? He's telling the same thing to them also. You know what happens? The kingdom doesn't grow. Ministry doesn't happen at all, because Satan has caused us to believe that we are all not good enough to work for God. You know what? You know what? It's the one time he tells the truth, because you're not, and neither am I, but by the grace of God, by the grace of God, by that precious blood that was said at Calvary, when I applied to my life, I become redeemed, not based off of my works and not based off of my abilities. I don't have those things, but based by his perfect sacrifice, I have the ability to be washed in that blood. I have the ability to step on the other side of my sins, be remitted and washed away. I have the ability to be effective in the kingdom. I'm not perfect. I've made my share of mistakes, too many of them. I still want to be involved in ministry. Why? Because I want to serve the Lord. I want to work for God. Is the only thing that makes me feel complete. It's the only thing that brings me true joy and happiness. I've tried the other things. I've tried pursuits. I've tried to be self-centered and selfless. I've tried all those. It only leaves me empty and hollow and dead inside. But there's something about selling myself out to God. There's something about watching life-changing power working somebody else, and to know that I had some small part to play in that. I don't have to have the big stuff. I don't have to have the pulpit. I don't have to have all the grandiose stuff, just to know that I was able to help one more person be connected with the almighty God is satisfaction enough for me.

Jesus required two things of his disciples: that they were to be busy and not lazy, and that they would be willing to follow. God doesn't beg, ladies and gentlemen. He's looking for volunteers. A person's background did not seem to be important. Look at who he grabbed. He grabbed the worst of the lot, according to the world: tax collectors and, and, and fishermen and laborers. Outside of Judas, they were all Galileans. They were, they were the outcasts of the bunch. And Jesus says, That's who I want to use. Come on in here. Come on in here. Society rejects you. Come on, see me. Everybody else just turn the background. Come to me, I'll use you. You think you have to have all these qualifications? All you have to do is be willing, be willing to move forward. Why? Because God desires to reach all people.

The call of God came to Saul of Tarsus. Why? He was the enemy of the church. He was marked by God for ministry while he was involved in some of the most horrendous acts of persecution ever demonstrated against the church. But God said in Acts 9:15, He is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles and kings. A chosen vest, a chosen vessel. He's dragging us out in the street and killing us, and God says, Keep your hands off of him, he belongs to me. That ought to make somebody happy in here. The very one who was kicking down the doors and dragging the Christians out, God says, I want to use him, because he's got a lot of passion and a lot of zeal, and I can use that for my kingdom. It's not about you being qualified. It's about you being willing to go and do what God wants you to do.

Paul's transformation began on the Damascus road. The road for Paul represented hatred for the church. It was a murderous road, paved with the blood and bones of believers and people just like you. Paul was a henchman of Satan, chosen to carry out persecution without mercy on the church, and God stepped on the scene, blinded his eyes, and said, I want you to be quiet for a minute, Paul. I want to use you for my kingdom. Oh, wish there'd be more people blinded by God right now. Even before Paul repented, before he was baptized and received the Holy Spirit, he was his chosen vessel. And I'm looking at a room full of chosen vessels today. They may have labeled you an outcast. They may have labeled you worthless. They may have labeled you no good. The enemy may be whispering in your ear right now, but I'll rebuke it in Jesus' name. You are a chosen vessel for the kingdom.

I wonder today how many of us God saw while we were yet in sin. How many of us he chose to use for the sake of ministry while we were still living in sin. I know my own personal call. I ran from it for years, scared to death, had no idea what it really meant. All I knew is it was a lot bigger than me, and I didn't know any way to accept it, so I ran from it as hard as I could.

Servanthood in God's kingdom is born out of love, and when we truly love, ladies and gentlemen, we serve. Did you hear what I said? When we truly love, we serve. There is in me a drive that says, Don't waste what's been given to you. Don't waste divine opportunities that are around us all the time, because you never know, you never know the impact that one simple moment can make in eternity. You don't know.

There was a man named Ernie Cox. Some of you know this story. Ernie Cox was just an assembly line worker up in rural Kentucky, but he was a Christian man. He lived for God. He understood apostolic truth. He also understood the importance of not setting on his faith, but being an effective witness to those that were around him. He understood this principle. So there was a man named Denzel who worked on the assembly line with him. This man didn't live for God. He wasn't a bad guy, but didn't live for God. So Ernie, in his relationship with him, began to talk to him about God, and that God had a plan for Denzel's life, that God desired to have a relationship with him. Through the course of that friendship, Denzel decided to go to church with Ernie. He went to that little apostolic church. God filled Denzel with the Holy Ghost. He's baptized in Jesus' name. A little bit of time passed. Denzel realized that God was putting a call in his life. That call led him to a mission field. At first, he had a strong desire to go to this country he'd never really heard of called Madagascar. When he appeared before the mission's board, they said they didn't have money to send in a Madagascar, but they could send him to the Philippines. There's a lot of story in there, but to give you the cliff notes version, they decided to go the Philippines, started to help get the work dug out of the ground. There had been another missionary there, but it never been really successful. Denzel shows up, boots on the ground, starts working really hard. Eventually he gets to go before the missions board again. He still is consumed and eat up with going to Madagascar. Finally he gets approved. He doesn't know like a Malagasy. He has just a handful of tracks. And I have personally stood on that square in Antananarivo where he started his first reaching into that country by walking around and asking, Does anybody speak English? Does anybody speak English? And after a couple days, somebody walked up and said, I speak English. And he knew, if I win this country, I have to win this man.

When Denzel Richardson turned over the work to his son Jerry Richardson, there was either five or six churches in that country. His son took up the torch, continued to plant and do works in there. When Jerry turned it over to his son Chris, there was 300 churches in that country. Chris Richardson's still in Madagascar right now, and there's over a thousand churches in the country of Madagascar right now. In the country of the Philippines, there's been over a million souls one to God. In the country of the Philippines, all because Ernie Cox on an assembly line in rural Kentucky decided to tell his friend Denzel beside him that God loved him.

You have no idea what one conversation could do to change the course of millions of people's lives. God desires to use you. It may not be you that goes to the mission field, but it could be you that has the conversation with the missionary that goes to the mission field, who wins millions of people. You don't know the conversations you're going to have. That's why it's important, church, that we wake up, then we wake up in this last day, that we don't sit back and just enjoy the building and enjoy a good time and enjoy fellowship. I'm about all of those things, but not at the expense of disciplining people. We can't miss the mission. You have enormous potential. One man took a moment of his day, and he shared his testimony with somebody else, and millions of people's lives have been changed forever because one man was willing to tell his friend about Jesus Christ.

And I wonder in this place how many missionaries could be born, how many people's lives could be affected, if we woke up as a church and realized every day there's opportunity for you and I to tell somebody about the life-changing message of Jesus Christ. He desires to use you.

Some of you precious people in here doing such awesome things. Some of you have continued to teach Bible studies and reach out. Some of you go out on a daily basis and do some amazing things, but it's not the majority. It's a very small minority of the church that's doing this, and it is convicting me at my heart. I don't sleep good, and I was up at three o'clock this morning wrestling with this word. God's telling me, I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm coming, wake my church up. I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm coming, I'm here. I know I've been animated. I know I've raised my voice several times, but I'm telling you, I feel like the watchman on the wall trying to tell you, he's coming, he's coming, he's coming. We have little time. Tell everybody you know about Jesus Christ.

We have VIPs in service with us, Gene Haslet and Mary, letting her here. I'm so thankful they're here today. They're rock stars in the kingdom. I go up and visit them up there. They tell everybody up there at the Rutherford about their God. Everybody up there, when it was up there, and Sister Marie just passed away a few days ago, and I went up there right after service on that Sunday. I got a call and said that she's not doing good. They wanted me to come out. I literally pre finished preaching, went right out that door, jumped in my car, and drove down there, and walked in that room. Everybody that comes in that room, all of the, all of the workers and, and everybody that's a part of, as soon as they come in, they're in there, they're crying and weeping. And I'm thinking to myself, why is it the ones who have lived the longest that have the boldest spirit to tell somebody about God? What about us? What about us, to still have energy and still have stamina and still have the ability and still have a strong voice? Wake up, church, wake up. It's time for you and I to stop playing patty cake for Jesus, but you get to the business of disciplining people. He desires to use you. He could have done anything he wanted to, Bishop. He could have designed any way he wanted to save the world. He could have come up with a grand plan, but his grand plan was to use us, wants to use us, for you and I to be his hands and feet, for you and I to be his voice, his mouthpiece, for you and I to be what they see every day in their life.

Oh please, Apostolics, let us be known for something more than just how we appear, but let us be known that we speak with conviction and love and a real sincerity that causes people's walls to come down. Let us be known for that. Let us be known for people who will not let a minute go by without telling you, God loves you. God has a plan for you. God has a purpose for you in your life. God desires to do great things in you. How many, how many lives will be changed?

Romans 11:29: For the gifts and the calling of God without repentance. II Timothy 1:9: Who hath saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began.

I was teaching Next Steps this morning in the class. I told him, one of the things I absolutely love about our God is that he never waste a mistake. I've made my fair share of mistakes. I have made so many wrong decisions. I have done things and messed stuff up so bad. But I love how God has come alongside me in my life and has given me the opportunity to minister to people, and to take those mistakes and those circumstances that I got myself in, and he'll allow moments where I can bring those in, into a conversation, so that I can speak to somebody and have the opportunity to say, I know he doesn't condone bad behavior. He's not for those things. But I love the fact that he never wastes them. He allows me to bring my ashes of mistakes and burn down life and present them to him, and he says, Look, I'll take those things and do wonderful stuff with them. And when God gets done, it becomes a beautiful testimony that gives somebody else an opportunity to have a little bit of hope in their life.

And I'm trying to tell somebody in this place, don't be disqualified in your own mind thinking that you've done too much and God can't use you. That's not the truth. God will take all that stuff and make something beautiful out of it, and give you an opportunity to be an effective witness in this world.

Well, I'm going to end, because I feel in my spirit God's fixing to do some restoring in this place. I'm going to ask the musicians to come tonight, are you sure? The devil is a liar. The devil is a liar. He is a liar. He is the father of lies. When he opens his mouth, nothing but lies come out of those things. I'm here to speak to somebody right now. Um, the Holy Ghost is moving. God desires to do a restoration. Some of you have put your ministry on a shelf, and you have walked away and convinced yourself that it's never going to come to fruition, and it's never going to amount to something. But I'm here to tell you, it's not an accident that you are in this room today. I may not have known that you were going to be here, but God knew you were going to be in this room today. So I'm here to activate some ministries in this place. It's time for you to quit believing the lies. It's time for you to quit putting those things away when you know God has had his hand on your life, and he has put inside of you a deep longing desire to do kingdom things for him. I'm here to tell you, it's time. Today, today, today, today, today is the day to activate those things once more. You have a ministry. You have a responsibility, have a mandate. Is not to simply be a member of Center Point Apostolic Church. It's not simply to sit back and hear good preaching every Sunday. But the mandate of God is upon your life to be involved in the ministry of this church for the purpose of reaching every soul that we can reach for Jesus Christ before his soon return.