Sunday Evening Worship Service

well Glory I'm gonna let you move to your seats we greet you this Sunday night in the precious name of Jesus what a privilege it is once again to be in the house of the Lord I join with the voices that have come before me and say thank you for being with us we welcome you we honor you for being in service on this Sunday night what a wonderful crowd of Believers are gathered here we greet all of those who are joining us in that great big land of social media whatever platform you're in service with us thank you for being with us and we invite you to be with us very soon right here at First Apostolic church I give honor again on this evening of a Mother's Day celebration I I just don't know how it could go any better what a marvelous day we have had I think we ought to give the Lord a great weekend for giving us a wonderful day of Celebration and I too want to say a special word of thanks for having the best mama in the world Mom I love you I appreciate all you have done I uh uh at this time of year you're always looking for a gift and I won't go into all of what happens there trying to find something for the mama that's got everything that she wants but part of the gift I gave her she's cooked so many meals so I gave her partly a gift card to Cracker Barrel I said at least there's one meal you won't have to cook so with all this other stuff that came with that Mama thank you for being Mama for so many years and and taking care of me I'm the only one that truly gets to call you mother and I love you dearly and then I honor the mother of my children sister Jamie what an awesome job she did speaking to us today thank you for reminding us that we are the mother Church of the apostolic movement for the city of Knoxville and we have a great responsibility and a wonderful opportunity and this multiple generation Church sister Jamie reminded us how our family has grown from around the world and we couldn't help but talk a bit afterwards of tracing down the ethnicities of our church family and how blessed we are for we're all in one family the family of God and I thank you sister Jamie for keeping us reminded and uh I just have to say a word thank you sister summer for I have enough trouble singing in hillbilly and she's hanging all kinds of languages today was that not amazing that was incredible Give the Lord a hand for that thank you for ministering to us today I want to take you to the word of the Lord and call your attention to the Book of Psalms the fourth chapter give you just a moment to find that Psalms for and I do honor all of our pastoral and ministerial leadership our elders the ministry of our church and the fine job they are doing having a multi-generational church to whom much is given much is required uh if you want to be involved in a church that does nothing don't come here let me say that again if you want to be involved in a church that's a do-nothing church don't come here something's going on all the time uh we noted earlier that we have two homegoing services this week not every church has that but we have a responsibility and we're thankful for that opportunity because God has given us generations with two going home and eight new ones dedicated today that's coming into the church family and all sister Keelan right now is getting ready for Mother's Day next year I understand uh brother and sister Russell just any time now and we're excited about that so God is blessing us in our comings and our goings and with the growth of First Apostolic church so thank you for being a part Psalms 4 let's read three verses beginning at verse number one hear me when I call o God of my righteousness thou Hast enlarged me when I was in distress and then in other words you made me bigger than my problems did you know if you'll be righteous you can be bigger than some stuff thou has enlarged me when I was in distress have mercy upon me and hear my prayer oh you sons of men how long will you turn my glory into shame how long will you love vanity and seek after leasing that word leasing here means lying how long will you seek after lying but no please everyone notice this but no that the Lord hath set apart him that is Godly for himself the Lord will hear when I call unto him for just a few moments tonight I would speak to you on this subject set apart for God set apart for god let's pray savior I love you forever grateful for thee many mighty things that you do Lord I Thank you for the wonderful praise and worship that the choir the praise team and all involved have brought your presence into this place Lord we know you're always here but Lord you especially inhabit the praise of your people now God I pray that we would continue praising you and worshiping you as we hear and receive and act upon your word tonight let it Minister mildly to our hearts that we can be in your will and do all you'd have us do in the name of Jesus we pray amen and amen set apart for God Jesus said in Matthew 22 14 many for many are called but few are chosen from the playground to the NFL draft there is a satisfaction in being chosen first that feeling of satisfaction comes when the evaluating Authority who's doing the picking calls your name to be on their team anywhere from Counting potatoes Anybody Everybody do that choose but one potato two potatoes surely I'm not the only person that knows that playground Sandlot lingo or saying you can have the first pick or the next two there are ways on the playground that we 've got to be picked got to be chosen being chosen in those instances for athletics the choosing Authority is usually recognizing one's ability one's Talent OR one's connection some just pick all their buddies you know and usually those who pick their friends rather than pick the best folks usually has their team get the brakes beat off of them too there's times to pick who needs to be picked first well I'm confident that I will never be chosen in the NFL draft the NBA draft or the Major League Draft won't happen I will never be chosen an election to be a congressman or a senator because I promise you I'm never gonna run and I can live with that but I do desire to be set apart and chosen by God and I hope every person in this house has the same desire to be set apart for God can you imagine how great it is for God to say I Choose You I pick you I want to be set aside and set apart for God how wonderful to know that God himself sets apart those who are Godly in Psalms 4 3 if we read the ESV version that statement says know that the Lord has set apart his faithful servant for himself that's who he sets apart The Godly the faithful servant the Lord hears when I call to him hear me God's chosen people are special he picks You Now understand scripture said many are called there is a universal call for this entire world God does not want anyone to be lost but to be chosen you must be Godly I'm here to let everybody know in the house if you really desire to be chosen of God you'll be Godly you'll find a reason and find the attributes of The Godly so you can be chosen God doesn't just pick anybody he doesn't just count potatoes and it happens randomly God chooses The Godly for himself that's who he sets apart so with that in mind if I'm going to be chosen I need to find out what the attributes the characteristics of The Godly would be so I can be set apart for God by himself so I begin reading here in Psalms the Psalms Psalms the fourth chapter verse 4 starts getting the attributes and gives basically five characteristics or attributes of The Godly who he sets apart for himself he said stand in awe and sin not commune with your own heart upon your bed and be still offer the sacrifices of righteousness and put your trust in the Lord stand in all sin not commune commune with your own heart upon your bed offer sacrifices of righteousness and trust in the Lord it sounds pretty easy but let's ask ourselves have I made that a goal in my life to do those things what does it mean to stand in awe the term all defined as a feeling of reverential respect mixed with fear or wonder there are many scriptures that we find that speak of the fear of the Lord the reverential respect for God Proverbs 8 13 says the fear of the Lord is to hate evil pride and arrogancy the evil way the forward mouth do I hate proverbs 10 27 says the fear of the Lord prolongeth days if you'll fear the lord you live longer but the years of the wicked shall be Proverbs 14 26 and 27 says in the fear of the Lord is strong confidence you know there's a statement that you hear people when they want to compliment someone in our culture said he's a good God-fearing man she's a good God-fearing woman the fear of the Lord is strong confidence did you know folks who really trust in the Lord are confident people you check it out people who really have a reverential respect for the Lord they deal with life they don't go around with a lack of confidence now he differentiated just earlier the difference in arrogancy he hates arrogancy but he wants a confident people listen God's people we need to be confident in everything we do that God is walking with us he's keeping us it doesn't make us arrogant but I know if he called me to do something he's going to equip me he's going to open the doors he's going to provide it said the fear of the Lord is strong confidence and his children shall have a place of Refuge the fear of the Lord is a Fountain of Life to depart from the snares of death in fact Proverbs 1 7 says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge but the fool despiseth wisdom and instruction and since it's Mother's Day I want to read verse 8. verse 8 says my son hear the instruction of thy father and forsake not the law of thy mother let me explain what that passage means and I might say it this way dads are good about giving instructions and Mamas are good about laying down the law can I get a witness in the house let me give you an example dad can teach you to change the oil in your car Mama's got laws that you don't wipe your oily hands on the towels in the house can I get a witness in the house mama's going to have some laws now please think it not doing violence to the word of the Lord but I would quote Elder Johnny James for a little bit of reference he said if the church is not your mama God is not your father what does that mean you see the law is going to have it's going to come from the church that's not unreasonable expectations but that's instruction that'll come from the father and then there will be rules there will be direction that comes through the church sister Jamie told us that we were the mother Church we have a responsibility to have some rules and regulations and responsibilities that the church maintains that keeps the family of God growing and giving direction I'm thankful for Mama's laws I I didn't understand why I was supposed to clean my feet at the door or take my muddy boots off when I was a kid but now that I'm married I'm glad I learned that lesson I have a whole lot better home life because of it there's things that the church is going to teach newborn Saints that you're not always even going to understand but let me hear you if you let me tell you if you'll hear me there's some laws and there's some rules and regulations that the church will lay out nothing that's that's unattainable but it will simply give direction in your life because the instruction of the father through his word will come and teach us and will guide us and direct us our heavenly father gives instruction through his word and mama gives Direction on how to follow God's instructions but not only did it say stand in awe or have that reverential fear then it said sin not brother cool what great theological Revelation can you give me about what that means it's this stop sinning I don't care whether you look at it in the Greek or the Hebrew I don't care what translation you look at it in it means stop sinning stop sinning means to stop sinning is the word clear enough for us there Romans said it this way in Romans 6 17 but God be thanked that ye were the Servants of sin but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of Doctrine which was delivered you being then made free from sin ye became the Servants of righteousness this was your spiritual Independence Day when you made a determination in your heart I'm repenting of my sins I'm turning around I will no longer willfully sin yes we will all make mistakes in our life but you see when we determine in our hearts we've repented God I'm turning around no more sin in my life I'm going to stop sinning you're moving toward a Godly life that you can be set apart by God he went on to say I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh you see there's going to be a battle when you're determined to sin not you're going to have to deal with those self the infirmities of your flesh is those arguments that you have about yielding to Temptation for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto Holiness righteous people chosen people those that God set apart say I'm going to quit sinning and I'm going to be righteous I'm going to live holy before God for when you were Servants of sin you were free from righteousness what fruit had you then and those things which ye are now ashamed I realize for some of us when we look back on what a good sinner we were it makes us ashamed Now by good I don't mean the good good I mean the bad good I mean we did our best to sin just as much as we could sin to the point that when we look back we are so ashamed but I'm so thankful that God is Not Looking Back he's looking forward he's saying I don't even know about that stuff anymore you're no longer bound by sin instead you are free in the righteousness of God you've quit the sin in business because he said the end of sin is death but verse 22 said but now being made free from sin and become servants to God ye have your fruit unto Holiness and the end is everlasting life I'm not worried about death I'll be thankful for everlasting life you see oh I'm so happy I hope somebody else feels what I feel I'm happy that I can live a sinless life before God yeah I may make some mistakes but I'm not willfully sinning I'm out here saying God I want to do my best for you I commit myself to you he says it's simply this way for the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ Our Lord John said it this way in John 8 34 Jesus answered them verily verily I say unto you whosoever committed sin is a servant of sin and the servant abideth not in the house forever but the son abideth forever if the son therefore shall make you free ye shall be free indeed there is an independence from sin that comes live in a righteous holy Godly life so he said stop sinning stand in awe and then it said this it said commune with your own heart upon your bed and be still commune is short for communicate intimately how awesome it is to be able to go in and lay your head down at night talk to God intimately without the guilt of sin not the tumbling tossing and turning The Dread and the worry of guilt of what I've done or who I've hurt or what I've created you see I preached a message one time time that I entitled I I'm not crazy but I do hear voices and there's times I talk to myself and I'm still not crazy at least I hope I'm not but there's times we need to have little talks with ourselves there's times that we need to turn off all the noise and eliminate all the distractions and find ourselves communing with ourself and getting the Lord involved in the conversation there's times I need to be able to lay my head down say Lord I want to thank you for this day God you've been so good to me I couldn't help but just in awe and in thanks thank him for the beautiful Services we had today for those precious new Souls that have been born in the First Apostolic church and parents bringing them forward saying I want to commit them back to God we have a responsibility church I I know you saw the folks up here some were well committed and other folks were babes we're not here to condemn them we're here to love them and bring them in sometimes we've got to recalibrate and talk to us sometimes I just have to tell old self you got to do the right thing self you got to follow the direction and the leading of the Lord don't let the flesh enter in Isaiah 28 12 said to whom he said this is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest and this is the refreshing I want to make sure that I can commune on my own bed with my own heart about the goodness and the mercies and the provisions of God and then he said fourthly offer sacrifices of righteousness what are you sacrificing for what will I sacrifice for if I need a new bass boat I'll save and sacrifice if I need a new set of golf clubs I'll save and sacrifice if I need a new living room suit I'll buy it on credit and sacrifice in 30 days but what are you willing to sacrifice to be set apart for God it's always right and righteous to do the right thing you'll find yourselves being tempted and tried and tested in this working day world that we live with opportunities to be dishonest to get ahead opportunities to be less than righteous to fit in with the so-called In Crowd offer the sacrifices of righteousness every day that I will be right and righteous before God and then the fifth attribute the fifth of five was this put your trust in the Lord put your trust in the Lord let's all ask ourselves the question do I trust in the Lord do I really trust in him the psalmist said it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in man well that's an easy one man will deceive you man will lie to you man will cheat you man will call you time after time even though you've put them on the Do Not Call list on your phone can I get a witness in the house man will try to call your phone and get information from you acting as though he's in your behalf when he's really wanting to scam you man will do that man will be cruel one to each other man will be mean and prejudiced toward fellow mankind don't trust in man trust in the Lord it said in verse 9 it is better to trust in the Lord than to put confidence in princes I would interpret that as royalty or governmental leadership now I'm not here speaking Rebellion against the government you know better than that preached too many times of our responsibility from scripture to be obedient to principalities and power scripture tells us so but just because I'm obedient don't believe don't mean I believe and trust everything they say how about you there's some things I just don't trust Proverbs 3 5 said trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding I've got to trust the Lord more than I trust what I understand that's the problem with us too many of us feel like we've got to understand everything about God and you never will but you can trust him trust he has a plan for your life trust everything that takes place is for your good trust that he in fact the Bible tells us quit worrying about understanding he said because he'll be the peace that passeth understanding and all thy ways acknowledge Him and he shall direct thy past e do you trust GPS no not that thing on your phone I'm talking about God's positioning system do you trust that God will put you where you need to be when you need to be there there's too many of us will he even argue with man's GPS won't we I won't ask for any amens or show of hands but I know there's some of y'all in here when that thing is saying when possible make a legal U-Turn when possible make a legal U-turn I know this is the right way I know I'm going the right way sister Jamie and I were traveling over through North Carolina a few years ago and it was in a day that you had to update the GPS on your vehicle and you couldn't use your phone and your Apple carplay back then so we were using a GPS unit that we didn't realize that was a bit out of date I looked at the screen and so helped me I was in the middle of the interstate and on the screen I was out in the middle of a field somewhere I want to trust God's positioning system he's going to put me where I need to be he's going to place me where I need to be Isaiah said this woe to them that go down to Egypt for help and stay on horses and Trust in chariots because there are many and in Horsemen because they are very strong but they look not into the Holy One of Israel neither seek the Lord if you trust in the might of man it may look impressive because of its numbers forget man's numbers trust in the Lord he has a plan for us praise team musicians get ready stand in awe sin not commune with your own heart make the sacrifices of righteousness trust in God because I want to be set apart by God Malachi the last book of the Old Testament said this in Malachi 3 16. then they that feared the Lord spake often one to another and the Lord hearkened and heard it and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought upon his name now this is prophecy of the judgment and notice these words it said and they shall be mine I want God to say he's mine She's mine I set them apart they've been Godly they've lived a Godly I want them that's mine it said and they shall be mine saith the Lord of hosts in that day when I make up my jewels what's precious to God is The Godly I will spare them the word says as a man spareth his own son that serveth him it's a family thing it's not just an acquaintance he said I'm going to save them I they're so precious to me they're as the jewels that I would acquire then shall you return and discern between the righteous and the wicked between him that serveth God and him that serveth him not stand with me our original text from Psalm 4 finally went on to say this there be many that say who will show us any good listen there's a lot of naysayers negative voices and doomsday prophets running around there will be many that say who will show us any good Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us First Apostolic church if we're going to be set apart for God I want the light of the Lord to shine on us because when it shines on us as a church then we reflect it to a lost world we're living in a dark world there's a lot of dark things going on around us but if we will allow God's light we don't have any personal light but he has to reflect off of us because he's set us apart [Music] don't worry about all the negative voices the naysayers and the Doomsday Prophets verse 7 says this thou is putting gladness in my heart aren't you happy tonight to be able to Proclaim gladness in serving the lord I I don't want to go around with what they call it the Molly grubs whatever that is if I'm set apart for God I need to be glad I need to be happy we have a lot of challenges in our lives everybody does [Music] I'm cautious not to try and tell everybody how busy I am because you know what everybody's busy I'm no busier than you are in real truth we just have different calls I need to turn around instead of being sad about what's going on we were meeting with a price team musicians this morning had a wonderful season of prayer before service and as we talked we talked about just as we did a few minutes ago the responsibility that God has given us and the opportunity that he has placed on us I don't like to lose anybody but we've got two homegoing services this week not every church has that every now and then [Music] I don't look at that as a horrible thing why we hate to lose anything anyone I'm saying Thank You Lord that God has given us such a wonderful church family that there's going to be those passing through and they're going home that's part of our church family we got to looking at schedule this week Man kids are preparing to go to National Christian School competition we're installing some new technology equipment there's preparation preparing and practices going on all day long into the evening how can we fit something else in I'll tell you how because we've been set apart for God he's given us some special responsibilities and special opportunities to minister I'm not going around saying oh God I got too much to do I'm going to say God give me strength I want to be Godly I want to do what you'd have me do that's put gladness in my heart more than in the time that they're corn in their wine increased and here's what I pray for us all I will both lay me down in peace and sleep for thou Lord only make us me dwell in safety if you're in this house tonight and you want to be set apart by God I want to open the Altar and let you step down for a season of prayer to say God I want to be set apart from you I still stand in awe of you I want to live a sinless life I want to be able to commune with you and talk with you uninterrupted God let my heart commune with you even on my bed I want to give the sacrifices of righteousness I want to trust in you God in all that you would do thank you for stepping out if you're in this house and you haven't repented of your sin I would invite you to come and repent of your sin that's how you become sinless if you haven't joined the family of God I would invite you let us baptize you in the name of Jesus for the remission of your sin we've got a free gift for you it's the gift of the holy ghost that comes along with that would you come for a season of prayer as the praise team leads us in worship at this time Hallelujah loneliness Holiness is what I alone [Music] what you want for me [Music] [Music] to yours [Music] [Music] to yours oh Lord righteousness righteousness righteousness is righteousness [Applause] [Music] [Music] God [Music] take my heart [Music] I would ask everybody in this house to go tonight as you face whatever you will face tomorrow and this week with the confidence that I've been set apart by God for himself the Bible tells us he's a selfish God I want him to be selfish with us I want him to claim us I don't want him to be ashamed of us this is a church that God has claimed for himself would you greet everyone in dismissal tonight would you be in prayer for all the requests especially be praying for sister Keelan he praying for brother Rutherford we'll be back here Tuesday night for the homegoing service of sister Miller Wednesday night worshiping the word Friday night homegoing service sister Pat Sturdivant remember all those announcements you're dismissed in Jesus name