Sunday Evening Worship Service

we greet you this sunday night in the precious name of jesus we're so glad to see everyone here in the house of the lord we welcome all those who are joining us online who are unable to be here i know circumstance of some there's been sickness and you've uh forwarded messages to us on the many platforms that we have the opportunity to communicate that you would be tuning in so we welcome you to the service and i hope you're able to be back in the house of the lord very soon but to all the believers that are in this house tonight we so are thankful for you being here to all of our guests if this is your first time here at first apostolic church we do want you to feel the welcome of this assembly and we want you to be an honored guest our policy if you could call it that or our custom maybe is this you get to be a guest one time then after that you're home folks so i want to say welcome to all the guests and future home folks that's here glad to have you with us and so glad to have you worshiping with us here at first apostolic church we announced that tonight would be vision cast time and i count this very important and i counted a great responsibility as your pastor to reaffirm direction in a new year for our church family and yes i do realize that we have so many diverse ministries going on time would not permit me to itemize and name everything but suffice to say i first want to say a special thank you to all the leadership of this church our pastoral team uh uh bishop mccool and mom sister jamie my wife pastor and sister whitley pastor anthony and sister kelly says special honor to brother and sister perez and pia for their ministry to our elders and ministers and to all the saints of this assembly whatever facet you work at thank you for making first apostolic church a success in the kingdom of god and we'll be talking about that just a bit tonight so i'm going to let you remain seated but i know you will respond to the word accordingly as you feel fit i would call your attention tonight to the book of matthew the 20th chapter call it gimmicky or even in the vernacular of past popular words call it cheesy if you will uh but i'm going to end up with my text being from matthew 20 22. wink wink [Music] we're going into 2012 so i felt like at least a text that was 2022 would be appropriate okay but i'm going to read a couple of verses just before that matthew 20 beginning with verse 20 we read then came to him the mother of zebedee's children with her sons worshiping him and desiring a certain thing of him notice her worship had a motive behind it and he said unto her what wilt thou what do you want she said unto him grant that these my two sons may sit the one on thy right hand and the other on the left in thy kingdom but jesus answered and said ye know not what ye ask are you able to drink of the cup that i shall drink of and to be baptized with the baptism that i am baptized with they say unto him we are able would everybody in the house say that with me say we are able say that again we are able for a few moments tonight i would give this message this title we are able do we know what we are really asking for let's pray savior i love you god i'm so grateful for this wonderful assembly of saints that are in this house lord i thank you that it is ordained to be so that every one of us have joined together in worship lord as our church family begins to gather back together from all of the journeys of the holidays and the illness and sickness i pray that we would once again find fresh vision and fresh direction in this new year i pray that you would speak through my mouth and speak your words not of any of my wisdom or abilities but savior i pray that it would minister to our hearts from your word this night for all this we're grateful and thankful in the name of jesus we do pray amen and amen we are able as we begin 2022 there is excitement and anticipation of a fresh start new beginnings and a promising future for most we have all faced unprecedented challenges as we started 2021 with similar hopes that we have now only to have last year in many of our eyes be a year that we hope we never repeat suffice to say we didn't know what we were asking for last year at new year's eve when we were saying hurry and get here 2021. only to just last week be saying hurry and get here 2022. so in this vision cast i would ask all do we know what we really are asking god for in this new year in our text i find it interesting the way it is worded it says then came to him the mother of zebedee's children with her sons worshiping him and desiring a certain thing of him again notice she came worshiping and if you really understand the context of the situation it wasn't she came with praise unto the lord it wasn't that she came uh speaking in tongues like brother whitley talked about with his keyboard today but instead it appears that she came with bragging and adoration to jesus with an agenda she was bragging to him man you're the greatest you're some scholars even suspect that she was a distant family it was a distant family member of jesus and she was one of those family members that you just couldn't say no to i mean she bragged on you and said no by the way this is what i need so notice she had a message she said i i want when you come into your kingdom i want one of my sons to sit on the left and the other discipline jesus said you don't even know what you're asking for now i would give you a little background for you to know who these sons of zebedee are anyway for those who maybe have not studied this recently let me re-introduce you to who the sons of zebedee were in matthew 4 18 we read in jesus walking by the sea of galilee saw two brethren simon called peter and andrew his brother casting the net into the sea for they were fishers and he said of them follow me and i will make you fishers of men he they were fishing off the bank if you will they were doing likely net fishing and were still commercial fishermen but they were fishing off the bank but they left their nets and followed him but notice verse 21 and going on from fence he saw other two brethren james the son of zebedee and john his brother in a ship with zebedee their father james and john are the sons of zebedee who they had been in the boat with daddy he apparently had a commercial fishing business you know it said zebedee's commercial fishing down the side of the boat they were bringing in the fish and jesus bid them come and the bible tells us and immediately left the ship and their father and followed him now that's as much as we find out about zebedee at this point we know that the two sons were following the father's footsteps they were on the fishing boat and when jesus said come and join me they joined jesus they became followers but we also see that they had no hesitation to leave daddy it was immediate in the infancy of their call they were not a bit shy to leave their vocation this looked like a pretty good deal you know i'm sure they were a little bit weary with being those that were going to inherit daddy's fishing boat that's what their future looked like and it was hard work they were mending nets at the time so apparently when they got an opportunity they said papa zebedee we're out of here we're following jesus but just a little later on mama got involved for you see it was thought as they walked with jesus and the original 12 which they were a part of it was thought by many of them when jesus began to prophesy of the lord's kingdom coming and and that uh he would be setting up a a new kingdom they thought it was something that was going to take place immediately at his resurrection oh they were believers and even those in his inner circle and the believers who had heard him teach and preach and minister and talk about not being of this world and all the things that they begin thinking that well as soon as he is resurrected immediately there's this kingdom going to rise up that's going to compete against the romans it's going to be of all authority and mama wanted them in on the ground floor mama said jesus when your kingdom comes i want one of my sons on your left and one of my sons on your right somewhere along the way mama had not got the message of this wasn't about an earthly kingdom mama somewhere hadn't got the message yet that this was a spiritual insight and revelation that was coming all mama was saying at the time was make sure my boys get preferential treatment and you see this gives us insight sadly to all of our humanity tells how human ambition for recognition can creep in and skew the mission of following jesus those who are more interested in personal recognition and position then just following jesus can get off the mission in a hurley and when you get off of the mission it affects others because if you look in that same passage of matthew 20 and you you you go down just a little bit here's what mama's request caused verse 24 of matthew 20 said and when the 10 heard it they were moved with indignation against the two brethren all of a sudden these followers of jesus with just a request from mama for preferential treatment now there was conflict among the twelve it says but jesus called them unto him and said ye know that the princes of the gentiles exercise dominion over them and they are great exercise and they that are great exercise authority upon them but it shall not be so among you but whosoever will be great among you let him be your minister and whosoever will be chief among you let him be your servant even as the son of man came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many let me tell you if you're looking for fame and fortune and following jesus you're going to be disappointed but if you're willing to be a servant if you're willing to be a follower of jesus suddenly the things that are going to be the rewards to you are heavenly and not earthly you see just as they desired recognition and mama wanted them to be deserving of recognition and position the other ten the bible said had indignation that term indignation is defined as anger or annoyance provoked by what is perceived as unfair treatment hear me saints of god when we start looking for who's getting an advantage who's getting their name called the most who's getting the favorable attention boy it's quite i hope because you're listening and not hoping hoping for an exit when we get more enthralled in who can call my name the most and tell what i've done and what i've accomplished when that gets more important suddenly our mission is skewed let me ask you first apostolic church what is our goal our goal is our goal is our goal is recognition our goal is a number our goal is to compete with another church to say we're greater than them our goal is souls if we ever get our mission skewed if we ever hear this preacher tonight if we ever get worried about our fame our notoriety suddenly we become as one that obama's saying put me on the left and put him on the right ambition the desire for success power and fame never mistake every one of us have egos ambition and desire to be successful is in all of our dna and listen i believe in honoring folks for the successes i believe it's important and we do try to recognize and frankly i go to many folks in this assembly that work many times in seeming obscurity and i i sometimes i go to folks and say listen i don't tell you enough how much i appreciate the job you're doing but i know i know too many of you that that's not why you're doing anything that you do you do it unto the lord you do it because you're a servant of god and you chose a long time to be a follower of jesus you're not worried about a title you're not worried about a position you're not worried about numbers you're saying i just want to do what i can for the lord whatever he's equipped me to do that's what i'm going to do this by no means in any way names all but this is simply a snapshot picture this past saturday i'd gotten a call from sister stacy george some folks that had attended our church pre-covered folks that they'd tried to minister to and they had attended church and because of the coveted issues and issues in their life that you don't need to know bottom line is they hadn't been to the church for a while but there was a death and they contacted us they contacted sister stacy wanted to know could we have a funeral here on saturday at the same time brother blevins had been planning to do some continued work on our event center as we remodel it and and reconfigure it so we can use it more effectively and so when in outreach and i came in and i i was amazed for while we had a funeral here i had brother robbie lynn had given up part of his saturday and he was back on the sound board brother dirk daniel was on the media board brother anthony mccool was operating lights and and and tracks brother blevins had several men from the church they were overworking not because i would call their name tonight in fact they're probably upset at me because i'm saying what i'm saying now because that's not why they did it but time and time again i see the saints of first apostolic church give of themselves i see you folks here all times today when it came time for the holiday decorations i saw them go up and then magically disappear i got news for you sister don and all her helpers didn't just snap their fingers and all those things went up and snapped her fingers again and they disappeared there was some work during some of the holiday time all of the music that you hear all of the the technology that we're so blessed to see again time would not permit me to begin naming all the individually individuals the people that are here who open up the doors the folks that are here greeting folks the folks that are ushering the folks that are doing things to make us comfortable in the service they do that not for fame or notoriety but it's because our goal is souls now stay with me because i'm going someplace in this vision cast from matthew 20 22 let me ask us in 2022 are we seeking recognition or revival i submit it's the latter we're continuing to seek ways to reach the lost proverbs said this in proverbs 29 18 it said where there is no vision the people perish but he that keepeth the law happy is he let me remind you what that doesn't say what that doesn't say is where there is no vision the pastor perish it doesn't say where there is no vision the elders perish it said where there is no vision the people perish for you see there is a desire among the believers but if we lose vision and it becomes skewed people are who suffers that's what we're here doing we're ministering to people who need jesus we must keep our vision focused in 2022 that we are still soul winners above everything else no matter what else you do brother kevin when you're working in maintenance around here it's because you're a soul winner no matter what your task no matter what god's afforded you the privilege of doing the english standard version of that same verse says where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint now understand what that means we are restrained by the direction of ministering if we lose our vision if we don't have a prophetic vision we suddenly will go a thousand different ways and we will accomplish nothing we can proclaim and laud our victories and our successes but if we're not soul winning if we're not reaching the lost in our community if we're not reaching out you see jesus when james and john's mama asked that he said you don't know what you're asking for and notice jesus didn't address them or rather her he addressed them he didn't tell them or ask the her a question he told her you don't know what you're asking for but when he came to them he said can you handle this and you know what they said they said we are able we are able now again from studies i've done james and john were part of his intimate close circle even within the twelve even to the point did you know jesus gave them a nickname i mean they were just they were jesus was flesh and he he gave them a surname the bible called it he gave them a nickname you can read about it for yourself in mark mark 3 17. the bible says that jesus called james and john bo energies now i've heard a lot of nicknames but that's fresh that's unique and you know what more energy's meant in greek it meant the sons of thunder now a lot of us think that that really sounds like a good nickname well that sounds sons of thunder whew man that i'd like to be called the sons of thunder and i kind of thought that i mean we've even had conferences in the past for uh ministers that were called signs of thunder conferences and i'm not throwing off on that but you know what i did i looked up the definition of thunder thunder defined as a loud rumbling or crashing noise heard after a lightning flash due to the expansion of rapidly heated air his nickname effectively was you two are full of hot air did you know i hear some commitments made that frankly it would be easy to say you know sons of thunder i hear thunder you know it's not the thunder that gets you it's the lightning you know but jesus knew them better than they knew themselves because early in their walk with him they were very impulsive when following jesus you can read about it over in luke there was a time when they perceive the prejudice between the jews and the the samaritans and they begin to boom they begin to banter they went to jesus they said jesus would you like for us to call down fire from heaven and consume them who's the us we're talking about here boy some of us in our early following christ we would like to call down the judgments of god on everybody that's not living it just like we live it man i'm so holy pastor you know what god ought to do to them in fact you know what you ought to do to them you ought to set them down and tell them they can't be on the platform for 30 years they tried to stir up jesus and i certainly compare myself not to jesus but they tried to stir up jesus to get jesus to call down they couldn't do it they wanted jesus to call down fire from heaven and consume those that they were at odds with they were signs of thunder they were full of hot air boom but let me tell you just read on through the scripture for you'll find that even through that all they stayed faithful to jesus listen some of us myself included i would be embarrassed to go back and review some of the things with zeal and little knowledge that i wanted to have happen but you know if you'll stay faithful if you'll stay focused in 2022 on the call and just say i'm able to do what you're coming to do we are able we are able we are able suddenly there's a maturing process that starts taking place it sometimes happens immediately but it sometimes takes months and weeks and years but james would eventually become the first disciple martyred john would eventually not be referred to as one of the sons of thunder only that being in his past instead he would become john the apostle of love he would become john on the isle of patmos writing and giving revelation he would be credited with writing five books in the new testament all of this because when jesus asked them they said we are able we are able listen my mama used to tell me kent never did nothing if you're coming around saying we can't do this we can't do that we're not going to be successful at anything but if you'll say we are able pastor whatever god calls us to do we are able he's going to equip us he's going to provide the necessary means if we'll stay faithful and trust him in 2022 we are able and then let me give you even a couple of different 20 22s in ii chronicles the 20th chapter god's people facing another dire situation we read the lord said ye shall not need to fight in this battle set yourselves stand you still and see the salvation of the lord with you o judah and jerusalem fear not nor be dismayed tomorrow go out against them for the lord will be with you did you know there's a lot of battles we pick up and fight that we really don't have to fight if you just stand still and let the salvation of the holy ghost work through you there's a it sounds like a whipping boy nowadays in my preaching and i say it i'm not gonna say i say it too much but i talk about it a lot some of us try to have twitter getting every week on something when you keep your mouth shut and let the lord fight your battle you don't have to defend yourself just keep serving god keep doing what we're called to do keep lifting up jesus let the lord fight your battles the bible said jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground and all judah and the habits inhabitants of jerusalem fell before the lord and worship the lord something happens when you start worshiping when you start worshiping god without any kind of motive you're not asking for position all jehoshaphat did is bowed his head and put his face on the ground and the people of jerusalem did the same thing and they worshipped the lord at the same time the levites the priests the leadership of the children of the koats and of the children of the core heights stood up to praise the lord the lord god of israel with a loud voice on high that lets me know there's going to be multiple kinds of worship sometime some folks going to be laid over praying somebody else going to be standing up worshiping and notice what happened and they rose early in the morning and went forth in the wilderness of toccoa and as they went jehoshaphat stood and said hear me o judah and ye inhabitants of jerusalem believe in the lord your god believe in the lord your god sister hill believe in the lord your god god's done a miracle in sister hill's life she proclaimed to me a long time ago that she was going to come back and get a good doctor's report when she'd got bad news the doctors had said there's a problem she came to me and said pastor i'm not accepting it i'm believing something different is going to happen she came and testified today she went back to the doctor and that tumor is gone it's not there anymore why because she kept on believing she kept on trusting somebody hear me if you'll keep worshiping he is able and we are able we are able so here's what happened getting ready to go to battle there's a war going on let's think about it tonight this means war enemy you can't have my family you can't have my increase you can't have my breakthrough this is war when you come against it's been a it's been a whole year since i've used this so i'll say it again i'll quote one of those scholarly things that you've heard before that i found on a t-shirt you remember the t-shirt that i saw in pigeon forge said if you mess with one of you one of us you've messed with the whole trailer part if you mess with one of us apostolic devil you better know you've messed with the whole bunch somebody hear me we're a praying bunch we don't care who gets their name called or don't get their name called we are able we are in this together we're all in this together we'll remodel we'll have funerals we'll have school we'll have child care we'll have sunday school we'll have technology we're all in this together and when he had consulted with the people getting ready to go to battle we're gonna have a war did he say all right get all the good swordsmen get all the good warriors no he said uh when he had consulted with the people he appointed singers under the lord he said let's get the praise team together choir come on hey he he said let's get them all together he hey we're going to battle get the praise team ready that they should praise the beauty of holiness somebody here this preacher in the house first apostolic church has been built on a foundation of the jesus name apostolic message including holiness we put it in stone over the door but more importantly it's written on the tables of our heart this will be a holiness church in 2022 we're going to stand for what represents christ we're going to be soul winners we're going to be separated from the world we're not going to look down our nose with some super pious attitude instead we're going to do everything we do unto the lord that we might be an example to be soul winners man i don't know what the song sounded like but they were singing we're going to praise the beauty of holiness they went out before the army to say praise the lord for his mercy endureth forever and did you notice that that happens to be chapter 20 verse 22 20 22. here's what happens in this 2022 and when they begin to sing and to praise the lord sent ambushments against the children of ammon and moab and mount sir which would come against judah and they were smitten in 2022 we better keep singing and praising if we want the enemy to be ambushed ow [Applause] we are able yet one more 20 22 and john 20. beginning with verse 19 we read in the same day at evening being the first day of the week when the doors were shut before the disciples were assembled for fear of the jews understand the setting this is after the crucifixion they've got the doors closed they're afraid of the jews they're afraid of the denomination that's mixing with the government to destroy them the followers of jesus he's been crucified but what does it say came jesus and stood in the midst and saith unto them peace be unto you listen with all the turmoil that's in this world with all the mess that you're having to hear on the news read online let all the news services 24 hours try to scare you to death they've got breaking news every 15 minutes and it sounds like it's earth-shattering i'm glad to know that came jesus i can come into the house of god and jesus will speak to me and you know what he says he says peace be unto you hear me some of you folks that's been troubled in mind and spirit over whatever the political things the covet outbreaks whatever you want to be troubled about let jesus step in and say peace be with you peace be with you we are able to find peace in a time of trouble but here's what happened when jesus stepped in the room and when he had so said he showed unto them his hands and his side he said let me show you my scars brother grizzle preached about that last week let me show you those those scars let me let you see that then were the disciples glad when they saw the lord then said jesus unto them peace be unto you as my father sent me even so i sinned even so send i you he said i'm getting ready to send you out and here's 20 22 and when he had said this he breathed on them and said unto them receive ye the holy ghost let me tell you my vision for 2022 is we are able to see more and more receive the baptism of the holy ghost if you're in this house tonight and you have never been filled with the holy ghost in 2022 receive ye the holy ghost that's my vision that's what i want to see happen oh stand with me stand with me [Applause] time won't permit me to to touch at all musicians and praise team make your way up here i'm going to do things a little bit different tonight i'm going to end the service a little bit different because leviticus 20 22 said this ye shall therefore keep my statutes and all my judgments and do them it didn't say obey them it said do them that the land whether i bring you to dwell therein spew you not out i refuse to let the world chew me up and spit me out listen i'm not gonna be palatable to this world first apostolic church we're gonna be a round pig in a world full of square holes is all i can tell you this world is not going to understand why we celebrate and how we worship and how we can say our goal is so come on just fit in with everybody else just get in the mainstream and be like listen we're never going to fit in we're not going to be the same i'm expecting to be called out filled with the breath of the holy ghost i'm expecting to be a people that's been anointed that hasn't lost sight of our goal we are able i want to do something sister jamie i want you to come up here and stand by me just a minute everybody just be patient in fact i said i'm going to do things different sit back down praise team you stay ready i i want to show you something here i want to illustrate something if i get up here and say as first apostolic church i am able i can do a little something but not much but scripture gives us and i paraphrase not the exact wording but scripture lets us know one can put a thousand to flight to ten thousand it's a multiplicity of increase so baby we're in this together i got my mic here close that means i can stand close to you because i wanted to hear you we're going to say say but would you say that with me say we are able you know i feel i can accomplish a whole lot more if i've i've got her with me you know that and i can cause she's good but i want to show you something else mama come up here now my dad would be here you know his circumstance i got a feeling if he's watching before it's over i'll get a text on my ipad that says we are able because i know he's watching but now you see from the beginning of first apostolic church it started out with you and daddy right saying we are able yes but now we're together would you all would you help me would you could you we say we are able let's do let's say we are able now it's getting better it's getting better pastor and sister whitley and easton anthony and kelly and eleanor come up here bring that microphone with you now we're going to take a little time here just stay with me uh i want each family one on each side of me brother whitley turn that microphone on i know your horse we picked the sunday that he was horse had him sing had him receive the offering had him preach we want to make sure that he couldn't say anything before the night was over but i hope you got enough voice would y'all help me let's say we are able say it say we are able have you noticed that that the voices are multiplying yes brother perez you don't even speak the same language sometime come up here come up here on sunday afternoon p.i.a is meeting our hispanic ministry uh i don't know how to say would you say we are able in spanish somos capaces somos there you go hey y'all think we can do that say one two three somos capacis that wasn't bad y'all didn't know we could speak spanish did you all right where are all my elders and ministers and their spouses who pray over the sick every service i want you to come and stand in your spot with your spouse and face the audience come on right now make your way down hear me we can't do this alone this is not about one individual stand right there where you pray for the sick praise god hallelujah now i want your help we're going to all say we are now i want it loud i want to hear you would you all help me so let's say it right now we are able say it again we are able i feel the holy ghost here every sunday school worker every school teacher and child care teacher i'm going to have you stand where you are if your spouse is nearby i want them to stand with you i promise you you don't do this alone when you're working your spouse is there next to you they're having to take care of business all of you stand hallelujah now i want to hear your voices with us are you ready let's say we are able you hear the volume growing you hear the volume growing now i realize some of your work and you can't step away i've got technicians i've got somebody that's producing upstairs i've got a light person i've got a multimedia person i've got a sound tech i've got camera operators but right where you are if you're a sound tech you and your spouse stand up if you're a camera operator if you work in technology in any way i want you to stand up right where you are and your spouse with you come on stand up you see our voice is growing something's happening here our voices are getting louder would you help me now let's say it we are able say it again we are able every greeter and every usher in this house whether you're working tonight or not i want you to stand every greeter and every usher would you help me now would you say it say we are able yes yes it's getting louder all the time every member of the choir and every musician would you stand right now praise god praise god hallelujah hallelujah praise team y'all got your mics back there use them we're getting louder musicians y'all play with your instruments most of the time but i want to hear your mouth are you ready let's say it let's say we are able say it again we are able say it again we are able now every child of god that's in the house no matter what you do in the kingdom of god it's a call to be a saint would you stand right now that ought to be everybody else in the house right now you're a saint of god hallelujah i realize i haven't been able to name everything that we do but remember we're not about recognition right now because it's we it's not i it's we with everybody in the house right now we're going to proclaim we are able and then after we proclaim we are able i want to hear a shout of praise and i want to hear a prayer of commitment for 20 and 22 from everybody in this house could we proclaim it right now we are able we are able we are able now would you give praise unto the lord right now hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah come on right where you are give praise to jesus gloria by him right now glorify the lord hallelujah i think we ought to step out of the aisle and make our way down around this altar right now would you make your way up would you make your way up hallelujah yes hanging out move mountains hallelujah yeah yeah we're able we're hallelujah [Music] [Music] [Applause] and there is nothing that's impossible and we're standing here only because you've made [Applause] [Music] [Applause] and there is [Music] [Applause] [Music] when they sent 12 spies into the promised land [Music] joshua and caleb were the only voices that were positive [Music] yeah there were giants yeah there were challenges but there was also a land that flowed with milk and honey that god had promised god has promised promised us knoxville god has promised us souls for our labor do you remember the words that was spoken when they began to ask what would take place caleb stood up caleb stood up to moses and he said let us go up at once for we are well able no excuses 2022. if we need our events center remodeled it's gonna happen if we need screens it's gonna happen if we need an elevator it's gonna happen if we yes sir we are well able god's going to provide god's going to equip we are well able and i close with this the reason we're able [Music] is because he said this now into he