Sunday Morning Worship Service

greetings and welcome to first apostolic church we are so honored and privileged to have every one of you worshiping with us today we're glad to have you here on this labor day weekend i do realize as scripture terms that there are some who are roaming to and fro over the earth uh we have a church family that i receive texts from and messages that uh they are in other places today but many of them said but we're tuning in on the webcast and we welcome all of our church family that may be on a journey but we also welcome all of you who have journeyed to knoxville and we're glad to have you worshiping with us i joined with the uh pastoral staff and voices that have gone before us saying welcome to this service uh again i want to say a special welcome brother morgan brother morgan lost his uh wife just a few days ago this is sister teresa walker's mother who passed away and uh they're in the house of the lord today and that's where we all find our comfort we're glad to have you all home brother brother morgan i want you to feel at home here at first apostolic church we're glad to have you with us today and then i want to say a special welcome to guests that were mentioned before i'm so glad to have pastor and sister reap with us it speaks well when folks are journeying when they find church to go to i know what pastoring's like and when you get out of town but to find church we're honored to have you all worshiping with us and we issue you a special welcome glad to have you with us other guests that we i believe i saw chase and christina and more important that little one uh these are home folks that happen to live in georgia we're glad to have y'all home today lord bless you uh i i know that brother and sister baker i have special interest in y'all being home today and it's not about y'all it's about somebody else with you glad to have y'all home today and just glad to see every one of you here at first apostolic church what a marvelous time we had last week i am still feasting on the messages that brother smith brought to us i got just a little uh review this morning on the television broadcast when i i got to hear about the power of the pit a little bit again this morning and i'm i'm thankful that god has prospered us these 64 years to be here in the city of knoxville and i'm excited what a new year brings for us now i do realize that as i stated before today is labor day and this is the the one sunday out of the 52 of the year that we do not have a sunday night service this afternoon we have a time of fellowship a labor day picnic and there's going to be all kind of fun food and fellowship i would remind all of our church family there's going to be water play but i remind everyone please remind all your guests that you would bring with you that we do dress modestly at all times for events even such as this and unless a guest would be uncomfortable remind them of that but there will be food and fellowship the fun and the water play i'm gonna leave up to someone else okay i'll i'll just watch uh but uh i promise you they're gonna have a good time and we invite everyone to be here today for that event that begins at five o'clock i want to call your attention to the word of the lord this morning the book of james the first chapter the book of james the first chapter and we're going to begin reading at verse number one james 1 1 james 1 1 james a servant of god and of the lord jesus christ to the 12 tribes which are scattered abroad greeting my brethren count it all joy when you fall into divers temptations knowing this that the trine of your faith worketh patience but let patience have her perfect work [Music] that ye may be perfect and entire wanting nothing on this labor day i want to speak to you on this subject let patience work let patience work let's pray savior we love you god i'm grateful for every soul that's in this house lord i thank you for your word that would minister to us today lord not of my voice or my thoughts but god let it be your word through us that speaks to our hearts god let it revive us let it chastise us let it change us but most of all let it save us god we thank you and we praise you for this opportunity in jesus name we pray amen and amen in the new testament dispensation the book of acts gives complete instructions if you will obey them on how to get saved you can read the book of acts and be obedient to acts the second chapter the 38th verse along with many other instructions in the book of acts as examples and you can find how to get saved but i find it interesting after acts the remaining books of the new testament will give insight much of the time on how to stay saved acts told us how to get saved and then the word was inspired by many writers to tell us how to stay saved written letters written to the churches notice james a servant of god and of the lord jesus christ he was writing to the 12 tribes that were now scattered abroad one bible commentator adam clarke when writing about this statement said to the jews whether converts to christianity or not who lived out of judea and sojourned among the gentiles for the purpose of trade and commerce this wasn't just a spiritual admonition it was for everybody that would hear at this time there were jews partly traveling partly sojourning and partly resident in most parts of the civilized world particularly in asia greece egypt and italy he goes on to say i see no reason for the restricting to jewish believers only it was sent to all whom it might concern but particularly to those who had received the faith of our lord jesus christ in short what he's trying to tell us there are many christian principles many apostolic principles in particular that will make the lives better for even the unsaved if they will follow those principles one such principle that i would address today is the principle of patience webster defines patience as able to remain calm not becoming annoyed when waiting for a long time or when dealing with problems or difficult people do you have patience today for you see we live in an impatient world i know we here in east tennessee we like to brag about we we're a little bit more laid-back than places like new york and chicago and los angeles man it's laid back here in east tennessee but i've got news for you i've been out driving with some of you folks i've been out on friday evening in west knoxville out somewhere near turkey creek about 4 35 o'clock the afternoon rush hour you talk about impatience none of you people will get out of my way so i get where i need to go [Applause] patience my foot don't blame it on northerners who have moved to east tennessee because frankly i've heard the southern accents behind some of the frustrated impatient expletives that are being yelled our flesh is in a constant battle to be patient why do you think walmart and target have so many checkout lines so they can close them all and make us all gripe about having to go through the self-service right am i preaching yet or not [Applause] the term patience appears 34 times in the bible but did you know it does not appear one time in the old testament i'm not exactly sure why that would be except maybe the lord knew that in this new dispensation that he had ushered in on the day of pentecost that there would be a new group of folks a new society that needed a little more patience after all his people in the old testament they wondered for 40 years now that took patience jacob worked 14 years for the wife he wanted man some of us think three months is a long engagement but i must admit the old testament does have some examples of impatience as well remember it was abraham who got so impatient with the promise of god that he bore a child by hagar and we're still paying for his impatience so maybe god just knew that in our new testament lives there would be a need for a little more enlightenment on patients but this title of the message said let patience work well what kind of work does patients do anyway what does patients accomplish romans 5 1 says therefore being justified by faith we have peace with god through our lord jesus christ by him also we have access by faith unto this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of god and not only so but we glory in tribulation also knowing that tribulation worketh patience now what did our text tell us the first thing after his salutation to all those tribes scattered abroad the first thing james said count it all joy when you fall into diver's temptation romans backs it up that tribulation worketh patience you don't need patience when you're not being tried you don't need patience when there's not some kind of trouble when there's not some kind of issue taking place it goes on to say in verse number 4 of romans 5 and patience experience oh man if we started passing the mic around to tell everybody to give just one experience that you've had of your patients being tried we could be here till the next holiday that takes place patience provides experience and experience then brings hope and hope maketh not a shame because the love of god is shed abroad in all our hearts by the holy ghost which is given unto us you see we holy ghost filled folks ought to have a good dose of patience inside us to help us deal with the trials and tribulations of our everyday work i'm not talking about in the confines of this building but when we're working out in the world when we're facing all the things in school in our vocation holy ghost field folks ought to have a baptism of patience that we can be an example to a lost world [Applause] verse 6 said for when we were yet without strength in due time christ died for the ungodly preacher how did we get from patience to being ungodly i submit to you that apparently impatience produces a lot of ungodly acts let me give you some examples with a few word associations you ever heard of anything called road rage yeah i experienced it last week if there were really recordings going on in our vehicles when we're by ourselves man you talking about altars filled with repentant saints if god just hit the playback button right at alter time road rage line breakers anger in the checkout line rest restless in the doctor's office as you imagine he had you here for this eight o'clock appointment and i just know he's still on the 18th green putting out right now intolerant at traffic signs and traffic signals there's some of us still drive with two feet one on the brake and one on the gas and when that light's there man i know we're not shouting and running the aisles nobody's jumping the backs but i am preaching where we all live there's some of us think that the traffic lights in knoxville tennessee last longer than any other city in the world and it's still dangerous right up here at clinton highway and merchants road because there's a little bitty sign up there that hangs that says no right turn and nobody ever sees it and if you're in the front and you see that there's four people behind you going pump and you hear him racing the motor why don't he go on that even though the light's red we can turn right in tennessee i'm still preaching where we're living and don't even mention fast food drive up windows some of us even pray this way god give me patience and give me patience right now well pastor i got it so i'm a little bit impatient so what it's not really that big a deal it's not like it's a heaven or hell issue or is it for jesus said in luke 21 19 in your patience possess ye your souls maybe we need to rethink this patient stuff patience is apparently well intertwined with the hope of salvation for romans 8 24 said for we are saved by hope by hope that is seen but hope that is seen is not hope for what a man seeth why does he yet hope for it but if we hope for that which we see not then do we with patience wait for it yes you see i want to be saved and i want to stay saved but salvation isn't over until we make it to the end verse 26 said likewise the spirit also helpeth our infirmities the things that we're troubled with for we know not what we should pray for as we ought but the spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered there are many times the child of god should feel an urgency to pray sometimes you feel like praying and you don't even know why you're praying so oh hallelujah must i confess as a child and a teenager sometimes i'd be in the car with my dad or be in the car with my mom or being walking through the house and i'd hear my dad say oh god man it'd scare me to death is everything all right dad no i just i'm just talking to the lord i could hear my mom and i could hear my dad at times praying i didn't know there was a problem and furthermore they didn't know if there was a problem but there was an urgency that had come over them that i need to pray right now you see sometimes it takes more than just a rehearsed prayer sometimes the holy ghost will put it in your spirit i need to talk right now to the lord i need to have intercessory prayer i need to intercede for something right now i don't even know what the issue is it may not even be me i may be praying for my children i may be praying for my brothers or my sisters i may be praying for my community but oh god let me have that idea let me have that understanding when you lay it on my heart sometimes if i'll patiently just call on the lord many times intercessory prayer is a waiting prayer i know i need to pray don't necessarily know why but it's a patient prayer time not a formal prayer before a meal but when we pray we must have patience that god's going to answer our prayer let me say that again when we pray we've got to have patience that god's going to answer our prayer well i know i've got to have patience but how long do i have to wait god may say hey give me a second or he may say hey just a minute he may say i need a week he might say maybe just a month he said might say wait a year or sometimes god may say wait a lifetime i'm going to be patient waiting on the lord i'm not going to let some human frailty and some personal desire get in front of waiting on god answering the prayer that i've asked of him i'm not going to let my human frailties cause me to be impatient and try to get ahead of god romans 15 4 states for whatsoever things were written before time were written for our learning that we through patience and comfort of scripture might have hope let me tell you if you're an impatient person you might need to commit some more scripture to your memory because there's so many situations you will face in your daily life if you've committed scripture if you've committed songs of praise to your mind and to your memory i've had so many situations that god would suddenly bring a scripture to my mind that would give me an answer i must tell you i'd already started preparing and studying for this sunday's class and message and i went in a local car wash down here they were short-handed as most places of employment are now cars were backed up and i considered because the line was so long of backing out and leaving and i looked in my rear view mirror and someone else had already pulled in so it's the point of no return you couldn't back out now there were three lines and two folks doing their best to process the cars and a couple of folks on the other side of the washing machine doing their responsibilities so i went inside and there was a line of folks waiting to pay if there was anything you would think folks shouldn't have to wait on is to give people money but folks were waiting to pay and a quite frustrated flustered manager comes through the door and he waves his hand he says everyone please be patient we're understaffed and there was a couple of grumblers i heard one fella say look what time i checked in when he got up there and boy i was thankful i'd already been studying and when i got up to the front of the line i quoted the passage of scripture that i quoted a few minutes ago that says in your patience possess ye your soul and he told me he said you know what i really needed that today he said thank you sir it didn't get me through the line any faster but you know what my blood pressure was a whole lot better when i finally did get to my vehicle and i hope his was as well i'm here to tell you the word will give you comfort in difficult situations if you'll commit it to your heart when they start singing songs like i'm going to wait on you jesus i'm going to wait on you jesus i'm not turning back now there's going to be times the enemy's been whispering in your ear saying you need to quit you need to turn back i hope the holy ghost will put something in your heart that says i'm not turning back now i'm going to wait on you jesus i'm going to wait on the lord i'm here to tell you in your patience possess ye your soul hallelujah listen he went on to say now the god of patience and consolation romans 15 5 now the god of patience and see our god's just not a god he is the god of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one toward another according to christ jesus this idea of being patient in the lord will make us get along better we'll be more understanding of each other that you may with one mind and one mouth glorify god man don't we need to hear that today with one mind and one mouth we need to be speaking the same language glorifying god even the father of our lord jesus christ wherefore receive you one another as christ also received us to the glory of god yes oh i'm glad to know the god of patience and consolation today because we should all say a special thank you to the god we serve that he's not an impatient god man i would be the chiefest of all if we were serving an impatient god i'd be in big trouble but we sometimes need a fresh anointing of patience from time to time hebrews 10 36 said for ye have need of patience that after ye have done the will of god you might receive the promise once you do god's will leave it in god's hands and quit fretting about it once you do what god tells you to do then stop god i know i've i've trusted in you but i'm going to fret about this a while he said for yet a little while how long's a little while for yet a little while and he shall come or he shall come will come and will not tear he that shall come will come and will not tarry now the just shall live by faith that constant trusting believing but if any man draw back my soul shall have no pleasure in him but we are not them who draw back unto perdition i'm not turning back but of them that believe to the saving of the soul james said let patience have her perfect work that ye may be perfect and entire wanting nothing patience brings perfection but brother mccool i just don't have any patience at all it would be good to pray for it now please when i preach a message like this i do give you this pause don't mistake patience for procrastination there is a big difference today is the day of salvation but understand when you turn your life over to god that's not the end of the race that's not the end of the matter that's just the starting gun james cleveland albertina walker used to sing a song that came to memory as i was studying they used to sing an old song said please be patient with me god is not through with me yet because when god gets through with me when god gets through with me i shall come forth i shall come forth as pure gold i want you to know if i'm not perfect yet just be patient with me because god hadn't finished the work if you see me and i'm not walking right god's not finished if you see me and i'm not talking right god's not finished because when he finishes the work i'm going to be what he wants me to be we got to be patient with one another see i'm trying to be patient with myself and not hurry jesus was our example of patience in hebrews 12 2 it says wherefore seen we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses let us lay aside every weight and the sin which death so easily beset us and let us run with patience the race that is set before us i mean run with patience that sounds like like an oxymoron you know it it's a contradictory statement how do you run with patience i mean that's like having plastic glasses right you'll get that after a while or that's like having a home-cooked mealed in cracker barrel how do i run with patience i've got news for you this walk with god is not a sprint i'm not looking out for just today i'm in this thing for the long haul this is a marathon i'm planning on holding out to the end i plan on being in god's will to the end it's not just to feel good today cause i got a few uh goosebumps up my back when the choir was singing it's not just i got excited one time at the altar i'm in this for the long haul we've got to be in this all the way to the end this is a marathon somebody hear me today in the sport of distance racing they have individuals that are sometimes referred to as rabbits that run in distance races some of those rabbits are assigned in professional track to go out and set a pace that will keep the real competitors early in the race on track to compete with records that they're trying to break but also in competitive team track they sometimes enter rabbits who are never intended to finish the race or set a proper pace the real purpose is to entice the team members of the opposing track team to go out too fast and spend their energy and their stamina and violate their training and then be unable to finish the race strong or finish at all let me tell you in this walk of life that we're living don't chase the enemy's rabbits there are lifestyles there are shady ethics there are immoral actions that others may appear to be getting way ahead with in this race of life don't you chase those things don't you go out you got to run with patience we've got the holy ghost inside us we've been born again we've been baptized in the name of jesus we've been filled with this spirit don't you chase those things that the enemy puts out there that he makes look so exciting for a while for verse 2 of that chapter said looking unto jesus the author and the finisher of our friend jesus knows how to finish he's our example of how you finish we didn't just start this race with patience we know how to finish it said for the joy that was set before him endured the cross he patiently endured all the sufferings of humanity the indignities of the cross and the crucifixion endured the cross despising the shame and it set down at the right hand of the throne of god jesus is my example of the ultimate finisher musicians make your way up i'm near the end some of you may feel like you've had to endure this message i don't know but be patient i'm almost finished ecclesiastes 9 11 said i returned and saw unto the sun that the race is not to the swift nor to the nor the battle to the strong jesus said in matthew 24 13 but he that shall endure unto the end the same shall be saved i'm in this to win i'm in this to finish the psalmist in psalms 37 7 give some insight of what you shouldn't be chasing the rabbits you shouldn't be running with if you're going to run patiently he said rest in the lord and wait patiently for him fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way if we get our eyes off jesus and start chasing the temporary successes of this world you're going to start chasing the enemy's rabbits and you're going to wear yourself out you're spiritually going to lose your stamina when you start fretting yourself over temporary prosperity of others around you because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass man there's some folks can be living wicked ways there's some folks can be cutting corners in their ethics and oh it looks like for a time that's the way to be the most successful don't you chase that rabbit don't you go after that rabbit keep your eyes on jesus we're ethical because it's right to be right we're honest because it's uh it's right to be honest we do what we do because we're doing it unto god we're an example to this world then he said cease from anger oh do i have to do that forsake wrath in other words stop losing your cool stay patient fret not thyself in any wise to do evil david the psalmist and his writers gave that as a general statement [Music] but stand with me but david then gave a personal testimony in psalms 40 verse number 1 he said i waited patiently for the lord and he inclined unto me and he heard me cry [Music] don't get impatient talking to the lord don't get in too big a hurry he said i waited patiently for the lord he inclined and he heard my cry [Music] he brought me up also out of a horrible pit we heard about it last week the power in the pit there is deliverance if you'll be patient and wait on the lord he brought me up out of a horrible pit and out of the mirey clay and he set my feet up on a rock and establish my goings put a new song in my mouth even praise under our god many shall see it and fear it and shall trust in the lord [Music] could we bow our heads for a moment hallelujah yes lord yes lord hallelujah [Music] would you let him speak to you right now in the quiet of this [Music] can you forget about the commitments of the rest of the day for a few moments can you forget about the worries of anything else and say lord i'm just going to listen to you just a minute right where you are hallelujah hallelujah [Music] lord i'm waiting on you right now savior hallelujah [Music] [Music] if you're needing a fresh anointing of patience in your life today i'm going to open this altar for you say god i need you to remind me that you're still in control i need you to remind me that you still have my situation god i've been praying about something for a long time but god i'm accepting it today with patience i'm gonna run this race hallelujah would you step out right now for a season of prayer hallelujah hallelujah [Music] let him order your steps let him order your steps right where you are hallelujah [Music] [Applause] [Music] believing jesus has your deliverance he has your answer if you'll come and receive it but where you are if you'll lift up your hands and say savior i need a fresh anointing today i need the power of your saving grace to minister to me bring calm bring peace into my life hallelujah hallelujah [Music] [Applause] [Music] i'm not hey back now i'm gonna wait on youtube [Applause] hello [Music] [Applause] hallelujah hallelujah hallelujah savior i praise you savior i praise you hallelujah hallelujah [Music] could you lift your hands and love jesus can someone find some solace right now can you thank jesus for bringing you the peace that you've been looking for right now would you let the word of god [Music] would you let the word of god minister to you right now hallelujah hallelujah [Music] love him again right now love jesus again could you thank him for what he's done for you today would you thank him for what he's done for you today savior i love you savior i love you lord bless you i'm gonna let you move back to your seats for a final word of dismissal thank you for being with us here today at first apostolic church thank you for worshiping with us please please let me remind everyone just just one more time uh tonight's going to be a special time of fun and fellowship we're going to have food trucks out here i i i hope that all of you will uh make your way to those food trucks and uh patronize them and be ready to go uh we're gonna we're gonna feed everybody and i said we're gonna have fun there's gonna be fellowship there's gonna be water play uh if it should rain we're still going to be here uh if it should thunder we're going to go inside and come out after the thunder's over but please please uh you be here today let me also say i'm so glad to have brother rob and sister deb titus with us today lord bless y'all thank y'all for worshiping with these friends of of ours from indiana lord bless you good to have y'all with us could we give them a great big hand and also i want to say happy no not 23 years brother darren sister elena happy anniversary lord bless y'all i believe that not holding love y'all lord bless you we'll see you at five o'clock you're dismissed in jesus name greet everyone as your personal protocols makes you feel safe lord bless you