Sunday Morning Worship & Word! | Pastor McCool “Earnest Expectations”

continue to entertain the presence of the king of glory savior we honor your presence that we feel here right now yes Lord yes Lord yes Lord we praise your name Oh Glory Glory Glory Glory you know in this great world that we're living in in the loss of a queen in Great Britain they also are celebrating a new king I'm glad to know we've got the same King we've always had King Jesus is still in charge the king of glory has stepped into this room today aren't you glad to be in his presence aren't you glad to feel him hallelujah oh hallelujah hallelujah Glory Glory Glory well Lord bless you I'm going to let you move to your seats and let you be seated here this morning I joined with the voices before me by saying welcome to First Apostolic Church so glad to see you honored to have all of you who are worshiping with us today I want to say special welcome to guests that we have we're so honored to have Reverend Jay Irving with us for the Irving is here ministering to Pia but Irving from the great state of Alabama we're honored to have you worshiping with us could we welcome him to First Apostolic church and the Pia and of course we are still celebrating Brother Joseph Perez has been recently appointed as the Multicultural director of the assemblies the Lord Jesus Christ and his ministering to our entire ministerial organization excited for all he is doing we're excited for the ministry of Pia and then today is a special day I want all the grandparents in the house to stand if you're a grandparent stand up today is Grandparents Day would you honor all the grandparents please notice I'm standing because I am one Lord bless you you can be seated in what a privilege it is to have another generation that we can grandparent parenting is wonderful and grandparent things even more wonderful I would just tell you this today before service started I have just a a small window in my office in the transition that all the our family does from choir practice that starts quite early and musicians practice on Sunday morning and sister Jamie and I get here a little bit before nine so sister Jamie can can be in choir practice and they've already been here a while my grandbabies have already been here but sometime during that transition time on a normal Sunday uh Easton and Eleanor my two granddaughters uh they make their way to my office and uh there is a competition for who gets to Mimi's desk first so Mimi already lost her desk during that time she don't get to sit at her desk but I noticed today that the loser of the race to the desk normally ends up with their lip pooched out a little bit so guess what poppy lost his desk today too so we've got two desks in our office and if you came in during that little framework of time before they go to uh the places they go uh you had Eleanor and Easton at each desk working just as hard as they could and you know that's what grandparents do and I'm thankful to I told sister Jamie I said I'm just cherishing this moment seeing my granddaughters at those desks and give Callaway just a few more months and he'll be in the middle of all of that I promise you and then I also want to do this I want this I want to take just a moment this morning for this is September 11th and it is a day in the lifetime of all of you who are here who remember the horrible things that took place when our nation was under attack on September 11th and we as a nation we promised that we would not forget and I say we should continue that pledge today I'd like for you to stand with me again and for just a moment we're going to have a word not not a time of Silence but we're going to have a word of Prayer for the lives that have been forever affected for the lives that have been lost for the lives that have been sacrificed but making the promise to our fellow men and to our fellow Americans that we will not forget we will always remember and we will strive to be a nation that is free from tyranny could we pray together God I love you Lord I thank you because you are the god of every situation Lord the lives that have been affected by the loss of this horrible tragedy Lord I pray that you would bring comfort and strength even in these years later Lord I pray that we would never forget and we would not repeat the mistakes of the past but Lord that we would look forward to being a strong Nation for your word tells us that righteousness exalted the nation but sin is a reproach to any people and God I pray that we would not be a sinful Nation but Lord I pray for our nation that we would be a righteous Nation Lord that we would be strong because we serve you in all that we do Lord I Thank you I praise you and I love you in the name of Jesus we pray amen and amen Lord bless you you can be seated calling your attention this morning to the book of Philippians the first chapter Philippians the first chapter I want to begin reading at verse number 18 Philippians 1 begin reading it verse number 18. what then notwithstanding every way whether in pretense or in truth Christ is preached and I therein do Rejoice yea and we'll rejoice for I know that this shall turn to my salvation through your prayer and the supply of the spirit of Jesus Christ according to my Earnest expectations notice that according to my Earnest expectations and my hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed but that with all boldness as always so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body whether it be by life or by Death for to me to live is Christ and to die is gained I would draw my title from verse 20 and I want to speak to you a few minutes this morning on this subject Earnest expectations let's pray savior I love you God I'm so grateful for all we've experienced here today I thank you for the privilege that we have of worshiping you and serving you thank you for your presence that we've already felt in this house the Lord be with us as we study your word speak to our hearts mightily in Jesus name we pray amen and amen Earnest expectations in our text Paul is being quite transparent about conflict within the church if you find yourself reading the entire first chapter of Philippians you will find him referencing that some were preaching Christ with sincerity but some were preaching Christ with a personal agenda they had the word he used in our passage is pretense in other words they were pretending they were having false sincerity or they had a separate agenda for preaching Christ rather than a pure motive of the Gospel being spread he indeed reveals the imperfection of the body of Christ he also explains that the trials and the bondage that he now finds himself in is not the result of Disobedience but instead it is a glorying celebration that he is worthy to be persecuted for doing the will of God he is not in trouble and not in bondage because he has failed to do the work of God instead because he has done the work of God he has been found worthy of persecution he's identifying all this and he uses this phrase according to my Earnest expectation and my hope expectations are sometimes difficult to manage one can be pessimistic and have little or no expectations conversely one can be overly optimistic and have unreal expectations but I contend that the statements that Paul is making about Earnest expectation it identifies he's trying to have realistic expectations now that term Earnest means resulting from or showing sincere and intense conviction Paul had some convictions about some things and he expected something to take place here's what he expected it's just this simple If You Preach Christ something good is going to happen now you may think I'm oversimplifying but it's just that easy Paul said I don't even care what the speaker's agenda was maybe they were speaking out of pretense and a false agenda he said but I just expect If You Preach Christ something good is going to happen so I ought to glory in it now I think that's a pretty positive attitude to have for a man that's been locked up a man that's probably pinning some of these words with chains bound around his wrists probably in the diarist of circumstances yet he gets excited to hear news that anybody's preaching Jesus Christ he even goes on to say I I've refused to be embarrassed about my personal situation my incarceration and he said I'm simply looking for Christ to be magnified in fact it got to the point at the latter part of this passage he said I'm so excited if Christ has preached I believe for me to live is Christ and to die is gain I can't lose he even acknowledged that when Christ was preached with this impure agenda he still expected gain in Christ so let me transition a moment and have us all ask ourselves a question today what did you come to church expecting what did you come expecting today what kind of expectations did you have did you have expectations of a certain time frame getting in and getting out and getting to lunch what are your expectations today for you see I'm excited to tell you we're preaching Christ and I'm expecting Christ to do great things for us today if there's someone needs the Holy Ghost today's the day to get the Holy Ghost if somebody needs healing today's the day to get healing I came expecting to for God to fulfill the need of every person in this house that's just what I expect him to do [Applause] you see now there is a law that deals with expectations it's the law that we commonly call the law of sowing and reaping Galatians said it this way in Galatians 6 7 and 8 be not deceived God is Not mocked for whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap for he that sought to his flesh shall of the flesh wreak corruption but he that soweth to the spirit shall in the spirit reap life Everlasting yeah I promise you I grew up in the city not great with agriculture closest thing we had to agriculture around here was I was a drummer we had a cowbell on the drums that's about as close as I was to agriculture but I do understand this if you plant watermelons you're probably expecting to grow watermelons if you plant tomatoes You're Expecting tomatoes now it don't work in everything if you plant bird seed you're not smart and don't plant Cheerios expecting Donuts to come up you know there's some things that that don't work with but most usually whatever you plant is what you're going to reap that's what's going to come up so I ask us all today it's Grandparents Day and you can't be grandparents unless you've been parents parents let me ask you what are you sowing into your family and what are you expecting to come up what kind of expectations do you have you see the effort and the resources and the time that obedience or Disobedience the hard worker excuses not to work that you sow into your children is what's going to come up I've heard it said that some sow Wild Oats and then pray for a crop failure if you constantly have critical conversations about the people of God and about the church around your table at home critical attitudes is what's going to come up in your kids if you constantly say well I believe this but I don't necessarily believe that that the church believes that's what's going to come up in your kids you're planting doubts and when you plant doubt then disobedience is what will come up what are you expecting from what you're planting could I give you some example I know we've been doing a lot lately of talking about the history of our church Bishop's been reading to us about the first 50 years and he rightly said he's going to have to pin some more now because we just knocked down 65 years so I began noticing some of the stuff that Bishop has been reading was absolutely factual and hearing about what he read it sounded like hard times difficult times and you know what I realized that I grew up in those times but let me tell you something my mom and dad didn't plant in me that doing the work of God was some horrible sacrifice that you just got going to make and you're going to be poor and you're going to be beat down listen I never knew there was hard times I thought we were having Adventures mom and dad planting your kids that serving God's the greatest thing there is there's not some sacrifice that they're beating down they're blessed they're blessed you better be careful what you plant you better expect that you plant negativism if you plant Disobedience if you plant unimportance on being in the house of God that's what's going to come up in your children [Applause] man I was never taught that we were having a hard time it was an adventure man we're doing some cool stuff nobody else gets to do stuff like this it's First Apostolic Church a perfect Church absolutely not we have freckles and warts like everybody else but let me tell you I never heard my mom and dad one time denigrate one Saint I never heard them tell how terrible people were being to them I never heard them criticize One Time One Saint one person from the house of God if somebody had a problem my I had to tell on my mama the pat there's a passage of scripture that talks about when the Lord would gather his jewels speaking of his people and when somebody had a problem about the worst thing my mama would say about him and said well don't worry about they're one of his jewels there are Ruby they're a diamond they're an emerald they're a sapphire you know why I love you folks so much because my mom and dad taught me to love the family of God you're my family we've all got problems we've all got issues if you think I'm standing up here telling you I'm perfect you're sadly mistaken I know forgiven and I know that this is the greatest place that there is hear me my parents oh they had a prayer life but I didn't learn just from their prayer life and hearing them pray I learned more from seeing the way they treated other people and the way they loved people boy they cared about people foreign a wonderful prayer life is essential but knowing how to love folks is just as important knowing how to care about the family of God is just as important Proverbs said it this way in proverbs 10 28 the hope of the righteous shall be gladness we ought to be the happiest people that there are righteous people ought to be happy folk for it said but the expectation of the wicked Shall Perish don't worry about what the wicked folks do don't worry about what they're expecting their expectations will perish in fact scripture lets us know excuse me be cautious not to Envy Sinners apparent successes our ultimate expectations are not the same as theirs we measure success differently than the world does Proverbs 23 17 said it this way let not thy heart Envy sinners but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long for surely there is an end and thine expectation shall not be cut off you see those who are expecting to sow the wind and not reap the Whirlwind will be disappointed in their expectations for you see the psalmist said my soul wait thou only upon the Lord for my expectation is from him I'm not expecting the results that the world gets I didn't plant my kids at First Apostolic Church because I was expecting them to be the most successful in the world they can be as successful as they want to be in the secular world but that's not where I wanted them planted that's not what I was worried about coming up in them I wanted to come up in them that they know Jesus that they love the work of God they love the kingdom of God oh plant your children in a church plant your children in a Christian School whatsoever we sow into our walk with God is what we will reap what are our expectations that passage in Galatians 6 9 says and let us not be weary with well-doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not man sometimes sowing is a hard job it's not glamorous to sow there's no immediate results from sowing there's no fast crops digging in the dirt breaking up the fallow ground planting and then recovering and and and and watering and and praying for rain I've watched brother and sister Harvey as they've lovingly worked on some remodeling of our Shrubbery in our flower beds I know they pray because it's rained when I didn't really care for it to rain but I've watched him shape things and get over here after dark and that's got to be water that that sod we put down if we don't get some water on it's going to die if we you see Sunday school teacher that little face that you have to wipe may not look like much right now but you better hear me someday that same little face may be up here Direct in a choir or playing an instrument operating a camera preaching the gospel to your kids but there's a sowing time don't faint I'm sowing some things with some expectations verse 10 said this as we have therefore opportunity you got a chance right now let us do good unto all men plant some good do some good it takes a little effort sometime to do some good sometimes you won't be the first one out of the parking lot at the end of service if you do some good and welcome some visitors sometimes you may not get to watch the end of the your favorite show because you came early and shook hands with folks but you know what you're doing you're doing some good you're planting some things you're putting some things in fallow ground and and we're going to water it we're going to fertilize it we're going to watch it and see it come up he said as we have their opportunity let us do good unto all men comma especially unto them who are of the household of faith some folks will be good to the world and be ugly to their fellow church members if we need to look out for anybody and be good to anybody we ought to be good to all of those around us we ought to show some favor in kindness to those around us or they'll get over it I go to church with them no we ought to love one another and do good for one another what are you expecting let me tell you what I've observed there's families that are here today that you have sacrificed your personal fleshly wants and desires so you can have your kids here and be in a Christian School I know some of them you had m M and I know folks in this house they sold their boat to make sure they could pay the tuition because they knew they weren't paying a tuition they knew they were making an investment in the future they were planting something there's some of you who've moved from other places because expressly you said I moved because I want my kids to be in a Christian School you better hear me God is not going to let that kind of planting go unrewarded expect to reap a reward it's not going to be immediate it may not come out of the ground tomorrow but just keep watching just keep somebody hear me some of you made some sacrifices you oh Hallelujah some of you parents and grandparents have put your own personal desires above and let your kids be above all of that some of you grandparents have taken your retirement and said I'm going to make sure my child and my grandchildren [Applause] have the resources that they need some of you have given some of you that don't even have children you see the importance to our community and to our family some of you don't even have kids but you said I'm going to invest you've invested time you've invested labor you've sacrificed finances let me tell you you've been planting some stuff you've been putting some stuff in the ground God sees that God knows that I get to looking around sometimes man I know what sounds like bragging but if it's facts it's not bragging right I'll look up here and I'll see musician after musician singer after singer that I remember them coming to First Apostolic church or coming to Apostolic Christian School and they weren't the accomplished musician or singer when they started but somebody was planting in them expecting something they had Earnest expectation that something was going to come up I I look at our technicians our greeters I I see folks who multi-generations it it just it blows my mind folks sometimes we don't realize what we've got it's not medicine an insult anyway but a lot of us we don't get out much this is all we know that's fine but I got news for you every place you go you're not going to find every service the front filled with young folks and Saints worshiping God from the first note man I've been to a few places that you needed combat pay to get through the music and you deeded Dynamite to raise worshipers somebody started investing it you know how to get your child to be a worshiper be a worshiper foreign I just don't feel anything that's a problem too many folks are waiting to feel something I don't worship because of what I feel I worship because of what I know I said I don't worship because of what I feel I'm not waiting to feel something I know something I know Jesus is here I might have had a bad day but I'm not waiting to feel something I know something listen if you know he's your savior you know he's your Redeemer you need to be a worshiper in some form or some fashion you may need to cry you may need to run you may need to dance but you need to have some worship in you some way hallelujah hallelujah yes you see you got to be careful with going with just what you feel secular entertainment can give you feelings I know some of you folks felt awful bad yesterday when you thought Tennessee was going to lose that football game I want him to tell you what some of your emotions was if you go by feelings alone I mean can affect the way you feel you don't think I mean the secular world's already studied it you you go in some of these restaurants if they're wanting to set an atmosphere to take a good long while to eat they'll have soft music playing and they're wanting you to keep ordering yes I believe I'll have an appetizer and an entree and I believe I'll have dessert and I might have an after dinner cappuccino but if they're into volume you go in that same restaurant about lunchtime you want to hear soft music you catch yourself eating like this got to eat and got to get out of here you're being affected by what you feel man I thank the Lord for the worship and praise that goes up but listen it's more than just what I feel it's what I know I know my redeemer living I know I've been investing when these kids come down here some of the little bitty ones yeah they feel it at first but I just can't wait till they know what they've got till they know what they're experiencing Hallelujah Ephesians 3 20 said this now unto him that is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us what's the power that worketh in us the power of the Holy Ghost I don't care what you're expecting if you'll turn it over to God he can do exceedingly abundantly all you can think or ask he can exceed your expectations [Applause] oh I never thought my child would be able to play an instrument I never thought my child would be a a testifier a worshiper listen start expecting the unexpected when you turn things over to God when you put your family in the care of God let me tell you we're all guilty of it we just sometimes underestimate just how great God is and just how wonderful things he can do let me give you an example over in the book of Acts the 12th chapter you can read the narrative that Herod the king the Bible said he stretched forth his hand to vetch the church and he killed James the brother of John with the sword and he was playing to the masses for the Jews were asking for these followers of Jesus these so-called Heretics to be put down when he killed James it pleased the Jews so he proceeded and he arrested Peter with the intentions of Peter having the same demise but he also Herod knew the customs of the day so he apprehended him and he put him in a hole till Easter would pass he put him in prison he signed 16 soldiers to keep an eye on him make sure he wouldn't Escape and you know what Peter bought into it Paul Peter had just decided he'd resigned himself to fatalistically look at his Bleak condition for the Bible tells that he was there in prison he was sleeping Between Two Soldiers there was a keeper at the gate 16 soldiers had been assigned to look after him pretty bleak but verse 5 said Peter therefore was kept in prison but prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him listen if you're going to pray for some things expect God to answer your prayer I said if you're going to pray for things expect God to answer your prayer does God answer all prayers yes he does he just don't always answer them the way you think he ought to answer them sometimes he'll answer yes sometimes he'll answer no and sometimes he'll answer wait and many times weights the hardest answer to get because we're you know we're the fast food Society we need we need every answer immediately God sometimes says you need to wait you need to wait on what's going on so notice Peter's laying there in prison prayer meeting going on acts 12 6 says and when Herod would have brought him forth the same night Peter was sleeping Between Two Soldiers bound with two chains and the keepers before the door kept the prison man he was in deep lock up this was Secure staff and behold the angel of the Lord came upon him and a light shined in the prison now first of all somebody turns the lights on it's kind of hard to sneak out isn't it but you see God's doing a miracle here God's doing the work don't be shocked when God turns the lights on in some situations he said he turned the lights on and he smoked Peter on the side and raised him up saying to rise up quickly and his chains fell off his hands get up wake up sometime in the midst of what you've been praying for God has to turn the lights on and jolt us a little bit to make us really realize he's about to do something read it for yourself the chains fell off and the angel said to him gird thyself he said get dressed Peter must have been moving too slow or something I mean the lights are on the chainsaw I kind of feel like if I was in prison the lights came on Chase I'd been saying feet don't feel me now let's get out of here you know but apparently he was still kind of groggy he had resigned himself to a fatal fate he said get up gird thyself put your shoes on bind on my sandals and so he did and he said to him cast thy garment about they put your coat on him I mean it sounded like a kid getting up for school on Monday morning put your shoes on put your garment on and then he said follow me and he went out and followed him and noticed this and whis not that it was true which was done by the angel but thought he saw a vision God was doing a miracle and he still didn't believe it was happening he thought he was just having a vision of what could happen let me tell you sometimes God's doing a work and we don't even realize it sometimes he's answering it and right in the middle of the answer we're still trying to find the question [Applause] and when they were past the first and the second ward they came under the Iron Gate that leadeth unto the city which opened to them of its own accord that's the best I've got sorry from him Peter has been in Ultimate Security lock-up and now suddenly he finds himself free now God could have translated him had he wanted to but he chose to take him through all of the physical steps all the natural steps to put him free in the street sometimes we're looking for some Supernatural translation when all the time God's working in the natural to accomplish the supernatural quit looking for Spooks and ghosts just expect God to do the work however he chooses to follow him you'll find your freedom in your situation [Applause] yeah but the story still does not end there for when Peter in verse 11 it says when Peter was come to himself he finally realized hey I believe I'm loose he said now I know of a surety that the Lord has seen his Angel hath delivered me out of the hands of Herod and from the expect ations of the people of the Jews forget what the naysayers expect forget what the masses are expecting I know there are those who are predicting Gloom Doom and Destruction for the church don't care what they think what does God say he's got the last say don't worry about the church if we'll just keep doing what we're supposed to God's going to take care of us he's going to have freedom for us hahaha but we may as well musicians come quickly acts 12 we read on and when he had considered the thing he thought about it a little bit he said I'm free so I need to go to where my people are and it says he came to the house of Mary the mother of John whose surname was Mark where many were gathered together praying and as Peter knocked at the door of the gate a damsel came to the to hearken named Rhoda and when she knew Peter's voice she opened not the gate for gladness God answers our prayers and we slam the door sometimes the thing she's been in the middle of a prayer meeting praying for when it comes to the door she won't even get happy about it and open the door instead it said she ran in and told everybody else Peter's at the gate and they said unto her you're crazy well actually said they said you're mad which means you're crazy but she said they it's his angel they're still looking for a supernatural manifestation when all the time God has done the work in the physical and brought Peter to the door of their prayer meeting hear me God's going to do some things for you sometimes that don't need an angel to show up you just need to accept that he's done something in your life [Applause] preacher are you preaching against faith and Supernatural things of course not but listen we live in the flesh we live in the natural God has to do some Works in our flesh sometimes in our natural existence Peter continued knocking and when they'd opened the door and saw him they were astonished God delivered Peter and their astonished when it happened but he beckoning unto them said unto them with the hand to hold their peace declaring unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison and he said go show these things unto James and to the Brethren and he departed and went into another place I love verse 18. it says now as soon as it was day there was no small stir among the soldiers what was become of Peter where did he go he was laying right here you were over there we had chains on him gatekeeper said I've been here at the gate all night where did he go I'm not sure whose expectations were exceeded the most Peter the soldiers the Jews of the prayer meeting but the Lord knows how to exceed everyone's expectations stand with me God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we ask or think so my original question was what did you come expecting today [Music] the lame man [Music] who was begging alms of Peter and John the Bible said when he begged alms he gave heed unto them when Peter said look at me fasten your eyes on me he gave heed to them expecting to receive something [Music] he came expecting to receive arms or money Peter said Silver and Gold Have I None but such as I have give I Thee in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk and he took him by the hand the Bible says and immediately immediately his feet and ankle bones receive strength and he leaping up stood and walked and entered into the temple walking leaping and praising God I don't know what you have need of today but I'm here to tell you the God who wants to exceed your expectations is in this house whatever you have a need of if it's the infilling of the Holy Ghost if it's forgiveness from sin if it's healing if it's a financial blessing I could make up some big long laundry list and I might not name what you have need of you know what you have need of and it doesn't matter whether I name it or not it matters whether God hears you ask for it because God's able to do exceeding abundantly above all we can think or ask here's what I want to do right now I want to open this Altar for everybody that has a need of any kind it don't matter whether you have expressed it to anyone else they don't matter God's able to do it for you today if you'll step out come Believing by faith come expecting an answer from God he has your answer he wants to do it for you today how do hallelujah hallelujah [Music] yeah Hallelujah [Music] yes he is yes he is yes he is [Music] made the sacrifice [Music] [Music] hey now God is able to do [Applause] Hallelujah [Music] Hallelujah don't you be afraid to pray one for another right now [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] God is able to do just what he said [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] all right anymore [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] please love right now [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Applause] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] don't give up oh God hear it don't you give up on it don't you give up Hallelujah [Music] [Applause] [Music] Hallelujah now would you lift your hands and thank him for what he's already done thank him for what he's gonna do keep expecting Miracles keep expecting answers in your life keep expecting Deliverance in your life hallelujah hallelujah thank you First Apostolic church for being a church of expectations God's Gonna keep blessing God's Gonna Keep fulfilling God's Gonna Keep providing your need if you keep your life In His Hands Lord bless you please remember we have service tonight prayer time at six our main Evangelistic service at 6 30 You Don't Want to Miss a Thing you're dismissed in Jesus name greet everyone is your personal protocols make you comfortable Lord bless you