Sunday Evening Worship Service

while you're Clapping Your Hands why don't you lift your voice a little and shout unto the Lord with a voice of Triumph hallelujah amen so thankful for the presence of God here again I'm so glad God doesn't get snowed out God doesn't stay home God's never unable to show up and do what God is able to do I'm glad he's here tonight glad that you're here tonight why don't you turn around to somebody give them a fist bump say I'm glad to see you you at First Apostolic church tonight amen what a privilege it is for us to be here with you I am so grateful for the impact that this church has made upon our lives and we love your bishop and sister M and your pastor brother and sister Mark and Jamie MC and uh and the Whitley and um Anthony and and his family and just the entire leader ship staff here is just just incredible thank you for your gift of hospitality I've traveled around the world and I've never I can honestly say there's no place anywhere in this world where you will ever find um greater hospitality and love for people than you find right here uh with the muls and the leadership of this church amen and to this wonderful congregation thank you for braving the bad weather to be here with us this is a fantastic crowd I'm going to tell you even in flat Indiana if we had ice we wouldn't have this many people in the house of the Lord so thank you for braving the weather to be here with us and again I apologize for sounding so terrible tonight but the Lord is going to help us and I believe God's got something he wants to speak to us tonight do you believe that amen a German Theologian said one time every time we open our Bibles every time we open our Bibles we should say to ourselves here and now God is about to speak to us and whether that is in a service when someone is about to preach or in your private devotion time as you are studying the word of God whenever you open your Bible you should say to yourself God is about to speak to me and I believe the Lord is about to speak to us tonight in The Book of Mark chapter 6 The Gospel of Mark chapter 6 verse number 35 I feel like the Lord has just orchestrated this weekend in fact what I felt led to minister on at the marriage Retreat and what I felt for tonight it just seems to go along with so many of the comments that have already been made here tonight by Bishop mcul and by some of the other speakers here this evening Mark chapter 6 in verse number 35 and when the day was now far spent his disciples came unto him and said this is a desert place and now the time is far passed send them away that we may go into the country round about and into the villages and buy themselves bread for they have nothing to eat and he answered and said unto them give ye them to eat you feed them they said to Jesus shall we go and buy 200 pennies worth of bread and give them to eat he saith unto them how many loaves have ye go and see and when they knew they said five and two fishes and he commanded them to make all set down by companies upon the green grass only the Lord can cause you to sit down in green grass in a desert place and they sat down in ranks by hundreds and by 50s and when he had taken the Five Loaves and the two fishes he looked up to heaven and blessed and break the Loaves and gave them to his disciples to set before them and the two fishes he divided among them all and they did all eat and were filled and they took up 12 baskets full of the fragments and of the fishes and they that did eat of the loaves were about 5,000 men tonight I want to preach a message that is a question to you the question is simply this which side of the basket are you on which side of the basket are you on Lord Jesus I thank you for your presence that's in this room I thank you for this wondrous church this great church Lord God I ask that you speak to us tonight from this holy book let it Inspire and challenge us God to give our lives in service to you we pray and ask it in Jesus name in Jesus name thank you for standing God bless you you may be seated we've we've never heard a man speak like this man speaks they said of Jesus was not uncommon for people to come from all around the world all around the countryside all around the Villages and cities to hear him teach or to hear him preach multitudes at times would set attentively for hours as Jesus would teach the word of God to them on one day they sat so long that Jesus said to his 12 disciples the day is far spent and we can't s these multitudes home hungry give them to eat lest they faint on the journey home what was it about Jesus teaching that Drew such a following I believe it was more than the sound of his voice or the way that he told simple stories from everyday life that they could all understand the teachings of Jesus resonated deep within the soul of man his teaching was a refreshing and a welcomed departure from the status quo I believe what attracted people to Jesus teaching was it was so different than what everybody else was teaching it was so different than what they heard in the synagogue it was so counter to the message of the scribes and the phes how many times did do you read in your new testament where Jesus would say you have heard it said but I say unto you he would say you've heard it taught this but I want to tell you what I have to say about that you have heard that it hath been said Thou shalt love thy neighbor and hate thine enemy but I say unto you love your enemy bless them that curse you do good to them that hate you pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you you have heard it it has hath been said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth that's what everybody else is teaching that's what everyone else is saying but I say unto you resist not evil what I say unto you is if someone Smite you on the cheek then turn the other one that they might Smite that one also the Bible said in Matthew 20 and 25 but Jesus called them unto him and said ye know that the princes of of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them 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 I think what drew the crowds to Jesus was his message was so counter to the culture of the day it was so refreshingly different than what they heard everyone everywhere else Jesus said things like whosoever will be Chief among you let him be your servant he said things like this even as the son of man came not to be ministered unto but to minister and to give his life a ransom for many but he that is greatest among you shall be your servant that was and still is so very different than what the world teaches the world says the greatest among you is the one who is being served but Jesus comes along and says I'm telling you that the greatest one is not the one who is being served but the greatest among you are the ones who are doing the serving Jesus said the world tells you that getting is what brings you happiness but I say unto you that giving that serving that pouring out to others is what truly brings you happiness what Jesus taught was so radically different he said it is more blessed to give than to receive he taught us that happiness comes from giving not from getting that fulfillment comes from serving not being served Jesus taught us that the greatest among any group are those who serve Matthew chapter 16 Jesus said to his disciples If any man will come after me let him deny himself let him take up his cross and follow me for whosoever will save his life will lose it but whosoever will lose his life for my sake will find find it Jesus was teaching something so counter to the culture and philosophy of the world you see the world teaches something very different the world says look out for number one the world says don't deny yourself don't sacrifice don't give of yourself but get everything that you can in this life look at the culture of our day we are in an age of self-centeredness people are interest Ed in self look around the world this is the permeating attitude of our world it's all about me it's all about my wants and my needs and my rights and what I can get and what people will do for me what the government will do for me what my employer will do for me God help us what the church will do for me it's all about me but remember the story of Elisha and the widow woman and when we read that story we find this remarkable truth that if you keep the oil In Your Vessel you will always only have a little if you hoard your own life with a closed hand with a selfish attitude then your pot will soon run dry if your life is only about you then oh how small and empty that life will be the story of Elijah tells that if you pour out the prophet told her pour out what you have if you have a change of mindset from your life being about self to life being about others from life being about being served to life being about serving then you are inviting something Divine and Heavenly into your life God's power he told this woman will begin to flow in your life if you do not hoard what you have but if you pour out what you have then you will cause the window of Heaven to open and God's miraculous power will begin to flow into your life remember the Prophet Elijah and the Widow of zarap the Prophet comes the prophet comes to her and says what do you have she says I only have a little bit of meal in my Barrel and a little bit of oil and here's what I'm going to do with it I'm going to bake a cake for me and for my son and we are going to consume it and we are going to eat it I'm going to keep what I have in my own house I'm going to keep what I have among my own family my own life I'm going to satisfy my Hunger with what I have but the prophet said no the prophet said lady you think that that attitude will save you but really that attitude will starve you the prophet said bake me a cake first in other words let your focus first be on serving others let your focus first be on giving to others uh doing for others uh serving others uh if she had served herself what would she have had what would have happened if she said I'm going to keep what I have in my own house she would have baked a cake she would have fed herself and her son for one day but then in a matter of days she would have died with Hunger if she had made her own needs primary she would have died but a miracle happened in This Woman's life when she made her needs secondary to others needs when she said I'm not going to hoard what I have but I'm going to pour out what I have that attitude is what sustained her Hallelujah if you think the attitude of hoarding will save you you're mistaken it'll starve you what will sustain you even in desert times even in famine times is to realize I'm going to pour out to God and when I give out to God then I'm inviting God's miraculous power to work in my life so she was sustained when she served others and her pot of meal and cruise of oil never ran dry this story The Feeding of the 5,000 it's recorded in all four gospels Jesus is teaching and he attracts as he normally did a great multitude of people and they are with him for a long time when he's finished teaching he says to his disciples send them home or his disciples say let's send them home and Jesus says no they've been with me now for a long time they're hungry let's feed them the problem however is there were 5,000 men and that does not include women and children so we would assume that the women and children there as well that crowd must have been 20,000 plus and they don't have the disciples don't have much money and they say Lord here's all we have we have 200 pennies worth a dinar IUS in the Greek it means a day wage the disciples said listen we have in our collection 200 days wages but with this size of a crowd even if we spent 200 days wages we could not buy enough food to feed this many people the disciples said we just don't have enough to buy food for this kind of a crowd to which Jesus asked the question then tell me what do you have Jesus was more interested in what they did have than what they did not have he's always more interested in what I offer to him regardless of how small or insignificant it seems he wants you to give yourself to him to give your talent and your ability and your gifts and your life to him there are so many people who never serve because they don't think they really have anything to offer I've been pastoring long enough to hear many people tell me well I'm not good at anything I don't I don't have any skills I don't have any ability I don't have any anointing I don't really have any talent I have nothing to offer just a few loaves of bread and a few fish and what are they among so many in other words what difference can I make with this little bit that I have my little insignificant life won't even make a dent in the needs the great needs of the world but Jesus always takes what we offer to him and He blesses it and he breaks it and he multiplies it he doesn't bless what we don't offer oh God has called us to give to serve God has chosen you for Ministry God has called you and chosen you and saved you for a purpose in the kingdom of God you understand today that we were not saved to set I said it this morning we we're not like that beautiful cup sitting on a shelf somewhere we weren't saved to set we weren't saved to wither away on a church chair a church pew we were saved to serve God had something in mind when he saved you God had something in mind when he filled you with the Holy Ghost I don't know your testimony but that day you were baptized in the Holy Ghost when God wrestled you out of the hand of Hell God had something in mind for you and for your life when he saved you he had a purpose in plan a plan and a purpose God had a plan for your life when he called your name you may think even if I only have 200 penny worth and I offered it won't do any good what possible difference could my little loaf or my fish make but God is looking for willingness he's looking for Willing vessels uh you just give to God give yourself to God and let God worry about the blessing and the anointing and the multiplying you just give yourself oh Hallelujah and say Lord here I am let God worry about taking what you give and multiplying it and making it sufficient for what is needed I believe he brought you out of too much for him not to use you for his purpose I believe you've come through too much stuff for him not to use you and use what you've been through to help someone else I believe there are men and women in this room you have fought too many devils and fought too many battles getting where you are for God not to take your life and put you on the front lines for someone else he's a god of purpose and he's a god of intent he doesn't do anything by accident nor without reasons when he called you out and made you a first generation Apostolic he had a plan in mind he had a purpose in mind so don't ever say I don't have much to give don't ever say what is just 200 pennies worth or what is just a few loaves or fish among so many don't ever say that he's a god of purpose we are saved according to his purpose and his grace he didn't just break you out of the prison of addiction for no reason he didn't just lift you out of the chains of alcoholism for no reason he didn't just set you free from the downward spiral of Despair for no re he did not just fix your marriage for no reason he did just heal you of your self-destructive Tendencies for no reason he's a God who has a plan he's a God who has a purpose he brought you out and he wants to send you in he broke the chains and he wants to use your life to break the chains off of someone else we were saved to serve we were saved to give our lives to him he gave to us that we might give he blessed us that we might be a blessing let me tell you when when you got the Holy Ghost the same the same flame of fire that rested on Stephen and Phillip and Martha and Mary that same Holy Ghost came on you when you got baptized in the Holy Ghost that same flame of fire on your head it's the same flame of the Holy Ghost that came on Peter and James and John listen we are all Kings and Priests and every believer is filled with the power of God God every believer has been filled with the power of the Holy Ghost to do a work and to fulfill the will of God there there are I've been I've been doing this a long time been Pastor in a long time and and it seems to me like in any church or in any group of people those people generally fall into one of two categories there are basically two groups of people in this story today Jesus says what do you have and we'll talk about that in a minute but he tells his disciples to take the bread and to take the fish thank you brother Pastor Whitley he said to take the bread and take the fish and distribute it to the multitude and I found in my my experience in Ministry that that usually there are two groups of people in any story like this story there's really two groups of people there's the disciples and there's the multitude right and the disciples are doing what they are serving the bread and the fish and the multitude they are being served so as I read this story tonight this story we're all familiar with the feeding of the 5000 I see in this story there's a group who is giving out there is a group who is serving there is a group who is Distributing the food and and then there is a group who is setting in the grass and they are receiving the food D you know isn't isn't that generally the case in any church in any spiritual setting you usually have those two groups you have the ones who are serving and then the ones who are being served you have the ones who are doing the ministry and then you have the ones who are being ministered unto the ones giving out and the ones receiving what is being distributed think about it in every church service in every conference in every camp meeting in every local assembly in every body of people you generally have those two groups the ones who are giving out the bread and the fish and then the ones who are having their plate filled and and my question to you tonight is which side side yeah of the basket are you on you see you've got oh sorry about that oh Lord have mercy amen I'm glad it's not freezing in here praise God I I need some help come on guys come on up here come on up here a minute praise the Lord don't these young men look great you see in in in every setting you've got you've got people on this side of the basket who are Distributing the food right then you've then you've got people over here on this side of the and they are the ones that are receiving the food you got those that are giving it out and you've got those who are receiving it and I'm asking you the question tonight which side of the basket are you on which group are you most closely aligned with the group that is doing the serving or the group that is receiving the service the group that is doing the ministry or the group that is receiving the ministry now I understand that we all need fed and we all need to be ministered unto I know that I know that there are times when every one of us the pastor included needs to be part of that multitude where they are receiving the bread that they need to sustain them I understand that we all need ministered unto but my question to you is generally speaking day in and day out which side of the basket are you on are you the multitude or are you the disciple are you a face in the crowd who is just receiving a plate of food or are you the disciple who is Distributing the food to the multitude now some peopleall some people are always being served Faith Apostolic Church in Carmel there are those folks that that are always on one side of the basket the pastor has prepared the sermon and the praise team has practiced the songs and the teachers have prepared the lessons and the ushers have picked up the kleenexes and straightened the chairs rep pews and the war the prayer warriors have prayed and everything is prepared and then there are some that come and they just receive they come and they get a piece of bread they come and they get a piece of fish and they are fed and you know that's okay because we all need fed but but there are some people who never come around to the other side hold that with me for me right there there are some people holding that instrict here like this yeah there are some people that never come around to this side of I'm not I'm not faulting people who need prayer I'm not faulting people who need Ministry I'm not faulting any of us we all need God to feed us and to nurture us I'm just saying I don't want to be the kind of person that is always on this side of the basket I want to be the kind of person that comes around on this side of the basket and it's not always the one who is being fed but I'm the one who is doing the feeding I'm not always the one who is receiving Ministry but but I'm one who is pouring Ministry out which which side the basket are you on stay with me guys we'll get I'm gonna get back to you in a minute I G tell you something today hold that hold that again I want to tell you something today it is better everyone say better here's what here's what I want you to take on with you it is better on this side of the basket I just want you to know it is better on this side of the basket than it is on this side of the basket so if you find that you identify more with being on this side of the basket what Pastor ball has come to encourage you in tonight is why don't you get up and and circle around and come over here around on this side of the basket and instead of being one who's just always having your plate filled you are one who is actually filling the plates and here's why here's why because I'm telling you it is better on this side of the basket it is better on the serving side of the basket than it is on the receiving side of the basket I'm going to tell you something about being on the serving side I know that the disciples were hungry too but the Bible said that when it was all said and done there were 12 basket fulls of fragments that were left over I don't think it was 12 by accident or without God's intent I'm going to tell you what I believe the disciples took home more than anybody did in that multitude if you were on that side yeah if you were on this side of the basket what did you get hold out your hand you got you got a piece of bread and you got a piece of fish got a piece of bread got a piece of fish but if you were on this side of the basket let me tell you what those disciples every one of them went home with an entire basket full of food because the disciples their first order of business was to serve others and when they served others God took care of their needs let me tell you a divine revelation if you will serve the kingdom of God God will always take care of your needs if you take care of God's business God will always take care of your business if you put God serving God as your priority God is going to see to it he's going to see to it that your needs are met the disciples received something greater than what the multitude received the m multitude ate till they were filled but the disciples had an entire basket each more than one meal let's go a little bit deeper here tonight it's always better on the serving side of the basket there is great satisfaction in Ministry see we go back to the beginning of this message what captivated the crowds is Jesus said things that were so counter the culture he said if you want to find life lose it lose your life Lose Yourself lose your own desire to satisfy your own life and pour your life out and you will find True Life Jesus said it is more blessed to give than it is to receive you're going to receive so much more when you are on the serving side of the basket for whosoever will save his life will lose it and whosoever will lose his life from my sake shall find it Jesus was saying to find true life you got to lose your own what does that mean give your life away when you live unto yourself you will lose satisfaction in life if you want to find true life you got to lose living unto yourself when you give your own life away when you give your life to God to serving him that's when you discover true life and true satisfaction the greatest satisfaction comes not from being served but from serving I know that's a paradox because human logic would say to be happy you must be served you know some of the most miserable people in this world are the very ones with so much fame and fortune that everyone is doing for them and they are some of the most miserable people in all of the world the people who are most satisfied the people who are most content and fulfilled in life those who have found True Life are the ones who serve others something happens when you put a towel over your arm and you say God I'm here to serve I'm here to serve wherever and however I can it might be mentoring 10year old boys or girls in a Sunday school class or maybe it's making an impact on young children in children's ministry maybe it's volunteering to watch infants in the nursery so that some visiting parent can hear the word of God without distraction perhaps it's greeting guests as they enter the building or helping guests find a parking lot or thank you again Brothers maybe it's scraping the church parking lot when we've had an ice storm maybe it's praying with someone around the altar or visiting someone in the hospital I don't know but I do know this whenever you begin to pour out to others whenever you make your life about giving rather than getting serving rather than being served something marvelous happens maybe it's cooking food for someone who just had surgery or lost a loved one maybe it's cleaning the baptismal robes or cleaning the toilets or pulling weeds at the church or cutting the grass of a senior citizen maybe it's spending time in front of a computer working on audio or video files so that people on the web can hear the word of God maybe it's feeding the homeless or clothing the destitute maybe it's picking up people so they'll have a ride to church maybe it's volunteering half a day to help maintain the church facility maybe it's running a camera or walking in multimedia or the sound booth maybe it's teaching a Bible study or cooking a meal for a for a funeral dinner but I'm telling you this yes it's better on this side of the basket there's something else there's something else those those on on this side can you all see over here I'm I'm sorry I'm trying to there there's something that happens to people who are on on on this side of the basket now y'all need to sit down because the Bible said the Bible said they were setting this is this is key to the story they were setting there's something that happens when when you are on this side of the basket that never happens to the ones who are on this side okay we got to think about how this went down all right Jesus when the disciples come and say uh Lord how are we going to feed them all we've only got 200 penny worth seven months wages even if we spent every dime we had it's not enough Jesus said well what do you have and then Jesus says go and see so the disciples go out in a crowd of 20,000 people and they come back and they tell Jesus here's what we've got We've Got Five Loaves and we've got two fish now I I I'm sorry but I don't believe that's all that was in that crowd you're telling me that out of 20,000 th000 people that there was only one boy and all the food among 20,000 people was just Five Loaves and two fish no no no no no I guarantee you there was more food in that crowd but God can only bless what we give not what we retain think of how many said huh no the disciples came and said what you got any food Jesus need some food and there were folks that had biscuits in their pocket and they said no no no I I I don't have anything to give there there was all kind there now there wasn't enough they I know they were going to go hungry and I know Jesus did a miracle but but you can't tell me there were only Five Loaves and two fish in that whole multitude but there was there was one boy who who was willing to give what he had and so they they come back to Jesus and they say what what do you have and Jesus said says I've got F or the disciples say Jesus I've Got Five Loaves and two fish and Jesus says okay what I want you to do is I want you to divide that among each of you so we know there were 12 baskets left over so we assume there were 12 baskets each disciple had a basket so Jesus said I want you to take these Five Loaves and I want you to divide the Five Loaves equally among 12 baskets now you math wizzes you're probably figuring out I'm just going to rough guess it that that's a little less than half a loaf per basket so Jesus Takes he he takes the Loaves and he prays over them and blesses them then he takes he takes half of one loaf and puts it in one basket and he does the same for all 12 baskets then he takes then he takes the fish two fish these are the these are the kind of fish Josh Wilson catches these are not the kind of fish I catch but he took he takes two fish and he divides two fish among 12 baskets that means one fish for six baskets so we've got about onethird of a fish in each basket now now what I'm telling you is that when you are on this side of the basket there is something that happens to you that those who are on the receiving side never experience because the Bible said Jesus made them set down in in the green grass so if they are setting down and the disciples you you got to picture how this is going down the multitudes they're sitting there and the disciple he he's probably wondering how in the world what's this going to accomplish but he comes to the first person and he reaches in and he grabs a piece of fish or a piece of bread and he grabs a piece of fish and he hands it to them now now hold that hold that out now now if you're on this side of the basket what are you getting what are you seeing all all you're seeing is that disciple handing you some bread and some fish go ahead it's clean you can taste it how how's the bread it's good bread you take a bite of that bread you say this is good you you ever receive the word of God from a preacher and you're like man that's good it's good if you're on the receiving side you get a plate of food but what I want you to see tonight is that if you were on the serving side of the basket you you see something that no one else sees because those disciples when they hand that first plate of that plate of food out and they think in their mind that that's all I've got but they look in the basket somehow that one small piece of bread has either replicated itself or has grown I don't believe it just I don't believe it just handed them a piece and then that piece was replicated because the Bible said when they were done there were 12 baskets full left over so the only thing I can assume is that as they're handing out the bread not only is the bread being replenished but the bread's actually growing in the basket the and they get down to the second person and now the second person what are they receiving just just a plate of food but this disciple is like I know I know he only took one small small piece and put it in here I can't explain it but there's three pieces in here and so he gives that piece of bread and that piece of fish to the next person and then he goes down to the third person and there's still even more in the basket do you understand that a miracle was unfolding before their eyes but the only people who saw the miracle were the ones who were doing the serving those who were just sitting down being fed they were not part of the miracle they never saw the miracle they never saw Jesus take a meager something and turn it into something marvelous I never knew that I never saw that all they saw was their plate was being filled if you are never on the serving side of the basket you never experience God taking your little fish and your little loaf and doing something that you know is far greater than what you could ever have done on your own it is only until you step around on the other side of the basket that you see that there's a whole lot more coming out than there was when we started there was a whole lot more Ministry flowing out of my life than I ever had in me let me tell you I'm not that talented I'm not that smart I I'm not that I'm not you you you understand what I'm talking about I'm G to tell you those disciples knew those on the serving side they understood right you see when that precious sister gets up on a Sunday morning the microphone begins to sing and the anointing of the Lord falls upon her now if you're on the receiving side you're going to sit back and can go M that's pretty good tasting fish she did a good job that's good tasting bread I enjoyed that but let me tell you there's something that the servants experienced that those being fed never experienced it's that woman who knows I'm not really that good I'm not really that talented there's something it was just my human voice but the almighty God of Heaven touched my human voice and there was something that began to flow out of me and flow through me elevating me to a place that was impossible for me to go to on my own there's an anointing of Heaven God what's God doing you're able to see God taking a little piece of fish and putting his hand on it and it grows you know you know sometimes sometimes people come at home and they'll say Pastor that was just an amazing message so good and I'm thinking to myself if you only knew I'm not that smart I'm not that talented you might have just sat there receiving a plate of food and thought man that's a good sermon that's but see this guy on the other side of the basket knows that my human talent and my human ability wasn't good enough to do that this was nothing this was not Matthew ball this was the Lord God Almighty taking my meager little piece of fish and my meager little piece of bread and God took it and God multiplied it oh when you teach a Bible study and suddenly you begin to say things that you never thought about saying when you're teaching that home Bible study and the Holy Ghost begins to move and all of a sudden there there are scriptures that are coming to your mind that you didn't even know we in there and you think my where did that come from let me tell you the person sitting at the kitchen table doesn't understand that they're just receiving but the servants those on the serving side of the basket understand there's a miracle unfolding before for them I want to tell you brother sister it's better on the serving side of the basket could our musicians come at the wedding of kaaa the Bible says that they ran out of wine and Mary says to the servants whatever Jesus tells you to do you do it and Jesus Jesus says fill the pots with water take those pots of water and draw out and we know the story Jesus turned the water into wine I want you to notice what the guests said I want you to notice what those who were receiving the ministry said they said where my my glasses somewhere it rolled it rolled thank you the guest at the wedding they were handed a glass of wine and they tasted it and they said wow that's good stuff you know normally they they wait till the guests have slightly inebriated and can't tell tell good wine from Bad wine and they they they give the good wine first and then when everybody's a little bit intoxicated they bring the bad stuff out but but this this at this wedding they have saved the best for last so I want you to understand the perspective of the guest at the wedding who were being served they just what did they receive at that wedding they received a glass of wine and they tasted that wine and they said this is good wine but I want you to know that those who were on the other side of the basket they saw something they experienced something that those being served never experienced the Bible says the guest didn't know but there's this little footnote in the story The Bible says but the servants knew the servants knew you see the ones who were pouring that out they knew something that those receiving never knew those who were pouring out new hay we just poured water into that pot but when we served out it was came out wine that's what you experience when you get on the serving side of the basket you realize that water went in but wine came out it was just my own human Talent I'm just trying to give anything I have to God it was just m water when it went in but it was wine when it came out but it's only it's only on the serving side which side of the basket are you on which which side of the Basin are you on some people people are always having their feet washed why don't you get up and come around on the other side of the Basin and instead of having your feet washed why don't you wash feet because let me tell you it's always better on this side of the basket stand with me right now would you lift your hands and say God I want you to use my life I I bind every Spirit of hell that would lie to people and tell them that they don't have anything to offer to God every Spirit of the enemy that would try to discourage people by telling them that their talents aren't enough or their their gifts aren't enough or they don't really have anything to offer to God I pray those lies of Hell be silenced right now by the power of the word of God I pray right now Lord Jesus that you speak to the heart of every man and woman in this room today assuring and encouraging and reminding them that when you saved us you had a purpose in mind you had a calling for our lives there was something that you wanted us to do to serve to give I pray you help every man and woman in this room to to get up and to come around to the other side of the basket and say Jesus here I am I wonder if you come out of your seat right now with your hands lifted at this altar standing before the Lord saying Here I Am Lord I surrender to you I want my life to be about serving I want my life to be about giving to the body of Christ giving to the kingdom of God giving to others giving to the to the church giving to my fellow man Lord let my life not just be about me Lord I'm ready to serve I'm ready to do something I'm ready to give my my life to your service I I think we should lift our hands because it's a sign of surrender I think we should lift our hands right now because it's a gesture that says God here I am I surrender to you I surrender to your will to your purpose I surrender to your will use my life for your plan take my hand use my hands and my feet for your will Lord It's I feel like it's not much just a few Loaves and a few fish but God I know you can take what I surrender to you and multiply it and bless it and break it God until it feeds a [Music] [Music] multitude Holy Spirit lead us to the Heart of Jesus there is nothing that's it Lord here I am here I am Jesus use my life for your will use my life for your purpose and plan God I surrender to your purpose I want to serve use me Jesus be one more and I decrease you increase she's all about you it's not about me I decree hallelujah hallelujah the name of Jesus the name of Jesus the name of Jesus yes Jesus how many believe how many know that Miracles begin to happen when we pour out throughout the scripture we see it every time we surrender to God every time we give ourselves to him every time we pour out to him that's when miracles happen that's when the meal in the pot multiplies that's when the oil in the cruise just begins to grow that's when the Loaves and fish are multiplied when we give out I'm here to tell you if you'll give your life to him if you'll give your life in service to him you're going to invite the miraculous power of God to work in your life [Music] surrender it's all about you it's not about me I decrease I decrease you increase all about you God about not about me about me icrease I decrease [Applause] youc it's all about you it's not about me [Music] H it's about hallelujah it's about let's lift our hands and worship him just a moment let's lift our hands and just cry out to him Hallelujah with hands lifted we surrender to you Jesus we surrender to your will Jesus hallelujah thank you Jesus thank you [Music] Jesus thank you [Music] Jesus we are we are entering a season we are entering a season where it is going to require all hands on deck you know what that means it's old military term I said we're entering a season in the church where it's going to require all hands on deck Jesus told a parable about a householder that went out early in the morning and he found labors and put them into the work work in the vineyard and went out the third hour and the 6th hour the ninth hour then he went out at the 11th hour and he found people in the 11th Hour that were not yet engaged in Ministry we are entering the 11th hour we are entering a season in the body of Christ in a season in this church I felt it in Prophecy this morning that there is something so powerful that God is going to do in and through through this church in the last days and in this 11th hour we are entering a season where it will require all hands on deck so if you feel like God has passed you over and God doesn't need me I promise you we're entering into an hour where he's going to find those who felt like that householder passed over me the last time he passed over me at the third and the sixth and the ninth hour I promise you in the 11th Hour God is not going to pass over anyone who has a willingness to serve in the body of Christ you have unique Ministries that have not even not even you you have not even realized or they haven't even come to light yet there are going to be needs in the church in the last days that that Ministries that we've never even thought about and some of you are are here and God is going to use you in areas that that we never even thought about that being a way to impact this world God's going to do it in the last days it's going to be all hands on deck so I want you to find your pastor I don't mean necessarily right now don't bombard him right now but I want you to find your pastor in the next few days next few weeks find brother brother Whitley or brother Anthony Bishop mcco Pastor Mark mcol or one of their wives or some Department leader some leader of some Ministry in this church I want you to find them in the next week or two I want you to say I'm ready I'm ready to get on the other side of the basket I'm ready to give my life for the work of God and you're going to see a miracle unfold in your life you believe it God bless you we love you we love this church I'm so excited about what God is going to do what God is doing at First Apostolic Church of Knoxville [Music] Tennessee