Sunday Morning Worship & Word | Pastor Whitley “Seasons”

man i think the lord is here today and things are going to happen thankful for this great church thankful for a great time at our general ministry conference this past week we had a wonderful time there but we're so glad to have guests with us today i always love to have guests here at fac in knoxville we're so glad to have uh family and great friends here today i'm so glad to have shane and mary beth rudd here today can we give them a great big hand and welcome them i got to spend time with them in michigan a few weeks ago we had just a wonderful time and i was excited to have them back down here and we're so glad to have more michigan folks here with us we're glad to have robbie ledbetter and his family this is the son uh brother robert ledbetter can we welcome him today we're so glad that he is here we love the lead bettors we love these folks we're so glad that you're here and we're so glad to have right here from knoxville in this area we're so glad to have robert smith and his family could we welcome them today we're so glad to have robert smith and his family they said they've seen signs of first apostolic church around town so we're so glad that they're here with us and all the way from akron ohio visiting this week and we're so glad to have mark bennett and his family could we welcome them today amen we're so glad to have all of our guests so glad to have all of our guests here today go with me to john chapter number two one of my favorite chapters in the book of john one of my favorite stories john chapter number two now i wonder if somebody will help me today will anybody help me today i know it's i know it's independence weekend and we're ready for cookouts and good times tomorrow but i wonder if somebody's ready for some preaching is anybody ready for some preaching today anybody ready for the word of the lord to get to you john chapter number two beginning at verse number 1 and the third day there was a marriage in cana of galilee and the mother of jesus was there and both jesus was called and his disciples to the marriage and when they wanted wine the mother of jesus saith unto him speaking of jesus they have no wine look at verse number four here now if i said this i'd got smacked this is jesus so he can say whatever he wants he says jesus say it's under her woman now first of all i would never call my mom woman [Music] she'd say child you're dead meat woman what have i to do with thee but he's not speaking to her as his mother at this moment he's speaking to her as his lord as her lord what have i to do with thee he says mine hour someone say hour is not yet come the word hour there in the greek means season someone say season season he said my season has not yet come but his mother saith unto the servants whatsoever he sayeth unto you do it she wasn't taking no for an answer it's not seasoned yet but i'm ready for a new season and when he says to do something you better do it and there set six water pots of stone after the man or the purifying of the jews containing two or three fercons of peace jesus said unto him unto them all right i see you mary you're ready fill the water pots with water now i don't need water i need wine he said get the water and they filled them up to the brim he saith unto them draw out now and bear unto the governor of the feast and they bear it and when the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine and knew not whence it was but the servants knew the governor of the feast called the bridegroom and said unto him every man at the beginning does set forth good wine and when men when men have well drunk then that which is worse but thou has kept the good one until now this beginning of miracles to jesus and cana of galilee and manifested forth his glory and his disciples believed on him i want to preach to somebody today it's a new season it's a new do you believe that won't you lift up your hands if you believe it's a new season i wonder if somebody would say it's not my season yet but my season is coming i wonder if somebody lift up their hands right now and say lord let it be my season today let there be a season change today father in the name of jesus i pray that your word would go forth it would go forth like fire that it would go forth like seed and find the good ground but i pray that you would encourage somebody with your spirit today in jesus name we pray why don't you clap your hands again today come on if you believe your season's coming you should clap your hands real loud [Music] oh hallelujah it's a new season we divide up the year into four seasons spring summer fall and winter each season lasts about three months with summer being the warmest season winter being the coldest spring and autumn flying in between that is unless you live in tennessee where it goes from cold to hot in a matter of days we just have winter and summer we go from hot to cold just like that spring lasts about three days here fall lasts about five days it's just hot and cold the seasons have a lot of impact on what happens on the earth in the spring animals are born and plants come back to life summer is hot kids are out of school and we begin to take vacations often crops are harvested at the end of summer in the fall the leaves change colors in the and they fall off the trees and school begins again winter is cold and it snows in many places some animals like bears hibernate in the winter while other animals like birds migrate to warmer climates seasons are caused because of the earth's changing relationship to the sun the earth travels around the sun called in orbit once a year or every 365 days as the earth orbits the sun the amount of sunlight each location on the planet gets every day changes slightly this change causes seasons now not only does the earth revolve around the sun every year but the earth rotates on its axis every 24 hours that's what we call a day however the earth doesn't rotate in a straight up and down manner relative to the sun it is slightly tilted in scientific terms the earth is tilted 23.5 degrees from its orbital plane with the sun the tilt has two major effects the angle of the sun to the earth and the length of days for half of the year the earth is tilted such that the north pole is pointed towards the sun for the other half the south pole is pointed at the sun when the north pole is angled toward the sun the days on the northern part of the planet north of the equator get more sunlight or longer days and shorter nights with longer days the northern hemisphere heats up and gets summer and as the year progresses the earth's tilt changes to where the north pole is pointing away from the sun producing winter now listen i know you didn't come here to get a science lesson this morning but you have showed up here in a season i'm not just talking about the heat of summer but you may have shown up here in a season of hurt a season of pain a season of frustration a dry season spiritually a season of sowing a season of uncertainty you might just be in a season of suffering and you might just be in a season of a loss but i want to tell you what i feel the lord spoke in my ear a few days ago i just i feel like the lord said something to me that might seem so simple to you and it seems so simple to me but at the same time it blew my mind that seasons don't last forever i feel like the lord spoke in my ear a few days ago that seasons do come to an end you might just be in a season of hurt you might just be in a dry season but i come to tell you hear this lord's day is that there's a new season coming your way your season might be in relationship to the sun the s-o-n not the s-u-n but the s-o-n the sun doesn't move but the earth moves around the sun and yet the son of god doesn't move rather we move but it matters which way are you tilted which way are you leaning right now towards the so in the sun your sun your season might be based on which way you have been tilted it might just be you're in a tough season because that's just life's ever moving cycle but i believe if you'll get your tilt right today and you can lean a little bit closer to the sun and get your life surround i wish somebody was helping me right now oh i wonder if somebody say jesus you're the center of my life and i might be in a dry spell i might be in a dry season but lord i'm just going to keep on moving i'm just going to keep on rotating because i believe my season come on i believe a new season's coming my does anybody know what i'm talking about right now i'm in a dry spell i'm hurting right now but i'm gonna tell somebody that seasons don't last forever you believe that i want you to clap your hands unto the lord come on it's coming come on it's coming just stick around just hold on your season's coming you're not going to stay in this season forever you've got another one coming we read in our text that jesus his friends and mary are at a celebration for a wedding and after three days they've ran out of wine it may seem very insignificant to you and me that they've ran out of wine first of all seems very strange to me that they're having weddings last for three days that must be one rich dad three-day wedding they run out of wine now it might seem insignificant to us because we don't understand this but the lack of wine was a serious problem in that day bible commentator leon morris wrote this more than a social embarrassment was involved the bridegroom and his family may well have been become involved in a heavy liability as a result of running out of wine social traditions in those days obligated a marriage couple to provide adequately for the feast or risk legal action by any of the guests you talk about a wedding we've ran out of food let me talk to my lawyer oh my could you imagine did you imagine or not and he's like well it's a bad day for you man it's a good day for you but it's also going to be a bad day i'm suing you because i didn't get my cake i didn't get that last piece of cake could you imagine but those were the traditions of the day that if they ran out of wine this was trouble for the newly married couple now i know it might seem insignificant and it might seem so very minor to us as we read john chapter number two and it might seem that your situation that you're going through right now might be insignificant to somebody else it may seem minor to others but for you it's very important and you just need jesus to show up in your season your season may not be of any issue to anybody else but they are in the cold of life or the dryness of uncertainties and you just need jesus to show up i have nowhere else to go but i need something to happen so mary and jesus his disciples being at this pre at this at this wedding it seems as if that they have been related to this newly married couple therefore if the family's out of wine mary's out of one she's empty there's nowhere else to turn in other words the liquor stores are closed the convenience store isn't open the wine press is closed you know if you ever get a situation where you're like i have nowhere else to go i have nothing else to turn to i have no other options it's in the midnight of life and i have nowhere to i come to tell somebody today that if you've come in here empty you've come in here with no other options you've come in here recognizes you recognize that there's no hope in other things but you've got one last option and that is jesus christ if you're here on empty i want to tell you blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness in other words if you're empty you shall be i wouldn't want somebody know that you're gonna you may have walked in here empty but you're going to leave here filled you may have walked in here with no other options that's a good thing because you've come to the right place you've come to the place to get your prayer answered and your miracle i wish somebody was helping me today i got about five of you right now come on somebody you've walked in here and you've got no other options the doctor said there's no hope for you the marriage counselor said there's no hope for you i want you to know there's hope in jesus [Music] [Applause] if you're empty you need to give jesus a chance when in your season it's empty you can be filled even if it even if it's an empty season if you're empty look to him if you're in a dry spell look to him if you're out look to him if you need salvation look to jesus if you need healing look to jesus if you need deliverance look to jesus do you need rest in peace look too i want you to know that you can oh he ain't gonna help me today i wonder if somebody where life is i've got no other place to go than to jesus you've come to the right place today because jesus is in the house and if jesus is in the house i'm working hard right now trying to get you through a season mary realize i have nowhere else to go now jesus has not yet worked any miracles not one miracle has he performed yet he's never shown his power up to this point so to marry jesus is just her son he's just a small boy who she miraculously conceived just kind simple word woodworking jesus baby jesus he she's never needed him to be anything else than her son she's never needed him to do something miraculous but now she has a need now she's got a problem there's nowhere else to turn and she's starting to begin to wonder are the prophecies true in luke 31 and 33 and behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son and thou shalt call his name jesus he shall be great and shall be called the son of the highest and the lord god shall give unto him the throne of his father david and he shall reign over the house of jacob forever and of his kingdom there shall be no end she starts wondering could this really be him i've never needed him to be a king before i've never needed him to be a savior before i've never needed him to be a provider before he's just my son but now she's in a predicament and she's wondering could it be i want you to know something i believe there are some people who are here right now who need to understand that jesus wants to be more than just a religious christmas jesus he wants to be more than to come check in with him three times a year jesus he doesn't want to be just a little cross around your neck jesus he wants to be a miracle worker and a savior in your life but you got to recognize him for who he is maybe you've come in here wondering if this miracle-working soul-saving jesus can do something for you perhaps you're ready for a new season a season of blessing a season of peace a season of hope a season of deliverance a season of restoration a season of hope a season of is somebody recognizing that he can just he might just get me to my new season she never needed him to be more to that point and there are some who don't need jesus to do anything than just to be an idea or an ideal until you have a problem he doesn't want to be your last resort he wants to be your first option you can't treat jesus in the church as a last resort or a safety net you've got to have him at the center of your life so when the cycles of life come and you're in a dry season you just keep rotating around the esso wind and you realize if i just keep with it i know my season will come i know he'll show up i know that he's faithful i know he's always gonna be light and bread i know he's always gonna be truth in life why because he is i don't need you to be anything until now and she's she realizes maybe this is it this is the moment she's got a need and she needs jesus to be more now don't eat him yesterday don't need him tomorrow i need him right now i need you to do something now they have no wine and she's implying she needs him to do something and so we have already deduced we've talked through this already that he's not worked a miracle yet it's not the place or the time for him to work a miracle and so jesus says to her he says woman i just check my divine calendar and it's not my season yet and mary being a good mom that she is doesn't take no for an answer ever have your child say no to you huh i guess i'm the only one that has a kid that says no every once in a while go clean your room i'm still playing excuse me that's not i didn't ask if you were still playing nobody knows what i'm talking about today y'all awake today i'm telling you if i ever said no to my mother i might have one in me but she was not gonna let two get out did you do this you better not say no well uh i haven't yet that's better than no jesus said no and mary said oh is that right and so she looks at his servants and says whatever he says to do do it you know sometimes when you pray you get a no but the no shouldn't keep you from believing that he can still do it you may have asked him to heal you and he hasn't done it yet but that doesn't mean that he's still not a miracle worker and a body healer what you got to do is say i just believe he can still do it if he doesn't do it today i'm on his calendar and my appointment's coming up oh he might say no but i'm still going to believe she's not going to stay in this season forever she's not willing to keep things as they are forever she looks at his disciples and tells them to do whatever he says to do she was calling those things that were not as though they were she was already believing that he was going to do it she was preparing for it you know what you need to do if you've gotten a no you still need to be in position to receive it anyway if he said no don't you not don't you not show up on wednesday night you better be here on wednesday because he might answer your prayer on wednesday come on if he said no position yourself for a yes come on somebody if he said no position yourself for an answer if he said no still believe he's still faithful he's still worthy he's come on he might have said no but the yes is on the way are you going to give up after one time of asking it's the inopportune woman she just keeps on that judge i know you said no but i'm still here i'm not going away judge you said no but i'm still knocking and you shall find knock and it shall be open some of y'all have knocked one time and he said no you need to go back and say lord i'm still here and i'm still gonna keep on knocking i'm still gonna keep on asking i'm still gonna keep on believing if you've not healed me yet my season's coming if you're not put my marriage back together i know you can do it tomorrow i'm just preparing myself for my season get ready look at somebody say get ready whatever he says unto you to do do it i know he told me no but he might just tell you yes and if he says yes to you you better get ready and do it now listen sometimes people get stuck in their season they remain cold and dry they just go through life allowing life to just simply happen to them and jesus is just waiting on you to get a little uncomfortable mary said 30 years i've been with you and you've never worked with a miracle i'm tired of it are you the savior are you not the savior are you the king are you not the king i've been living with this promise for 30 years it's time for you to do something sometimes god will put us in a place where we get so uncomfortable we have to cry out to him some of us go through this religious cycle that's coming to church and going through the motions and we see we get so comfortable doing that and so god allows a dry season to come in and he says i'm going to let this stay here for a little while until you get uncomfortable let me just bring it down to earthly matters here summertime summertime's a good time until september 20th why september 20th i got two days left until fall and it's still 90 degrees lord jesus right now father i really really really want a pumpkin spice latte but lord i'm still in cold brew season my sweaters are crying out to me my boots are crying out to me and here i am still having to wear short sleeves while everybody in michigan's already in this in their winter clothes father get me out of this season or how about wintertime you pray for winter to come and then winter comes and then you get to february father god lord jesus if you're there lord i would really like to have a snow day and get out of school for five days in a row but lord i'm ready for i got spring fever lord you know i have pumpkin spice fever a few months ago but lord now i got spring fever i'd love to have a cold brew and some short sleeves father i pray that you bring me some warm well why because you start to get uncomfortable in the season that you're in i want to tell you if you're starting to get a little antsy and a little uncomfortable i want you to know there's a new season coming your way come on you might be uncomfortable right now but you just wait your season's coming pumpkin spice blessings are coming cold brew blessings are coming come on you my he might put you in this season for you to get uncomfortable and say lord i'm tired of going through four worship songs and i don't feel nothing i'll pray i'll fast i'll study until i get a move of god why because i'm uncove come on somebody feeling uncomfortable right now is somebody starting to feel a little empty in your spirit and you realize father get me out of this season i'm ready for you to do something i never need you to do it before but now now now come on i feel like the holy ghost is on me right now telling somebody that season is not going to last forever and you just got to get a little antsy in your spirit and say i'll worship our praise [Applause] i'm not waiting i'm not waiting for all in his hands i'm going to worship him now i'm not waiting until camp meeting i'm going to pray now i'm not i need it now i wish somebody lift up their hands right now who feels that uncomfortable spirit coming on you saying lord get me to my season i don't know what you're going through i want to tell you a new season's coming i don't know what you're facing but a new season is coming it's not going to last forever darkness is not going to last forever light will come warmth will come but you know what you got to do sometimes you got to provoke the lord to move on your behalf sometimes you have to provoke and let me show you some isaiah chapter number 60 verse 22. just stay with me don't go now nowhere a little one shall become a thousand and a small one a strong nation i the lord will hasten it in his time he says i'll hasten it the word hasten in the hebrew means to hurry to be eager with excitement or enjoyment you didn't hear me he said i'll speed things up eagerly i'll get your season here a little quicker with joy can i tell you something when you start getting uncomfortable in your spirit and you say lord get me to the next season the lord shows up he doesn't do it begrudgingly he shows them and said i've been waiting on this phone call i've been waiting on this prayer i've been waiting on this fast day now let me take you from here to there you don't believe me yeah let me give you some more scripture hold on matthew chapter number 15. there's a woman of canaan a gentile comes unto him she says to jesus have mercy on me o lord thou son of david my daughter is grievously vexed with the devil but he answered her not a word what will you do when he's silent some people give up in the silent seasons can i tell you i feel like i've been in a silent season over the last few months but you know what i have to do show up silence does not mean he said no he just wants to see how bad you want it he didn't say anything and his disciples came beside him saying send her away for she cried after us but he answered and said i am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of israel then she came and worshiped him well he didn't answer that prayer so i guess i'll just quit going to church well i didn't get the answer i was looking for so i guess i'll just give up oh no when you're in the silent season you need to show up and get your hands up and say lord you didn't say anything but i'm going to say something that you're worthy that you're still worthy even though you said nothing i'm going to open up my mouth and worship you because you're worthy no matter what but in her worship her worship was pregnant with a need and she said help me you know worship can be pregnant with a request you come up here and just it's a time of worship and all of a sudden something starts coming out of you saying lord oh god help my marriage help my kids help my health help my finances help my job and all of a sudden the lord of glory goes what'd you say oh you're still here huh you didn't give up when i said nothing and now let me give you an answer it's not meat to take the children's bread and cast it to dogs and she goes but the dogs still eat the crumbs from the master's table don't they lord just give me a crumb blessing that'll give me enough is there anybody who said lord just give me a crumb today just give me a crumb of a miracle just give me a crumb of an answer and jesus answered unto her oh woman great is thy faith be it unto thee even as thou will and her daughter was made whole from that very hour i'm almost done get ready now listen she's a gentile he said i've not come to the gentiles i've come for israel first and it's not good for me to get to your season because your season's not here yet your season is coming in acts chapter number 10. and there's something standing in the way between you and your season and that's calvary but when she worshipped in spite of the no and the silence the lord just went over beyond calvary into acts chapter number 10 picture up a miracle in her season and said young lady can i tell you you just hastened to your season can i tell you the lord of glory is not bound to time dispensations or seasons if you need something today he'll reach into your future and give it to you oh no i wish somebody was hearing me right now stand to your feet he reached across calvary got her a miracle that she was not worthy of and said honey i'm going to do this joyfully i'm bringing your miracle out of season into your new season listen can i tell you something when you get desperate enough he'll move mountains to answer your prayer [Music] you might need a financial miracle and can i tell you all of a sudden you don't know how he's going to do it but he can reach into your future and he can get you somebody who's ready to bless you and all of a sudden you get whole i've had it happen you get home that day and you got a check in the mail can i tell you he can do it but the issue is i'm closing we speak the wrong language in our season and a lot of us stay in our season because of the soundtrack that we play over and over in our minds some of us preach to ourself negativity uh he won't do it i've been asking he won't do it he'll do it for them because he they're special or something don't act like you've never done that before we've all done it before how come he's answering their prayer not my prayer what are they doing and all you think you start measuring them up god now i've been doing this all my life and i've been doing that and all of a sudden these people come in the 11th hour and you're answering all these prayers what are you preaching to yourself what you're preaching to yourself might be keeping you in your season your negativity mumbling and grumbling go on here's a lot here's a lot of our issue is we scroll through social media more than we go through the books of the bible and so we speak jealousy and envy and comparison to ourselves how come their marriage is looking like that because they filtered it for that day i wish some of y'all would show pictures of your unmade bed and your dirty d your dirty dishes in in the sink here we are on the beaches with all of our white together and you fought the entire way your dog threw up on your shoe trying to get that's why your shoes are off in the sand you don't see that part and we're starting so all of us over here 50 000 miles away that must be nice holy this must be nice they have all this great stuff but i don't have this great stuff let me tell you something you need to change what you're preaching to yourself in your season 2 timothy 4 and 2 preach the word be instant in season out of season when you're out of season preach to yourself i'm blessed and highly favored of the lord i know i'm going through it but he's still a miracle worker i know i'm broke but he's still a provider i know i'm sick but it can still heal me you gotta preach to yourself be instant don't be instant to curse yourself be instant to bless yourself when you don't feel like it you gotta be in season when you're out of season i wonder if somebody will lift up their hands right now somebody in this room you've been in a season you've been in a season even in a dry spell you've been in a suffering season i want you to know your season's coming there's a new season coming but you got to preach to yourself but he's still able you're going to have to learn to worship when you don't feel like it come on somebody lift up your hands right now somebody looked up your heart right now come on be like that canaanite woman and say lord i know it's not my season i know it's not my moment the lord i'm still gonna keep worshiping i'm gonna still believe i'm gonna keep on praying my season's coming my seasons [Music] is [Music] [Music] tell me [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] is [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] tell me [Music] [Applause] [Music] salvation don't you tell me he can do it don't you tell me [Music] [Applause] [Music] i believe [Music] [Music] the one [Music] [Music] because [Music] to not [Music] after believe [Applause] we see [Music] all the miracles [Music] all the miracles i've seen [Music] all the miracles [Music] after everything i see [Music] after everything i've seen [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] too good [Music] and you need to just open your mouth and say this season is not going to last forever open your mouth and declare say seasons don't last forever it's not going to last forever i'm just in a season and there will be an end of the season and there'll be a another season coming my way i might be in a dry spell right now but harvest is coming i might be in a dry spell right now but i believe rain's gonna come come on once you lift up your voice right now somebody say it you need to get the negativity out of your mouth and say my season's coming this is not forever [Music] don't you tell me he can't do it [Music] [Applause] don't you tell me [Music] [Music] me [Music] [Music] [Applause] i see families [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] salvation for the streets don't you tell me he can't do it tell me [Music] don't you tell me he can't do it cause i know that he can do it i believe all the miracles [Music] you're the wonder working [Music] god [Music] [Applause] [Music] lift your hands and love jesus right now savior we say yes to your word we say yes to your word we claim it in jesus name we claim a new season in every life enemy take your hands off every believer lord we claim a new season in jesus name oh hallelujah yes lord yes lord yes lord holy glory glory