Don't Underestimate God

would you let your voice out in praise make the choice this morning i will praise him i will exalt him i will lift up the name of jesus the psalmist made a no-brainer of a statement in 150 psalm he said praise god in his sanctuary if there's any place where god ought to be praised it's here if there's any place where there should be liberty to praise him it's here he said praise him for his mighty acts has he done anything for anybody around this place today it's in order to praise god for the things he's done in your life your family amen and praise him according to his excellent greatness so even if you

don't have a thing to praise him for today you can praise him because of who he is praise him according to his excellent greatness would you be willing to live voice and hands and heart and give great praise to your lord jesus christ lord we honor and praise you we honor and praise you on this sunday morning psalmist said let everything that has breath praise the lord everybody here you're a part of god's creation every one of us has the opportunity and even the right to praise him and as part of god's creation if you've never been filled with his spirit i want you to know while you're worshiping he'll fill you with his glorious

spirit because there's nothing more than he wants but to have a relationship with his creation and i'm so glad we have this chance to praise him in luke 19 when jesus was coming into jerusalem writing a donkey the bible tells us in that gospel that a crowd was there and with loud voices they were praising jesus for the mighty works they had seen he's seen things in your life it's worth lifting your voice about it the pharisees are the religious officials if you will they were offended thought jesus should settle the crowd down rebuke them tell them to be quiet and many of you know the story and his response he said if this crowd

is silent rocks are going to cry out in other words god's going to be praised one way or another how much better is it when we make the conscious choice to lift up his name when we choose as this song suggested i will bless his name i will praise the king of kings i consciously make a choice that's when praise is really significant and really meaningful when we make that choice to lift up his glorious name and like that multitude you've seen mighty works you have a testimony of god's power god's grace and he's accepted your praise today and it's created an atmosphere where his will can be accomplished i joined with brother brad delong

and saying it's good to have all of our guests with us on this sunday morning thank you for making the choice and i especially take a moment to uh recognize sharaya are you okay sharia sharia and lauren's parents brother and sister stokes i'm sorry she's my friend good to have you folks all the way from maine right is it cooler up there or warmer cooler okay well you're going home soon we hope we're glad you're here in the house of god with us today sorry you missed our pastor as was mentioned they are taking a few days off but thanks for being here guest and all the faithful members if you've been to a few

services around here you've had opportunity to hear various ones minister the word of god and just to get this up front i'm the lightweight around here to use the boxing metaphor uh even my voice is lightweight i told brother maguire on that recording that those preacher voices that's not me saying all those things but that's the way it goes but hey here's where my confidence lies it really doesn't matter the minister does it it's the word of god that's preached and my confidence is today that god's word will have its effect it will connect and have an impact for those who believe and that's the key today for those who will believe from isaiah 55

isaiah 55 and verses 8 and 9. this is the lord speaking through the prophet for my thoughts are not your thoughts nor are your ways my ways says the lord for as the heavens are higher than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts and here's my message today don't underestimate god don't underestimate god and would you lift your voice and let's ask god to talk to us through his word today jesus we thank you much for your presence that's flowing through this house thank you for everyone who's here and most of all for what you will do by faith touching hearts and lives on this sunday

morning as they hear your word and respond to it i know that you will not allow it to return void but to accomplish what you purposed today and i thank you for that in advance in jesus name and everyone said amen and you can be seated do we have any motorcyclists in the house i know fred bradley is one well he used to be right you're no more right you're getting up in years is he the only one all right well i'm not a motorcyclist and i uh i don't know much about the triumph motorcycle except what i've read i asked fred earlier if that was for sissies or not i don't know the triumph

but you know it's not the big harley heavens angels cars or whatever they call them no oh don't you like harley oh okay oh you like harley you like her all right well this is about triumph so try to stay awake but i i learned from reading that the first one was manufactured about 1902 in england and uh through various owners from that time till this they're still being produced i think there's several factories in thailand and a few of specialty ones are still being made in england and of course it was world war one they were used world war ii and on through the decades up to the present and there was this was

back in the 70s early 80s there was a biker alongside of the road uh trying to repair his old triumph motorcycle that had broken down when an old lady came up behind him and said do you want some help with that and he looked over his shoulder and and saw this lady with her gray hair and pulling her little shopping bug and he just kind of chuckled said no thanks i got it and so she watched him a couple more moments he said you sure you don't want help with that he said no no no no i i can take care of it don't you worry about that and after a few more minutes of

her watching she obviously got a little frustrated at the lack of his progress because she just elbowed her way in and started messing with the motor and he stood there kind of dumbfounded and astounded watching her and she spent a few moments uh doing a few things to the motor she said try starting it now and so he got on the triumph and with a couple of kicks the old engine fired to life and he just stood there astounded looking at her and she smiled back at him and said i used to make those in the factory during the war to underestimate is to underrate or to think less of to misread or even be

wrong and we can underestimate ourselves surely we can underestimate others as this biker did with the old lady we can underestimate situations that we find ourselves in and it is possible to underestimate god we of course are as humans mere mortals have to recognize we don't think like god thinks god can do things that exceed our understanding and our ability he knows to put it this way he knows what i don't know god can do what i can't do and i don't want to and i think there's a lot of agreement here today i don't want to limit god by my lack of understanding of his ways i could but i don't want to i

don't want to restrict god by my inability just because i can't understand something doesn't mean god doesn't get it or just because i can't do something doesn't mean that god can't do it and i don't know what all god will do and that's true of this service this morning and even in the big picture of the end times i don't know what all he's going to do but i do know this from his word he's able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us and that's his power so don't discount god when you don't understand something don't discount god when your ability is not

enough don't underestimate god when you piece together the different gospel accounts you find that there was an occasion when jesus was in a deserted place and a great crowd as often was the case was there with him his disciples and all through the day i guess it'd be like a sunday for us being in church most of the day he was teaching principles of the kingdom of heaven healing sick people that were there and as the sun started to set the disciples came to jesus with what they thought was a reasonable if not brilliant suggestion jesus is just about sundown we're out here in a deserted place why don't we dismiss everybody so they can

go and get something to eat in the nearby villages and find a place to spend the night seems logical and some of you are thinking why don't this guy hurry up so i can go do that but jesus said no no no no let's feed them ourselves and as soon as he said that i i can just hear those disciples breaking out and a bunch of murmuring people out there my money when you want you're trying to embarrass us for all those people but jesus singled out one of them philip by name and said philip where are we going to get money to buy bread for this crowd now i kind of like philip i

relate to him from my reading he was one of the more practical disciples and he did what i think i would have done he said all right let's do an estimate on the crowd five thousand people uh and then he multiplied that times the going price for loaf of bridge got his answer and then he figured how many slices in a loaf of bread and then they figured out how many five thousand people and then he went over presumably to judas to treasure and ask how much we got in the account comes back to jesus and says uh-uh we don't have enough money to buy enough bread to even begin to feed this crowd it

just can't be done and all the while that's going on andrew i don't know what got into him the bible doesn't tell us he he uh comes up to jesus with this little boy and he says hey jesus i got this kid here he's got five bardy loaves and two fish and i can see the big smile on his face as he says it and then uh all of a sudden it dawns on them there's 5 000 people out here you ever been in grade school i guess especially when the teacher asked a question and you did one of these numbers pick me pick me i've got i know it i know it he or

she calls on you and you know it was the most all these young parents what word can i use besides the one word uh most ridiculous thing you could possibly get mad at me when i use that one word for the young kids but they're not in here that was the most stupid thing you could have said i did it and you're looking for that button on the trapdoor right in the classroom where you can just disappear and all your students what was that all about i kind of think andrew must have felt a little bit like that i mean uh 5 000 people he's got this kid five loaves of bread couple of fish

because he even tacks on apologetically but what are they among so many it's kind of like he was saying jesus sorry open my big mouth i will just slink to the back of the group please forget i said something in fact forget i'm even here because he knew it wasn't going to do the job but notice what jesus did he took what was given to him didn't scoff or scorn didn't downplay it or anything of that sort but he simply took what was given to him he blessed it broke it and in the hands of jesus that which was not enough became more than enough it fed that entire crowd with 12 baskets full left

over and can't you just imagine the disciples as they were going through the crowd distributing all that food they had them sit down in companies groups and organized it and they were going through the crowd can't you just imagine what they were thinking looking at each other and saying i don't know their conversation but i think it went something like this boy did we ever underestimate jesus did we ever count him out when we shouldn't have we failed to factor in that impossible things with us are possible with god we fail to remember that things that don't make sense to us make sense to him those things contrary to what we know what we see

what we hear they are not contrary with god we've got to bear in mind on this sunday morning the word impossible is not in god's vocabulary it's in our vocabulary but not god's to us it's impossible to look at a few accounts it's impossible for the children of israel once they were set free from egypt to cross a divided red sea on dry ground impossible but they did it it was impossible for a young shepherd by the name of david untrained unskilled in warfare to face a giant by the name of goliath who was a well-trained well-experienced well-equipped soldier it was impossible but he did it it was impossible for daniel to survive a night

in the lion's den without even a scratch no molestation of him at all by those beasts it happened even though it's impossible it's impossible for hebrews to walk in fire and simon peter to walk on water but they all did it because that which is impossible with us is possible with god it's impossible for lazarus to come back to life the friend of jesus but he did it when jesus called him out of that tomb here he came all in those grave clothes alive because of the word and power of jesus christ we've got to remember nothing is impossible with god how is it that god hears everyone's prayer when we pray all at the

same time in a pentecostal church service i don't know but he does it how is it that god can fill multiple people with his spirit at the same time in a church service i don't know how he does it but he does it we've got to recognize that it's normal for us to have categories you know we've got categories these problems are solvable but over here we've got the problems that are unsolvable but god doesn't have those categories does he we are the ones that think in terms of what can be and what can't be but god doesn't think like that does he his ways are not our ways his thoughts are higher than our

thoughts don't underestimate god in your mind and heart today to the human mind god's work doesn't add up his work doesn't add up can't measure it can't figure it out doesn't make sense because we naturally think in those terms of the possible and the impossible we operate in a world of our senses and we go by them and some things don't make sense in our world but in god's universe they do all things are known of him all things are possible by him we're finite but god is infinite we're limited but god is unlimited we are bound by space and time but god transcends all of that today we live in a natural realm but

here this god's realm is the realm of the supernatural and we can access that by his grace today don't underestimate god god is not limited by our reasoning he's not dependent on anyone or anything to fulfill his word or to fulfill his promises what he says he does what he promises he will bring to pass and he will do things any way he wants to do them can i get an amen on that one he does things any way he wants to do them so don't underestimate god please don't underrate him don't think less of him don't devalue him by any means through a lack of belief or faith you know we do a disservice

to ourselves and to god when we underestimate him think about that we really do we do a disservice to ourselves and to him when we underestimate god if we think in terms of his love for example as being anything less than unconditional and everlasting we are missing out if we think his love is conditional if we think that his love is only temporary we are missing out we shortchange ourselves if we think a problem is too great for him now we do that at times but we really are shortchanging ourselves we misjudge god when we think that a sin we've committed is too far beyond his grace too far beyond his mercy too far beyond

his forgiveness because that's not the case all sin is covered by the blood of jesus christ when he went to the cross to die in our behalf it was for every sin what we might call little sin or big sin it doesn't matter it covers it all today the blood of jesus christ cleanses us from all sin all sin so don't misjudge god's mercy today don't misjudge god's love and his forgiveness because it is far-reaching and it will help us and do more than what we expect jesus said in gospel in the gospel of matthew this is recorded there i should say for your father knows the things you have need of before you ask

him that means the implication is god has what he intends to give us before the need ever arises he knows what we need before we ask him so he's already got it he has our situation figured out before we realize we're in a situation he's already got it and what our prayers do is invite him to come into our situation and do his will now notice how i phrase that to do his will sometimes it's yes sometimes it's no sometimes it's weight but god will hear us when we call on him god will respond when his people cry out to him and our prayers he's already got answers already has what he intends to provide

but our prayer is what welcomes him into our lives and into our situations to do his will and in drawing this message to a close uh those that know me halfway well know that i've got a bit of an imagination so allow me to use it indulge me please i'm seeing a heavenly stock room this morning a warehouse just gargantuan filled with all kinds of supplies and things that uh are needed and and i i can see this angelic stock clerk he's looking around and saying my goodness we don't need all this stuff and so he he goes to the lord with this great idea that we have an inventory reduction and he's talking about

he's then especially over here in this wing we've got all this flour stacked up and all this oil let's get rid of it we don't need it god said no no no no you leave that there because there's coming a day we're going to need it there was a horrible drought in israel in the days of elisha and god sustained the prophet by having him live next to a little brook where he got his water and then ravens remember he operates in the realm of the supernatural god does ravens brought him food but when the brook dried up god told elisha i want you to go to zarephath a little village and i have a

widow there and i've commanded her as the way the scripture words it to sustain you to take care of you during this drought so he heads that way and sees the lady out in the field gathering some sticks and greets her and says ma'am would you bring me a cup of water it's a horrible day the heat the drought and she said oh yes i'll be happy to do that she heads off and as she's leaving he said oh by the way would you please fix me a loaf of bread or a cake of bread to eat and when she said when he said that you can tell by the wording of scripture she was

crushed her spirit just fell she said oh sir as the lord lives as surely as there is a god in heaven i've got just enough flour just enough oil to make one more cake or loaf of bread and i am gonna make that for my son and me and in this horrible famine we are gonna eat that as far as i know we're gonna die in due course and elisha said this well yeah but but don't don't be afraid don't be all upset he said you go and make that bread for me first and then feed yourself and your boy and then he said this for thus says the lord now when you read that

in god's word or hear it said your ears ought to perk up spiritual antennae ought to go up for thus says the lord he said that that bin of flower shall not be used up nor the jar of oil run out until the day that god sends rain on the earth and as soon as elisha made that statement i'm again my imagination i'm hearing brother skip i'm hearing the diesel engines firing up tractor trailers are heading toward the warehouse in the warehouse the forklifts are roaring to life there's all kinds of activity going on and the guy ahead of transportation comes up to the angelic clerk and says i don't know what's going on down

on earth but we've got a requisition for unlimited supply of flour an unlimited supply of oil can you help us out the clerk just rolled his eyes and says can i ever come this way you know the scripture tells us clearly that until rain came that bin of flower was not used up the oil did not run dry day after day after day after day it was there and i i think again probably what i would have done the first day that woman was probably a little okay let's see if this works and she kind of crept over to the bin oh there's flour there's oil and the next day probably still a little tentative

i'll give her that and it's there but you know after about a week of that i'm thinking she kind of strutted over to the bin add a few more weeks to that now i can see her kind of scooping without even looking because she knew that god had said that flower would not run out that oil would not run dry and she learned from experience god kept his word i can see her with friends coming over and she's baking bread and she's all happy whistling while she works and they're saying what is wrong with you you just use the last of the flower you just use the last of the oil said oh don't worry

there's plenty more where that came from because god had proven himself to her she wasn't going to underestimate god anymore she recognized that what he had promised he would provide what he said he would do he would do he would come through for her and i'm convinced that had she died before it rained that at her funeral somewhere over in a corner there would have been a bin with flour and a jar with some oil in it because god always keeps his word she learned by experience you don't underestimate god at least not if you're wise at least not if you want something from him and if you are here this morning as i wrap

up this message and don't have those kinds of experiences to help you to understand that you need not underestimate him i want you know you can trust his word and i know that you're just hearing that from me but his word try it test it out prove it and furthermore you've got a host of witnesses here in this house today that'll tell you god does come through don't underestimate him don't think less of him please don't underrate him or be wrong about him god does have the answers don't underestimate don't miscalculate today please don't minimize his love please don't minimize his mercy and grace and please don't minimize his power because there's plenty of all

of that to go around love and grace and mercy and power all for the asking in fact i would suggest today that it's impossible for us to overestimate god it's impossible us to ascribe to him too much wisdom you can't do it you can't ascribe to him too much knowledge or too much authority because he holds it all in the power of his hand and as we stand this morning if you're underestimating god please know there's a way to expand your thinking it's simple but it's this way through faith if you need to expand your thinking toward god recognize this morning that faith is what makes it possible to experience the impossible the scripture says

faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen it's through faith that we understand god can do the unexplainable god can do the indescribable to us he can do the impossible you see the whole point of faith is missed when you expect god to be explainable you are really missing the purpose of faith it's defeated when you insist on seeing everything that's not faith is it and we have to recognize that today and so in opening this altar for those that want to pray a little bit i'm going to give you this verse of scripture from jeremiah 33 3. somehow i said it's god's phone number i don't know but

here he says call to me and i will answer you and show you great and mighty things which you do not know i'm going to repeat that in a moment but if you're here and in your mind your heart you've underestimated god you've underestimated his ability or even willingness to help you i want you to hear this again and accept his invitation this morning call to me and i will answer you show you great and mighty things which you do not know you can't imagine or or think of it right now but god's got answers and solutions and provisions is there anybody that would like to come and call on the lord god almighty today

and as you come come worshiping come worshiping him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that you ask or think today come with great faith come with a confidence hey you can't ask for too much this morning you can't ask for too much come with your faith don't worry about depleting his storehouse that's not gonna happen that's not gonna happen you can't even think of enough things to ask god to even begin to deplete his storehouse why don't you come in faith today believing trusting and if you don't have a particular need i welcome you to come pray with a brother or a sister a guest and let's join our faith let's combine

our belief in god he's able to do the impossible today let your faith out