God's Unique Vessels

hallelujah thank god for those everlasting arms and we don't have anything to fear or anything to dread we can look to jesus amen you may be seated i feel the presence of the lord in here there's such a refreshing presence of god thank god for that tonight i'm going to be speaking to you on this title god's unique vessels god's unique vessels you are god's unique vessels unique as being the only one being without a like or equal a vessel is a hollow instrument a person into whom some quality such as the holy ghost is infused a person who has a particular quality or who is used for a particular purpose god has a purpose for your life if you could just say that to whoever's near you god has a purpose for your life revelation 4 11 for thou art worthy o lord to receive glory and honor and power for thou hast created all things and for thy pleasure they are and were created you were created for god's pleasure you're created to bring delight and joy to him did you know that god knew you before you were ever born before you were ever born god already knew you he knew everything about you psalm 139 13-18 and i'm going to read the new living translation on this you made all the delicate inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb thank you for making me so wonderfully complex your workmanship is marvelous how well i know it you watched me as i was being formed in utter seclusion as i was woven together in the dark of the womb you saw me before i was born every day of my life was recorded in your book every moment was laid out before a single day had passed how precious are your thoughts about me oh god they cannot be numbered i can't even count them they outnumber the grains of sin and when i wake up in the morning you are still with me he's with us and he already knew us before we were ever born i just kind of want to get that in your heart and mind today today expectant mothers see the shape and form of their baby in the womb through the amazing ultrasounds mothers i'm probably all of you have had those um they have a 3d ultrasound and they have a 4d the 3d ultrasounds create a three dimensional image of the baby and that's pretty amazing i don't know if you've seen them or not but when you get a 3d ultrasound you can almost tell what that baby looks like before they arrive you can kind of tell if they have mama's nose or daddy's nose or you can kind of see that and then this 4d ultrasound they it creates a live video effect like a movie you can watch your baby smile or you can watch that baby yawn that's pretty impressive when i had an ultrasound back in the day with my kids they hand that to me and i couldn't tell i mean it was like a big blob and they're like this is the leg this is the foot i wouldn't have known had they not told me and you know the psalmist had no such device back then there was no device but he knew that his maker had seen him and he knew that he had planned every day of his life before he was born you see god gives his attention to us as individuals we don't none of us has the same fingerprints none of us do we're all different no two of us are alike he doesn't look upon us as a group he knows each one of us personally god created you just like you should be so when he's looking at us tonight right here he doesn't see us as a whole group he's looking at us individually and he sees us and he and he knows everything about us again he and this is pretty interesting god gave you the color of your hair because that's the color of hair he wanted you to have he gave you the color eyes because that's the color of eyes that he wanted you to have he gave you that face the shape and your face because that's how he wanted you to look and sometimes we're not always satisfied with that are we we're not sometimes if we have blonde hair we want black hair if we have brown hair we might want red hair we have blue eyes we want brown eyes we're not always satisfied but our maker created us just the way that he wanted us and that's important to remember we are a child of god and we can take confidence in knowing that he created us just like he wanted us to be first peter 2 and 2 as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow thereby we are born into god's family by faith at first as spiritual babes were delicate milk drinking infants who lack discernment wisdom strength but as time passes we begin to grow up spiritually our father sees our maturity and it pleases him it pleases him when he sees us growing he sees our responsibility our appetite our hunger for righteousness our hunger for the word of god our increased discernment our sensitivity to him our strength and it delights him and it kind of reminds me of as you know as as we're growing and god's just journaling our life in his book it reminds me of again when i had our children and i would write down in the book i'd write you know they're taking a pacifier and right the date when they no longer took the pacifier when they started drinking the bottle or they started the sippy cup and first time they rolled over or started walking and seeing that growth it delighted me and it's the same thing with god when he sees our increased appetite he sees our hunger he's he's our growth it it it delights him it pleases him philippians 2 and 13 for it is god which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure and the new living translation says it like this for god is working in you giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him and that's really important because we want to please god don't we and we know that we need the power working in us to please him we are the body of christ and god desires to work through his body all around the world every born-again believer in christ is a member of that universal body jesus is the head and some of us are the arms fingers toes are parts of the body organs some are seen some are unseen but all of us together make up one great body and there's beauty in that arrangement now with all this in mind let's read first corinthians 12 14 through 17. for the body is not one member but many if the foot shall say because i am not the hand i am not the body is it therefore not of the body and if the ear shall say because i am not the eye am i not of the body is it therefore none of the body if the whole body were an eye where were the hearing if the hole were hearing where were the smelling okay so picture one huge eyeball just one huge eyeball that would be gross wouldn't it or say you're looking at your neighbor near you and you see a huge ear that would be gross whitney so god made this body every part of it fitly joined together working together and there's beauty in that body think about this if you've broken a leg or a foot or you know some kind of bone and you didn't have usage of that oh how the body would suffer right i remember when i had broke my wrist one time and my husband was trying to help me fix my hair and everything it was horrible it was for him and me both i suffered i think he suffered but but together working together there's beauty in that first corinthians 12 18 but now has god set the members every one of them in the body as it hath pleased him and there we go again it's all about pleasing god he put you in the body just where he wanted you to be and it pleases him brother mike you're right where you need to be in the body of christ and god gets pleasure out of that amen that's important god made you a finger because he wanted you to be a finger he made you a toe stuck in a shoe hidden not to be seen because that's where he wanted you or maybe he put you up in leadership maybe it's a face maybe it's an ear maybe it's something that that is seen maybe it's hidden behind bones and skin and tendons and stretching uh skin and it's your organs maybe it's your liver heart lung every part of the body is important you are important i can't say that enough you are important in the kingdom and the body of god hidden away behind a stretching of skin and bones and muscles are those vital organs unseen organs if some of those vital unseen organs weren't there oh how the body would suffer and i'm speaking to those of you maybe you feel inadequate maybe you feel you're hidden maybe you feel like you're not as important as the ones that are seeing you are important in fact you are very effective in the body of christ i think of prayer warriors on the top of my head when i think of the unseen those that are hid praying those that gets orders from the lord at wee hours in the morning and they go to pray they're vital in the kingdom of god first corinthians 12 21 and 22 and the eye cannot say unto the hand i have no need of thee nor the head to the feet nay much more those members of the body which seem to be more feeble are necessary so again every part is necessary you are god's unique vessel and you are important in the body of christ ii timothy 2 20 and 21 but in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver but also of wood and of earth and some to honor and some to dishonor if a man therefore purge himself from these he shall be a vessel unto honor sanctified and meet for the master's use and prepared unto every good work here paul urges timothy to be the kind of person god calls for him to be he wants him to be his noblest purpose don't settle for lest timothy be god's highest and be his best oh god use you as an instrument of his will keep yourself pure stay close to god and be ready to be used by god at a moment's notice and that's the important thing stay close to god stay pure and be ready be ready at a moment's notice why because timing is everything and we probably all found that out in our lives where we had a crisis in our lives and we needed god to come we needed to touch the hem of his garment we need and god touched someone else another vessel somewhere else to intercede on our behalf and we ended up getting that miracle or that answered prayer that we needed god to give us pastor brad has cast the vision for us to be available first of all to god and also to others and apc i'd just like to commend you on that i know that you are you're here for others and we see it firsthand all the time god can do anything and everything on his own yet he chooses to flow through our unique vessels and use us aren't you thankful for the individuals that god has placed in your life and right now you're probably thinking of them the ones that have impacted your lives the ones that come alongside you and maybe lifted your hands up when you were weary and done wonderful things in your life thank god for the body of christ as i was thinking of a unique vessel that god used in the bible immediately the apostle saul which we probably better know as paul came to my mind and his conversion and i want to read his story as quite a few verses but i just want to read it so you can just kind of grasp it all acts 9 1-18 and saul yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the lord went unto the high priests and desired of him letters to damascus and to the synagogues that if he found any of this way whether they were men or women he might bring them bound unto jerusalem as he journeyed he came near damascus and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven and he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying unto him saul saul why persecutest thou me and he said who art thou lord and the lord said i am jesus whom thou persecute us it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks and he trembling and astonished said lord what will thou have me to do and the lord said unto him arise and go into the city and it shall be told thee what thou must do and the men which journeyed with him stood speechless hearing a voice but seeing no man and saul rose from the earth and when his eyes were open he saw no man but they led him by the hand and brought him into damascus and he was there three days without sight and neither did he eat nor drink and there was a certain disciple at damascus named ananias and to him said the lord in a vision ananias and he said behold i am here lord and he said unto him arise and go into the street which is called straight and inquire in the house of judas for one called saul of tarsus for behold he prayeth and has seen in a vision a man named ananias coming in and putting his hand on him that he might receive his sight then ananias answered lord i have heard by many of this man how much evil he had done to the saints at jerusalem and here he had the authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thine name but the lord said unto him go thy way for he is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the gentiles and kings and the children of israel for i will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake and ananias went his way and entered into the house and putting his hands on him said brother saul the lord even jesus that appeared unto thee is in the way as thou camest has sent me that thou almighty received thy sight and be filled with the holy ghost and immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales and he received sight for with and arose and was baptized amen i don't know how many times you've read that i don't know how many times i've read that but it blesses me every time because we know how mildly paul the apostle paul was used in the kingdom of god and what i love about this story is although he was breathing threats against the christians and he he uh he wanted to get those papers he had the authority um to have those christians murdered he um he actually he he was a chosen vessel of god even though he was in the midst sister toby of doing terrible things god said he is my chosen vessel and another thing i love about that story is god you know he can do anything and everything we know that on his own but he chose ananias and he told ananias behold and he shared with him what was going on and and ananias answered and of course we know he was afraid he was afraid to go because he had heard of this man but what i love about the story is ananias went and he laid his hand on him and what did he say that's another and exciting thing he said brother saul brother so i called him his brother that's amazing to this story i think ananias was afraid to go to saul because he knew the authority that saul had he was also aware that saul was consumed with hatred for the followers of jesus and sought ways to destroy them in essence is as it's as though ananias was saying not him lord that's impossible lord do you know who he is of course he knows who he is he created saul he knew who he was he could never become a christian is what he thought but we must not limit god god can do anything how many times have you maybe it's a family member that's so far from the lord and maybe the more you pray it seems like the farther they go astray and sometimes we think lord can you save them yes he can. god can do anything and he can do everything and he wants to flow through his body he does god has a plan he has a plan for every purpose and he is leading this church and i saw a vision and was directed by the lord to a particular street to a specific house and to pray for a certain man named saul that's pretty amazing god gave him the specifics there the bible tells us that ananias followed god and went to saul saul received both a miraculous conversion and a healing and ananias got to be a part of that isn't it exciting when you get to be a part of someone else's story when god touches your vessel and allows you to go and and pour into another vessel and what oh what rejoicing oh what testimonies you get to share together it kind of connects you together you get to be a part of that story god is still using people today we just heard about ananias and saul but he's he's using people today he has a plan and he has a purpose for every unique vessel how many times have we made ourselves available to god when god called ananias in that vision he said behold he's saying yes lord i'm here how many times has god called on us and we said yes lord in fact i'm available but then when god starts speaking immediately fear tries to come immediately doubt tries to come whenever this happens we have to take our eyes off ourselves the circumstances people and turn them upwards towards god we have to look towards god and listen to his voice and go i was thinking also another one that god chose was moses god chose him to lead the children of israel out of egypt and to go before pharaoh to tell him to let his people go and when god went to moses immediately moses said i can't do that i'm of slow speech i can't go to pharaoh i can't talk i'm a slow speech and what did god say to him moses who made your mouth it's like moses i already know that i created you i know everything about you i am calling you i'm going to use you to deliver the children of israel out of egypt why because i hear their cries and so moses talked with god and god ended up allowing aaron to be his mouthpiece and god used moses and god followed him and and the children of israel were delivered out of egypt and i loved the part because god heard their cries and so he sent a man he had already and if you know and go back and read moses story of how his life was spared and how he was raised you would see how awesome his story is then i think of jeremiah whenever god called jeremiah to be a prophet before the nations jeremiah answered i can't speak lord i'm too young and god told jeremiah jeremiah that he had called him to be a prophet before he was ever in his mother's womb and he also told him to go and wherever you go i'm gonna guide you and do what i tell you say what i tell you don't be afraid of the people i'm gonna protect you and and jeremiah was young and again jeremiah listened and he went he went jeremiah followed god and became his faithful messenger in spite of many attempts of his life so we can use any excuse when god calls us or he tells us what to do we can use those excuses but they're really not going to work because god already knows he's already got it planned out he's got a purpose for our life and he's with us and he's going to help us tonight god is telling us to go and as he leads he has a plan to use each one of you you are god's unique vessels you're unique each one of you are unique your giftings your talents your personality the way you work in the kingdom of god you are unique second corinthians four and seven but we have this treasure in earth and vessels that the excellency of the power may be of god and not of us that's important in this vessel is the power of god in your vessel is the power of god it's of god and not of us and that's why when we go and we do and we work and we're obedient to god we realize god this isn't about me yes you've planned my life you've given me a purpose but it's about you it's your power working and being demonstrated in our lives if god tells you to step out of your comfort zone will you go and just don't answer out loud but just think about that for a minute will you go think about the times where god has asked you to do something have you you know just been obedient said yes lord i go or were there thoughts like these men had i can't i can't do that god do you know me you know we go through this whole list i was thinking about as i was praying and going through um just the different ones at apc and thinking about saul's conversion and how god used ananias i was thinking right here at apc how god has used different ones to reach and now they're in our church in the kingdom of god unique vessels being used in the kingdom of god the first one that came to my mind was natalie huckabee and because of her aaron bachman is in the church today and they have a precious family and then i thought of aaron bachman he reached out to bruce and a few other ladies i think it was from the church reached out to bruce and because that bruce is here in the kingdom of god today joanna west she reached out to sister donna and sister mary thank god thank god i think of all the years of service that these ladies have done uh sister mary was in charge of ladies and ministry for many years and god used her mildly sh he's using sister donna i think a brother buddy de long he reached out to jeff dales and what a ministry brother jeff is doing right now i think as recently as karen lindsay inviting kim and jesse out to a fall fest and god got a hold of their hearts and if you would ask any of them and i know sister karen's already shared with us that she wanted to invite them and she was fearful it probably is not the easiest thing to do we have to get all out of our comfort zone to do that but if god moves on us he's going to do it it's his voice it's his will it's his plan will we follow the unction of the lord and step out of our comfort zones and be that unique vessel that god wants us to be will you go pray if god tells you to pray i couldn't help but think about this story uh sarah's withered hand in fact it's almost the anniversary date july the 31st will be that anniversary date of course i've heard her story her jayvin story and just remember javen telling that in the middle of that service he had looked at sarah and she was in so much pain that day and he could just see pain all over her face and her hand was withered up more than it had ever been withered and the lord told him to go and and and he shut it down and said oh that's just me i'm just her cousin that i'm just having sympathy and the lord told him to go the second time and he questioned it and said lord if i go it's right in the middle of church and that would be a notable miracle and if she doesn't get healed everybody's gonna know that she didn't get healed and so the third time when the lord told him he was by that time he had sat over by me and the message was going forward on miracles and i could hear faith rising up inside of him and i could hear him just like i've never heard before yes yes and i thought wow i could feel that faith and then the next day i know he was up and gone and on his way over to sarah what i didn't know was god had given him a vision he could see sarah's hand it was it wasn't all twisted up like he had seen what he saw was through that stretching skin and all the tendons and everything and bone he could see that and the lord showed him him over there praying for her and straightening out her hand and so thank god that he didn't keep pushing that aside you know i can't i can't i can't because again it wasn't about his vessel it was about the glory of god and a notable miracle that happened right here at apc and of course we know that she was healed and and still healed to this day and sometimes it's not he's i'm gonna i'm gonna admit it in my own life it's not always easy when god gives you information or he tells you to go it's not always easy i remember one time sitting over there my my mother-in-law had just passed away and i was weak and and even asked sister stoffel if someone else could teach the ladies class that day and i remember thinking i didn't have anything to pour out this vessel i was weak and i was weary and i was grieving and i needed comfort and strength and the lord told me to go and pray for philip trask he was sitting over here and by that time sister amber had she had sung that song so many times and i thought if i go now that song's going to be over and i'm going to be right in the middle of the out everything's going to be quiet philip's not going to stand up and pray and there i'm gonna be see that's what i'm talking about getting our eyes on this vessel and our inadequacy but i'm telling you i i know the voice of god i felt the voice of god and i responded and i went and when i went over there i gave him a word from the lord and he stood up and i i told him god's looking for your response that's what i told him god gave me a word for you he's looking for your response and of course he prayed and the lord touched him i went back over to my seat and pastor bishop now got up to preach and that was the title of his message the lord is looking for your response so god gave him a word not once but twice if we'll just follow after the leading of the holy ghost we can see miracles we can see signs we can see wonders we can see people coming where these pews will be so filled that they they would be standing room only if we'll just let god use us for his glory the last one i want to share with you is my husband not too long ago it was around christmas time we were at walmart and we were looking at christmas lights and i was talking he came up and was asking me if i had found him and i had not found him and this man was standing there and he said my husband said we'll go to target and see if they have them there and this man very dignified looking man he said no don't go to target i've already been there and they don't have them there either well he noticed my braces on my teeth and he asked me a little couple questions about my braces come to find out he was an orthodontist and he even signs the license for all the orthodontists and so we were talking and he was asking me about my braces right in the middle of walmart and my husband interrupted us and of course if you've ever watched him or seen him when when god starts touching him or giving him a word or insight he'll just start weeping and he'll start crying because he knows the voice of god and the lord told him to pray for that man so he interrupted us and he says excuse me sir if you don't mind could i pray for you and that man said you know sure and so my husband said god told me that you have a tumor in your neck and it's cancerous and if we pray god's gonna heal you well i just kind of looked at the man's neck and i didn't see anything i didn't see no lump i didn't see anything and i'm thinking how is he going to respond to this and the man got all emotional immediately grabbed from my husband's hand and he said i've already had cancer in this side of my neck and he said i don't want to go down that road again and i'm telling you we began to pray right there in walmart by the christmas lights and my husband said as we began to pray when those healing angels came the beautiful ones that has all the stones and everything in them and the lord told them he's healed he's healed um let's just praise god that man was so moved that he grabbed both my hands and my husband's hand and said what are your names and then he just said god bless this couple there are people that are desperate there are people that are crying there are people that are searching and they're asking god send somebody to me will we respond will we respond to the voice of god god has sent me to encourage someone tonight to tell you you are valuable in the kingdom of god every one of you are valuable in the kingdom of god when i was invited to speak tonight and i started to pray and ask the lord what do you want me to give what would you like me to deliver and the lord said i've already given you the message and i've opened the door then he reminded me of this lesson you see this lesson not all of it some of the ending has changed but god gave me this lesson in 2001 for our ladies class if you knew me then i was very shy i didn't talk a lot very quiet even in my worship i was quiet and god gave me that message and i knew he gave it gave it to me and i said lord if you will open the door i will speak and god touched sister stoffel's heart and she she was going to general conference and it still amazes me that she would even choose me but that was god's doing and he opened that door up and i'll just be honest you when i gave this message after the lesson was over i was like thank you god i've done it that's it it's over my nerves can rest now but the lord told me he said you're going to speak this over and over and over again and i can tell you that that has happened ladies banquets different churches youth prayer meaning different places god has allowed me to speak this same message most of it over and over again and tonight the lord has burdened me i don't know if it's one person here i don't know if it's several people here are that's going to watch it online or later on but i know god is reaching for someone you are valuable in the kingdom of god you're valuable don't let the enemy tell you you're not valuable your value you are hand chosen by god you are a vessel of honor for god maybe you think you know he's forgotten me i i feel this desire and i know what i need to do but it's taking so long you are not forgotten at the perfect time that door will swing open you've not messed up too much you've not done too much that god cannot forgive you or use you god loves you he has a divine appointment for you and he wants to use you will you make yourself available because when you do you please god when you're reaching out in the kingdom of god and and helping others you're pleasing god we cannot do it on our own again it's not about us it's about the spirit of god living and flowing through us but through christ we can do all things and if you don't mind because of the burden that i feel and we do have a little bit of time i like you just come up to the front if that's your desire to be used of god if you're making yourself available to say god i will go if i'm at walmart and you tell me to pray for someone that's sick i'll go if i'm at church and there's someone that's stricken with the disease or or anything you name it i'll go i will allow that's the thing he's not going to force his self on us he's not going to force itself in our vessels he's waiting he's waiting he's waiting on you to say okay i'm not gonna fear i'm not gonna doubt i'm not gonna worry i'm just gonna i'm gonna go god i'm gonna follow after you because when you do the miraculous is going to happen prodigals are gonna come home people that are driving by here are gonna be drawn inside of this building god is gonna use you for what you were already purposed to be before you were ever born you see he knows the ending before the beginning your life is already laid out in fact he knows this day what already is going to happen and transpire in your life he knows this divine appointment tonight of you making yourself available to be of use of the service of the king and let's just pray is called me to be i'll say lord i agree my desires is i agree i'll say yes yes i agree yes i agree oh i'll say you've is me to be that's what i'll be i will be what you've called me to be i'll say yes lord i agree my desire passionately is to be what you call me to be that's what i'll be yes i agree i'll say yes i agree i agree i will be what you've called me to be i'll say yes lord i agree passionately is to be what you've called me to be that's what i'll be i will be what you've called me to be i'll say lord i agree my desire passionately is and with lifted hands would you let god know you're available for his service lord we appreciate so much the grace and the mercy that has placed us into your kingdom and we do let you know this night we're available for service unto you so many positive aspects messages come from this message tonight one of course is that this is god's church and the fact that we're unique vessels in it means it's an honor god's grace god's mercy placing us where we are tonight it's an honor to be a part of his church in a unique vessel in his kingdom and it's so true as it's been said each one of us is valuable to him each one of us is valuable to him i would for a closing prayer ask that you just if you're comfortable and willing to link up with someone nearby let's just pray for each other as his brothers and sisters in christ that god will use us for his glory in the way that he chooses and that we'd be sensitive to him lord jesus thank you for the family of god here at apc we know that your kingdom is worldwide we know that you have members of it everywhere but thank you for this local assembly and our leaders thank you for the brothers and sisters that are gathered on this wednesday night and we do pray for one another's strength that in times of difficulty as was said earlier our faith would not fail and that we would be strong in you and ever sensitive ever willing to know and to do your will bless each person here tonight and the families represented and the spheres of influence for all of us people that we meet and know and can help as you give us opportunity and open doors give us the strength and help we pray for the glory of the lord in jesus precious name amen amen amen