Transcript (may contain transcription errors)

00:00:00 – And it destroys property.

00:00:03 – And land.

00:00:05 – We also seen COVID-19 change.

00:00:09 – The earthquake, the the landscape of the church.

00:00:16 – We’ve seen COVID change our lives, whereas.

00:00:21 – We couldn’t go outside. We couldn’t come close to our loved ones and.

00:00:28 – We some of us couldn’t go to work.

00:00:31 – But there’s been a great.

00:00:34 – Change in our lives this year.

00:00:38 – But I would like to quote my text.

00:00:43 – Not slothful in business.

00:00:47 – Fervent in spirit.

00:00:50 – Serving the Lord.

00:00:53 – Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit.

00:00:59 – Serving the Lord.

00:01:00 – Yes, yes.

00:01:02 – Many people in ministry today.

00:01:08 – But become weak along the way.

00:01:11 – Many lose their focus along the way. They lose their fervency and focus along the way for God.

00:01:19 – And for others, it reminds me when I sometimes BBQ I don’t BBQ a lot.

00:01:27 – You know, I’m not a great cook, but I can’t cook. But it reminds me of when we barbecue on the grill.

00:01:37 – We start off with charcoal.

00:01:40 – We start off with lighter fluid.

00:01:43 – We feel the grill with coals and.

00:01:48 – And the colds become hot.

00:01:51 – They become fire red hot.

00:01:54 – But after a while.

00:01:56 – They turn the ashes.

00:02:00 – I’ve never seen.

00:02:03 – Someone cooking on a grill with just one cold pasta well.

00:02:07 – That’s right.

00:02:10 – I’ve never seen no one person put one cold in the grill.

00:02:17 – And start a fight.

00:02:20 – But it reminds me of you need multiple.

00:02:24 – Colds to start a fire.

00:02:29 – They even had when I went to the store, I went to the store, I picked up a bag of coke and said self igniting coal. I said I hey, that’s alright. I I I don’t need no lighter fluid.

00:02:43 – I don’t need no lighter fluid cause it’s self igniting.

00:02:48 – And sometimes Christians is just like that. They feel like they don’t need anybody else. They they self absorbed, they’re all about themselves. But I find out that the self igniting colds wouldn’t like.

00:03:04 – Yeah, you needed some fire, right?

00:03:09 – Yet that should not be our attitude for the believer in Christ.

00:03:16 – We need the presence of the Holy Spirit.

00:03:21 – We need the Holy Spirit in our lives to direct and to to ignite our worship, to ignite our service, to ignite our praise. What good is it if we don’t have the Holy Spirit in our lives?

00:03:39 – What good is our reading? What good is our praying? What good is our singing, shouting, preaching, teaching, preaching, telling our testimony? Somebody without the presence?

00:03:53 – Or the holy.

00:03:53 – Spirit. Yes, yes.

00:03:56 – We need the Holy Spirit.

00:03:59 – To stir us up.

00:04:01 – To holiness godliness.

00:04:04 – And righteousness. Yeah, I hear the song writer say I wish somebody soul would catch on fire.

00:04:13 – Yes, yes.

00:04:15 – I wish the preacher would.

00:04:18 – I wish the elder wood, yes, I wish the usher would. I wish the Deacon would.

00:04:26 – Yeah, catch on fire.

00:04:29 – We as Christians must be ignited by the Holy Spirit and allow him to work for us and through us in every area of our lives. Romans chapter 12 is.

00:04:44 – Talking about Paul, about our lifestyle.

00:04:49 – It starts off with.

00:04:51 – Being a living.

00:04:53 – Sacrifice. Yes. Amen. Amen.

00:04:57 – It goes into how we should love and treat one another Christian living.

00:05:05 – It says since we have been justified by grace through faith, it is our duty to surrender ourselves to God.

00:05:14 – As a living sacrifice, yes, and effectively love and serve the Lord.

00:05:21 – And one another.

00:05:24 – But it’s just not.

00:05:28 – But I think the Paul Paul was saying that we need to serve the Lord and one another with enthusiasm.

00:05:37 – With enthusiasm, with excitement, with gladness.

00:05:42 – Yes, sometimes we we we come in the midst of one another and sometimes they may at church we be kind of quiet we be kind of LAX today’s call.

00:05:57 – But the scripture said, don’t be like that. Don’t be unlawful.

00:06:02 – Right.

00:06:03 – Don’t be slothful. I’m being hesitant. We must be full.

00:06:09 – Of excitement.

00:06:12 – If you know the nature of a sloth.

00:06:15 – Anyone know about a sloth? Anybody seen a sloth? I mean, that’s a third world animal who put a sloth. He he hangs out in the uppermost parts of the tree, in the in the rainforest.

00:06:28 – And he moved real slow.

00:06:33 – He moves.

00:06:35 – Real slow and he sleeps most of his time away.

00:06:41 – People who are spiritual flaws become indifferent to their duties and obligation to God.

00:06:48 – They become lazy without zeal, without care. But God don’t want us to be lazy. He wants us to have a zeal for his work. Amen.

00:06:55 – Right.

00:06:59 – Right.

00:07:00 – Romans 10/2 and three said zeal without knowledge is bad. Many have a zeal for God.

00:07:10 – But not according to knowledge I’ve seen in my life and time that a lot of people jump, shall all around and and and and do all kind of manners of gyration, but they don’t have knowledge of what they believe.

00:07:25 – They being ignorant of God, righteousness going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves to the righteousness of God, I’ve people say.

00:07:30 – Right.

00:07:35 – Read the Bible three times. I read the whole Bible, but they don’t understand the basics.

00:07:44 – Other Christian doctrine, it says, be fervent.

00:07:50 – Fervency means emotionally excited, enthusiastic. It’s a concept about a boil, a pot full of water.

00:08:00 – It’s a concept in Greek. It’s about a pot full of bubbling.

00:08:04 – Water. Yes. Have you ever.

00:08:07 – Had a pot and it just bubbles and bubbles and bubbles and heat the steam. I remember back in the day my mother had a pot and it had a whistle on it. I said the train must be coming this way because I can’t heard the pipe whistle like what’s that? But it was the.

00:08:27 – Just with the coffee pot.

00:08:29 – But it’s a flame rolling, giving off heat. That’s what the Christians should be like.

00:08:38 – Our fervency should be igniting someone else.

00:08:42 – ‘S right.

00:08:43 – Our presence in the room should be making a difference, Sister Picard. I stole this from you. It says I presence in the room should be making a difference. Like a thermostat.

00:08:58 – Yeah, we when we come in, the presence of a room when we come to the job, when we go to the market.

00:09:04 – It should be a different. We should be difference makers a lot of times where I go, it’s not always about me talking. It’s just about my presence a lot of times. You know it ain’t about me talking a lot of times I go different churches. It’s just my presence.

00:09:15 – Right, right.

00:09:22 – Revelation 316 don’t be like the Leo deceit in church.

00:09:28 – Which was lukewarm, virtually worthless. They were rich materialistically.

00:09:34 – And had no need for nothing.

00:09:37 – But they lacked spiritual understanding.

00:09:41 – Right.

00:09:41 – And faith.

00:09:44 – Serving the Lord.

00:09:46 – We should be serving the Lord. We should be in the service of the Lord. I’m a soldier in the army of the Lord. Amen. I’m a soldier in the army. In giving our best and service for his glory.

00:10:04 – And the advancement of his Kingdom so that souls are saved and earthly and spiritual needs are met.

00:10:12 – We must serve to please the Lord, not just for that a boy and pass on the back or recognition, but we should serve the Lord in gladness. We should serve the Lord because it’s joyful. We should serve the Lord for all that he’s done for us. That’s my reasonable service.

00:10:33 – Colossian 3 and 23 says whatever you do, it hardly as unto the Lord.

00:10:41 – Not unto man.

00:10:43 – Doing your best job in the church or outside the church, enthusiastically giving God glory.

00:10:51 – Yes, yes and no. Don’t be weary.

00:10:56 – And well doing.

00:10:59 – The fire, the furnace and keeping the fire don’t be weary and well, doing for and do see that you shall reap.

00:11:08 – If you faint now, what am I going to read wells?

00:11:12 – There’s blessing for serving.

00:11:14 – The Lord.

00:11:16 – Yes, there are spiritual blessing. There’s economic blessings.

00:11:21 – There’s growth blessings a lot of times you you’d be looking for one blessing, but God, increase your spiritual knowledge.

00:11:31 – Yes, it don’t have to be about money. It don’t have to be. All the other things. Sometimes you can. What? Where did I get this knowledge from? You be asking yourself how can I understand in concept passed it because I didn’t get weary, weary and it was God pleasure to give me a blessing. Amen.

00:11:51 – Elation 6:00 and 9:00.

00:11:53 – It says we should be living a life that’s consistent.

00:11:58 – To what we believe.

00:12:00 – And the harvest of blessing will come.

00:12:04 – I remember the times that when I first came to the Lord, the mothers used to say you just hang in there well.

00:12:10 – God gonna bless you. I didn’t have anything. I didn’t have apt. I I didn’t. I would have one suit and I came to the Lord just as I was weary, wounded, inside.

00:12:23 – But I found in him a resting place.

00:12:26 – And he should make me glad. Yes, it would, because I was consistent. New believers are not consistent as we were past the will we we we had a consistency whether we had children or not. We had a consistency about the duties.

00:12:46 – Ohh God in his church, yes.

00:12:49 – Mark, 49, says don’t allow the cares of this world and the deceitful, and thus the riches enter in and begin to choke the word out of your life.

00:13:03 – If you want to.

00:13:05 – Be cold if you don’t want to be hot.

00:13:09 – Just keep hanging out with the world. Yeah, just, just, just keep feeding into the world’s propaganda. Just just keep looking at things that propagates a different standard than what God says.

00:13:24 – It’ll choke the life out of your testimony. It’ll choke the life out of out of you, where you’ll become lukewarm.

00:13:33 – Yes, but there’s an antidote.

00:13:36 – To the world situation.

00:13:39 – When you come to a situation like that in your life where you feel like I can’t do it no more, I don’t want to do it no more. I feel like quitting.

00:13:47 – That’s the time to pray. Yes, pray.

00:13:53 – Pray when you feel like giving up.

00:13:56 – When you pray, God will reignite your mind, reignite your walk, reignite your your mental capacity and and change that situation of your life around.

00:14:11 – But not only pray you need to put a scripture on it.

00:14:17 – You need to put a scripture on it.

00:14:19 – Yeah, you know what I mean by putting the scripture on it, you need to find you about two or three scriptures. And remember, remember though, for for they are strengthening you when you feel like quitting.

00:14:28 – Right, right. Yes, yes.

00:14:33 – And then the other thing is, remember, the gospel message of salvation.

00:14:39 – Remember how God saved?

00:14:40 – You. Yes, yes.

00:14:43 – Do anybody remember how God saved him? Yeah. When he failed him, how he faded him. Yeah. What happened after he failed him? Yes.

00:14:46 – Yes. Yeah.

00:14:56 – And be filled with his precious Holy Spirit.

00:15:01 – Remember the joy.

00:15:04 – That floods your soul.

00:15:09 – We must remember the salvation message.

00:15:14 – By faith and grace.

00:15:19 – It was only by Jesus shed blood.

00:15:23 – That we were made righteous.

00:15:27 – There was nothing that we brought to the table.

00:15:31 – That changed our situation.

00:15:34 – But it was Jesus who changed our life.

00:15:37 – For he died for US1.

00:15:40 – 111 Friday.

00:15:43 – And we was talking about they put tunes.

00:15:47 – They put soldiers in front of the grave.

00:15:51 – But even through all of that, he rose.

00:15:55 – From the grave.

00:16:01 – Bill Gaither, the world of song and said that.

00:16:04 – He touched me.

00:16:06 – I don’t know about you.

00:16:08 – But I find the song to be true. He touched me.

00:16:12 – Yes, Bill Gaither said he was shackled. Yes, by heavy burden, right? Need a load and guilt and shame? Yes. Then the hand of Jesus touched me.

00:16:28 – And now?

00:16:29 – I’m no longer the same.

00:16:31 – All the same.

00:16:32 – He touched me. Touch me. Ohh. He touched me. Yes.

00:16:37 – And ohh what joy that floods my soul. Yeah. Something something happened.

00:16:45 – Now I know.

00:16:48 – He touched.

00:16:50 – And made me.

00:16:51 – Whole, yes, yes.

00:16:57 – Anybody been made whole?

00:17:00 – I mean we, we we got aches and pains, but I’ve been made whole y’all. Yes, yes in closing.

00:17:09 – We must keep our lamps trimmed.

00:17:12 – Burning bright.

00:17:14 – Until the end.

00:17:16 – 1st Corinthians 15:58 says therefore my beloved brother.

00:17:21 – Be ye steadfast.

00:17:25 – Always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labor.

00:17:33 – Is not in vain.

00:17:36 – In the Lord.

00:17:37 – My Lord, your Lord knows all about quitting.

00:17:41 – For one day, when he was, when before he went to Calvary, he said Lord.

00:17:47 – Let this come.

00:17:49 – Pair for me.

00:17:51 – Not my will.

00:17:54 – But thy will be done.

00:17:56 – We must continue to look unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, for the joy that was set before him.

00:18:05 – Endured the cross.

00:18:07 – Despise this shame, sit down at the right hand of the throne of God, Hebrews 12 and two, when you think about quitting, when you, when you feel like giving up.

00:18:21 – Just think about what he endured.

00:18:24 – Not only will he and do it.

00:18:26 – What the apostle?

00:18:27 – Paul and do or if any of them two guys if.

00:18:30 – I’m not even close to them guys.

00:18:33 – You know, I can understand Jesus, but I can’t understand Paul. How? How? How he can still praise the Lord in spite of him being whipped in spite of him being shipwrecked in spite of him being in prison.

00:18:46 – Right, right.

00:18:48 – But something came over his soul.

00:18:52 – The fervency the presence of the Holy.

00:18:55 – Yes, and he could do all things through crime.

00:18:59 – Right. Yes. Hey, man.

00:19:04 – Stay on fire for the Lord.

00:19:07 – Don’t quit.

00:19:09 – Remember the three fans?

00:19:12 – Is this?

00:19:15 – What if?

00:19:17 – Don’t be flawed, right?

00:19:22 – Don’t be flawed.

00:19:24 – Serve the Lord.

00:19:26 – And be fervent.

00:19:28 – Yes. And what you doing?

00:19:31 – In Jesus name. Amen. Amen.

00:19:40 – Good morning.