Waiting on the Lord

versus complacency or

procrastination and this is really

important if you're going to understand

truly what waiting on the Lord is so the

first thing we need to do is Define what

complacency or

procrastination take a look at

complacency complacency is the act Act

of doing nothing at

all and believing that you don't need to

put any any effort

in if you met somebody like that they're

something bad going on in their life

they're just waiting on the Lord and

they're not doing anything actively to

change things that's

complacency you should never be

complacent

ever if you're trusting God to do

something

you believe that he's going to be doing

that but at the same time you need to be

busy doing other stuff you need to be

Allowing God to use you to minister to

somebody else's need while you're

waiting for him to fulfill whatever it

is that you've asked him to do or he's

promised you to

do because you got to be about the

father's business that was the very

first Ministry message Jesus ever gave

do you ever think about that he's at the

temple his mom and dad are looking for

him they find him in the temple talking

to the Pharisees and the priests and

they were upset at him and he says why

are you angry I must be about my

father's

business got to be about the father's

business even when you're waiting on God

to do something it was 18 years from

that point until Jesus entered public

Ministry and was baptized by John 18

years do you think for that 18 years he

didn't do nothing

for 18 years he was becoming better than

he already was we're talking about God

In the Flesh they were astounded at 12

years old how well he understood God's

word yet for the next 18 years he was

working he was proving his character he

was proving that he was a man of

integrity as he was growing and if you

don't truly understand why Jesus was

with the Pharisees and the priests and

he's 12 years old is because he was at

his bar

mitzvah and if you've ever been around

any Jewish people bar mitzah is the age

where a boy becomes confirmed that he is

now a Jewish young man so it's a

ceremony and part of that ceremony

involves going before the rabbis the

teachers and being tested on your

knowledge of God's word and that's why

Jesus was there he was being bar mitzvah

for a girl it's called a bat mitzvah but

they do the same

thing next slide

Chris procrastination this is a

killer putting off doing something until

the last minute and not being a doer

procrastination kills more of God's

blessings than anything in this world if

God gave you a task to do then you be a

good servant and do the task do you

think messages happen on Sunday morning

and I pull them out a magical

air I start working on Sunday morning's

message usually Sunday night after I get

home I'll be there doing whatever and

God will speak a scripture to me and I

spend about 30 hours a week putting this

together for you praying over it asking

the Holy Spirit to be present that you

can receive from God

this is week in and week

out plus I have Wednesday mornings I do

uh how many of you have watched any of

the uh midweek insights with Pastor

John they're there for you believe me

I'm not doing it for me I'm doing it for

you because I want you to have food for

your spiritual life I want you to learn

new things I want you to learn how to

walk in Victory and and you can't do

that if you're not hearing the word it

says faith comes by hearing hearing by

the word of God and how shall the word

come except by the mouth of a Preacher

that's me that's my call what's

yours need to find out so that you're

not

procrastinating or being

complacent next slide

Chris o biggie this is the definition of

waiting on God

prayer and

patience trusting that God hears your

prayers and waiting for his timing in

answering them this involves patience

and faith that God knows what's best for

you I don't know what's best for you

other than what I can see with my

eyes I cannot see your heart I cannot

tell what you're going through unless

the Holy Spirit reveals it to me

or you

do so I see with my natural eyes God

sees into your heart now if you come and

say brother John or you send me a

message and some of you have sent me

messages says I need you to pray for so

and so and I'm more than happy to do so

and you guys all have my number and you

guys can all send me text messages I'm

not I don't have a problem with it

that's what I do

we started our

uh I was

praying and asking God you know we need

to we need to reach as many people as we

can reach with the Gospel of Jesus

Christ we need you to open doors and

avenues and ways to get the message out

and

uh so this is week number three of our

official live

stream we have an online Congregation of

almost 200

people I'm not kidding uh brother Mike

Brother Gary you guys sister Megan you

guys all have Facebook you've been on

our Facebook page um I could have Chris

pull it up but I'm not going to um we

have 192 followers on

Facebook faithful followers week in week

out I have witnesses I'm not just up

here saying it it's a

fact this church never had 192 people in

it at any one time as far as I can

remember but you've made a difference

because we were willing to grab a hold

of the tools that God gave us and use

them prayer and patience that next when

is seeking God's

guidance and this one is really

important for you if you're seeking

God's guidance guidance when you're

faced with decisions and you're waiting

on the Lord

means that you're seeking his guidance

through prayer scripture and wise

counsel and it's not about rushing

ahead but Allowing God to direct your

steps you ever you ever run into that

one person that God will speak to him

that there's that he wants them to do

something and they take off running with

it and they didn't prepare before they

ever started on that journey and

somewhere down the road not too far they

wound up falling flat on their face and

got a little bit of Road Brash on their

notes

been there done that I would have God

tell me something and a man I was like

all excited going to do this and then I

would fall flat on my face

why

well God doesn't call to qualify he

qualifies those he calls when he calls

you to do something you have to have

exercise some

patience for God to develop the skills

in you that you need back in uh 1914

when the Assemblies of God were first

born the push was for foreign missions

it still is uh and it should be these

people went out on the mission field and

they failed miserably you know why they

believed that when they got to the

mission field God would God would

supernaturally give them the language of

the of the land that they went to and

give them all of these different things

and there are times where God has done

that you can see in the book book of

Acts it says the all of these different

people that were there on the day of

Pentecost they heard the gospel message

in their own languages and they were

from all over the Middle East all over

the Roman

Empire but here's the

thing they failed miserably because they

failed to

prepare they come back a couple years

later they set up the First Missionary

schools they started training

missionaries they started equipping

missionaries and when they were

preparing go to these foreign lands

where they they either learned how to

speak the language of that land or they

got connected with people who could

speak English and the language of the

land so that they had interpreters with

that went with them and when they went

back to the mission field guess what

happened people started getting saved

churches started getting built God

doesn't send you out on a mission

without giving you tools to accomplish

it it's important that you realize that

if you God has asked you to do something

and you know you know inside yourself

that you are not qualified to do it that

means God is telling you you need to get

some education here you need to learn

how the next one is

trusting God's promises trusting his

promises waiting on the Lord involves

clinging to his

promises even when circumstances seem

Bleak for instance waiting for healing

provision or restoration based on God's

assurances in the Bible how many of you

have a Bucket List have a list of things

to do before Jesus

comes we all do right well I'll tell you

what if you have gout on that list take

it

off you know what gout is inflamed joint

in your foot man I've been dealing with

this thing since

Friday I believe in healing I know God

has healed me but man Friday I couldn't

put my shoe on my foot was so swollen up

I could it was even my house shoe

hurt yesterday I had to go to uh

ministers meeting which was really

fantastic breakfast was great a lot of

people there that I know uh I was able

to put my shoe on my

foot I got my shoe on today but my foot

still hurts but that doesn't take away

the I already know that I'm Healed

because his word promises that

by his stripes we are healed right okay

so I still got to walk it I still got to

trust his promise and my foot hurts like

a big dog but I know it's healed it's

that is how you walk it out yeah it

hurts but I know I'm Healed you have to

speak those things that be not as though

they are not as what you see but as

though they

are I've been hobbling around on on this

thing since

Friday and and the guys from my father's

I to tell you I look kind of I walk

funny already as it is I swear I don't

have a problem telling you that but it's

even worse when you got the sore foot

man it hurts so I livep worse than

normal I'm not ashamed because I know

God has healed that foot I just keep

putting one foot in front of the other

even though that one's sideways

and walking in my trust of what God says

why because I trust God's word more than

what I can

see he said by his stripes we are healed

if you believe that if you accept that

promise if you trust that promise no

matter how bad it hurts you still got to

get up and keep on

walking and I use that as an example but

it can be in any part of your life

any part of your

life that you're struggling in he says

I'll never leave you or forsake you

that's a promise he said by his stripes

you are healed that's a

promise he says that he will take care

of you he will make a way where there

seems to be no way so you have to learn

how by faith to walk in that

place that people look at you and say

can I I see your ID let's go down and

check you into the mental health

hospital over here on Acre Street um

because the things you do don't make

sense to them but when you win the

victory they're

like

so we need to uh we need to have some

confidence not in ourselves but in God

and in God's word that what he says he

will do that if he made that promise to

you he's going to keep it he said by his

stripes you were healed he didn't say it

was going to be a miracle than happened

in 3

seconds sometimes it takes a

while I walked in healing for six years

and man did I hurt every day I walked on

a cane I got spinal injections I hurt so

bad but then one day I woke up with no

pain none whatsoever and it was like see

years to the day woke up no

pain got up out of bed I put my shoes on

and I I didn't hurt I didn't have to

wait 5 minutes after I tied my shoes

before I tried to get up off the bed I

got up right away I went out in the

parking lot and I did 20

laps cuz God healed my

back took six

years but it didn't change the fact that

he healed my back the day I prayed

it just took six years for it to

manifest anybody remember from high

school when you're reading American

history and they had the statement it's

called Manifest Destiny do you remember

that do you know what it was it was the

United States saying it was our destiny

this is our

Manifesto that we're going to be from SE

to shining sea Manifest Destiny what's

your

destiny what did God say you were going

to

be what did he

say was your

promises what did he guarantee

you I know you struggled with Joshua for

years and I love Joshua and I pray for

him every

day have you seen in your spirit Joshua

serving God fully with a whole heart so

every time you think about Joshua that's

what you have to say you have to say

thank you Lord for turning Joshua's life

around thank you Lord for bringing him

into your house serving God you have to

do that over your children you have to

do that over your loved ones and believe

it or not you got to do it over

yourself if God has given you a vision

of what he wants you to do you got to

you got to walk in it you got to trust

him in it you got to say I'm I can get

here because God says I

can so enduring

trials you ever had a difficult

time I know you

[Music]

have waiting on the Lord means enduring

suffering with hope it's trusting that

God is working even when you can't see

immediate

results that's a hard

one I went through it I

actually my son had gone so far or off

track it wasn't even funny I was praying

and said God what I I I said you you

promised

me just like you promised the Philippian

Jailer that if I served you that you

would save me and my whole household my

sons out there living like a a demon

serving

Satan God said Do you believe me or do

you believe what you

see and I said I believe believe what I

believe you he said then begin to talk

it well it took a while but guess

what my son's serving

God takes his kids to church doesn't

send them he's in several different

Ministries involved in several different

Ministries 10 years ago he would have

told you I hate

God I can't stand him and he use some

expletives in between that I'm not going

to repeat

but if you ask him today how good is God

he'll tell you he'll never leave you or

forsake you and he never

fails but to get to that place I had to

take my hands off of

him I had to say Okay God this is your

son nothing I'm doing is reaching him

I'm going have to trust you can reach

him no matter where he's at and God did

he was facing going to prison he was up

in

Oregon and he's he drove down here he

dropped his kids off at his mom's and he

headed for Teen Challenge checked

himself

in year later he goes back to court he

he had court trials in Washington Oregon

in

California Washington Oregon dismissed

the the charges against him and

California put him on unsupervised

probation for 3 years and let him do

what let him leave the State that's God

because he should have been in prison

for dealing drugs and running guns cuz

that's what he was doing he was making

trips to Tennessee and coming back

Interstate

trafficking and he got

busted but God got him out of

it none of that would have

happened if I had kept messing with

things took me taking my hands off of it

the Bible says if you have someone some

who's walking Aon turn them over to

Satan for the destruction of the flesh

that in the end their soul might be

saved I did

that I told him about it not too long

ago he goes should have figured you'd

done something like

that I said well there was no other way

to reach it he said I know I'm glad you

did he says I'm glad I'm not sitting in

some federal prison somewhere he said

I'm glad I got this really he's got a

killer J Too killer job makes good

money flies out to California several

times a

year but if you had told him 10 years

ago that he was going to be able to do

that he had have laughed in your face

and followed it up with a bunch of cuss

words and told you to

go procreate with

yourself what

changed I got out of the way I let God

do what God does

best last one serving

Faithfully sometimes waiting on the Lord

means Faithfully serving where you

are even if it seems

insignificant trust that God will use

your obedience for his purposes remember

waiting on the Lord isn't passive it's

an active posture of trust and

dependence on him

you clean the bathrooms at

church you're

important I used to get mad at the guys

that worked for me in the kitchens when

I was a chef because they would get back

there and abuse the

dishwasher and they would say all kinds

of nasty things to him and if I heard

man there there was you know H double

hockey sticks to pay because that's the

most important person in the

restaurant I ain't got no clean dishes I

can't put any food out in the dining

room and when I would hear those cooks

and and Sue chefs and

everything start picking on a dishwasher

man there somebody was going to get

heads were going to roll I come back

there and say you know I'd call the

dishwasher out of the dish pit and I had

take whichever Chef it was that was back

there bad mouting the dishwasher I go

put on a wash apron grab some uh plastic

gloves you're off the line today you're

washing

dishes I'm a cook I'm a chef and I don't

care who you are this place doesn't

operate without a dishwasher and until

you learn how to appreciate that

dishwasher you're not going back on the

line and they was

like said you can either that or you can

get fired it's your

choice it is

true restaurants can't function without

clean dishes need clean pots of pans

need clean dishes for food to go out to

the dining room most important person in

in that restaurant there's the guy back

there in the dish pit washing the

dishes and I made sure they knew

it I I I I had a great reputation as a

chef but I had a horrible reputation as

a

boss because I told it like it was and I

didn't pull my punches and I still

don't I might be a little more kind than

it was then but I I still blunt man I'm

the guy that's like a splitting Mall you

ever split wood with a splitting mall

they don't have to be sharp they just

have to be heavy yeah like a chopping

axe I'm the I'm The Chopping mall I'm

the splitting

mall and I'm blunt you can ask the guys

that I were I'm

blunt I'm the bluntest person you ever

seen I don't pull my punches I tell you

like it is and I

don't make excuses for it because where

you end up and where your soul ends up

is more important to me than you feeling

good brother Tim was talking in Sunday

school today

about how Ministries

function and the fact that the pastor

can't do everything the deacons can't do

everything it's a it's a group effort

everybody working towards the same goal

which is to reach lost souls to disciple

them and then send them out to bring

more

in right pretty

simple but no none of us me included can

do it all it's a group

effort if you come to this church on

your day off and clean you're a

blessing if you come to this church and

you teach a kids class you're a

blessing and God will honor that

commitment if you're here and you serve

on the Deacon board you're a blessing

because you're taking on a whole lot of

responsibility being on the Deacon board

only person who has more is the pastor

and there's a whole list of stuff in

there that says the pastor is

responsible for you have no

idea biggest thing I have to do is pray

for each and every one of you every

single day

and I don't take that lightly I told you

guys before and I showed you before that

I have the member list that's in my

portfolio and the guys from my father's

house can tell you that that Bible in

that portfolio sit right next to my easy

chair it's within

reach and I pray over people every day I

get up earlier than I have to because I

live my life for God with

intention I intend to

win but I also intend for you to

win and that requires me to pray for

you you're not going to get to the place

God's trying to get you there if people

aren't supporting you in prayer and like

brother Tim said earlier today you can't

pray for everybody in this church in

five

minutes by the time you say everybody's

name it's already taken five

minutes much us stopping to pray for

each and every one but he tells you to

pray without ceasing he tells you to

meditate upon God's word day and night

that you may have

success it's that

important your focus has to be on what

he says not what you

think Here's My Philosophy if Jesus said

it and the Bible says it I believe it

and that settles

it bottom

line the no matter what society says No

Matter What men's laws say no matter

what anything else goes if Jesus said it

the word says it I believe it that

settles it I don't argue with God's word

if it's a sin to do this it's 2,000

years ago it's still a sin today the

Bible didn't change society changed the

church changed you ever been to a church

where they act just like the

world ain't no happy place to be

unless you're a couple fries short a

Happy

Meal because God called you out he

called you to come out from among them

to be a holy people separated segregated

unto

him so when we're going

through we got one

more waiting upon the

Lord Isaiah 40 and

31 next slide Chris

says they that wait upon the Lord shall

renew their

strength next

slide they shall Mount up with wings as

Eagles that means you have the ability

to fly above

it last

slide they shall run and not be weary

and they shall walk and not

faint as you are waiting on the Lord as

you're going through those

things you absolutely Ely need to depend

on

this because you need

this to keep going

forward can you all stand with

me Chris can you put that song on I

asked you to put on