The second night of our annual district meeting, gathered in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we thank God we are here in this beautiful sanctuary, First Church of God in Christ.
the headquarters of our Panama District now, under the capable, able, knowledgeable, faithful leadership of Superintendent Edward Parker.
Amen, amen.
We invite each of you to praise and worship God at this appointed time.
Our great God is looking for true worshipers.
Are you a true worshiper?
We want to worship God tonight in the beauty of holiness.
We want to worship him in spirit and in truth.
So first of all, we want to establish protocol and address the house to our wise, again, understanding, teacher, preacher, leader, excellent planner, and business manager, Edward Superintendent Parker.
and our honored leader tonight, our own district missionary, Linda Cooper, a faithful woman of God that fears him and leads by example.
Emeritus Superintendent John Gibson, still serving God's people.
to all the workers that make up this great Panama District, pastors, elders, ministers, licensed missionaries.
And you know what?
I want the licensed missionaries to raise their hand.
We thank God for you if we got any of them in the house.
And if you're not licensed, we thank God for you being missionaries, carrying on the work of the Lord.
Any youth in the house,
Oh, we got any youth, come on.
Thank you, Lord.
And even our visitors, we thank God for you visiting with us tonight in our annual district meeting.
We thank God for each of you being with us tonight.
Prayer by Evangelist Cheryl Perry.
Bye!
Amen.
Did we come to praise his name?
Hallelujah.
Why don't we stand for the prayer?
Thank you, Jesus.
What a mighty god we serve.
We come to praise his name.
We didn't just come out but we came to praise his name.
Amen.
Lord heavenly father, we come before you right now
Thank you for another opportunity to praise your name.
Father, we thank you because we know you're able to do exceedingly and abundantly, above all we can even ask or think.
My God, another district meeting, and we want to say thank you for it.
Thank you for being out on a Thursday night, Lord.
Thank you, Jesus.
My God, we come to praise your name.
We come to magnify you.
We come to glorify you, Jesus.
We come to give you all the praise and glory, Lord.
Heavenly Father, we ask right now, Lord, that you touch this congregation, Lord.
Father, we ask right now that them that are on social media, my God, that when the word goes forth, Lord, my God, my God,
Lord.
When the word goes forth, Lord.
Lord God that it will penetrate their hearts, Lord.
Father, touch this woman of God is going to bring the word tonight, Lord.
My God, we thank you for her right now, Jesus.
My God, we ask that you bless our praise team, Lord.
As they bring forth the songs of Zion, Lord.
My God bless our musicians,
My God, that not one person will leave this place the same way they came.
My God, but they'll leave out encouraged, Lord.
If they came in encouraged, they'll be even more encouraged.
Oh, Heavenly Father, we thank you tonight, Lord.
We thank you, Jesus.
Father, we come today, Lord.
We come, Lord God.
to give you all the praise, Lord.
We thank you for another opportunity, Lord, to lift up your name.
We give you praise.
We give you glory.
We give you honor.
Let your will be done this night.
In the name of Jesus, we pray.
Amen and amen.
Our scripture lady, Clementine Howard.
Amen.
A scripture reading will be John chapter 9, verses 1 through 5.
And it reads, And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?
Jesus answered, Neither has this man sinned, nor his parents.
but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.
I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day.
The night comes when no man can work.
As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
I read for you John chapter 9, verses 1 through 5.
May God bless to the heroes, most of all the jewels of his most precious holy word.
Thank you.
Praise and worship is coming, but I just wanted to say to everyone, I got to acknowledge our chairman, the chairman of the Panama District, Elder Howard, and thank God for the word of God that came forth through him on last night.
Stand on the wall.
You got work to do.
And our district evangelist, Pastor Radford.
So we thank God for all of you leaders in our district.
God bless you.
Glory to your name.
Forever you are the same.
We worship and adore you.
We bow ourselves before you.
Giving you the glory that is to your name.
Glory to your name.
Help us sing, come on!
Praise is what I do.
Praise is what I do Praise is what I do Praise is what I do
Hallelujah.
Anybody lifted up the name of the Lord tonight.
Sing praise is what I do.
God, when I'm tired, I still praise you.
Hallelujah.
When I'm stressed out, God, I praise you.
And the more I praise you, God, the better I feel.
Hallelujah.
The more I praise you, the better I feel.
Praise you.
God, I'll lift you up.
God, I'll worship you.
Hallelujah.
God, if you say so, God, I'll go.
♪ It's what I do ♪ Hallelujah, hallelujah, Jesus, because you're worthy, God, hallelujah.
♪ It's what I do ♪ It's what I do ♪ It's what I do ♪ It's what I do
It's all I do.
It's all I know to do.
All I know to do, y'all.
Thank you, Jesus.
Thank you, Lord.
What I do.
Late in the midnight hour.
inviting you to praise and worship in this house.
Give God all the glory that is due unto his name.
We thank God.
Amen.
That's what we do.
Thank you, Jesus.
And now we will have greetings from the most beautiful, saintly, godly, first lady, elect lady, Louie Parker.
Come forward.
God bless you.
God word is a good God.
I welcome one, I welcome twice.
I welcome church to God and cry, I have your way of freedom to join the Lord.
Freedom.
Amen.
Thank the Lord.
Amen.
Thank you, Lord.
Thank you, Jesus.
Thank you, Lord.
Yes, first church is first lady, but that's our district first lady as well.
Thank you.
Thank God.
Amen.
Now we will have spiritual presentations by Park Street Church of God in Christ under the leadership of Pastor Walter Ailes.
And we thank God for all of the youth workers.
Scriptural presentations.
Good evening.
My name is Angel Eastman.
I'm a member of Park Street Church of God in Christ in Diffuniac Springs and in the ministry of Pastor Walter Ailes.
I would first like to give honor to my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, for enabling me to be here tonight.
I would also like to give honor to those in leadership and, of course, my pastor, Pastor Ailes.
Today, our title is We Got Work to Do.
So before I can do any work, I have to let God work in me.
That work that I have to do first, according to the word of God, is repent of my sins, confess that I am a sinner, believe that Jesus is the son of God, receive the Holy Spirit to dwell in me, and be born again of the Holy Spirit.
After getting saved, some other work that God has told me to do is obey him like praying for others, continue with him, study the word of God, and share the gospel.
Tonight, the Lord has personally told me to share my testimony.
So in obedience to God, I will be sharing my testimony.
When I was younger, my biological mom was an alcoholic, drug addict, and was barely home.
But because of those things, I didn't believe as a little girl that I would live long.
Most days, my brothers and I would try to spend the night at our friend's house so we could eat.
Our light and water was cut at home most of the time.
For years, I couldn't sleep without getting a nightmare.
Eventually, I was placed with my grandma, who became very ill and died of cancer.
She knew she was dying, so she gave me up to the foster care system.
I went through two homes that I didn't like before I was blessed to walk into the Eastman household.
I struggled at the new change like anyone would.
A year later, I was adopted on September 18th, 2015.
Being a child with a traumatic childhood, I was behind mentally and academically.
After a lot of therapy and tutoring, I finally got on grade level.
Eventually I graduated high school with a 3.6 GPA.
According to my peers the reason I also became homecoming queen is because I was the only nice person on the ballot.
I also won military ball queen in JROTC which I was also the battalion commander of.
And lastly, I got the great experience to also be on prom courts.
I don't believe I was popular in high school and that is how I had those experience but I had those experience because I had the love of God in me and I showed that to others and others saw it.
Now in my life I will be graduating from Northwest Florida State College in Nisville with my AA degree in December and moving to UWF to get my bachelor's in social work to help other kids who are going through the same thing that I went through.
Even though I got saved in 2017 and I'm still continuing, this doesn't mean that I haven't sinned since then.
But I thank God for his forgiveness and his word that I know that I need to repent of my sins.
This past November, my biological mom passed away.
I had failed a class, I had drama at my job, and was going through a breakup that was filled with lust.
I was at my lowest, but God, in the anointed encouragement from my family, I've been healing from the death of my mom.
I got straight A's last semester.
I was blessed with another job, and I learned again how to focus on Jesus and let my future husband find me instead.
As I wrap up my testimony, I have a question that I want you all to ask yourself if you are a Christian.
Will you still trust God if he took everything you love?
Thank you.
God chooses and uses young people.
So don't think young people can't live for the Lord.
So we thank God.
A lot of young people are living for the Lord.
It's just that the devil magnifies so much of the ungodly and disobedience, but there are young people living for the Lord.
Thank you, Jesus.
And now we will have an exhortation evangelist.
Velmandria Macy.
Praise God.
How do I come behind the youth?
She said enough.
We should just give the benediction.
So the theme for 2024 is we've got work to do.
Luke 10 and 2, then he said to them, the harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few.
Therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest to send laborers into the harvest.
Luke 10 and 2 is a challenge.
We know that Jesus often spoke in parables during that time.
Agriculture was a big thing, so Jesus often used agricultural terms and analogies to reach the people.
When he says the harvest is great, in reality he is saying there are so many people who've never heard the name of Jesus.
That name that is above all names.
That name that will make demons tremble.
That name that will make every knee bow and every tongue confess.
That name that is a healer and a deliverer.
Calling on the name of Jesus signifies more than just uttering a word.
It represents an acknowledgment of who Jesus is and what he came to do.
By calling on his name, we express our faith in his work and invite him into our lives.
When I hear the name Jesus, I hear provider.
When I hear the name Jesus, I think way maker, miracle worker.
When I hear the name Jesus, I think salvation.
When I hear the name Jesus, I think mind regulator.
When I hear the name Jesus, I think comforter.
When I hear the name Jesus, I think of lifter.
When I hear the name Jesus, I think of king of kings and lord of lords.
When I hear the name Jesus, I think never failing.
When I hear the name Jesus, I think of company keeper.
When I hear the name of Jesus, I think my redeemer, my all in all.
God is calling on the name of Jesus as an act of power.
surrender, vulnerability, and expression of faith.
It is an invitation for God to move in your life.
When you sincerely call on the name Jesus, amazing things happen.
Don't underestimate the power of the name Jesus.
It carries weight.
Now, my pastor would say that will preach.
We've got work to do.
God created work as a part of his plan and gave it to us as a gift.
The Bible says that work is a blessing that can benefit the worker and others, and those who are able to work should do so.
Some people might say, that's the pastor's job.
That's not in my job description.
The Bible tells us we are one body, but many members.
And every joint supplies something.
We can't put everything on the pastor.
John 9 and 4 says, I must work the work of him who sent me while it is day.
The night is coming when no one can work.
The verse is encouraging us as believers to have the same attitude as Jesus.
God uses the work that we do to shape us, to form our hearts.
This may cause us to step out of our comfort zone.
As believers of Christ, we are not alone.
We have a guide, a compass that help us navigate.
God uses the work to mature us as disciples.
I'm closing.
It is 2024.
We have to learn how to work a little differently than we worked 10, 20, and 30 years ago to reach all generations.
People are hungry for the word of God.
The issue is how can we reach the hungry?
We have to figure out how can we reach the baby boomers, the millennials, Generation X, Z, and Generation Alpha.
We've got work to do.
Luke 10 and 2 is a challenge, and I challenge you to view work with dignity because God himself worked and created us to work.
View work as service, a way where we can co-create with God and serve others in this world.
Last thing, view work as a place where discipleship happens.
Remember, in your laboring, 1 Corinthians 15 and 58, therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
We all play a part in the building of the kingdom of God.
God needs us to stand on business.
Get in where you fit in.
We've got work to do.
Encourage us to go to work.
We got work to do.
Amen.
Thank you, Jesus.
Thank you, Lord.
now the Ministry of Giving.
And we thank God we've already been given directives as to what we should do in the Panama District and we are ready, Superintendent, we are ready.
And Superintendent Parker is coming to help with this offering.
He's coming to help, praise the Lord, amen.
I want everyone tonight to prepare your heart to give us, praise the Lord, amen, a good, healthy offering.
Tonight, praise the Lord, what we do will be given to our district missionary, amen.
I think I broke that out for you that you ought to know by now, praise the Lord, this is customary.
in church of God in Christ, amen.
This woman have labored, amen, down through the year.
Amen.
You other churches know because he's been to your church a few times.
Amen.
So we're asking you to prepare a special offering tonight.
Amen.
young lady that will come up to present our speaker for this program tonight.
I just want to say something about her.
We thank God for giving our district missionary, missionary, evangelist,
Williams, we thank God for her, Kathy Williams.
She has traveled with our district missionary, has helped her tremendously.
So I'm saying we thank God for you, Kevin, to take care of our district missionary.
So now the presentation of our speaker is missionary evangelist, Kathy Williams.
I'm sorry, see there?
Get so excited.
Is there anyone, I'm so sorry, that has a presentation for our district missionary?
Please come forth and do that.
Thank you.
Okay.
Lady Howard, thank you.
Mr. Missionary, we thank God for you.
One Spirit for the Church of God in Christ, upon the leadership of Pastor Tony Howard.
I just want to give you this presentation, this gift.
We just hope you love it.
Thank you for being a special lady, a great woman of God.
I love you.
We all love you.
Good heart, good spirit, beautiful smile.
I love you.
Lady Raffer, bless you.
Praise the Lord.
This is from House of Praise, Women's Department.
We love you, we support you, and everything that you do, we love you again.
Thank you.
From First Church, amen.
Amen.
I am presenting on behalf of our wonderful women's leader, Evangelist Deidre Gary.
She could not be here.
But when she asked me to do it, I started to think about, you know, I love you so much.
I can't even.
But there's three things that I just want to point out about you.
When you think about what you want in a leader, you want a person that trusts, believes, and knows the word of God.
And you want someone that when you're in trouble can get a prayer through.
And you want someone who is called and walking in their purpose.
And I know you know the word of God.
And I know you can get a prayer through.
And I know you're called and walking in your purpose.
And when you walk, you look good.
So I want to say thank you for everything.
We love you.
And you know anything you need, we'll be right there for you.
God bless.
Praise the Lord on behalf of me as her armor bearer.
I find it an honor and a privilege just to be by her side because she is a woman of God, a true woman of God.
And I thank God that I am her armor bearer.
I love her with all my heart.
There's not anything that I wouldn't do for her because I know there's not anything that she would not do for me.
And I thank God just for being
in her presence for she is a wonderful wonderful woman of God.
And I thank you.
To God be the glory.
This evening I'm introducing and presenting to some our district missionary
Linda S. Cooper.
Evangelist Cooper is a native of North Carolina, and she joined the United States Army in March 1980.
She gave them 21 years of her life.
The other achievements you can see, but I'd just like to highlight the last one, the last achievement in her biblical studies.
was a certificate of graduation on January 2019 from the Servant Leaders Academy of Central Florida First Jurisdiction.
Sister Cooper is a worker.
She has done and is still doing adult Bible adult Sunday school.
She's a Sunday school teacher.
And formerly, she was the elementary Sunday school teacher for the youth.
And she was a Bible study teacher for the youth.
She's also, as you have probably seen if you were here last night, that she's a praise and worship leader.
She's also an accessory prayer leader.
She was appointed as the district missionary over in Panama, over the Panama City District
on September 2019 under the leadership at that time of Lily C. Hutchinson, who was our state mother at that time.
And on a more personal note, District Missionary Cooper is married to Chester Cooper.
In September, they will have been married for 31 years.
He that findeth a wife findeth a good thing.
And brother, I must say, you found a good thing.
And they have two sons, and they have three grandchildren.
She takes care of her husband.
Y'all read about that lady in Proverbs 31?
That's her.
That is her.
She takes care of her husband.
She takes care of her children.
Even when they're grown, you know children need you more.
She talks to them.
Whatever they need or advice, she gives it to them.
And she's also like that with her friends.
She has a heart of love.
The love of Jesus is in her.
And when she sees someone in need, she is the one who will give or take them somewhere.
Whatever it is that they need, she's open to that because she loves people.
And that's because she loves the Lord.
And she's doing the work of the Lord in so many ways.
I can't even tell you what this woman does.
But I do know she loves to shop.
And she don't be shopping for herself.
She be buying stuff for other people.
But sometimes we might go to a store and we see some pretty shoes, woo.
They might not be in her size, but they might be in mine, you know.
But she still loves me.
I'd like to present to you at this hour
and introduce to some, as I have already, our district missionary, Linda S. Cooper.
Please stand.
And before our district missionary comes forth,
We have something special for you, the expression of praise.
First, Kojic Youth Department, and then the next voice you will hear will be our district missionary, and I will relinquish my stand.
God bless.
♪ Our people are dying slowly every day in the... ♪
you
Our people are dying slowly every day.
The enemy's trying, attacking every way he can.
We gotta fight.
You see, in this generation, materialistics swallow the minds of these innocent children, yeah.
We gotta fight.
♪ We gotta fight, we gotta fight ♪ Oh, you see the fame and the drugs ♪ The money, the lust, the violence, the hatred ♪ And we must plead the blood of Jesus ♪ We gotta fight, we gotta fight, we gotta fight ♪ Oh, and I say devil, you can't have my mind ♪ Devil, you can't have my soul
I say devil, you can't have my mind.
Devil, you can't have my soul.
I belong to God, and I'm fighting you up with the power of the Holy Ghost.
This is a war cry.
The war cry
We got some pastors false preaching.
These church folks are leaving.
Because they're so confused about these wrongfully teachings.
Making a bad name for all of us Christians.
So many saints are holding unforgiveness.
We got nation against nation.
Earthquakes in various places.
People living in famine.
Everyone's losing patience.
This is a war cry that everyone needs to hear.
I said, devil, you can't have my mind.
No, devil, you can't have my soul.
This is a spiritual warfare, a spiritual This is a spiritual warfare, a spiritual
This is a spiritual warfare, a spiritual This is a spiritual warfare, a spiritual A spiritual warfare, a spiritual Our souls are crying out to you, Jesus Our souls are crying out to you, Jesus Our souls are crying out A spiritual warfare, a spiritual
You're the demon of my soul
War cry This is my war cry
Hallelujah.
How many know that this is a war cry?
Hallelujah.
And God is worthy of all our praise tonight.
This is a war cry.
So we have to fight.
Hallelujah.
We have to fight.
Amen.
Let's go to God in prayer.
Eternal God, our Father, Lord, we thank you again.
for your grace and for your mercy.
God, we thank you for your keeping power.
Lord, we thank you that you kept us all day to this moment, Lord God.
And God, I thank you for the blood that is still running warm in our bodies, Lord.
And Lord, right now, hide me behind the cross that they not see me, but they see you, God.
Lord, increase in me, Lord God.
Lord, you said that your word would go out, that it would not return void, but it will accomplish everything that you set it out to do.
So Lord, you do what you need to do tonight.
We glorify your name.
In Jesus' name, we pray.
Amen.
You can have a seat.
Hallelujah.
Thank you, Jesus.
I'd just like to say give an honor to God, who's ahead of my life, to the superintendent, amen, to Chairman Howard,
to our associate pastor, Elder Eckers, to all the district pastor wives, to all the missionary, the ministers, and to the love of my life.
I don't know where he went.
I just saw him, but he's gone.
Amen.
But to the love of my life and to everyone else that's in their respective places, I know that the house have already been addressed.
But my thing is, we can't get distracted.
by other endeavors, because life without a mission is life without a meaning.
Distraction can affect our spiritual lives.
Untold numbers of people go through life controlled by distractions, texts, emails, meetings, phone calls, errands, and surfing the internet.
Everything seem importantly.
Ironically, they find enough time for distraction, but not enough time to reserve
I say not enough time to restore your life equilibrium with a few words reading God's word every day.
We can't let things come to sidetrack us or to distract us from doing what God have called us to do.
But I want to tell you tonight,
that we can't get distracted by endeavors.
And I just wanna say this, on Saturday, because see, even little things can distract you.
On Saturday, I went into Walmart, and I had my cart filled, and I went up and I paid for everything, but when I got out to my car, I realized that it was a bucket in my cart that I hadn't paid for.
And the devil, you know how old Sneaky Joe is.
Here he come, he said, if I were you, I wouldn't go back in there.
It's only a $4 bucket.
I said, a devil is a lie.
I said, because this is a thing that I need from God.
And you're not going to make me miss what God has for me, because he said that whatever I asked that he would do it.
Amen.
So I want to tell you tonight that we're going to look into the book of Haggai.
And it tells a story about a group of people who had a clear mission who were distracted.
When God had given us a mission, we can't let nothing distract us.
So let us go to the word tonight.
And it was so profound because I started, you know, when God gave me this, I started studying.
And when I looked at the Sunday school lesson last Sunday, it was, hey, God, one, one through 11.
I was like, oh my goodness, confirmation.
And then it seemed like all this week, all I was, I heard things about distraction, distraction.
I said, okay, God, I'm right where you want me to be.
Amen.
So we're going to go to, please stand for the word of God.
Amen.
Haggai chapter 1 verses 1 through 11.
In the second year of the Darius the king, in the sixth month, in the first day of the month, came the word of the Lord by Haggai and the prophet of Zerubbabel and the son of Shekel.
Governor of Judah and Joshua, the son of Jodeas, the high priest, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, saying, This people say, The time is not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built.
Then came the word of the Lord by Hagar the prophet, saying, Is it the time for you, O ye, to dwell to your children's house, and this house lie waste?
now therefore does said the lord of hosts consider your ways ye have so much and bring in little ye eat but ye have not enough ye drink but ye not fill with drink ye clothe but there is none warm and he earneth wedges earneth
earneth wedges to put into the bag with hoes.
Thus say the Lord of Hosts, consider your ways.
Go up to the mountain and bring wood and build a house, and I will take the pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, said the Lord.
Ye looked for much, and lo, it came to little.
And when ye brought it home, I did blow upon it.
Why, said the Lord of Hosts, because of mine house, that is waste, and ye run every man unto his own house.
Therefore, the heaven over you is stayed from dew, and the earth is stayed from the fruit.
And I call from a drought upon the land, and upon the mountain, and upon the coin, and upon the new wine, and upon the oil, and upon which the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon cattle, and upon all labors of the hand.
If I had to use a subject tonight, my text would be don't get distracted in doing God's work.
Don't get distracted in doing what God has called you to do.
So the book of Haggai, it begins by giving us a date.
And the first date, if I need to explain a little bit about this background of this book.
The Israelites had been taken into captivity.
And many years before that, the Babylonians had besieged and eventually conquered the Jerusalem.
The city was burned to the ground and the walls were demolished.
Most of the people were taken into exile to live in Babylon.
So at the end of 2 Chronicles 36, verses 15 through 19,
It said, the Lord, the God of their fathers, sent word to them, brought his messenger again and again, because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place.
But they mocked God's messengers, despised his word, and misused his prophet until the wrath of the Lord rose against his people, and there was no remedy.
He brought up against them the king of the Sharades, who killed their young men with the sword of the sanctuary, and had no compassion upon the young men or maiden, old men, or them that stooped of age, who gave them all into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar.
And all the vessels from the temple of God bought large and small, and the treasures of the Lord's temple, and the treasures of the king and his officials, and they set fire.
to the Lord's temper and broke down the walls of our mission.
Oh, I'm sorry.
and broke down the walls of Jerusalem, they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything that was valued there.
So after 70 years, the Babylonian Empire fell to the Persians, and they had different policies with foreigners.
And King Cyrus made a proclamation that anyone who wanted to return to Jerusalem could do so.
They were given the task of rebuilding the temple so that they could pray and intercede for the king.
The book of Ezra caught what happened.
When the Israelites moved back to Jerusalem, there were people living in the surrounding area.
They were mixed people.
There was king of Assyria forcibly brought in as immigrants of the land.
And when they offered to help the Israelites with the rebuilding, the exile refused.
And the Jews wanted to keep the temple pure and untainted by the Gentiles.
And particularly, the surrounding people didn't react well to this rejection.
They started a program of sabotaging the construction.
They even hired people to frustrate the Israelites.
They finally sent a form of protest letter to the king of Persia and got the permission to stop the building.
And all the work stopped for 16 years.
That was when God acted.
He sent two prophets.
He sent Haggai and Zechariah to encourage the spirit of the Israelites to continue the building the Israelites had returned with a very clear goal.
They came to rebuild God's temper.
They started well, but when they were forced to stop, they had begun again over one and a half decades.
But we Christians, we often have very similar situations.
We have very clear mission for life.
Our mission is very clear.
We are to love God and others, and we are to glorify God by making disciples.
Now saying that our mission is clear, the specifics is different.
Where are we to go?
Whom are we to share this message with?
How to love and what are we to do with it?
Those are different.
The details may be different, but the mission is clear.
The problem is that though we have a clear mission, we often lose sight of it.
We are just like the Israelite, we get distracted and sidetracked.
What are those things that distract us from life mission?
Self-centeredness,
When you only focus on yourself and disregard others, you might be even worshiping yourself.
Pride.
When we can think that we can do these things on our own, all right, you may think that you don't need to turn to God.
Willfulness.
When you are stubborn about what you want, you may prevent God from having his way with you.
Your past.
I say your past.
Some of us refuse to let go of our past, whatever it is.
If you get stuck in your past, you cannot go forward.
You cannot go forward in your present if you get stuck in your past.
Amen?
So what you gotta do, you gotta let it go.
You gotta let your past go.
You can't look at what happened last year.
You can't look at what happened 50 years ago.
You gotta let your past go in order for God to work in your life.
The Israelites started well, but they were distracted by opposition.
They experienced opposing people surrounding them to compel them to stop.
And when they were in that position for 16 years, sometime the same things happened to us.
We will allow someone to come in our life and let that very thing that God have called us to do, not to do it.
Are we here?
Girl, I don't know.
You sure God told you to do that?
We let people talk us out of what God called us to do.
We let people talk in our ear so that we, and then it stops up our ear because we can't hear what God is saying.
And in that time, what they were doing, not a brick was laid.
It wasn't placed on the foundation of the temple.
And verse two tells us that the attitude of the Israelite, they said that it wasn't time yet.
They say, it ain't time to start building.
That sound just like some of us in the meantime.
They had to just struggle to survive.
They had to tend their fields and repair and improve their home.
I'm sure that sometimes they thought about their mission.
Maybe they even walked past their mission.
My God.
But how many times have we been reminded to work, to do the work that God have called us to do?
But there is always a but.
Well, but?
They reasoned they self out of what God had called them to do.
Hallelujah.
We can talk ourselves, that's just to say, right out of our blessing.
They had to wait until they had the perfect situation, until they had the perfect time, until they didn't begin to question they self.
What would that be?
When would it be the right time?
If you don't wait 16 years, how many more years you gonna wait?
Hallelujah.
They still had to wait.
It was the opposition that caused the Israelites to get distracted from their mission, from their reason for living.
What about us?
What are some of the things that cause us to forget about our life mission?
Well, there are many, but let me give you one.
Luke 9, 62 says, and Jesus said unto him, no man that hath not put his hand to the plow and looked back is no good for the kingdom.
I didn't say it, God said it.
And we can see what happened to the Israelite in the Hagar time.
In verse one, three through six, the Israelite had stopped building the temple at the very reason they had returned to Jerusalem in the first place, and now they were forcing to make themselves comfortable.
They lived in these houses that was more than just basic structure.
They also made ornamentation to make it look good, to make it look better than,
Come on now.
The Israelite had become distracted from their main goal of building the temple of God and now went on just trying to live a comfortable and possibly life in the ruins of Jerusalem.
But even in the lesser goal wasn't being met, the Israelite experienced only frustration after frustration.
They worked hard in planting crops, they cleared fields, they plowed them, they planted a grain and they carefully weeded and watered them.
But when harvest time came,
They found a little crop that was writing.
It wasn't just their crop, but it was everything that was going wrong.
They ate, and even when they ate and left the dinner table, they were still hungry.
My God.
Oh, God.
They drank, but nothing seemed to fill their thirst.
Come on, because you know when you're drinking something, you got a thirst, but that thirst ain't fulfilling.
What is wrong?
Something is wrong.
I can't get full.
Something is wrong.
I'm still thirsty.
They put on clothes, but they was still cold.
They couldn't get warm.
They worked to earn a wage, but they couldn't seem to save any money.
In verses 9 through 11 it explains why the Israelites experienced frustration after frustration.
And the reason the Israelites couldn't get ahead, the reason they couldn't have any crops, the reason why they were disappointed and were unfulfilled is because the Lord did it.
God did it.
Because the Israelites had neglected His house.
When we neglect the house of God, God frustrated all their business with everything that they were doing, their own houses and their businesses.
They left God's house untouched.
Then God called the drought on everything that they put their hands on.
Lord Jesus.
The field couldn't produce crops.
The men and the animals, the cows couldn't have calves.
The wives couldn't have no children.
There was a drop in everything that they put their hands on using this frustration to turn the Israelite, that's what he did, to turn them back to him.
God will turn us back to him if we don't want to do what he say do.
He got a way of doing it and turning you back to him.
My God.
The Israelite, oh my God, they turned their back on Him, but they needed God.
When we turn our back on God, we need God.
We think that when everything is going right, we don't need God, but we need God.
That's why God tell them twice to give careful thought to their ways.
God was using these negative circumstances to get their attention and to call them back.
God used the same method today.
The method hadn't changed.
The method had changed.
If we are Christian and we have become distracted from our own true goals in life, to love God and others and to make disciples of our nation, he told us to go into the highways and the byways and compel them to come in.
Hallelujah.
He will bring circumstances in our life that will frustrate us and leave us unfulfilled.
I heard someone say that many people reach the top of the ladder and find themselves leaning on the wrong wall.
I said, they said, I heard a saying say many people
reach the top of the ladder and then they find themselves leaning against the wrong wall.
How many people have reached the pinnacle of success only to find out that achieving their goal didn't satisfy their souls?
Look at your neighbor and say, we got work to do, don't get distracted.
If you are a Christian and you're not living out your mission on earth to love God and other than make disciples of all nations, then you will never be satisfied.
You may buy a big house, you may even climb to the top of your profession, but there's always something that's gonna be missing.
We may live, oh my goodness, maybe, oh my goodness, we were made to live for God and God alone.
If we get distracted from our true purpose, then we will experience frustration and disillusionment.
Maybe we've been experiencing it in your life.
It seems no matter how hard you work, you just can't get ahead.
Month after month, you fall deeper and deeper into debt.
You're trying to work longer hours and taking over time, but nothing seems to work.
As soon as you start getting a hand on your finances, you get an unexpected expense.
Or maybe you wanna achieve your goal, you done went out and you done bought that big house with a three-car garage.
You done bought that Mercedes Benz and that Merazzi, Maserati.
But when night come, but when night come and everyone else done fell asleep, you say, is this it?
What is it that I need to do?
What am I doing wrong, Lord?
Oh, Lord Jesus, where are the barriers?
There are barriers that's in our life that keep us from hindering and doing what the Word of God is telling us to do.
We have barriers in our life.
The Lord tell you to give thought to your ways.
It may be very well that the Lord is bringing this frustration in your life to bring you back to real purpose on earth.
What does God ask you to do?
He said, seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all his righteousness and everything else will be added unto you.
But first of all, you gotta seek.
Y'all know we used to play hide and go seek?
And then you gotta find the person.
God want us to seek him.
God want us to play hide and go seek.
We may seek the Lord while he is found.
Cause the man of God say while he is found because there is nothing you can do at nighttime.
While he may be found.
Because when night cometh, no man can work.
You can't work from the grave.
When nightfall, you can't work from the grave.
You gonna get up out of the grave and go to work?
You can't work from the grave.
So when we look at the Israelite, what God told him to do in verse seven and eight, God tell the Israelite to start building, and he was calling them back to their mission, but it wasn't easy because God was calling them to go up into the mountains.
I want you to go cut down some wood.
I want you to drag it down the hill.
to the construction site and start building again.
That's hard work.
At least some of us say, ooh, that's hard work.
And not only would they have to stop paneling their own houses, planting their crocks, oh my God, they will have to quit their jobs and join the construction crew.
Not only, but they will have to start facing the opposition of those ones that told him to stop.
they would have to quit living that life that they thought was a peaceful life.
Amen.
Ain't that right, Brother Vincent?
They had to face constant persecution and attacks, but God was calling them back to their mission.
But this wasn't something easy and simple that added to their schedule that they was called to do.
Do you know something?
We are exactly in the same position.
God is calling us back to a life mission, and it isn't easy.
And it is something that we don't wanna just add on to our calendar and think that God is gonna be satisfied.
We can't just say, well, I'm gonna follow God.
I'm gonna choose to live a life to glorify him and enjoy him forever.
I'm gonna go to the prayer meeting once a month.
I'm gonna go to Sunday school every other month.
I'm gonna go to Bible study and stay 15 minutes.
God ain't pleased with that.
I'm not going to Bible study at all.
I'm just gonna sit at home and look at it on Facebook.
I can hear the preacher at home sitting at home.
I'm gonna do devotional for 10 minutes.
just add to the church event.
God ain't pleased with that.
God want our all.
And he calls us to change the very course of our life.
I believe that God will bring someone in your life and move them in to frustrate your comfort zone.
God will bring somebody in your life to frustrate you and bring you out of that comfort zone next thing you know.
Why they got, why he got her doing that?
Why she doing that?
Why he didn't ask me, me not doing anything.
When we choose to live our God mission for our life, that alone should be motivation enough to change our life.
And I urge you tonight in the view of God's mercy and offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable.
He said, this is your reasonable service.
We can't conform to the patterns of this world.
Our mind can be transformed, but we got work to do.
But in order for you to do the work, your mind got to be transformed on the godly thing that God want us to do.
It can't be transformed.
And then you say, well, you know, do it a little bit.
Then you step back.
Then you do it a little bit more.
Then you take two more steps back.
Then the next thing you know, you're out the door.
The world can't just sit back with their hand folding and don't do nothing.
Well, I just wanna ask one question.
Where are you tonight with your walk with God?
Have you been distracted in your Christian life?
Is God calling you back to the mission on earth to glorify him and to enjoy him forever, to work while it is day?
It may be changing your career to serve Him.
It may be breaking a relationship that is drawing you away from Him.
I don't know the specifics of what God is doing in your life, but I do know one thing.
If you're a Christian, God has a plan for each and every one of us.
He has a plan.
He said, I know the plan that I have for you.
To be good at what?
Prosperous.
He said, I know the thoughts before you even think them.
My God.
That's the best thing that we can do.
Because life without a mission is life without a meaning.
And we got work to do.
And he said, and Chairman Howard said last night, the hobbies is plentiful, but the laborers are few.
They few because you got people 90% sitting in the church not doing nothing, and the other 10 is working like they don't have good sense.
Why?
Because the 90 ain't doing nothing, but they sitting back running their mouth about what somebody else is not doing.
But what we gotta do, we gotta focus on God first.
And then everything else, he would take care of everything else, but we got our focus wrong, our focus is in the wrong place.
And then we wonder, oftentimes we wonder at the end of the day, well I wonder why I didn't finish that.
You're trying to accomplish too much.
because we have allowed distraction to get in our way.
And when we move out the way and let God, God will redeem that time that you think you lost if you seek him first.
We can't do it all in one day.
If you don't get it done today, do it tomorrow.
But if you're doing God work, he'll make time for you to have to do what you need to do.
Ain't that right, preachers?
That happened with Martha.
Martha was busy in the kitchen.
She wasn't helping.
But Mary was at the feet of Jesus.
Martha got mad and told Jesus, Mary ain't even helping me.
And it wasn't nothing wrong with what Martha was doing, but she wasn't doing it in the right timing.
Her timing wasn't right.
Busy.
But Martha said, you know what?
I don't care what you do in that kitchen, but I'm going to sit at the feet of Jesus.
OK?
You can do what you want to do.
You can cook all day till you fall out.
I'm gonna do what Jesus want me to do.
Because God is not nearly as interested in our efficiency as he is in our faith.
It's a faith without works is we're dead.
God lets our battle of inefficiency distract to build our dependent faith on him.
That's what he do.
Keep messing with him, he'll stir it up for you.
He will, he'll stir it up for you, won't he?
He will stir it up for you.
Don't let your distraction in doing God work, because we got work to do if you fully committed.
If you're fully committed, we got work to do.
But we got to be about our Father's business.
That's why Nehemiah said that people had a mind to work.
See, we gotta have a made up mind to work that we gonna say we gonna do the thing that God want us to do.
And you know what?
It's a lot of distractions in the world.
And any little thing can distract you.
It's a lot of distraction.
But we got to realize when the enemy is coming in and trying to distract us from doing what God called us to do.
We got to recognize that thing.
And that word y'all was singing, be ye steadfast, I'm always abounding, knowing that your labor is not in vain.
Your labor is not in vain when you're doing the work of the Lord.
Let's stay fully committed.
Don't get distracted in doing God's work.
Amen.
I just want to do a little bit of this song.
You know what?
A lot of time we complain about it.
everything sometimes.
If you could pick me up just a little bit, just a little bit.
I've had some good days.
I've had some hills to climb.
I've had some weary days.
and some sleepless night.
But when I, when I look around and I think things over, all of my good days outweigh my bad days.
♪ I won't complain ♪ ♪ I had some good days ♪ ♪ I've had some hills to climb ♪ ♪ I've had some weary days ♪ ♪ Some sleepless nights ♪
But when I look around and I think things over, all of my good days
I'll wave my bad days.
I won't complain.
Sometimes the clouds hang low.
I can't hardly see the road.
I ask the question, Lord, why so much pain?
The Lord, He's been so good to me.
Even though my weary eye they can't see.
But I just say thank you, Lord.
I just say thank you, Lord.
I won't complain.
The Lord, he's been good to me.
♪ Oh, oh, I know he'd been, he'd been mighty good to me ♪ ♪ Even though my weary eye day can't see ♪ ♪ He'd been good, he'd been good ♪ ♪ He wiped all of my tears away ♪ ♪ Turn my midnight into day ♪
But I just say, thank you, lord.
I just say, thank you, lord.
Thank you, lord.
He's been good.
He dries.
Turn my midnight in today.
But I just say thank you lord.
I've been lied on.
I say thank you lord.
I've been talked about.
Thank you lord.
He's been good.
Hallelujah.
If you know that you're not fully committed tonight, hallelujah.
Give god your life.
Hallelujah.
We don't know when we walk out of here.
Hallelujah.
That this may be our last time.
So, if you know that you are not have been doing everything that god has
Hallelujah.
God has been too good to us.
For anybody that sit back and say, oh, I got it.
No, you don't.
Cuz don't none of us got it.
Hallelujah.
God is faithful.
We need thee oh we need thee
Every hour we need thee.
Oh, bless me now, my Savior.
I come to thee.
I need thee.
Oh, I need thee every hour.
If you know that god was coming right now,
and you know without a doubt, without a shadow doubt in your mind that you would go back with him, it's okay.
But if you're not sure tonight, if you wanna just rededicate, you know what your relationship is with God, you can come to the altar, hallelujah, to rededicate, hallelujah, in the name of Jesus.
In the name of Jesus, Lord, we thank you right now.
Hallelujah.
You don't have to be afraid but if you don't want to come to the altar, just slip up your hand.
Hallelujah.
In the name of Jesus.
Hallelujah.
If you know for sure, for sure, for sure that you know that you know that you know that if god came that you will be ready to go back with him.
But if you have any unsurety in your heart, just raise your hand, just slip your hands up.
Everybody eyes are closed, everybody heads are bowed.
Hallelujah in the name of Jesus.
But Lord, right now, we just pray over the whole body of Christ tonight, Lord God.
Father, we thank you for your grace and for your mercy.
Lord, we thank you, Lord God.
Oh God, if we don't have it right, Lord, let us get it right, Lord God.
Lord, I don't care if they don't know me, but if they walk out of here and don't know you, Lord God, it's sad, Father God.
In the name of Jesus.
Lord, I ask right now that you will meet every need, every household tonight, Lord God.
That your blood will cover, Lord God.
Lord, you say if you see the blood over the house that you will pass over.
Hallelujah, Lord God.
Cover our homes, Lord God.
Cover our loved ones tonight, Lord.
Lord, we have loved one that is not saved, Lord God.
Save our loved one that's not saved, Lord God.
Lord, we glorify you, Lord God.
There is power in your name, God.
And everything that we need is in you, Lord God.
Great is your name and you are greatly to be praised.
We honor you and we glorify you in Jesus name.
Amen.
Say the name of Jesus, amen.
Come on and give the Lord a good hand clap of praise again.
Come on and bless his holy name.
Oh come on, you can do better than that.
Come on and give the Lord a good hand clap of praise.
It'd be one thing if I say give me a hand clap of praise, but give the Lord a good hand clap of praise.
It is a blessing, blessing, blessing.
You may be seated.
If you just give me just a minute here, amen.
Did you have a good time on last night?
All right, let me hear you if you had a good time on last night.
Did you have a good time tonight?
Oh, yes.
Didn't our district missionary bring a good word?
Amen.
As the old saying used to say, then our hearts burn.
Amen.
Praise the Lord.
Wonderful message, District Missionary.
Amen.
Keep doing what you're doing.
Amen.
I'm here to encourage you tonight about tomorrow night.
Amen.
Friday night.
Come on, say Friday night.
Amen.
Superintendent night.
Amen.
That's what I want to hear.
Amen.
Get excited about tomorrow night.
This is our district meeting.
Our district meeting is coming to a close on tomorrow night.
Our superintendent is going to put the icing on the cake.
Amen.
So I want to challenge you tonight to bring somebody with you.
Can you bring somebody with you?
Come on.
Let me hear somebody say, I'm going to bring somebody with me.
Come on, I want to put you out there on the spot.
I'm going to bring somebody with me tomorrow night, amen?
I'm going to try to fill the bus.
Y'all help me, Spirit Field?
Help me to fill the bus tomorrow night.
We want to come out, and we want to encourage our superintendent in this district meeting, amen?
We only get a chance to do this once a year, amen?
Let us come out and give it our all.
all tomorrow night, amen?
Encourage somebody, tell somebody, invite a coworker.
Listen, a lot of times you don't know who might come unless you invite them.
Sometimes people don't come because we don't invite them, amen?
Sometimes they wanna hear it from you.
So invite someone, bring someone, and let's come out and be a blessing to the house tomorrow night, amen?
Amen, God bless you, we love you, amen?
Praise God.
Go ahead and put my phone in.
Amen, amen.
If everybody's hearts and minds is clear.
♪ May His peace be with you ♪ ♪ Till we meet again ♪ Please be with you.
♪ May His peace be with you ♪ Till we meet.
♪ Till we meet again ♪
Till we reach that distant shore.
And we'll shed a tear no more.
May he give you strength to endure.
Till we meet.
Till we meet again.
But ye, beloved, building yourself up of the most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost.
Keep yourself in the love of God, looking for the mercies of our Lord Jesus Christ until eternal life.
And of some, having compassion, making a difference.
Now unto him who is able to keep us from falling and to present you fall is before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy to the only wise God our savior be glory, majesty, dominion, and power both now and ever.
Amen.