Part III: Unapologetically Blessed

Posted on January 31, 2024 by growintheword

Synopsis of Sermon 1.21.24
Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III
Proverbs 3:1-10 NKJV
My son, do not forget my law, But let your heart keep my commands; 2 For length of days and long life And peace they will add to you. 3 Let not mercy and truth forsake you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart, 4 And so find favor and high esteem In the sight of God and man. 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil. 8 It will be health to your flesh,
And strength to your bones. 9 Honor the LORD with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase; 10 So your barns will be filled with plenty, And your vats will overflow with new wine.


I. INTRODUCTION
• Often people ask where’s the best place to start, when reading the bible. I say Proverbs, because it starts with talking about wisdom.
• In the series we’ve been in, we’ve talked about the principles of giving and therefore, we have no excuses. It is not what God does for us, but who God is to us.
• There are things that we are required to do in order to tap into the totality of what God has for our lives.
• Even when you struggle, you wonder if you were being humble when you were walking into God’s blessings.
o God wants us to be blessed. You were born to be blessed.
• Proverbs is a book of wisdom. We believe reading it first, because it leans in on good decision making.
• In Proverbs, Devine revelation is given to us and our thinking then becomes correct. Our lives come into harmony with the divine will of God.
• What does it mean to walk unapologetically is the blessings of the Lord?


II. REMEMBER THE BENEFITS OF OBEDIENCE
• Obedience means making a conscious choice to comply and carry out the will of God. God does not operate outside his will. God must be the most important thing in our lives.
• We must obey God.


A. Obedience Enhances the Quality of Your Life
1. The Bible says, if you obey the will of God, long life and peace will come to you.
2. When you are out of alignment, you are working with Satan to self-destruct. The devil knows God’s plans concerning you. He can’t take it away from you, but he can make your bad behavior mess the plan up for yourself.


3. You have to ask is it really worth it? Do you want peace more than you do pleasure?
B. Obedience Attracts Favor
1. When you do right, good things come to you. Never let someone pull you into something contrary to your character.
2. When you have favor it can change everything. Favor is better than money. Favor is when God leans in your direction. For example, you can’t explain how you got that job, it’s just favor! You can’t explain how you got that house; it’s just favor!


III. RECOGNIZE THAT GOD HAS BIGGER OPPORTUNITIES
• The Bible says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. – Sometimes we get frustrated when doors close. Don’t lose heart, because when things pass you by, it is opening up other doors. You have to trust beyond your own understanding.


A. Trust God Beyond Your Understanding
1. This doesn’t mean that you don’t think or strategize. It means don’t put solely everything on you. We have to trust God. God’s plan is greater for your life. God’s plans will be far beyond anything that you can imagine.


B. If You Keep God in It, He Will Keep You Winning
1. If you take God everywhere you go, you will do extraordinary things. God will keep you wining! Some things were too small to hold the greatness that God has over your life, so God had to let it go for you.
2. This year will be a big year for you and your family.


IV. RIGHTEOUSNESS PRODUCES BETTER OUTCOMES
• There’s power in walking in wisdom. You can be brilliant, but not be wise.
• Wisdom doesn’t always come with age. It can come with prayer and fasting too.
• When you have knowledge, this is great, but all knowledge does not align with the will of God.
• Wisdom makes knowledge obey. When wisdom comes in, it takes charge of your knowledge.
• Wisdom allows you to depart from evil.

A. Better Choices Make Better Character
1. Character is the good part of you. Personality is how you act. Personality is like perfume, but character is how you really smell. Who are you, before you put the perfume on?
2. Departing from evil is a character decision.
3. The Bible says it will be like health to your bones. This suggests that you look like you live.


B. You Will Look Like You Live
1. God wants us to have physical and mental health as well as looking good externally. The enemy wants us to look contrary to what God would have us to be.
2. When you think back to a time where you were convicted, you will remember that it made you change your character. You had a cloud over you that you couldn’t shake. It changed your nature. This is conviction.
3. Sin will age you. Think about your last class reunion. What happened to them? Some say life, but then you are left asking, “What kind of life do you live?”.
4. Sin will rob you of the plans God has for your life. When you walk into righteousness, God will make you look like where you are going, not where you’ve been.
a. Before I got saved, I was a mess. I didn’t look like myself. Then the blood came in and made it look like it never happened. You then have a clean slate.
i. Example — You have a house fire and you had a company come in and clean it up. You have everything that was broken fixed, so basically you rebuilt the house. The very day you brought people over to the new house, you see people sitting around smoking in it, putting the house back at risk.
ii. This is what sin does. God just gave you a clean slate and now you’re putting it back at risk. Your decisions matter! You got to start looking like where God has taken you, not where you’ve been.


V. RECEIVE THE BLESSING OF OVERFLOW

A. You Honor God by Giving Him What’s Right and Not What’s Left
1. When you honor God with your first fruits, it means you respect Him. Honor means respect. It puts you into a position for great things to happen. We take our seed and sow it. We trust God for the increase.
2. Your barns will be filled with plenty. In the bible days, the barn held the harvest. Whatever holds the harvest is a barn. If nothing is in the barn, then there was no harvest.
3. The barn represents what keeps me in between harvest times.
4. When you know what you know and you’ve seen God make a way, God will bring you to a place where you won’t have lack. Your barns are about to be filled with plenty!


B. God Is Going to Keep Full and Fresh
1. Vats were where they kept the stuff to make wine. The Bible says your vats will overflow with newness.
2. You are about to be in a season where you have new stuff.
3. Vats were big containers, built for holding a lot. God is saying new contacts, new money, new doors, and new opportunities are coming your way! When it does, walk in it unapologetically!
4. God is about to do something new and fresh in your life.
5. Pro 3:9-10 – 9 says Honor the LORD with your possessions, And with the firstfruits of all your increase; 10 So your barns will be filled with plenty,
And your vats will overflow with new wine. – You might say, “God you are making changing to things I’ve been accustomed to”. God had to remind us, that he will do things that are unorthodox. He will shut THIS down, to make room for THAT!

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Part II: You’re One Decision Away 

Posted on January 19, 2024 by growintheword

 

Synopsis of Sermon 1.14.24

Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III

Malachi 3:7-18 NKJV
Yet from the days of your fathers 
You have gone away from My ordinances 
And have not kept them. 
Return to Me, and I will return to you,” 
Says the LORD of hosts. 
“But you said, 
‘In what way shall we return?’ 
8 “Will a man rob God? 
Yet you have robbed Me! 
But you say, 
‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. 9 You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the LORD of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it. 11 “And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, So that he will not destroy the fruit of your ground, Nor shall the vine fail to bear fruit for you in the field,” Says the LORD of hosts; 12 “And all nations will call you blessed, For you will be a delightful land,” Says the LORD of hosts. 
13 “Your words have been harsh against Me,” Says the LORD, “Yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against You?’ 14 You have said, ‘It is useless to serve God; What profit is it that we have kept His ordinance, And that we have walked as mourners Before the LORD of hosts? 15 So now we call the proud blessed, For those who do wickedness are raised up; They even tempt God and go free.’ ” 16 Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, And the LORD listened and heard them; So a book of remembrance was written before Him For those who fear the LORD And who meditate on His name. 17 “They shall be Mine,” says the LORD of hosts, “On the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them As a man spares his own son who serves him.” 
18 Then you shall again discern Between the righteous and the wicked, Between one who serves God And one who does not serve Him.

I.          INTRODUCTION

  • Being in relationship with God is not complicated. It comes down to obedience. Do what God says do or don’t do what God says do. When you don’t do what God says to do, you end up wondering why you didn’t end up in God’s potential for your life.
  • Some people seem to get to the next level. God isn’t just wanting us to have a ticket to heaven. God wants us to have all that He intended for our lives.
  • If we got to live in this world, what kind of life should we have?
  • John 10:10 NKJV says The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. – There is a quality kind of life that God wants you to have. God wants you to live a life with fullness like God intended.
  • There are many struggles that we undergo. Often a lack of biblical knowledge and lack of stewardship is the problem. Look at how many people are not able to leave a legacy to their children when they leave here.
  • Everything that God puts in the earth is a system. Kingdom economics for example is a Your body is a system. God said we are fearfully and wonderfully made. The only time we get messed up is when we jack up the system He designed for us.
    • Think about your health for instance. Health is a system. God put in the earth, everything that we need to be healthy. For example, the Daniel fast was based off of them not wanting to eat the king’s food. They decided to eat the diet of the King of kings.
      • We highjacked that diet and added sugar, preservatives, and everything to it. As a result, we have many health issues.
    • Wealth is a system. God’s understanding of wealth is not to struggle and that we have all that we need. We added greed and selfishness to it and messed up this system.
    • You were made to prosper based off God’s systems and not the world. Every generation can’t be in struggle. Somebody has to break the curse! God has some people willing to say the struggle stops with us.
    • If you lock in on this word today, you will change your generation forever.

A.    Nevi’im–Second Main Divisions of the Hebrew Bible 

  1. Malachi means messenger or spokesman. Through the prophet Malachi, the Lord addressed the Jews’ declining commitment to God.
  2. They had been in exile and was in the process of being rebuilt. It was during this time of recovery that Malachi prophesies to the people.

B.    4 Areas of Concern in Malachi 

  1. Neglect of Proper Worship– In this, they were bringing flawed sacrifices. Their sacrifices were supposed to be without spot of blemish.
  2. Failure of the Priest– The Priest were not teaching holiness anymore.
  3. Marriage Issues– The people had a disregard for the sanctity of marriage.
  4. Withholding Tithes– They were not tithing anymore.

 

  1. SEASON TO RETURN TO GOD

  • In Malachi, God says that we have turned away from Him. God is hurt by our departure. We should seek God first and all things will be added to us. What’s holding back our blessing, is our failure to turn back to God. This also is the reason doors are not opening up for us.

A.    God Didn’t Move, You Did 

  1. We left God, he never left us. He is the same today, yesterday, and forever more!
  2. Evidence of leaving God:
    1. Drifting– It’s a slow process. First, we stop praying and then you stop doing Bible study anymore. Eventually you look up and wonder how you got so far away.
    2. Desires– Your interest starts to change. You act on what things you were curious about.
    3. Decisions– Now you start acting on what you are curious about.

B.    Returning Requires Commitment 

  1. Commitment is staying with it. This means this is not a one-time thing. When you return back to God, He returns back to you.
  2. When you return to God, you are receptive about what’s happening.

 

  • STOP ROBBING AND START GIVING

  • Our giving is evidence of our commitment to God.
  • God says “you have robbed me…”. Buglers waits until you leave, then go steal your stuff. A Robber will take from you while you are standing there.

A.    Robbery Doesn’t Mind Causing Bodily Harm 

  1. If the whole nation has robbed God, guess who the nation is? It is us. We are the body of Christ. When we rob Christ, we cause bodily harm to the Body of Christ.
  2. Your robbery impacts generations, not just you.

B.    Giving Starts with The Tithe and Offering 

  1. Once you make a decision to come back to God, then you need to understand how to give to God.
  2. The Tithe is 10% of gross income, not your net.
  3. Some argue that you shouldn’t have to pay off the gross, because that is money that you don’t see. You might not see the gross, but you benefit from it. For example, when you apply for loans, you use your gross as a means for how much you qualify for.
  4. References to Tithing in the Bible
    1. Leviticus 27:30 NKJV says And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s. It is holy to the Lord – Grain was their commerce during these times. Today our commerce is money. Don’t take what belongs to God and turn up with it, instead of giving to Him what is due Him.
    2. Genesis 14:20 NLT says And blessed be God Most High, who has defeated your enemies for you.” Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of all the goods he had recovered. – Genesis was before the Law. Melchizedek was someone that represented God. Abraham paid his tithe god.
    3. Genesis 28:22 NLT says And this memorial pillar I have set up will become a place for worshiping God, and I will present to God a tenth of everything he gives me.” – They gave a tenth of everything that God blessed them with.
    4. Matthew 23:23 NLT says “What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore the more important aspects of the law—justice, mercy, and faith. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the more important things. – This scripture describes how tithing was important to the pharisees, that they did it even when they didn’t do the other things so well.
  5. The Tithe is a dime out of every dollar you make. Know that the rules of tithe don’t change because your income goes up. It’s still a dime out of every dollar you earn, no matter how much you earn.
  6. The real question is, do you trust God? We don’t give to God, for Him to do something for us. We give to God, because of what he has already done for us and because we love Him.
  7. Tithe is a debt we owe to God. Offering is a seed we sow. Genesis 8:22 NLT says As long as the earth remains, there will be planting and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night.” – The law of sowing and reaping always works.

 

  1. SPIRITUAL REVELATION OF GENEROSITY

  • We want to model generosity in the community. We are called to be channels of God’s blessings.
  • Why does God want us to give?

  1. Meat In God’s House Keeps Meat in Yours
  2. The storehouse was a place where they stored the meat. So when the scripture says to bring the tithe to the storehouse, it is the place where you are getting meat or where you are getting fed.

 

  1. God Will Move You from Just Enough to More Than Enough
  2. Culture is about doors. Doors are about who controls them. For example, if you come upon a Security door, you have to have access to get in. Privacy doors are set up in a way where there are certain things that you are not able see. Climate doors are doors designed to control the environment or how you feel.
  3. When you are a Tither, you don’t trip when people close doors on you. You don’t trip, because you know your blessings will come through windows from Heaven. If you think about it, there are more windows in a house than there are doors. More windows equal more opportunities for blessings.
  4. Never put confidence in a job. God never meant a job to take care of you. That’s why his name is Jehovah Jireh instead of Job Jireh. Your job is seed money. When you are a Tither, you will always have more than they pay you. Do you feel a draft? Do you feel a window open in Heaven?
  5. God is trying to move you to a place where you know that you have visions to fund and people to bless.

 

  1. SECURITY KNOWING MY REAPING IS GUARDED

  • God said he will rebuke the devour for our sake. God never blesses us just for us. He blesses us from generation to generation.
  • Some of you are already the first in your generation to make something big for yourself. Ever wonder how people come into a lot of money and in a year they are broke? Without spiritual leadership and good stewardship, this will be you.
    • Haggai 1:6 AMP You have planted much, but you harvest little; you eat, but you do not have enough; you drink, but you do not have enough to be intoxicated; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns wages earns them just to put them in a bag with holes in it [because God has withheld His blessing].” – This happens when God withholds the blessing. God will sometimes withhold His blessing when you withhold your tithe. When you have the blessing, God will protect the bag.

A.    God Will Keep Boundaries Around Your Blessings 

  1. Malachi says there will be pest that wants to eat what you have worked so hard to harvest.
  2. When you are a Tither, God will block all of the schemes and plots of the enemy.

  3. The Full Scope of Your Blessing Will Be Obvious to Everyone
  4. When God blocks that which comes to harm you, all nations will called you blessed!
  5. Imagine that God will take you to a place that is flowing with stuff we didn’t plant. When you plant in the ground, you know you have water, but the milk and honey is a little something extra.
  6. There are people sitting next to you that will testify, that this principle (tithing) is right. God’s got some stuff that will flow to you. There are things that God is about to do that you will not be able to explain. God will call you blessed, and others will too, because of the way you live.
  7. If you lose it, you know that God gave it, and He can give it to you again. Your name is not the sick one! You will not be the bitter one or the messy one or the pitiful one.
  8. We came today to break the curse off your bloodline! It all will stop with you! You will be the last generation that has to worry about a student loan or a mortgage payment, in Jesus name, Amen!

 

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Part I: I’ve Got the Hook-Up 

Posted on January 12, 2024 by growintheword

 

Synopsis of Sermon 01.07.24

Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III

John 15:1-8 NKJV
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. 

I.          INTRODUCTION 

  1. One of the lessons that you learn in leadership is that relationships should be done well. We don’t get to the next level of living, because we don’t do relationships well. Our next level is often dependent on having good relationships. God wired us to be in communities not as soloist.
  2. Our spiritual connections matter too. God takes connections seriously. God is all in. He is fully committed to you. He neither sleeps nor slumbers. Covenant matters to Him. Often, when we connect with Him, it is interesting to see how much we mature.
  3. Our connections to God:
    1. For some its casual. We just identify with God.
    2. For some it is coerced, meaning forced by others. This is not authentic.
    3. Then there is convenience. This means, if God falls within our schedule, then we are committed, otherwise, we are not. This is part of being all in in! Matthew 6:33 NLT says 33 Seek the Kingdom of God[a] above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
  4. God is sending this word, because many of us have made the decision that we will grow this year. There is a phrase called the currency of connection. In it you see the value in your relationship with Jesus Christ. When you realize it, you will no longer look for what you are after, in other places.
  5. We know what we have in God, therefore, we use it to judge other relationships.
  6. Many of the relationships that have gone by the wayside in our lives, have cost us. For example, family, time, character, career, and etc.… We have to make up in our minds that we are done with dead relationships.
  7. Jesus is sitting with the disciples and in John 14, Jesus tells them to believe in Him. Jesus knows that He is about to transition. While preparing the Disciples for His death, He gives them revelation, about Heaven and the Holy Spirit.
    1. In chapter 15, Jesus explains the importance of connection. He knew after he died, things would try to pull them away from their assignments.
    2. Know that John was a beloved disciple. John writes the Gospel of John, the 3 Epistles of John, and Revelation. What makes John’s gospel so powerful, it is unlike the other Gospels. John is not a synoptic gospel. The Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke describe events from a similar point of view. The Gospel of John, on the other hand, focuses more on the divinity of God through Christ.
    3. John starts his book of by proclaiming “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” In John’s Gospel he also includes the “I am -s” such as “I am the way, truth and the life” or “ I am the vine and you are branches…”.
      1. In the scripture Jesus explains that the branches are dependent on the vine. He further explains the one’s not producing fruit is cut away. Everything you need is connected to your connection with the vine. When you understand the power of hookup (vine connection), you won’t go stalking branches.

II.           PROPER CONNECTION DETERMINES YOUR DESTINY 

  1. It’s about authenticity. He says I am the true vine. In other words, He is saying that He is the real deal! When your connection is authentic, you no longer tolerate the fake stuff. You are connected to that which is real.
  2. Sometimes we get frustrated in relationships.

A.     God Will Always Prune You to

1.     Prepare you for more. Just because you bear fruit, doesn’t mean that He doesn’t need you to bear more fruit. The process of pruning helps the vine produce better fruit. God prunes you so you wont waste energy and He wont waste anointing on stuff that ain’t going to grow.

  1. Our connection to the true vine is not being satisfied with yesterdays victory. We recognize pruning is necessary even though it might be painful. You ought to rejoice in the pruning, because that must mean there is more to come for you.
  2. The Farmer might prune to remove disease. The pruning is for the overall health of the plant. You know when things are not healthy in your life, because you won’t be at ease. Sometimes God will cut people away instead of you having to do it. You may wonder why God chose to cut someone away, but it may be because God has heard some of the conversations that you haven’t heard.

B.    Never Forget You Need Him 

  1. The Branch is completely dependent upon on the vine. You must own your branch-ness. We are all branches dependent on the Vine. When you got that contract, when you got that house, when you got that job, it was because of the vine. It is not just about getting it; it is also about keeping it. You can’t go through life, thinking you don’t need Him.
  2. Every branch not connected to Him (the Vine), will wither.
  3. You’ve got to:

III.          PREPARE FOR THE CONSEQUENCES OF DETACHMENT 

  • The branch can’t bear fruit by itself. Without him, we can’t do anything. You can do some things without him, but it will be empty and feel like nothing. Without God, you will always be chasing something.
  • One of the tricks of the enemy is to convince you that you can go it alone.

A.    The Blessing Is Not in The Branch, It’s in The Vine 

  1. Don’t depend on a branch. It might disappoint you. The blessing is in the
  2. No matter what you accomplish, you will come to a place where disconnecting will destroy your potential.

B.      Disconnection Destroys Potential 

  1. The first thing that happens is it begins to wither. Nothing is feeding it.
  2. After it dies, men will gather them. At this point, the branches are in the hands of other people. Imagine, putting your life in the hands of people.
    1. Remember Pilot telling Jesus he had the power to let him live or die and Jesus said he had no power, except His father give it to him. Though Pilot thought he had power, he was just a branch.
    2. Think back at how many times have you been burnt. This is why Paul said he would let nothing separate him from the love of Jesus.

IV.          PRAY WITH CONFIDENCE KNOWING GOD WILL DELIVER 

  • Then you will realize the power of your prayer life. You will have to pray with confidence, knowing that God will deliver.

A.     Abiding in Him Assures You Aligning with Him 

  1. Abiding means to stay with him. If you’re not committed, you will not abide. There are moments where friends come by and you wonder when they’re going to leave. Likewise, there are times you go somewhere, and you find yourself looking for an exit.
  2. God says, you have to want to abide in Him. If His words is inside of you, you can speak things that you want and it will happen.

B.      Believe What You Asked for Its Already Done 

  1. When you grow in relationship with God, the more your faith is built up. The more your faith is built up, the more faith is released.
  2. When we pray for something, we believe that its already done! We’ve come today, to release a “done anointing” on your life.

V.          PRODUCING IS CONFIRMATION OF YOUR DISCIPLESHIP 

  • Here in my father is glorified as you produce much fruit. Producing is an indication of your relationship and discipleship. We don’t want you to just be a member in church, we want to be Disciples. Fruit in my life is reflective of my relationship with God.
  • You can’t be stagnant or complacent. You must produce, because of your connection. Some people produce fruit that comes from “a vine”, but it doesn’t come from “the vine”. Fruit that doesn’t come from “the vine” will eventually wither and die.
  • When you understand what you have in Him, you stop demonizing people when they produce fruit. We ought to celebrate people that produce fruit.

A.     This Is Your Season to Produce Much Fruit 

  1. If they hated on you last year, they’re going to lose their mind this year! This is not the season to sit back and watch others produce. You are locked in! You will produce everything God has in your life!

B.      God Gets the Glory When We Represent Him in The Earth 

  1. How is the Father glorified? It’s when you stay connected to the vine, the vine then blesses you, you produce fruit, and it becomes the conversation piece. People will wonder how you got the job, when others were qualified for it.  It’s simple. You got the spiritual hookup!
    1. The hookup’s name is Jesus. He’s never lost a case. The glory comes to the vine!
  2. The real flex is this:

 

The branch relationship is not just in the normal growth process. Anything will grow if you feed and water it, but that’s not how life works. Some events take place that you would rather not take place and you wonder why it happened to you.

 

The branch and vine relationship is called vexation propagation. Some people can grow plants from cuttings. A cutting can be planted in the soil and can grow roots and produce an identical plant. Some of you have been cut and the people who cut you tried to burry you, not realizing that God used that cutting just to plant you.

 

Through the storms, you realized how resilient you really were! God is about to replanting some people! You haven’t seen your best days yet! I see fruit all over you! This will be the most fruitful season of your life!

 

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Part III: What Will You Do for Him

Posted on January 8, 2024 by growintheword

 

Synopsis of Sermon 12/24/23

Delivered by Bishop Joseph W. Walker, III

Matthew 2:11 NKJV

And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

I.            INTRODUCTION

  1. During this time of the year, we are in the season of giving. Many of you have stood in lines at the store to get gifts. The longer you live, the shorter your Christmas list gets, because you begin to realize how ungrateful people are. You realize what’s important in life.
  2. We also put ourselves in position to receive. We recognize God gave his son and we in return give our lives to him. In other words, if you do this, God will do that. For example, Romans 10:9-10 says, “If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved”. 2 Chronicles 7:14 says “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” – Our relationship with God has always been a relationship of
  3. In this season, we need to ask what we will do for Him. We really need to self-reflect and ask, what will we do for God. We thank God for all he has done for us!
  4. Like all of the disciples, Matthew had a profession, before God called him. Matthew was a Tax Collector. Matthew wrote the book of Matthew. In this book, he presented Jesus as the long-awaited Messiah.
  5. As the prophesy comes about in the Old Testament, Matthew brings it forward. How and where the Messiah would come, was a focus in Matthew’s book.
  6. The three gifts mentioned in the text were three of many gifts given by the wisemen. They were guided by a star to where the baby Jesus was. King Herod was threatened by the expected Messiah. Herod didn’t realize that Jesus wasn’t going to be the king of Jews, because he was already a King that had the keys to the Kingdom. His kingdom was not of this world.
  7. Herod consulted his people, and they told him that the Messiah would come. Micah 5:2 says 2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From [a]everlasting.”
  8. The wisemen were warned by an angel not to take the news back to Herod, so they went back another way. Mary and Joseph were warned in a dream that Herod wanted to kill baby Jesus, so they fled to Egypt to escape Herod.
  9. Herod, feeling deceived by the wise men, ordered the slaughter of all male babies in Bethlehem from the age of 2yrs and under. Matthew 2:16-18 sayc16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: 18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more.”
  10. In the actions of the wisemen, they teach us what we should be willing to do for God. They first demonstrate:

II.            THEY WANTED HIS PRESENCE TOO MUCH TO STAY OUTSIDE 

  • They made the journey to see Jesus, but decided to go in. They could have stayed outside, but they wanted to be in His presence. “Staying Outside “symbolizes us using other people’s account on how good God is, rather than having a personal relationship with him on our own.
  • The blessing of the Lord is not on the outside. It’s on the inside.

A.     You’ve Got to Want to Take the Jesus Journey 

  • When they saw the star, they took the journey to get where Jesus was. You have to be willing to take the marathon. The journey is not a sprint, it is a
  1. You Shouldn’t Take the Journey Alone – Some people don’t want to do church. They talk about how they can just do church online but know that you need community. With community, we come together to encourage each other. Never do the Jesus journey by yourself. If you will notice, the wisemen went together.
  2. The Journey Will Never Be Without Challenges– Herod was the challenge. His intentions were wrong. He frustrated the journey. We won’t let the difficulty stop us from getting where we are about to go.
  3. The Journey Requires Discipline and Focus– You’re not going to get there without the focus. The wisemen didn’t follow a person, they followed the star. Most of our Jesus relationships is tied to a person and not Him.

B.     I Want His Presence More Than His Presents 

  1. They didn’t go in looking for anything other than His presence. Some people will only come, when God does something what they want. In his presence there is fullness of joy.

III.            THEY APPROACHED HIM WITH A POSTURE OF OBEISANCE

A.     He’s Not a Kid, He’s A King 

  1. The wisemen knew that the baby Jesus was more than a kid. They knew that He was a king. Isaiah 9:6 NKJV says For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. – The more you grow in Him, the more He grows in you.
  2. He’s a nativity scene to some, but He is much more to other!. We know that we can cast our cares on Him.
  3. Not only is He a child, He is also a Wonder. He’s made ways, when we thought we were going to lose our mind. He is our Prince of Peace! After all we’ve been through, we still have our peace.

B.     He Is Worthy of Our Worship 

  1. It is all about who He is, not what He’s done. Some people can’t worship God, because they want to be worshiped
  2. Elements of Worship:
  3. Worship Requires Humility – Pride rose up in Lucifer and got him kicked out of Heaven. When you refuse to worship God, you are holding onto yourself. We have to recognize the authority of who God is.
  4. Worship Requires the Right Heart-It’s more than recreational activity for the cameras. It’s about what’s in your heart. Jesus measures our heart by what we do with our hands. How can you worship, if you don’t even speak to people, you encounter every day?
  5. Worship Acknowledges Where You Get Your Help– When I worship God, I remind people that I look to the hills from which comes my health.

IV.            THEY WERE PREPARED AND OPEN 

  • The wisemen made an intentional effort to be prepared to give. Always show up, prepared to give to God.

A.     They Didn’t Come Empty Handed 

  1. Think about the parties that you have gone to. If you will recall, you have to ask the Host is there anything that they want you to bring to the party.
  2. The wisemen thought about what they would bring the King. Don’t ever show up empty handed. Some people struggle with giving to God, because they view it in the flesh. In the spirit, you know that it belongs to God anyway.

B.      When You Bow Down, Your Treasure Opens Up 

  1. When they bowed down, and opened their treasures, it was part of their worship. We must worship in spirit and truth.
  2. When you say you love God, you recognize whatever you have, God gave it to you.
    1. Story: Bishop preached at a Convention Center full of about 2000 people. At one point in the service, there was a Minister that got up and begged for 45mins during the offering period. Even after begging for 45mins, they only raised $400. The reason they only raised $400 is because they had a house full of Praisers and not a house full of

V.            THEY PRESENTED HIM WITH THEIR BEST OFFERINGS 

  • When they gave, they gave specific gifts. The wisemen presented 3 gifts. In doing this, the wisemen demonstrate to us that we should give what’s right and not what’s left.
  • Malachi 1:6 NLT 6 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies says to the priests: “A son honors his father, and a servant respects his master. If I am your father and master, where are the honor and respect I deserve? You have shown contempt for my name!“But you ask, ‘How have we ever shown contempt for your name?’ – In Malachi 1, offerings were given by livestock. Eventually, instead of bringing God their best, they started bringing lambs with only one eye and other lame livestock. God eventually asked why they were giving to him wrong. We have to give God your best!

A.     What They Gave Was Not Random, It Was Intentional

  1. The wisemen gave intentionally, not randomly.
  2. The gifts they brought were gold which represented-kingship, frankincense which represented- divinity, and myrrh which represented-
  3. When you give, it must be intentional. Your gift ought to mean something. You give your best, because He gave his best to us! 

B.      I Give Him My Best Because He Gave Me His Best 

  1. How I Serve– I must put my energy at serving God like I do serving everyone else.
  2. How I Sow– When I sow, I sow at another level. You can’t give that Baptist dollar that you used to give. You have to give like you are blessing Him!
  3. How I Sacrifice– It’s how I wake up and do what I do with God. I want to give God my best in everything that I do.
  4. 2 ways I praise God:
  5. I praise God when I feel like it.
  6. I praise God when I don’t.
  7. They presented Jesus with gifts. They didn’t drop the gift off. They went inside and presented it to Him.
  8. When the Ring Camera begins to ring, I know it is Amazon wanting to drop something off. Amazon is just a drop off service. Amazon is in the business of
  9. There is a difference in delivery and presenting. For example, a friend says they want to come by and give something. They ask are you at home? They ring the doorbell and then came in the house and present your gift to you.
  10. When some people present you with something, they want to wait to see your response. This is why they don’t just drop it off! Don’t come and just drop your gift off to the Lord. Come to the Lord with your gift and wait for God’s response! What will you do for Him?
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