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Series Code: BOLS
Program Code: BOLS000008S
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00:08 Sermon #S005 - Know Your Worth (Part 2)
00:19 Pastor Snell: Hello everyone, I'm Pastor Debleaire Snell. Excited to bring the gospel of Jesus Christ right 00:26 there to your living room. last week we gave you the fisrt installmentof a message entitled :"Know Your Worth". 00:32 It' Blessed my soul and I'm praying it blessed yours as well. This week installment #2 of the message 00:38 entitled "Know Your Worth". Get settled, get comfortable, get ready for God's word! 00:44 Pastor Snell: The third thing this story teaches us, friends of mine, 00:47 is that good shepherds do not get offended by your spots. A good shepherd doesn't assess less value 01:01 because you have got some blemishes. 01:05 You realize in this story Jacob is a type or symbol of Jesus 01:13 and that the flock becomes a type or symbol of the church. 01:18 They are looking at this and saying, "Pastor, I do not see Jesus or the church anywhere in this." 01:23 Understand that the white sheep or the ones with no spots in a culture where the sacrifice could not 01:32 have any blemishes, these were the sheep of a premium. In other words, these speckled, 01:39 freckled, and spotted sheep had a whole lot less value, 01:44 which is why Laban was so quick to agree to the covenants. 01:50 Because he knows that these spotted sheep are worth nothing, 01:54 these spotted sheep are not going to earn any money. 01:57 No one is going to pay for these sheep that have blemishes, spots, and freckles, 02:02 but understand that Jacob, who is a forerunner of Jesus Christ, 02:07 literally says, "I will take the sheep that nobody else wants." 02:16 He says, "Give me the ones with the spots. Give me the ones with the stains. 02:22 Give me the ones with the streaks." They might not fit your herd or your pen, 02:28 but I have room for them in my pen." Jacob foreshadows that Jesus who says, "All that come unto me, 02:38 I will, in no wise, cast them out." How many of us know that we, like sheep, have gone astray? 02:44 We have turned each one to his way, and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. 02:52 In other words, we serve the Good Shepherd that looks beyond our faults,and he sees our needs 03:00 and allows us to receive adoption. Whereby, we cry, Abba Father. So, the sheep that did not qualify, 03:11 the ones that had freckles, streaks, spots, blemishes. 03:25 It is funny because the ones that had freckles and spots were like these tiny little spots. 03:32 There would be on the face or the body of the sheep. 03:35 But then those that had spots would have large spots that would cover maybe a quarter or a third of the 03:43 sheep's body. So you had some with tiny spots, and you had some with big spots. 03:53 But did you notice whether your spots were small or whether they were big, 04:00 you are all put in the same sheep pen? In other words, 04:07 the ones with smaller spots we are not deemed more worthy than the ones with big spots. 04:14 If you had spots, you were still deemed unworthy and unprofitable. 04:22 Now, the reason I am saying this is that sometimes in the church, 04:26 we think our tiny Adventist spots make us worth more than those who have bigger spots. 04:37 How many of us know that there are no levels of sin. There is no level of salvation. 04:43 If you have got any spots anywhere in your life, it means you are unworthy. 04:49 You are not deserving. 04:51 Even your little vegetarian spots put you in the same state as those that have been in the world their whole 05:03 life. Are you all hearing what I am saying? So, stop trying to create a tear of iniquity. 05:13 How many of us know that we are all sinners saved by God's amazing grace? 05:20 Hallelujah. "Pastor Steve, what did we do?" We want to create a tier of sin. 05:30 So, the street woman uses her mouth for her profession, but you use your mouth for gossip. 05:40 The brother out there robs the liquor store, but you come to church and rob God. 05:47 Yes, stay with me. Yes, he committed adultery on his wife, but you cheat on God with Instagram and Facebook. 05:59 She got a nose ring and an earring, but you got a big old shiny brooch on your jacket. 06:05 Come on. They put it in their ears. You put yours on your clothes. Am I telling the truth? 06:13 I dare to somebody today. No believer in the church, if you look around 06:19 and it looks like there is nobody who got spots but you, I need you to know we all got spots. 06:25 I am just better at hiding them than everybody else. 06:33 The larger point I want to make is that we have got to get to a place where we embrace everybody that comes 06:40 through the doors no matter what type of spots they have on their life. 06:46 The Bible says, "My house shall be called a house of prayer for all people. 06:52 We only rejoice over transfer growth. When a persuaded person comes from one church to another church, 07:06 that is not what makes Jesus rejoice. The Bible says there is joy in heaven whenever a sinner repents. 07:16 What makes heaven rejoice is when the Father leaves the 99 and finds one of the sheep that strayed. 07:24 We have got to create a church culture that is going welcome all people, 07:30 that is going to receive all people, that is going to love all people. 07:34 How many of us know you do not have to have a degree to be a member of this church? 07:39 You do not have to have a doctorate to have a place in the household of God. 07:43 How many of us know that your degrees do not make you anything? It is your anointing. 07:48 It is your calling. It is the fact that you are a child of the highest God that brings you value. 07:58 Are you hearing me today, saints? 07:59 The last thing I am going to say 08:02 before I take my seat is that sometimes what you study determines what you are going to produce. 08:13 It is a little quiet in here. We used to teach principle in church that we do not talk about anymore. 08:23 We used to teach that by beholding, you become changed. 08:31 Nothing illustrates this more than Jacob's actions after he strikes a deal with Laban. 08:40 They come to an agreement. He says, "Okay. Listen, Laban. I will take all the spotted and freckled sheep. 08:47 You keep all these sheep without blemishes or spots. You keep all the white ones." 08:53 And they literally put a three-day journey between both flocks to create a lot of distance 08:59 between Laban's perfect flock and Jacob's spotted flock. 09:05 The reason that they do not want them to be together is they do not want them to begin mating with each other. 09:13 The belief is that if spotted sheep mated with perfect sheep, it would reproduce more blemishes. 09:22 So, Jacob agrees and says, "Okay, let us put three days journey between my flock and yours." 09:31 Now. I need you to understand that Jacob, under the direction of God, 09:36 does not just create a scientific experiment. 09:40 The hand of the Lord produces something that biology itself is not able to yield. 09:46 So Jacob does something crazy. He is got a bunch of sheep that are white, without blemish. 09:53 They have no spots or streaks. But notice what Jacob does. He takes the green poplar tree, 09:59 which is not necessarily green in color. I am talking about its moisture and its newness. 10:04 What he does is strip it so that the inside of the tree is exposed. He takes the almond tree 10:11 or the Hazel tree, and he begins to put strips in them, strips, spots, and streaks in the rods of the trees, 10:19 then he puts them in the watering bucket where the sheep comes. So that when the sheep come to drink, 10:30 all they see are spots, streaks, and freckles. You all did not catch that. 10:36 So that these sheep that do not have spots, streaks, speckles, whenever they go to drink, 10:46 all they see is spots, streaks, and speckles. In fact, he said it even when they were in heat, 10:56 he put them by the watering hole so that once they start mating, they are looking at spots, streaks, 11:04 and speckles, so that the perfect sheep do not produce according to biology. 11:11 They produce according to observation. Jacob understood in order to dictate what they became. 11:20 He had to dictate what they beheld. 11:24 I am saying to the body of Christ that the enemy of the flock knows that in order to dictate what you become, 11:34 He is got to dictate what you consistently behold. 11:42 Some of us are in spotty marriages because all we study are spotty marriages. 11:52 You are not studying the woman of Proverbs 31. You are studying The Real Housewives of Atlanta 12:05 and wondering why your house is falling apart. Some of us got spotty grades 12:10 because we were hanging out with spotty friends. Some of us got spotty language 12:20 because we are listening to spotty music. I told you all I was going to get quiet up in here. 12:31 The reason some of us got spotty doctrine is that you are listening to every conspiracy on YouTube 12:39 or Facebook, on the internet instead of studying the word of the living God. 12:47 It is crazy. Some of us literally come to conclusions about doctrine in the comment section on Facebook. 12:57 And we are wondering why we are being led astray. We have been called to follow the lamb, 13:08 but we function like goats because we are not studying Him. We spend too much time observing them. 13:19 What I am saying to the Church of the Living God is we have got to get to a place. Come on. I am closing. 13:25 We begin to make Christ our obsession where we make his character the steadfast study of our lives. 13:34 We are studying and beholding Jesus, 13:38 our primary motif each and every day when we get to a place where we spend less time imitating the culture, 13:48 studying the culture, keeping up with the Kardashians, following the trends of the world. 13:54 And we have got to get back to a place where we learn how to look unto Jesus, who is the Author 14:02 and the Finisher of our faith. 14:04 What I am saying to somebody today is we found ourselves in some spotty situations. 14:11 We find ourselves in some spotty predicaments. And a lot of times, what we are producing in character, 14:19 producing in behavior, producing in function, is simply a reflection of what we are observing each 14:26 and every day. We got to get back to a place where you are keeping your eyes on Jesus. 14:36 I just want to say to the spotted flock today. The good news is that we serve a Good Shepherd. 14:44 We serve a Good Shepherd who is not offended by your blemishes. 14:48 We serve a Good Shepherd that does not devalue you because you have got some stains on your record. 14:54 We serve the Good Shepherd who says, come now and let us reason together, though your sins be a scarlet, 15:01 I will make them white like snow. Though they are red like crimson, 15:05 I will make them white like wool, 15:07 and I just need to know if I have got at least four or five people that are willing to say, Lord, 15:12 I Thank you. That even though I have got some spots, even though I have got some blemishes, 15:17 even though I have fallen short of your glory, I am thankful Lord that we are sin abounds. 15:24 Grace does much more abound. So, right now, praise Him as we are going to sing a minister to the spotted, 15:32 minister to those with streaks, minister to those with some flaws online, to those in the house. 15:39 Then we are going to come back, and I am going to invite you to decide for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 15:55 Singer: We fall down, but we get up. We fall down, but we get up. 16:07 We fall down, but we get up, for a saint is just a sinner who fell down and got up. 16:31 We fall down, but we get up. We fall down, but we get up. We fall down, but we get up, 16:48 for a saint is just a sinner who fell down and got up. We fall down, but we get up. We fall down, 17:14 but we get up. We fall down, but we get up, for a saint is just a sinner who fell down and got up. 17:38 We fall down, but we get up. We fall down, but we get up. We fall down, 17:52 but we get up, for a saint is just a sinner who fell down and got up. 18:53 Singer: Just back up. But you will get it back up. 19:51 Snell: Right now, you stand it to your feet as we prepare to close today's service. 19:57 I want to make a very direct appeal today. I want to talk to that person, 20:06 those persons who feel like your spots, your blemishes, 20:19 the stains on your record have somehow disqualified you for fellowship with the Savior. 20:27 But I need somebody to know that no matter what you have beheld then, 20:32 no matter what it has caused you to produce, your streaks do not offend Him 20:39 because you serve the Lamb of God that had no blemish in Him. He is able to remove every streak, 20:47 every stain, everything that offends from your life so that, as believers, 20:52 we are able to stand before Christ as if we have never ever sinned. 21:01 So, if there is somebody today that has been overwhelmed with guilt, 21:05 if there is somebody today who consistently beats themself up 21:10 because you got spots or because you thought you would be further along by now, 21:13 or because you have not yet been able to overcome, I need you to understand, friends of mine, 21:18 that our God is able to keep you from falling. 21:21 I need you to know that He is also able to present you faultless before the throne with exceeding joy even 21:29 before you are faultless. You are presented faultless. 21:36 Salvation is not your work for God. Salvation is God's work for you. It is work done on your behalf. 21:46 I need you to know that salvation is always put in the context of a gift. It is not warranted. 21:52 It is not deserved, and it is not earned. It is simply accepted by faith. 21:57 So if there is somebody in the building, in the balcony, God is saying, "I am not offended by your spots. 22:03 But what I am going to do is I want to trade you. If you enter and follow me, give me your spots, 22:19 and I will give you my profession. Let us make an exchange. 22:25 I will take your wretchedness in exchange for my righteousness." 22:29 He is not waiting for you to get to a certain level. He says, "You can be a part of the bargain right now. 22:35 Let us make a deal." But you have just gotta be willing to acknowledge, I cannot save myself, 22:43 cannot improve myself, cannot better myself. I am simply going to take Christ at his word. 22:49 So today, if you hear Jesus says, let us make a deal to remission all of your sins. 22:56 You want to go all the way in a committed relationship with him. You want to begin serving Jesus Christ, 23:02 and you signify. You enter into the body of Christ through baptism. And through baptism, 23:07 all of your iniquities are washed away. And the exchange takes place where He gives you His righteousness, 23:14 and He takes away every spot, every streak, every freckle. 23:18 So today, you want to make it up in your mind to say, I want to be a part of the family of God. 23:22 I want to be a part of the body of Christ. If that is your desire today, 23:26 I invite you to come on down to the front. Come and give me your hand 23:29 and give Jesus Christ your heart today. 23:31 I need you to know serving God is the best decision you will ever make. God bless you today, 23:35 my sisters. Praise God. 23:37 Is there somebody else today who wants to decide to start following after Jesus Christ? 23:44 If you are on the balcony, you can come. If you are on the floor, you can come. 23:47 If you are in your mother's room, you can come. I need you to know that today, 23:51 Jesus wants you to enter into a relationship, not just a religion, but the invitation is yours today. 23:58 So whether you are a little child, maybe you are a teenager, perhaps you are a young adult, 24:03 perhaps you are somebody that has been around religious things, 24:06 but it is just never taken root like every promising. 24:09 All the things you hear preached have never become your lived reality because you never fully surrendered. 24:17 How many of us want to be in the center of His will today? Do you want to function in excellence? 24:20 Do you want your excellence to be a witness today? 24:22 Right now, we are praying. And even as I am praying, 24:25 you can come on down to the front to make your decision known to follow after Jesus Christ 24:30 and become a disciple of the Lord and Savior. Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, 24:35 we come before you boldly because that is the way you invite us to come, 24:38 Lord. We offer up this prayer, knowing that there is nothing too hard for you. 24:43 I want to first pray for these sons and daughters that have come down to say. I want to be baptized. 24:48 I want to join the Church of the Living God. My prayer for them right now is that they would experience, 24:54 they would be immersed, they would just be overwhelmed by your amazing Amazing Grace. 25:03 I pray that any sense of condemnation would lose its hold 25:09 and that they would experience a newness of life that commences right now. 25:18 Father, we pray that as a community, 25:21 we are praying that the Covenant of Abraham would be upon the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 25:27 not just so that we could stand and be distinct. 25:30 We are praying that the blessing of the Lord upon this church would overflow into offices, 25:35 classrooms, and hospital rooms, that the excellence would be a witness to those who do not believe. 25:43 Father, I am praying that you will begin transitioning some people who know their worth, 25:49 that someone would transition out of unhealthy relationships, 25:53 that somewhat transition from just being an employee, 25:55 that they would transition from just using their gifts to better somebody else. 26:00 But may they be able to create some streams by which they better their own homes. 26:07 Lord, we do not want to be selfish. We want to be good stewards. 26:11 And as you increase us, we do not see money as the end, 26:15 but we recognize that it is a vehicle that we are to put in service to grow your kingdom. 26:24 So, Lord, bless your people. Lord, would you bless your people? Would you make us the head and not the tail? 26:36 Would you make us above and not beneath? May we be lenders and not borrowers. 26:42 May we not have to go hand to hand and chase after this but may the blessings of the Lord come upon us 26:50 and overtake us as we obey your command and follow all the statutes that you have given us to do. 26:57 So, Lord, would you bless those in the building? 27:00 Would you pronounce supernatural blessings to those who watch online? 27:05 May you give us a supernatural favor that allows there to be a witness that creates an opportunity for us to 27:15 tell your story, to tell the story of Jesus Christ. Would you bless and keep us? 27:20 Anoint us as only you can. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Let the blessed people of God say, Amen. 27:28 Let the people of God put their hands together and praise for the great God who does all things. 27:33 Well. For those of you who came down, would you follow Sister Mortan? She is going to pray with you 27:37 and give you some direction in the next steps of discipleship. 27:41 Let us put our hands together for those who responded to the appeal today. 27:45 You may be seated in the house of the Lord. 27:48 (Breath of Life Theme Music) 28:13 (MUSIC) 28:15 Pastor Snell: Hi, I'm Debleaire Snell. Have you ever been in a place where as soon as you started believing 28:19 big, praying big and thinking big someone told you that you need to be more realistic? 28:26 It was unrealistic for Jesus to say 28:29 I'm going to lay down my life and in three days I'm going to pick it back up again. 28:33 I want to encouarge you to put down your commonly held beliefs 28:37 and it's time for us to "Get Unrealistic" 28:43 [END] |
Revised 2022-03-18