Participants:
Series Code: BOLS
Program Code: BOLS000069S
|
00:08 Sermon #S036 - Size Doesn't Matter- (Part 2)
00:19 Welcome to the Breath of Life Television Ministries broadcast with Pastor Debleaire Snell! 00:26 In today's episode, Pastor Snell will continue part two of the powerful Message entitled: “Size Doesn't Matter.” 00:37 Now, let's go deeper into the word of God! 00:41 Pastor Snell: And it's funny because I need somebody to know that you will always struggle with faith 00:47 if you only celebrate your personal victories. 00:52 See, you'll miss 95% of the mercies and miracles of God if you only focus on how God is blessing you. 01:04 Are y'all with me today? See, remember I already told you that the disciples are in the privileged boat. 01:11 They've got Jesus in the boat with them. So if anybody should have been tripping, it should not have been them. 01:20 They're in the boat, they can see Jesus, the ones that should have been nervous and say, master, 01:27 don't you care that we perish are those that are in the small boats. 01:32 Now you need to get that this storm is growing progressively worse. 01:35 It is intensifying as the night goes on. 01:38 But one of the things that the disciples should have taken note of is that all night long whenever the lightning flashed, 01:46 they could look over and notice that not a single little boat has been lost. 01:52 Okay, y'all still hadn't here got here with me yet. In other words, every time they look over, 01:57 I don't know how many boats left with them from the other side. I don't know if it was 50 boats or if it was 30 boats, 02:02 but every time they look over the side, all those little boats 02:08 Are still above water. See, it would've been one thing. I could have understood them being afraid if they leave with 20 boats 02:16 and after one hour it's 17 boats after two hours, it's 12 boats after three hours, it's seven boats after four hours, 02:24 they're the last boat standing. I would be afraid if all the other ships have been taken out and we are the last ones standing. 02:32 But they should have got some strength when they looked over and saw that God sustained the tiny boats at nine 02:40 and at midnight and two in the morning. 02:43 And they should have come to the conclusion that if Jesus is keeping those in the small boats, 02:50 then God is able to keep me from going under. Are y'all hearing me today, friends? 02:55 And see this is why Paul in the letter to the church at Rome teaches us to rejoice with those who rejoice 03:02 and mourn with those who mourn. And see, I need you to know, beloved, that when you rejoice when those who rejoice 03:09 and you mourn with those who mourn, something powerful happens. So that when I mourn with those who mourn, 03:18 I give strength to those who are grieving. But when I rejoice to those who are rejoicing, 03:23 I draw strength from those who are rejoicing. In other words, friends, I need you to understand that when God blesses you, 03:32 there is no blessing that God sent just to you. 03:36 [ Congregation: Alright] 03:38 Oh, help me Holy Ghost. See how many of us understand that every blessing that is given is given not just to you. 03:46 It is given as an asset to the body. See, that's why Revelation 12 says that they overcome by the blood of the lamb 03:56 and by the word of their testimony. Are y'all hearing me today? 04:01 And see, and this is why we've got a function not just as spectators in worship but as a community or as a body of believers 04:10 because guess what? We can draw strength from one another when we are weak. And guess what? 04:15 Our strength can give strength to the weak. Oh, y'all hearing me today, friends? See that's how our body is supposed to work. 04:23 So that just the same way the physical body works, the spiritual body is supposed to operate in the same way. 04:27 So the same way when I'm going through the darkness at night 04:30 and I stub my little toe, guess what, man there is ringing in my hands and in my head 04:35 because what affects the tiny part of the body? 04:38 I feel it in the rest of my body. And in the same way, when I eat something that is good and tasteful to the buds, guess what? 04:46 My entire body responds with joy. Why? Because width affects one part of the body, affects the entire part of the body. 04:56 And see the reason the 12 are tripping is because they're functioning as every man for himself. 05:04 They are disconnected from everyone else. But see, if they got to a place where they said, man, they're surviving it, 05:13 let me praise God that they're surviving it. Because if they're surviving it, it's the proof that I'm going survive it as well. 05:22 Are you all hearing me today? 05:24 And see, this is why you got to get to a place where you learn how to rejoice when others rejoice 05:29 because it's quiet as it's kept. There are some that don't rejoice when others rejoice. 05:34 We mourn when others rejoice, and we rejoice when others mourn because other people's blessing causes us to become bitter 05:42 and jealous and envious. But I need you to know that other people's good news ought not to make you mad. 05:48 Other's good people's news ought to actually bolster your faith 05:53 and help you know that God is about to do something in your life. 05:57 [ Congregation: Amen] 05:59 In other words, this is how testimony service at church ought to go. 06:03 In other words, instead of standing up and saying, I've got a new car, you stand up and say, look at how God has blessed us 06:12 because what he is done for me, he can do the same for you. When their kids come back to church. 06:19 You sound like your kids came back to church when they get healed from cancer. You sound like you got healed from cancer. 06:27 When you prayed for them and God answered the prayer you prayed for them, 06:32 you rejoice as if it happened to you and see you oughta be glad when somebody else is in the overflow. 06:41 [ Congregation: Alright] 06:43 See the problem with some of us is that we operate in such a way that we've made the overflow selfish. 06:50 See I need you to understand that the overflow is not selfish. It's supposed to be contagious. 06:58 In other words, does anybody remembers these old-school ice trays? 07:02 Anybody under 35 knows about ice makers let them know about these trays. 07:07 Can I get a witness out there now? Now isn't it amazing how in an ice tray in order to fill it up, 07:14 you got to turn it to the side 07:17 [ Congregation: Laughing] 07:19 And then what happens is you got to cause one cube to overflow. 07:23 But if you next to the one that's overflowing, if you're next to somebody overflowing, 07:32 [ Congregation: Yes] 07:33 Then guess what? The overflow is going to pour over into you. 07:38 In other words, I'm not going to get mad when I see you in the overflow. 07:44 I'm going to stand next to you because the overflow has to go somewhere. 07:52 And if I'm next to you when you overflow, guess what is going overflow into my cup? Oh, God. 08:01 And what I'm saying to somebody else is when they're overflowing, don't get mad. 08:07 Get close because God is simply going to send some your way. Are y'all hearing me today friends? 08:15 [ Congregation: That's right] 08:19 So your life might be turned to the side. And you are next to somebody that's getting blessed. 08:25 Don't get mad. You are just in a position to see the goodness of God overflow into your life. 08:40 Are y'all hearing me today? The third thing this teaches is that you can't just use your privilege for yourself. 08:55 It's interesting that Matthew says that they toil with this storm all night long. Now watch this. 09:05 Cause notice they don't call Jesus until their boat is going under. In other words, this storm is intensified, 09:18 and it is getting worse all night. I mean those who are in the little boat, you realize that in a storm, 09:23 those in the little boat going to feel it first. 09:27 But notice they don't invoke their privilege of waking up Jesus until what's affecting everybody else begins to affect them. 09:40 And it's funny because those who are in the storm in the small boats are going to feel this with an acute sensitivity that 09:48 those in the big boat don't feel. So that those in the little boat, they're in evasive maneuvering action. 09:57 Those in the big boat, they just drinking, they alza like ain't nothing going on. 10:02 Those in the little boats are having to bail water out all night long. Those in the big boats are like, 10:08 we didn't even bring no buckets on our boat. Those in the little boat are trying to fight for their lives. 10:14 And those in the big boat are judging and saying you should have got yourself a bigger boat 10:18 and you wouldn't be in that same situation. Are y'all hearing what I'm saying? 10:22 And isn't it amazing that they don't wake up Jesus as long as the little boats are struggling, 10:27 as long as the little boats are drowning, as long as the little boats are in peril, guess what? 10:32 They hoard Jesus and their privilege all to themselves. 10:35 And they don't wake up Jesus until the storm is about to take them under. 10:43 And see the problem with privilege is that sometimes we won't use our resources, our gifts, our connections, 10:49 or our advantages until certain things affect us directly. See, it's crazy because I'm not sure if Jesus rebukes them 11:01 because they wake him up in the storm. Perhaps Jesus rebukes them because they don't wake them up until it's affecting them. 11:14 And see, and this is why friends, 11:16 sometimes God has to allow suffering to touch everybody so that the privilege stop hoarding their privilege. 11:26 Are y'all hearing what I'm saying today? And it's amazing because the disciples hoard their, 11:30 privilege until it is affecting them. 11:33 But I do want to say to somebody today be mindful that what's affecting another community today might be touching your world 11:43 tomorrow. Isn't it amazing how those in the big boat, the cure for drugs and illegal drugs were a stiff penalty 11:56 and harsh punishment until the opioid crisis went into the suburbs and rural counties 12:03 and now the emphasis is upon counseling and rehabilitation? 12:08 Isn't it amazing how Covid wasn't really no big deal until it got out of the ghettos 12:14 and started affecting people of every hue and every high hair type? 12:20 Isn't it amazing how HIV was no big deal as long as it was a gay and sinners disease? 12:26 But when it starts affecting those in big boats, all of a sudden laws begin to change. 12:31 Gender discrimination is no big deal. Until your talented wife or daughter reaches an artificial ceiling. 12:39 That date rape is no problem until it was a woman in your family that's taken advantage of 12:47 and now you ain't got no questions about what she was wearing and why she was there 12:51 and what even was she in that situation in the first place? 12:55 It's amazing how the treatment of our veterans is no problem until your nephew or niece comes home wounded 13:02 and gets underserved. The criminal justice system is no problem until your middle-class child messes up in these streets 13:11 and finds themself in need of some solutions. Human trafficking is no problem until it affects our community. 13:21 Then we want to pray, we want to protest, we want to go on Facebook. 13:25 But it wasn't a problem until it started touching our house. And see essentially this message is I could spend our time 13:36 and I could talk about him stopping the waves and the sea. But see it's a call away from isolationism. 13:44 This is a call away from me-centered thinking where I live with no awareness of suffering or hardship 13:53 or outside pain until it touches me in a direct way. 13:57 And I want to be encouraging to somebody be careful about looking down on folk who don't have big boats. 14:04 Because those folk that you looking down on today, you might be looking next to them tomorrow. 14:12 It is a call to not be tone deaf, to not be powerless, to not be voiceless, to not be indifferent, 14:19 and to have a sensitivity to human suffering wherever it is found. And so whether your privilege comes from gender or race, 14:26 whether your privilege is earned or whether it is inherited, I need all of us to know, 14:31 even though most of us may have a dark hue of skin, do you realize that in the Oakwood community that there are advantages 14:38 and privileges that don't exist in every other community And we can't allow our privilege to just be hoarded for second 14:47 and third and fifth generation Adventists? 14:50 We've got to open up the doors and build bridges and not walls and we've got to be a source of healing, a source of hope, 14:58 a source of facilitation to those that need this gospel that we have. 15:04 [ Congregation: Amen] 15:06 Are y'all hearing what I'm saying? And it's crazy because disciples just like us when our bills are due, 15:17 don't you care that we perish but it's been people perishing around you all day, all month long. 15:22 We, don't really want to call for change with financial aid 15:27 and how kids get into church school until our kids have a month when the tuition is hard to come by. 15:35 And what I'm saying to somebody today is that we've got to operate as good members in covenant with society. 15:41 Can somebody say amen today? See I need us to understand that society, is not necessarily just a grouping of people. 15:48 Society is a social contract. It is a contract 15:53 and a decision to say that we are not going to allow some to prosper at the expense of others. 15:58 We've got to make it up in our minds to say, man, that we are not judged not by the upper crust or by the elite 16:06 or by the wealthiest 1%, but we are actually judged as a society. Our moral worth is defined by how the least 16:14 and the marginalized and left behind are cared for in a culture of wealth and opulence and excess. 16:25 Are y'all hearing me today friends? It's crazy because there is one benefit of being in a small boat. 16:34 You notice that like those in the big boat, they screaming, they hollering, they shrinking, they're like, Lord, 16:46 don't you care that we perish? But David shouldn't this screaming shall come from those in the little boats, 16:54 the lows, and the little boats. Start feeling the storm first. Oh, y'all not here. 17:00 [ Congregation: Amen] 17:01 Those in the little boat have been in the storm the longest. 17:05 Those in the little boat have been feeling it the worst. In other words, what's happened to those in the little boats? 17:12 The reason they're not screaming with the disciples is they've been in the storm so long, 17:19 that they've developed a rhythm to surviving. So now that it's just catching those in the big boat, 17:29 they trying to panic and have an attack but they've been in the storm so long that they've just adjusted to it. 17:37 Oh y'all, not hear me? See there are some that are just being touched by certain problems in life, 17:45 but there are some, don't get bougie with me now. 17:48 [ Congregation: Alright] 17:50 Does anybody come from that part of town? Does anybody come from the other side of the tracks? 17:56 Anybody ever eaten ruing noodles for lunch, dinner, and breakfast? In other words, 18:03 you've been in a little boat so long that you ain't tripping because of the storm. 18:10 Because you've got a rhythm to surviving things. 18:13 [ Congregation: Amen] 18:14 See in other words, there are some that start tripping whenever there's a recession. 18:19 But some of us have been in recession so long. 18:21 [ Congregation: Alright] 18:23 Recession is all we know. We used to not having no money. We used to having to make food with nothing 18:32 but a bottle of ketchup and a box of baking soda. Are y'all hearing what I'm saying? In other words, 18:37 when the housing market is bad, we ain't tripping when the economy's bad, we ain't tripping, 18:43 when there are job losses, we ain't tripping because we have been broke so long. 18:48 We've been on the other side so long that we learned that when we ain't got nobody else. 18:53 [ Congregation: Amen] 18:55 See they just learned to call on Jesus. But you've been having to call on Jesus. 19:02 If you've had to call on Jesus, that's just another kind of privilege. 19:09 In other words, I need you to know that if you ain't never been down to your last dime, 19:14 [ Congregation: Alright] 19:15 If you ain't never gotten down to the place where if it didn't have, if God didn't do it, 19:19 it couldn't be done. You've been culturally deprived. 19:22 [ Congregation: Amen] 19:24 But do I have seven or eight folks? You've been in that spot so long, 19:29 you've seen God do so much with so little that you believe God can do anything when he ain't got nothing 19:40 because he gave you the privilege of being in the storm first and longest. 19:48 So you know how to handle the storm because you've been there so long. Are y'all hearing what I'm saying? And see, 19:58 and that's why everybody else is frightened, tripping. It's the end of all things for you it's just Tuesday. 20:09 [ Congregation: Laughing] 20:12 And the God who did it on Sunday and the God who did it on Monday and the God that did it last time, 20:19 he's still on the throne and he's going to do it again. Are y'all hearing the word of God today friends? 20:25 Listen, I'm done. I just wanted to take a little time today to say two things to those who feel like they're in a little boat. 20:41 I need you to be clear that God loves those in little boats. You may feel like you're in a small boat financially 20:51 and professionally and spiritually, because of your gender, or because of what part of town you come from, 20:56 or what neighborhood you were brought up in. But God says, man, your testimony might not be that you always were in a big boat. 21:05 Your testimony is that, man it was storming and I was in a small boat. 21:12 [ Congregation: Amen] 21:14 And God sustained me in the storm. See, somebody going to shout until you get to the part where he stopped the storm. 21:25 But anybody just prays for to be sustained... 21:28 [ Congregation: Amen] 21:31 In the storm, God kept you when you didn't have money for school. 21:38 He kept you when your grandma had to send quarters and a calling card so you can call back home. 21:45 Does anybody remember today is when your grandma would send detergent in Ziploc bags so you can wash your clothes? 21:52 He kept you when you were in a small boat. He kept you in that. 21:56 You came from that part of town where there are many folk men that were born in your year, 22:01 but they ain't no longer here. Some of us have come out of circumstances 22:07 and see that's why man-educated Christians should not sit up and be boogie. 22:11 I'm the educated Christian who ought to be the loudest, most thankful, most joyous, most grateful people 22:17 because you know where you come from and you know where God has brought you up out of. 22:33 And he cares for your young person. If you're in a small boat, he cares for you my brother 22:39 and sister if you're in a small boat financially, medically, or spiritually, no matter what it is, God sees you. 22:43 And he cares for those in small boats. But there's a larger call for those of us because some may get privileged because of, 22:51 their last name or through inheritance. You know, in, church. I have privilege over my female counterparts cause I'm a male 22:58 and they're female pastors. There's a privilege I have there, are some I have a privilege simply 23:03 because God has blessed you to be a person of means. 23:08 So I need you to know that this sermon is not just to the majority, it is to anybody that has access, opportunity, connection, 23:21 privilege, and the opportunity to be a conduit. But you're living as a collector. 23:36 How can you expect somebody else to do for your community what we are not doing in our own communities? 23:49 Are you hearing what I'm saying? Guys? We don't need a savior. No, let me change that spiritually. 24:01 We need a savior as a community, we don't need a savior. We just need to learn how to come together. 24:08 [ Congregation: Amen] 24:11 We got to stop being small-minded. We got to stop being crabs in a barrel. 24:20 See when crabs are, well y'all, don't know nothing about this. But when crabs are trying to escape 24:28 and one gets up right there close to the top, you know what another one does? He'll grab him and pull him right back down. 24:35 And say, guess what? We going to all die together. And instead of pulling the one at the top down, 24:40 won't you form a chain or a line and let others crawl across so that everybody can be free? 24:51 I want us, listen, I want to call young African American entrepreneurs to see other people in your field. 24:56 And when you see them doing well, don't just see them as competition. Congratulate them. 25:02 [ Congregation: Amen] 25:05 Congratulate them. No Oakwood and Pine Forge, we are not competitors, we are partners, right? We're partners. We're partners. 25:16 We got the same mission, we got the same work. So what I'm saying is today, friends, that there are two responsibilities. 25:23 One, if you're in a little boat, God cares. But if you're in a bull big boat for any reason, 25:28 somehow God is just giving you access. Listen, you got privilege. 25:34 If you've got enough food in your house for dinner that when you're done, you're going to have to throw some away. 25:42 That's privilege. 25:45 And what I'm saying to us today is that the social responsibility does not begin with the outside. 25:50 It begins with us individually where we learn to come together instead of pulling down, tearing apart, 25:56 and seeing everybody as a threat, but realize we're all partners. We're all fighting the same fight. 26:00 We're all in the same race and we're all headed toward the same heaven. How many of us believe the word of God today? 26:05 [ Congregation: Amen] 26:07 So, I need somebody to function on a different level of faith. What I'm talking about requires a different level of belief. 26:11 It's hard to see. You are the last cube in the tray and somebody's being filled in the top 26:16 and your life is being turned upside down. Just be still when they're in the overflow. 26:23 Because if you just are still and you'll rejoice with those who rejoice, 26:26 I need you to know it's just a matter of time before the blessings of God overflow into your life. 26:31 Is there anybody that believes today? 26:34 For the past 49 years, Breath of life has been presenting the Gospel of Jesus Christ. 26:40 From a contemporary urban perspective, in 2023, we plan to grow our reach. 26:47 And your donations are what help make that possible. 26:51 This year, our major goal is to launch our Breath of Life weekly broadcast into five new cities. 26:58 In addition, we're excited to introduce our new Breath of Life Kids platform with original content created with your 27:05 little ones in mind. We'll continue with innovative programming, dynamic preaching, 27:12 and sharing the gospel through evangelistic campaigns. Here are the five ways that you can give. 27:18 You can give online at Breath of Life.tv. By mail. P.O. Box 5960. Huntsville, Alabama. 35814. 27:29 By phone at area code 256-929-6460. Or by texting the phrase “GIVE2BOLTV to 1-888-364-GIVE 27:44 or by Cash App $BreathoflifeTV. Every single dollar you give goes right back into the ministry 27:53 and allows us to share the good news of Jesus Christ all over the world. 27:58 We pray that God's favor will overtake you as a result of your generous gifts to Breath Of Life. God bless! 28:06 (Breath of Life Theme Music) 28:28 [END] |
Revised 2023-05-23