God's people said Amen has he been faithful to us Please show me your Bibles the first Peter chapter 4 This morning we're gonna jump ahead the first Peter 4 and look at verses 10 and 11 Is God calls us to love and to serve one another as we began. I got to tell you I'm really nervous today at four o'clock I'm preaching For a church in Eatonville It's a church that's celebrating their hundred and twenty-fifth anniversary St. Lawrence AME church right there on Kennedy Boulevard and the pastor keeps telling me please bring your folks out So today the Lord's day if you have time at four o'clock to come and support your pastor and pray for your pastor The services will be right there in that church and I am excited. I'm terrified I am I'm terrified. It's Theo Robinson's invited me and he's a brother in Christ. I'm on his song again this weekend is Friday Ran into him and and I wanted to say Theo now you remember I'm white This is yeah, I haven't forgotten and he said you know God really has led me to pastor Jake's I said Theo It was TD Jake's you know not Jeff Jake's so Anyway, it was good news I I ask him I said how long do I have the preach he says as long as the spirit leads Is it true here this morning? But please come if you can four o'clock, you know all I can think about is it gonna be someone is gonna be screaming out I'm gonna have some eight men's I hope I'm excited about that so you guys can help me out today all right You can warm me up a little bit all right get me going send me out and Preach it and I just know there's gonna be someone who's gonna stand up say help him Jesus help him I told the Lord. I'm willing to go. I don't know what he's doing, but I am excited as well One of those passages and God's word today that's it's I know I say it about every Sunday, but it's unbelievable I mean it's unbelievable what God's word has for us again today the way he loves us and the way he equips us and the way He is going to glorify himself through us. So turn with me to God's holy and errant word This is our rule. This is our guide And this is where we need to go to weaken and we got to be fed and be to be directed as well So as we look to God's word and first Peter four verse 10, we're mindful that this is God's holy and errant word Says this That's each one has received a special gift Inpoient in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God Whoever speaks is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God Whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving by the strength which God supplies So that in all these things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever Amen Let us pray And Father God again this morning we are so grateful for your word and the privilege to come and defeat upon it And God we're thankful to your son who has come and as the word made flesh to live among us And to bring us home so that we can understand and have this word Father, we're thankful for the Holy Spirit that opens up our minds and our ears and our eyes and our hearts and Empowers our feet In light of your word and to walk in a manner worthy of your word and to understand your word And Father even this morning it says whoever speaks in your word speaks the very oracles of God No father God Only you Could choose to use broken fools like me To speak your truth and Oh how humbled I am And oh how fearful it is To stand in your stead And to feed your people One thing that is utterly clear father God is that we don't need my wisdom. It'll fail Your people your bride need you to speak clearly Need you to speak powerfully Father in a way that we understand in a way that we hunger In a way that we're fed and a way that we are motivated So father come and do that which only you can do and that speak through a broken center forgive his sins there many And Father may we hear your voice the voice of your son The voice of the spirit and May we be compelled to surrender our lives because of it May you and you alone receive glory as this verse so clearly says it's all about your glory And may we receive great joy. It's in Christ's name. We pray Amen One of the joys of getting away is getting away to different parts of the country and maybe seeing different wildlife that is not Indigenous here to Florida. We have some beautiful wildlife here And I'm very thankful for the incredible aircraft carrier size birds I'm not very thankful for the aircraft carrier size insects But it is nice to be able to get away and to see the beauty of God's creation and in the creatures he's created chipmunks Why don't we have chipmunks? Are they not one of the cutest little creatures you've ever seen? Is it just me and my losing it but to me I love going to the North and seeing chipmunks wood shucks I'm not sure if their hedgehogs wood shucks are groundhogs people seem to call them all the same thing But they're really dumb animals that get hit by cars along the side of the road But they're cute to see right before you see them in the rear view mirror Dear, I know we have deer here But we have deer that are not on steroids or something happened to our deer because you go to know a country They're huge and they're big one of the things that I saw this summer that we do have here and by the way Isn't it nice to get away from some of the creatures that are indigenous here? I'm in a swim in a place where there's no elevators whoo No sharks and you have to worry about those football-sized cockroaches running around One of the things that I saw the summer and it's taking in and the sights was and we do have them here is peacocks And a peacock what an incredible bird that the God has made And it kind of unusual you look at it from a distance before it opens up and fans out its tail feathers and you wonder It's kind of awkward looking with that big tail hanging behind But all of a sudden as it spreads out what God has created in tail feathers and it fans out this beauty of a multi-color Arrangement and all you can do is say wow God That's amazing that in your creativity that you decided to have a peacock be that breathtakingly beautiful Well, the verse that we have today it's talking about God's multi-colored grace It's it's his Grace it may be it can be translated multi-colored our text translates it Manifold grace of God, but here's the reality God has a story to tell and he has a beauty that he wants to be seen and it's his beauty and it's his story And he's going to use us to tell his story you're ready for this He's going to use us to reflect his beauty He has given each of us a piece of that beauty together We come together like a jigsaw puzzle that he has put together before time began to reflect a beautiful picture of who he is And the only way that the world sees the beauty of this picture and the beauty of our God is if our tail feathers are spread And we are united together in Christ and we are singing his glory and we are telling his story and we said Don't look at our beauty individually Because there isn't a lot But look at our beauty corporately and look at the beauty of what God has made and as the world sees us With our tail feathers spread and it reflects his beauty and what he has done The multi-colored grace of God by his design He makes a beautiful tapestry out of us Go figure he makes a beautiful picture and tells an incredible story through us Go figure And the way he does it is each and every one of us is uniquely gifted by God each and every one Each and every one is uniquely gifted by God so that we can serve one another And ultimately so that His name could be praised the first thing we see in this in this verse in verse 10 is this you are uniquely gifted by God As each one every single one has received a special gift Not only have you received that special gift, but we see that we are stewards of that gift is by God's manifold grace that we are gifted No matter who you are No matter what you see reflected in the mirror No matter what your self esteem is
If you are a child of God You have been uniquely gifted by God to serve others So that God can be glorified so that his story can be told No Christian here listen There's no believer here. There's no Christian here no matter what age you are Whether the youngest or the oldest the strongest or the most frail the most educated or the most simple no matter who you are The newest Christian or the oldest Christian no matter who you are Good news God has uniquely given you a gift The question that we have to ask God have you gifted me is the wrong question The question that each and every one of us needs to ask continually as a child of God is God how How have you uniquely gifted me what have you given me what part of the tale feather do you want me to play Because I have to realize and you have to realize that God has uniquely gifted each and every one of us They're clearly from God God is the one who says that we are stewards of these gifts. We don't even own them What God has done is he's done this. He says basically. I'm creating this story I'm telling my story. I'm the God of history and they're really good news our history counts He's not just the God of the history that we read in the New York Times today or the San Francisco Chronicles He's the God of our history He's the God of our story and he wants to tell his story through us He says I'm gonna give you a gift and listen all you are of this gift you're not an owner of this gift You're just a steward It's been entrusted to you by me. It's there by my design I have determined what that gift will be and you and I are called to use that gift Not for our pleasure not for our glory not even to tell our story Not to find advancement in society not to make a living for ourselves Ultimately God has uniquely gifted us so that we can glorify him and tell his story But there's really good news with us and it's this is there's not a disconnect between God's glory and our happiness The two are perfectly wed together God has created us for himself He has created us to enjoy him to know him to live for him and as we reflect his love as we live for his glory As we use that gift or those gifts That God has given to us as good stewards acknowledging God all that I have is yours I acknowledge you are the designer of this gift and I want to use it for your glory as simply a good steward Guess what we find our happiness we find our joy This is this has meant so much to me over the last several years for several years in my Christian journey I thought that God's glory and my happiness were not always on parallel tracks For oftentimes in my Christian life I thought that if I fully surrender my life to Christ if I utilize these gifts for his glory That somehow I might be missing out on my stuff And I'm reminded over and over and over again the beautiful reality that when we use our gifts for his glory We find the most happiness we find life and life abundantly and because we find his pleasure The pleasure of the creator who has uniquely gifted us God not only gifts us But he empowers us Looking verse 11 it's amazing You get 10 is very clear each one of us is uniquely gifted and we have to employ those gifts more in a minute about that That we are only good stewards of these gifts He goes on to say or speaks do so the utterance of God whoever serves do so as one who is serving by the strength Which God supplies Isn't it great isn't that just God? It's not only God who's gonna say you know what No matter what you feel No matter what the world says I've gifted you It's been my design And no matter how much lack of energy you have And know how busy your schedule is No matter whatever well life's going on God says not only have I gifted you I'm giving you the strength to utilize it I'm giving you the resources and the power to use our gifts for God's glory There is such good news here and the word that he uses for supplies I mean just one of those words in the Greek that I just had a wrestle with all week. It's unbelievable It means could be choir director God gives us a choir director. He supplies it. It could be in a theatrical production the dancers in the Ensemble that he is supplying and it also can be translated in abundance and here's the deal God is a one who says I have created you as you are I have gifted you as you are and I'm gonna give you the strength the strength of the resurrected savior The strength it would take a dead savior and lift him to life out of the tomb I'm going to give that to you as in abundance So that we can serve him. There's good news. You're uniquely gifted. There's good news your life counts because of that There's good news. He wants to use you. There's good news. He will empower you To use your gifts for his glory So we can't sit back and say you know what? I'm not gifted. It's not true We can't say sit back and say you know what? I don't have the power. It's not true. It's his But not only have we been uniquely gifted and not only has he empowered us right for this He's empowered us and gifted us so that we can serve one another God has gifted you to serve one another the second part of be there is this Employ that gift employ it and serving one another
God has given us this he empowers us and you know the word here to serve one another Means deacon It's where we get the word deacon from that God is calling us to serve one another like deacons I love what God spirit is doing in this church with our diacon and our board of deacons We just elected two more Because there's a realization that the deacons aren't the ones in this church that are supposed to serve one another The deacons aren't the ones in this church that we turn to and say you take care of the stuff The deacons are the ones in this church that are to be catalyst to all of us saying we all have a unique gift We all have certain colors in our and our feathers that we have to blend together to show this picture The deacons are the ones who Corral us and say this is how we can serve one another take out your insert please and we can look this bridge building insert And you can see in there that says something says orange wood deacons Immediately after the worship service each and every one of you was going to march faithfully to fellowship Paul and put your name on certain list And one of them may be the orange wood deacons What do you do? Let me ask you this question before we begin What do you do on a Sunday morning that helps your neighbor worship? You say I do nursery duty very good. Thank you very much. I Set up the sanctuary. Thank you very much. Those are two minimum requirements Several of you have given so that we can worship several of you help us park cars several you teach in Sunday school classes Thank you for those of you who are Deacon for those of you who are serving one another thank you, but the reality is this Christian it's not an orange wood call. It's a Christian call each and every one of us has to do it And Sunday morning isn't just about receiving. It's also about loving God and loving one another and using that gift that God has given us Maybe that gift is simply greeting one another look at some of the things we're looking for us are in greeting and coffee ministry Parking ministry worship setup captains hurricane readiness teams God has killed each and every one of us To deacon one another to love one another and we are gifted to do just that And so let me encourage you if you're here and you've been here a while and really you haven't jumped in yet young person old person God can use you to greet God can use you to love one another and we'll see you in fellowship hall right afterwards But what we also realize is this We can't serve one another if we don't know one another We can't love on one another if we don't know one another and we're not a huge congregation Compared to some churches. We're pretty big Compared to some churches. We're really small But one thing I realized with a church this size it's so important for us to be connected to one another We cannot serve one another if we don't know one another We can't meet one another's needs if we don't know one another's needs We can't love one another if we're not connected to one another so also you'll see on there on the backside see two groups This is the most Clear vehicle that we have in this church to connect you to one another and you'll also see back here Some to see two groups a see two group is a small group the see two stands for building community to reach a community We would love for you to be involved and a small group of people who know you who love you You can serve one another. There are great opportunities for that as well You see God has uniquely gifted us but he has gifted us so that we can serve one another That's how he provides for us What's happening in this letter? What's happening? They're hurting God's people are being persecuted God's people are even being killed for their faith and they're suffering and Peter is continuing to remind them You're saved your suffered and you're blessed to suffer and listen listen orangewood This is a way that God provides for those who suffer And the way he provides for those who are suffering like us is one another And the way he provides for us is to gift each one of us uniquely so that we need one another We need one another the story isn't complete until we're linked to one another And the way he meets our deepest longings and the brokenness is that we will serve one another It's God's beautiful plan. It's his multi-colored grace That says I'm going to gift you to love one another because you know what we're hurting. Are you hurting here? I mean, I think if we had the hurting meter and go to a Stadium sometimes don't have that applause meter, you know, and it'd be going up and the louder I always wonder is that a gimmick? They seem to do the same thing no matter how loud the crowd is cheering, but anyway if we had a hurting meter plugged into each member of the church every time we walked in here we'd be amazed Because oftentimes we live our lives in quiet isolation and desperation And don't want to let one another know the incredible pain that we're in but I'm telling you as your pastor I see it And what I see is incredible pain and incredible brokenness. I see it when I look in the mirror I see it when I look into the brokenness of my own life and the brokenness of your own life as well We are we are a gifted community. We're good things are happening But the truth is we're a broken community And God has given us each other to love. Does it make sense? I can't love you enough. You know, I do I had someone come in my office this week and say can I come back to Orangewood? I said of course. Where do you want me to roll out the red carpet? They said basically a backhanded compliment. We know you can't preach, but you love really well
You didn't say it that way, but that's what I heard and I do I don't love you well enough. I can't I'm in a love affair with this bride. I'm in a love affair with the members of this church I'm in I'm crazy about what God is doing here I'm not enough. I can't And every day I'm reminded of my frailties and listen it's not about me and I don't want you to feel sorry for me Don't I got I love my job But the reality is as you need one another you need him first and foremost And as reggae says when we pass the piece the most tangible reminder that we need him is one another And we have to be connected to one another. Are you hurting? Are you lonely or are you gifted? God, go be part of our C2 ministry You know move us forward to love one another. Oh, how important it is. God has gifted you to serve one another Not only to serve one another here and it starts here. It really does start here But it also includes our community Listen God has gifted us uniquely to bless this community And as he blesses us he is certain that he doesn't want us to hold it here as a holy huddle He said you better be a city on a hill a city that cannot be hidden You better be loving your neighbors in word indeed and you know Maybe I'm out on the limb and maybe I'm a little bit I hope it's not pride but I don't think we've ever done a better job being salt and light And I love to say we've only just begun You'll also see on here a bridge building ministries our bridge building ministries Are we are saying God you have uniquely gifted us how can we be a blessing to our community What you're going to see in this ministry fair is in all of our ministries are several that are not represented We're going to have other ministry fairs that will focus on things like restore Orlando But today and God's wonderful providence when this pastor whose knees are knocking about it's four o'clock sermon We're going to be focusing on eatingville and how God has called us They you know one thing it was so clear to your pastors about two years ago God has called us to eat and feel not just to build a house He called us there Because we got a lot to learn from that community And there's a lot of that community has to teach this pastor And I just I just believe the gospel is going to be advanced for the way that they love us and we love them And some amazing things are taking place and now this year we're doing so much more than building homes by God's grace There's a three-pronged approach. There's housing. There's health care and there's job training The first thing is is the housing. I've asked Robert to come quickly and to share a story about how God is used to Orangewood Come on Robert. He's a sleep. He's just staring at me Come on man. I didn't let you speak this week. I'm letting you speak this week Tell us the story about God's justice and using Orangewood And that lady's house he told us about a little bit more about some of the elders or the widows that we'll be helping That'd be great. Thanks I bet you buy the song that that we just sang with these words Songs that sing your hope Songs that sing your joy Dancers who dance upon injustice What does that mean to dance upon injustice? Last year when I when I had an opportunity to preach I shared a story about a woman from Eatonville who came To me at Orangewood For help and she said that if you remember the story her name was Lisa Curry and she came and said Basically, I had my house stolen out from under me. I said what on earth happened And she said she got behind on her taxes And someone from Another church a church in winter park unrelated to this church Had said that they would help her All she had to do was sign over a quit claim deed to the property which she owned free and clear And they would pay the taxes and then all she had to do was pay them back with interest And it turns out that that interest rate was 96 percent
And when she told me this my blood was boiling and if you ever heard of that expression righteous indignation That's what that's what I felt at that moment And as I heard her story But one of the things that came to my mind is I said Lisa why on earth after having been having your house stolen out from under you from someone From a church Why are you coming to Orangewood for help And she said because I heard that orangewood was a church I could trust
And it just about brings tears to my eyes just as it did then Where a church that she could trust We got lawyers working on her case It's been in the courts for over a year Two weeks ago I got a call from one of those attorneys He said a lawyer has finally heard the case Lisa Curry has her house back free and clear
God To dance upon injustice means to take that injustice Throw it to the ground and not only put it under your foot But to dance on it with God as the purpose of our song And so this is just a great a great story about what's going on in Eatonville But just going to talk about this three pronged approach where we're going to address the areas of housing health care And jobs training and the interesting thing about this case And I think one of the reasons Jeff wanted me to share it is that Lisa Curry Has not worked for a long time And one of those reasons that she gave me Is that she has diabetes and she needs help for her diabetes And there's a free health clinic in Eatonville that by God's grace We're going to partner with so that she can get free health care to help her with her diabetes She also needs jobs training And I'm going to be talking with her and seeing if she's willing To go through this 12 week training program that is going to give her the skills that she can get a good paying job with benefits And the house that we have helped get back for her is in need of repair And now we'll be able to through helping hands If she goes through these other steps that we're going to lay out an entire plan for her That may be next spring We'll be able to repair her house and get her back in health Get her jobs training and get her back in her own home Praise God for these opportunities You want us to see Robert Dance upon injustice
Yeah, he has the same problem I do that pale skin No rhythm You'll see in here the bridge building there is the helping hands It's so exciting to see that we already have captains for each project. We already have money. We just need you Some exciting things with helping hands all these widows that we have opportunity to help More in fellowship hall Job training you're going to see a video here in just a moment We'll tell you about this incredible ministry that we are so excited done so much in our community and now for the first time Via Orangewood and the relationship by God's grace is coming into Eatonville And also shepherds hope Robert mentioned that let me read you this story about shepherds hope real quickly it ties in very nicely Talks about the hunger for a shepherd's hope clinic And it says Charles Howard Charles is a soft spoken gentleman who lost his job as a gardener when he got sick with diabetes Along with his job he also lost his health insurance Charles showed up at the hunger for health center with a gangrene foot wrapped in a plastic garbage bag He needed immediate care One of the volunteer nurses drove Charles to the emergency room where he was admitted and doctors Amputated two of his toes the same nurse visited him in the hospital and supported him through his recovery Since then Charles has adopted the hunger for a clinic and the volunteers have adopted him One volunteer provided him a bicycle and someone else helped him apply for social security disability The volunteers did much more than provide medical care They provided love and support and offered Charles hope for the future If you gifted in the medical field or just have a heart for something like this is another great opportunity Just a couple hours a month to go ahead and sign up and one that we're so excited about is job partnerships If you'll focus on the screen behind me please
Hi, my name is Eddie Mooreton with the jobs partnership of Florida Our mission is to inspire and equip people for success in life and work Speaking of life and work are you certain that the reality that you live today is a result of the choices that you've made Or are you the victim of your circumstances? Let me ask you this have you lost everything but hope in order to succeed in life you need a strategy for success And hope is not a strategy Listen to the story of one of our graduates and how they found a strategy for success at work at the jobs partnership Hi, my name is Ronny Durand and I here to tell you my experience with the job partnership of Florida First my life was a disaster. I couldn't keep a job. I was never satisfied with my job And I something needed to change And that's why thanks guy one day came a pastor to where I work and talked to me about the your partnership of Florida and I decided to take a child and and went ahead and take the start taking the classes and The changes were Immediately, you know at the job partnership they they I took this assessment test and I found out what I really wanted I wanted to work with people and I wanted to to sale, you know, I'm good at sales and They told me, you know, the skills they prepare me with the classes that I needed to to have, you know, for what I wanted to do and
My my life started changing Immediately I found a new job. They got me an interview at this Awesome company when I work now. I've been working for that company for four years That I couldn't keep a yell for less than a month and now I've been four years in that company. My life has changed They're mildly and I enjoy my my my work now My supervisors are like trail with me. They they always Are happy with the work that I do, you know, I learn to Go that extra miles in my work And basically my life my whole life changed, you know, I broke my family from my country I wrote I bought a house. I got married. I have money in the bank now. I bought a car and from Working on a 711 for a minimum wage, you know now my I work for Sprint now. It's calling and bark And for four years. I'm being the top seller and now in the in the whole nation And making $80,000 a year and it's all thanks to the job partnership offer that they Tell me what I needed to know to complete this and change my life. So I recommend you to just make the decision right now. Don't waste more time The job partner achieved for Florida changed my life when it can change yours too The success story you just heard began with a decision to call the jobs partnership the partnership of churches Businesses and community organizations that have come together to provide a training process to help you achieve success in life and work It begins with a training program on biblical principles for work And mentors and job counselors coming alongside you to help you make the right decisions for your future Resources and tools to remove the barriers that have kept you from opportunity You will also receive access to a network of Christian business owners that are looking to hire people just like you Who finish this program? Remember that your destiny is shaped by the moments of your decision Make a decision today to ask your pastor for an application Or go to our website at www.jobspartnershipfl.org Or give us a call at 407-235-1503
You know the amazing thing about that video It said you could show it in English or Spanish and I watched it in Spanish Same guys So they're both bilingual and both did their gig both in Spanish and English. I was very impressed. I again I got a lot more of the English one and the other one But our opportunity. I'm so excited about Steve Kossler Scott Alexander and other businessmen are really leading this charge And what we're doing is is bringing this in to Eatonville and there's a great opportunity if you're a gifted business man or woman We need you to help along this great opportunity. So again, that's going to be in fellowship hall Really who are we? Well God gave us analogy of who we are and it's kind of like a pes dispenser We're pes dispensers. I mean God's the one who has created us as we are And you may not like the way you look as a pes dispenser But he has created you this way and not only that he has uniquely gifted you each one of us has a gift With something inside and he's empowered us to dispense those to one another for the glory of God God has uniquely gifted us to dispense that gift to others for the glory of God. So Bill Give that to your grandkids Batman chief Doyle. I kind of think you was Batman. You know you take there Don burgui Now I think I think you are you're more Yoda. I'm thinking you a Yoda I Got Sid cash is Chubaka And I thought that maybe Darth Vader should go to our headmaster Luan Shendol Not true not true
But what an interesting analogy that we are similar to a pes dispenser designed by God the gift he has given us to give to one another Just think of the incredible intelligence all that you're a seminary to come up with that. It's just an amazing thing lastly And not least lastly let's let's let's turn here our attention to verse 11 Why have we been uniquely gifted? so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom belong the glory and dominion forever and ever Amen the reason God has uniquely gifted us and the reason the purpose he calls for us to serve one another is so that God receives glory and all of this is through Jesus Christ God says listen whoever speaks the utterances of God better do so speaking for me and I want to tell you is your pastor This humbles me and it makes my knees knock together and reality that God has not called me to be a storyteller God has not called me to be a pes dispenser. I think they all yes He has but not just giving away pezzas God has called me to preach his word to you The best of my ability and it's his word and that's orange what I'm gonna commit that again to you The one who speaks before you may he speak the oracles of God because that is what we need But listen each and every one of us is called to serve and why do we serve? It is so that they will sing the glory of our Savior's name It is so that our Father will receive glory that is why we are created that is our purpose That is our goal and we can only glorify God through Jesus Christ There is no other way to glorify God. We can't glorify him on our own We cannot glorify him through another religion We are created to glorify him and the only vehicle in which we can glorify God is through faith in Jesus Christ It's a reminder that it's not about us No matter what we do no matter what we plan. It's not about us. It's for Christ and his kingdom It's about living for the glory of the Father through an obedient life and the Son All that we do orangewood all that we're called to do is to glorify Christ Please after this service make your way to fellowship all and say God I know you uniquely gifted me to serve one another for the glory of Christ As the worship team comes forward. Let me lead us in prayer. Let us pray
Oh Father God Thank you for your manifold grace Your multi colored grace That is uniquely gifted each and every one of us Lord on our own. There's not a lot of beauty But you put us together as the body of Christ Using our gifts fan for your glory You know Father God we thank you for the beauty of the picture God thank you for loving us enough and knowing the depths of our needs that you have gifted us uniquely to Serve one another in your name And God thank you for the glorious reminder that everything we do the very reason that we live everything Father it should be done For your glory And you can only receive glory through your Son So remind us of fresh That it's not about us But for Christ in his kingdom we pray Amen