I Am Sanctified? - What Next?
Rashaud Thomas Williams Preached on 7/26/2026
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39:39
Summary
In this sermon, Rashaud Thomas Williams explores the weight and wonder of being chosen by God, emphasizing that being 'sanctified' is not just a title but a transformative process of pruning and obedience designed to produce lasting fruit for the Kingdom.
Key points
- •Being chosen by God is an intimidating privilege that carries expectations and requires a rigorous process of pruning and purging.
- •Sanctification is a daily, often lonely process of dying to self, pride, and ego so that one's nature can reflect God's holiness.
- •Obedience to God's will must outweigh personal comfort or the desire for total information before moving.
- •Every believer is chosen for a specific purpose: to bear fruit that leads others to Jesus Christ through their conduct and character.
- •Trusting God means surrendering our desire for things to happen on our terms and acknowledging that he is the ultimate winner who has already seen the outcome.
Scripture
Purpose
Holiness
Discipleship
Obedience
Spiritual Growth
Life application
This week, identify one area where you are resisting God's 'pruning' (like a habit, an attitude, or a relationship) and intentionally submit it to Him in prayer, trusting His purpose over your comfort.
Reflection questions
- When God calls you to a task, do you tend to respond with 'Why me?' or with immediate trust?
- In what ways are you trying to manage your spiritual process on your own terms rather than God's?
- Who in your life is currently depending on your witness and your fruit-bearing to see the character of Christ?
- How does the realization that the Creator of the universe personally chose you change your sense of purpose today?
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Full transcript
0:00Thank you. Thank you, sir. To God be the
0:00glory. Um
0:00I I will go ahead and I will be reading
0:03in your hearings John chapter 15.
0:07John chapter 15, if you can turn your
0:10Bibles.
0:12You don't have to stand. You can remain
0:13seated. And I'll just read in your
0:15hearing. And it says, "I am the true
0:18vine, and my father is the husband man.
0:20Every branch in me that beareth not
0:22fruit, he taketh away, and every branch
0:24that beareth fruit, he purge it, that it
0:26may bring forth more fruit. Now ye are
0:29clean through the word which I have
0:31spoken unto you. Abide in me, and I in
0:34you, as the branch can bear fruit of
0:36itself except it abide in the vine. No
0:39more can he except he abide in me. I am
0:42the vine, ye are the branches. He that
0:44abide abideth in me and I in him. The
0:47same cometh forth much fruit. For
0:50without me he can do nothing. If a man
0:53abides not in me, he is cast forth as a
0:55branch and is withered and men gathered
0:58them and cast them into the fire and
1:00they are burned. If you abide in me and
1:03my words abide in you, ye shall ask what
1:05he will, and it shall be done unto you.
1:07Herein is my father glorified, that ye
1:09may bear much fruit, so shall ye be my
1:11disciples. As the father had loved me,
1:14so have I loved you. Continue ye in my
1:17love. If you keep my commandments, ye
1:19shall abide in my love, even as I have
1:22kept my father's commandments and abide
1:24in his love. These things have I spoken
1:26unto you, that my joy might remain in
1:28you, and that your joy will be might be
1:30full. This is my commandment that you
1:32love one another as I have loved you.
1:35Greater love,
1:38greater love hath no man than this, that
1:40a man lay down his life for his friends.
1:42Ye are my friends, if you do whatsoever
1:45I command you. Henceforth I call you not
1:47servants, for the servant knoweth not
1:49what the Lord doeth, but I called you
1:51friends. For all things that I have
1:54heard of my father, I have made known
1:56unto you. This is my focus verse, verse
1:5816. says, "Ye have not chosen me, but I
2:01have chosen you and ordained you that he
2:03should go and bring forth fruit and that
2:07your fruit shall remain that whatsoever
2:09ye shall ask of the father in my name,
2:12he may give it to you." If we can all
2:15bow our heads, our father which are in
2:16heaven, we thank you. We glorify your
2:17great name. We honor you today, God, for
2:19the privilege, Lord God, to stand behind
2:21your sacred desk. Even as I'm here, Lord
2:23God, the words that come out of my
2:24mouth, Lord God, let it be your words,
2:25Lord God, less of me and more of you,
2:27Lord God. Help me so that you may
2:29increase. Lord God, let the word spoken,
2:31Lord God, trans get to someone, Lord
2:33God. Help it to penetrate their hearts.
2:34Lord God, help them to see you, Lord
2:36God. In all these things, we ask and
2:38give you praise. In Jesus name we pray.
2:40Amen. Amen. It is a privilege and an
2:43honor, as I stated before, um
2:46to be standing before you. No matter how
2:49many times you you stand behind the
2:51desk, there's kind of like this
2:54referential fear, you know, like This is
2:57something that you never want to take
2:59for granted. Never want to take for
3:01granted. Um before I get into the
3:03message, I would like to thank each and
3:05every one of you on behalf of myself and
3:06the staff that have participated into
3:08camp. Whether you funded somebody, I
3:10know we did it earlier, but because of
3:11you guys, camp was amazing and we hope
3:14to see a lot of you that were there next
3:17this year. We hope to see you next year.
3:18And if you weren't there this year, we
3:20hope to see you next year as well. Okay.
3:22So, um I was I was pondering. I I spoke
3:27with your pastor uh last week when I was
3:30given this assignment and I was
3:31pondering and how how I got the
3:33assignment. I was it was in passing.
3:35We're kind of just talking and he was
3:37just like, "Oh, and um we would like you
3:40to come preach on Sunday." I was like,
3:42"Oh, okay, cool." It didn't register to
3:45me that he asked me to come preach until
3:46a couple hours later. And I was just
3:48like, "Oh, he asked me to preach. What
3:50did I get myself into?" Right. And so
3:53because you know we're at camp, we're
3:55doing so many different things. We're
3:56all over the place. So I was like, what
3:57did I get myself into? And so from the
3:59time I spoke to uh Pastor Omar until
4:02last night, well until yesterday at some
4:05point, I was sitting in my like, you
4:07know, in my space, wherever I was, I was
4:10just like, God, why me? Right? God, why
4:14me? Right? And again, we're focusing on
4:16the aspect that he has not chosen me,
4:18but I have chosen you and ordained you
4:21that you should go forth and bring
4:22fruit. So, I was sitting there and
4:24saying, God, why me? Like, why why do I
4:27have to be the one? Why do I have to be
4:29the one to give the message? Right? And
4:30then I started going through all these
4:32things about God, I'm not really an
4:33aator. I'm a media man. Media men don't
4:35go in the front. We stay in the back.
4:37And, you know, we gave all giving God
4:39all these excuses or whatnot.
4:41And um while I was in my moment of at
4:44me. When I finally decided to snap out
4:46of it, the question never left, like why
4:50me? Right? And so I wanted to stay there
4:52for a little bit. I just kind of sat in
4:54that moment for a little bit. Like why
4:56is that the question that we always ask
4:58whenever God decides to choose us? Um
5:02whenever God decides to use us in any
5:04capacity, the first question that most
5:06of us, especially if we're not being
5:08used in a certain capacity, the first
5:10question we ask is why me? Or can I do
5:13this thing? Right? And I'm pretty sure
5:15it's not just me. A lot of great
5:17leaders, whether they are preachers,
5:18teachers, pastors, uh even in the
5:20secular side of world of the world,
5:22right? We we ask similar questions. We
5:24have a Moses experience where you know
5:27Moses at the burning bush. He says, "Who
5:29am I that I should bring the children of
5:31Israel out of Egypt?" Right? So if I was
5:33to translate it in how we speak today,
5:35it's God, why me? Right? And um we after
5:40we ask God, why me? We then begin to
5:41give God a list of excuses as to why it
5:44shouldn't be us or a list of reasonings
5:46as to why we are not the the correct
5:49candidate to do um what he has called us
5:52to do. And so I started pondering why is
5:54that my first response? Why is that a
5:56lot of people's first response? And one
5:57of the things that kind of caught me was
5:59being chosen by God. When God selects
6:01you to do something, it can be very
6:03intimidating. And it's intimidating for
6:05a lot of different reasons, right? Um,
6:08so when God calls you and he chooses
6:10you, especially if you're trying to live
6:12a specific life for him already, when he
6:14calls you and assigns you to something,
6:16um, we can get intimidated by it because
6:18we understand that being chosen comes
6:20with expectations and requires us to go
6:22through a process and that process isn't
6:25always pretty. So, as much as we admire
6:27our pastors who stand up here and they
6:29preach the gospel and, you know, we know
6:31that they're chosen by God, right? And
6:33we say to like, you know, God, God chose
6:35you. We also know in the back of our
6:36minds that God chose them, but they had
6:39to go through something to get to where
6:40they are today. And oftentimes that
6:42thing that they had to go through was
6:44kind of rough, right? We also know that
6:46our pastors or the people who stand on
6:48this pulpit, there's an expectation that
6:50they have to live up to when it comes to
6:52being chosen. Your pastor can't do any
6:54and everything, right? we would agree
6:56that your pastor there's a standard that
6:57you hold them to but higher than your
6:59standard there's a there's a there's an
7:00expectation that God has for them as
7:03them as the shepherd of this house right
7:05and so we understand that being chosen
7:07comes with expectations and requirement
7:09right in John 15:2 which we just read we
7:14are told what the expectation is for us
7:15who are chosen it says that every branch
7:19that we're supposed to bear fruit and in
7:21order to continuously bear fruit there
7:22is a time when there a pruning must So
7:25in John 15:2 it says, "Every branch in
7:27me that beareth not fruit, he taketh
7:29away, but every branch that beareth
7:32fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring
7:34forth more fruit." And you would think
7:36that if the branch is bringing forth
7:38fruit, why won't you just leave it
7:39alone? But for those of you who actually
7:42do that agricultural work like
7:43landscaping, we understand there are
7:45times when the branch that is producing
7:47fruit, they have some dead areas. they
7:49have some areas that need to be kind of
7:50chipped away and, you know, cut off in
7:52order for the tree to really thrive,
7:54right? Thrive in the way that it's
7:55supposed to thrive. So, it has to go
7:57through a process of pruning and
7:59purging. And when we speak of pruning
8:01and purging, it's getting rid of the
8:02dead areas and the dead the areas that
8:04if it goes unchecked, it will affect the
8:07entire tree. And so, going back to the
8:09question, God, why me? A lot of times,
8:11the reason why we ask God, why are you
8:13choosing me? Is because we're scared of
8:14going through that process. We're scared
8:17of what is next, what's coming next.
8:20Because a lot of times when God chooses
8:21you, he doesn't always give you exactly
8:24where you're going. He doesn't show you
8:27everything because, you know, he's alpha
8:28and the omega and he knows all the in
8:30between, but we don't, right? And
8:33because we don't, we get frightened by
8:34the unknown, right? And so we sit there
8:37and we contemplate with we we wrestle
8:39with God like, God, why me? Not because
8:41we don't necessarily want to do, but
8:42we're just terrified. We don't know
8:44what's coming next. Speaking for the
8:47men, I I got this from my dad and my dad
8:49got this from his dad and it's just a
8:51generational thing. We like to know what
8:53we're doing and when we're doing it, how
8:54it's supposed to be. We like to have all
8:56the information. And if I don't have all
8:58the information, I ain't going. You
9:00ain't gonna catch me going nowhere,
9:02right? You can ask my wife like she'll
9:04be like, "Oh, let's go here." Like,
9:05"Okay, how long does it take to get
9:06there? Who going to be there?" Um, we
9:08like to have all the information. With
9:11God, it's a little bit different. He
9:12tells you to go do something and that's
9:14it. He don't give you, okay, this is
9:16what you're going to come up against.
9:18You just kind of got to face it when you
9:19get there, right? And so the process
9:21kind of scares us. And one of the things
9:23about the process that scares us, and we
9:25talked about it even at Apostolic Camp
9:27International when we focused on the
9:29theme I am sanctified, one of the
9:30processes that we have to go through is
9:32the process of sanctification. The
9:34process of sanctification is when, you
9:36know, God has to set us apart, right? He
9:38has to move us from our company. He has
9:40to uh um um um he has to separate us
9:44from evil sins and we have to become
9:47dedicated to God and his service. And
9:50the thing about sanctification that is
9:52so scary is that sanctification, the
9:56process of sanctification, it can be a
9:58lonely thing. It's something that
9:59sometimes it's just you and God. You
10:02can't bring your friends with you. You
10:04can't bring your neighbors with you. You
10:05can't bring your brother and your sister
10:06with you. Sanctification is a daily
10:08thing. It's not something that, oh, it's
10:10a onetime subscription and that's it.
10:12We're good to go. No. In in in 1
10:15Corinthians chapter 15, Paul says that I
10:17have to die daily. Why does he have to
10:19die daily? Because his flesh wants to
10:21rise up, right? So, we're not literally
10:23killing you, but we're killing the flesh
10:25man, right? And sanctification requires
10:27that there is a dying daily. In
10:30Galatians chapter 2, it says, "I am
10:31crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I
10:34live yet not I, but the Christ that
10:36lives in me." Right? And so we we we
10:40understand that when God chooses us, we
10:42have to go through a process. And part
10:43of the process is that sanctification
10:45aspect where God has to separate us and
10:47he has to clean us and he has to prune
10:48us and he has to purge us.
10:49Sanctification requires you going
10:51through fire on a daily basis because
10:54again your flesh is not going to let you
10:56just do the will of God. Your flesh,
10:59your natural man wants you to go outside
11:01of the will of God. It's natural that
11:03you know we go against the will of God.
11:05And so when we talk about that
11:06sanctification process, it can be very
11:08scary because it's something that's
11:10going to hurt us. It's going to hurt our
11:12pride. It's going to hurt our ego. It's
11:13it's something that we don't want to do,
11:16but it's absolutely necessary that we do
11:19it, right? Because in order for God to
11:22take us to where we need to go, in order
11:23for us to complete the assignment that
11:25God has assigned for each and every
11:27single one of you, because what is what
11:29is our assignment? To bear fruit, right?
11:31In order for us to bear fruit, we have
11:33to do what God says to do. We have to
11:35stay connected to the true vine and we
11:36have to do what he says to do. Right?
11:38And so in order for us to effectively
11:41bear fruit and and complete whatever
11:43assignment God has given us, we have to
11:44be cleaned. We have to be washed. We
11:46have to be sanctified. And why is that?
11:48Over this past week, we learned that
11:51we serve a God that is a holy God.
11:54Right? From the core, he's holy. Um
11:57Pastor Pastor Ray let us know that
11:59holiness is not God's standard. It's his
12:01nature. Right? The difference between
12:03standard and nature, it's with the
12:05nature, it's something that's inside of
12:07him. It's at his very core. It's it's
12:09it's something deeper. With standards,
12:12it's it's boundaries that you set. It's
12:14it's it's goals that you set. But those
12:17can change over time, right? With with
12:19with with your nature, that is who you
12:21especially with God. The Bible says
12:23Jesus Christ is same yesterday, today,
12:25and forever more. He does not change. So
12:28if his nature is holiness, that is who
12:31he is indefinitely. Right? So if we want
12:34to be effective in in doing the will of
12:37God and doing what God has called us to
12:39do, we need to if we want to be
12:42effective in doing what God has called
12:43us to do, we need to then place
12:46ourselves into position in a position to
12:48become sanctified. Because how can we do
12:50the work of a holy God if we are
12:52unclean? How can we expect our
12:55assignment to be fulfilled for a holy
12:58God if we did not take the time to
13:01become clean? So, one of the things that
13:04naturally scares us when it comes to
13:06being chosen by God is that God, you're
13:08going to have to take me through this
13:09fire, and I don't know if I'm ready for
13:10it. Because when we talk about taking
13:13you through the fire, sometimes it's
13:15isolating you from the the very company
13:17that you know. It's isolating you from
13:19the very friend group that you know.
13:21Some of the things that you thought were
13:23the right way, God has to like change
13:25your thinking and that takes time. But
13:28the reason why he has to do that is
13:29because the assignment that is locked up
13:31inside of you in order for you to
13:33complete it requires some level of
13:35sanctification. It requires you to be
13:38purified. It requires you because again
13:40we cannot expect to work for a holy God
13:43if we are unclean.
13:46Right? We cannot expect God to fulfill
13:49whatever he has to fulfill inside of us
13:51if we just live any kind of life. That's
13:55the next part that you know when
13:57whenever whenever we talk about the the
13:59process of you know being chosen by God
14:01and going through the process it no
14:02longer becomes my will but it becomes
14:05God's will. And God's will can be scary.
14:08Specifically speaking to my young
14:09people, God's will can be very scary
14:12because again we don't know where he's
14:15taken us. And God's will may cause you
14:18to lose some people that you grew up and
14:20love and loving. God's will may cause
14:22some people to turn their backs on you
14:24who you thought were always going to be
14:25in your corner. God's will will put you
14:28in positions that make you very
14:30uncomfortable, that make you like, God,
14:33what are we doing here? Right?
14:35situations in which you've never you've
14:37never you know one of the things that I
14:39want to encourage my young people
14:40specifically when God tells you to do
14:41something when God when God commands you
14:43to do something do not let your
14:45inexperience dictate whether or not you
14:47do what God has told you to do. A lot of
14:50times we get caught up with the fact
14:51that oh you know well I'm not that
14:53experienced. I've never done this
14:54before. God is not asking you what you
14:56have done before. What God is asking you
14:58to do is to move. He's asking you to be
15:00obedient to his word. He's asking you to
15:03trust him while you are going through
15:05the process. The God that is bringing us
15:08through whatever, the God that is
15:09requiring certain things of us, you
15:11don't think that he would be able to
15:13bring us through whatever we have to go
15:15through.
15:16>> I want us to start putting our trust not
15:18in ourselves because a lot of times the
15:20reason why we don't move when God says
15:22to move is because we're we're we're
15:24depending too much on us. We're
15:25depending too much on our on our man
15:27self. We need to start putting our trust
15:29back in God. Right? The same God who
15:32created the heavens and the earth. You
15:34don't think that he can bring you
15:35through whatever is in front of you. The
15:38same God that knows the very numbers,
15:39the the very hairs on your head. You
15:41don't think that he can bring you
15:43through whatever he needs to. The same
15:45God that has never lost a battle. You
15:47don't think that he can bring you
15:48through whatever is in front of you. I I
15:51want to encourage us even as we is as as
15:53we we we prepare. Even as we just
15:55finished camp and those of you who went
15:56to camp, I want to encourage us. Let us
15:58not let this experience just be an
16:00emotional experience. Let it not just
16:02be, oh, we had a good time. We were able
16:03to sing and dance and dance and jump
16:05about.
16:07I want us to get the word of God written
16:09in our hearts, right? I don't want that
16:12what what we experienced at camp just to
16:13be for the week. I don't want it to be
16:15for the month, for the for the rest of
16:17not even for the rest of the year. I
16:19want us to live it in such a way where
16:22everywhere we go, every day of our
16:24lives, we exemplify Jesus.
16:27>> Right? So, we have a responsibility. We
16:30have a responsibility to to to do God's
16:33will, to bear fruit. God chose us,
16:35right? The first thing we need to do is
16:37get over the fact that God chose you.
16:38Get over the fact that, okay, he's he's
16:40assigning you to do something. While we
16:42know it's scary, we got to get over it.
16:43The second thing is we got to go through
16:45a process. Whatever that process is, he
16:47knows what it is. He can take you
16:49through it. The third thing that I want
16:51us to do is be obedient to the will of
16:54God. Be obedient to the will of God.
16:57When God is sanctifying you, he's not
16:59sanctifying you for your own purpose.
17:00He's sanctifying you for his purpose. In
17:02Leviticus 20 26, and ye shall be holy
17:05unto me, for I the Lord, for I the Lord
17:09am holy and have severed you from other
17:11people that you should be mine. In this
17:14instance, God was speaking to the
17:15children of Israel and God severed them
17:17from other people because they were
17:18supposed to be the example. They were
17:20supposed to be the nation that led other
17:22nations to him. Right? This same thing
17:25applies to you and I. When he severs you
17:28from other people, certain severs you
17:29from certain relationships, severs you
17:31from certain companies, what he's doing
17:33is he's trying to prune you. He's trying
17:34to refine you so that you can be the
17:36example to bring some of these people
17:38who need God into his house. What he's
17:40trying to do is he's trying to refine
17:42you in such a way that the assignment
17:44that he has for you, the person that he
17:45has for you, they don't have to guess
17:47and spell is that really a child of God.
17:50No, they know it. And so he can use you
17:52as the example to bring them to him. We
17:56all are responsible. We all have a
17:58responsibility to somebody. Somebody in
17:59this room, everybody in this room,
18:01somebody's depending on you. Everybody
18:03in this room, somebody is depending on
18:05you. Everybody in this room, somebody is
18:08depending on you. And I'm repeating it
18:10because I need you to understand it.
18:11Everybody in this room, there is
18:13somebody depending on you. Yes, it's
18:16important that we have our own
18:17relationship. But everybody in this
18:18room, somebody is depending on you. I
18:21wouldn't know about Jesus Christ. I
18:23wouldn't know about God if it wasn't for
18:24the people that God placed in my life to
18:26do what to do his will. Right? So I
18:28often talk I oftentimes talk about my
18:30mentors growing up being Kirby Trim,
18:32Nicholas Stewart, Roger Pinup. While my
18:35relationship with God is personal and it
18:37is for me, if it had not been for the
18:39fact that God used them to direct me, I
18:42don't know where I would be right now.
18:45If it had not been for an Elder Moses
18:47who decided to sit there and wait until
18:50God moved in my life with me, I don't
18:53know if Rashad Thomas Williams would be
18:55standing here right now. What does that
18:58tell me? that yes everybody's
19:00relationship with Christ is personal but
19:02somebody is depending on you to get to
19:04see somebody's depending on you so that
19:06they can see Jesus
19:08>> it is our responsibility when we talk
19:10about living in holy like living a
19:12certain we it is our responsibility to
19:14live a life that exemplifies Jesus in
19:16every way in the way that we talk in the
19:19way that we walk in the way that we
19:20behave and this is why the process is
19:22important because in order for God to
19:24take you to the places that you need to
19:25go the things that you know you probably
19:27have to sit in it's him chipping it
19:29away. It's him chipping it away. A lot
19:31of times as young people when we're
19:32going through some things, one of the
19:33first things that we do is, "God, get me
19:35out of this." And God is saying, "I
19:37can't get you out of this because you
19:38haven't learned your lesson yet." So,
19:39you can't expect me to move you until
19:41the thing that I need gone or the thing
19:43that is dead that is still on you is
19:45gone. Right? So, I want us to get
19:47comfortable sitting in these
19:48uncomfortable positions with God.
19:50Whenever he's refining you and whenever
19:51he's burning some things off of you,
19:53there are certain situations that God
19:54has placed some of you in. And
19:56naturally, your natural instinct is to
19:58fight. Your natural instinct is to get
20:00upset. And God is saying, I need you to
20:02react differently because I have
20:03somebody coming your way that is
20:05depending on you to act differently, to
20:07react differently. And so instead of us
20:09getting upset and saying, "Well, you
20:11know, God, I need you to get this out.
20:13Get get me out of this situation." Say,
20:14"God, what are you trying to teach me in
20:17this moment? What are you trying to get
20:19me to understand in this moment? Because
20:22again, our sanctification, us being used
20:24by God, isn't just for us. It's not to
20:26make us look good or feel good, but it's
20:28for the next person. Somebody influenced
20:30you to trying this Jesus thing out. It
20:33is our responsibility to influence
20:35someone else to try this Jesus thing
20:37out. There is a world that is lost and
20:39dying that needs help.
20:41>> And they're not looking for no cookie
20:43cutters. They're not looking for
20:44somebody to be their best friend all the
20:45time. They need somebody to tell them
20:46the truth. They need somebody to tell
20:48them, "Hey, listen. Jesus Christ saves,
20:50he heals, and he sanctifies." But it's
20:53not just a word thing. They need to see
20:55you live it. They need to see when you
20:57are going through your struggles that
20:58you can stand firm and say, "For Christ,
21:00I live and for Christ I will die." They
21:02need to see that when THINGS ARE KICKING
21:04YOUR BUTT, YOU CAN STAND there and say,
21:05"Well, God, I trust you and I'm not
21:07moving until you tell me to move." We
21:10need to understand that how we operate
21:12in our day-to-day life. A lot of times
21:13we think ministry is just in the four
21:15walls when we come to church. No,
21:17ministry starts when we go outside.
21:19Ministry starts when we interact with
21:21our neighbors, our friends, our
21:22co-workers. We have to understand that
21:24the process that God is bringing you
21:26through, it's it it's it's it's FOR
21:28SOMEONE ELSE. IT'S not just for you.
21:30Someone else needs to see you. And when
21:32they see you, they say, "Man, I want
21:34what he got. Man, I want what she got."
21:37TOO OFTEN, WE QUIT TOO EASY. Soon as
21:40things get tough, we be like, "All
21:41right, man. I'm done. I'm cool. I I I'll
21:44give you some insight. I'll give you
21:45some insight. I'm I'm I wouldn't
21:47consider myself a quitter, but uh in
21:492025 2025 2025 was rough for me, right?
21:542025 was very rough for me for various
21:56reasons, but I think one of the one of
21:58the main reasons is we were looking for
22:01a place for apostolic camp and it no
22:04matter where we looked, we called place
22:07after place after place after place. I
22:10emailed a bunch of different places. I'm
22:12talking about like I've never talked so
22:14much on the phone and I work at a bank
22:16where you have to pick up the phone.
22:17I've never tried to persuade people so
22:19much in my life. And I was like I
22:22remember we got down to the May portion
22:24of everything. And I remember while I
22:28was, you know, sitting there, my
22:30optimism started to slowly fade, right?
22:32Because it's easy to be optimistic in
22:33January when camp is in July, but when
22:36it hits May and you still ain't got a
22:38place in July, it's like, "All right,
22:40God, you want me to quit today cuz I
22:42will, right?" And so, I remember sitting
22:46in in in my room. It wasn't in my room.
22:48I remember going to church on my lunch
22:49break and I remember sitting on the
22:51small side and God I said to God, "God,
22:55let me tell you something. I didn't sign
22:56up for this. I'm going to quit today
22:59because this is going to make me look
23:01bad." And this ain't you told me like to
23:05take and I took it and what's going on?
23:08This is going to be the first time we
23:09have camp at Pentab and this ain't what
23:12was supposed to happen. And I remember I
23:15was so angry that even when God was
23:17trying to talk to me. I wasn't listen.
23:19So even while I was in the process, I
23:21was too angry to hear what God was
23:22saying to me in the moment. Right? And
23:24you can ask my wife. I would go home and
23:26I I remember like I would go home and
23:28she'd be like talking to me and I'd be
23:30like because everything in me was just
23:32depleted. I was just like, "Don't talk
23:34to me right now because camp is on my
23:36mind and I'm upset." And camp comes
23:39around in July and we have a phenomenal
23:41time. And even though we have a
23:43phenomenal time, like I'm sitting there
23:45like after camp is over and I'm just
23:47like, I can't believe we didn't do
23:48residential this year. This is this is
23:51like and it wasn't until a couple weeks
23:53later that I finally allowed myself to
23:56calm down and and God started to talk to
23:59me. And God said to me, because I was I
24:01typed my resignation letter up and
24:03everything, I was just like, I regret to
24:05inform you I am not the man for the job.
24:07You chose the wrong person. Right? And
24:10it it was in that moment that God kind
24:12of spoke to me after everything kind of
24:14settled, the dust settled. And God was
24:16saying, if you going to trust me, you
24:19got to trust me in every aspect.
24:21>> Right? If you say you depend on me even
24:24when it don't look like what you want it
24:26to look like, you got to depend on me.
24:28Right. And in that 2025 season, I found
24:32myself realizing that I found myself
24:35realizing that we say or I say I trust
24:38God, but when it don't look like how I
24:39want it to look, my trust goes out the
24:41window. I find myself I found myself
24:44like locking God in a box and saying,
24:47"Well, you can only operate God at camp
24:49if it's a residential situation. You
24:52can't operate if we're in our backyard."
24:54Like, that's not camp. That's a
24:55conference. What are we doing? We have
24:57enough of those, right? And God really
24:59had to sit with me and he had to talk
25:01with me. Young people, there are going
25:03to be times in your life when you're
25:05tried. Not just young people, everybody.
25:07You're going to be tried. You're going
25:08to be tested. And God is going to put
25:11you through some stuff that is going to
25:12mess with you mentally.
25:13>> It's going to mess with We're not even
25:15talking about the physical aspect. It
25:17will mess with you mentally. It will
25:18have you questioning, "God, are you even
25:20hearing me? Can Can you hear what I am
25:22saying to you? like I've been praying to
25:24you for months and the answer is not
25:26coming. And meanwhile, God is saying,
25:27I'm answering you. You're just not
25:29listening to me. Right? I want us to get
25:31out of the mind frame that if it's not
25:33done the way we want it done, then it's
25:36not God's will.
25:38>> Except the fact that God has a plan for
25:40everything.
25:41>> It wasn't until earlier this year that I
25:44finally came to the conclusion that
25:45Rashad, you were wrong. How you handled
25:47that situation was terrible. You need to
25:49go back and apologize. I I apologized
25:51obviously, but I felt like he was going
25:52to put me in the situation again
25:53[laughter]
25:55and he put me in the situation again.
25:58Now, I would hope I I hope I I can say
26:01with confidence that I handled it a
26:03little bit differently because I
26:04understood now that the way God does
26:07things is different from the way man
26:09does things, right? And in order for me
26:12to see that this was a problem, and
26:15another thing that he kind of brought to
26:16my attention is that everything every
26:17time I was praying or even when I was
26:19upset, it was always about me, God, this
26:21is embarrassing me, God, this is going
26:23to make me look bad. And God said, who
26:25is this about, me or you? Like, who who
26:28are we talk who are we talking about? Me
26:30or you? And I feel like he had to he
26:32kind of whooped my butt in 2025. I'm not
26:33going to lie. The whole year I was just
26:35I was like I was mad. I was angry with
26:39God. But then when I finally like sat
26:42down, I realized that my anger was
26:45really a selfish reason. I wanted God to
26:48do things on my terms. I wanted to go
26:50through the process on my terms. I
26:52wanted God to answer my prayers on my
26:54terms. It don't work like that. And he
26:57showed me the hard way. It don't work
26:59like that. Because even with this year's
27:01camp, when we found SEU, glory be to
27:03God, they were phenomenal this year,
27:04right? We found SEU and things were, you
27:08know, going or whatever, but it wasn't
27:10the way we wanted camp from Monday to
27:12Saturday or from Sunday. Yeah. From
27:14Monday to Saturday. And I was saying,
27:16God, we going to do this again. And then
27:18it's like I immediately caught myself.
27:19You say, "You know what, God? If this is
27:21the way you want to do camp, we just
27:23going to follow your lead. We going to
27:25do what you say do." Because there comes
27:26a time when you have to put your trust
27:28in God above everything else. We have to
27:31understand that he is the alpha and the
27:33omega. So if he chose you to do
27:35something then he must know what the
27:37outcome is going to be. Our
27:38responsibility is to go through whatever
27:40process that he wants to bring us
27:41through and be obedient to his word.
27:45>> Right? So goes back to the fact that
27:47when we say God chose us go it's it's
27:49scary because we don't know what's
27:52happening. We don't know what's coming.
27:54Right? And a lot of times a lot of times
27:57if if we're not careful if we're not
27:59careful we can put God in a box. We can
28:02put God in a box. A lot of times as
28:05especially for my my my everybody, but a
28:07lot of times what can also end up
28:09happening is we sit there and you know
28:12we I I said earlier that we we let our
28:14inexperience dictate whether or not we
28:15do something for God, right? And so
28:17people will be like, "Oh, well that's
28:18not you. That's not your personality
28:20type. You're not the hoop and holla
28:22type. I don't really see you preaching.
28:24I think you should stay in the media
28:25room. I think you should like they'll
28:27put you in a box." People of God, don't
28:30let nobody put you in a box that God
28:31replaced you in because once they put
28:33you in a box, you begin putting him in a
28:36box. And that's a problem. So, I want to
28:39encourage your hearts and I want to
28:40encourage your mind even minds even as
28:42I'm wrapping up. There's a work for you
28:44to do. There's somebody that is assigned
28:46to you. There is somebody that that that
28:48needs you to come through. There's
28:49somebody that needs you to go through
28:50the process because while you're going
28:51through the process, they're watching
28:52you. They're watching how you handle
28:54everything. They're watching how you
28:55handle what is going wrong in your life,
28:57what is going right in your life. And
28:59that is how they're going to make the
29:01decision. I need to know this man,
29:03Christ Jesus. The Bible says, let your
29:05light so shine, right? That people may
29:09be led to who? Not us, but to him,
29:13right? The goal should always be to lead
29:16people to Jesus. Now, one thing I will
29:19say, people of God, can we stop
29:21depending on our pastors, our our
29:23spiritual leaders, our praise and
29:24worship members, our youth pastors to
29:26bring us into the holies of holies when
29:28we're supposed to get there on our own?
29:30This is the part of the process of
29:31sanctification. This is the part of the
29:32process where God separates you from
29:34everybody. How can you expect God to
29:36take you someplace if you've never do
29:38the work on your own? You you can't
29:40expect God to use you in certain
29:41capacities if you've never taken the
29:43time to build your relationship with
29:45him. You can't expect God to to to
29:47manifest himself in and through you if
29:49you've never picked up a Bible. If
29:51you've never knelt down to pray without
29:53it being because you have an assignment.
29:55>> How can we as as people of God expect to
29:58make the impact in the world that we say
29:59the change in the world that we say we
30:01want to see if we never go to the person
30:03who orchestrates everything in the
30:05world?
30:05>> How can we say that we expect God to use
30:08us mightily? But God don't even know who
30:10we are for real.
30:12God doesn't even like he well God is and
30:15the only time we go to God is when we
30:16want something
30:17>> but not to build relationship. I I I
30:20want to encourage you this whole process
30:22this whole process that we're going
30:23through before you can do anything
30:26effectively for God. You need to take
30:27time to nurture your relationship with
30:29him. You need to take time to ensure
30:32that hey God it's me and you and we
30:34locked in on this thing for life.
30:36Because how can you expect to have the
30:37answers when you're not even the per
30:39you're not even talking to the person
30:40who has all the answers?
30:43>> I want to encourage your I want to
30:44encourage your hearts and I want to
30:46encourage your minds that there is work
30:48for you to do. God chose you. God chose
30:51you for a specific time. You weren't
30:53born in this era on accident. My young
30:55people, you weren't born and you're not
30:57going to school. The school is not an
30:59accident. Right? If God can use Josiah
31:01to be king at 8 years old, why can't he
31:03use you to talk to somebody at 12 years
31:04old? Amen.
31:05>> If God can use Abraham, and we're
31:07talking to some of the older folks, too,
31:09because a lot of us think because we've
31:10hit a certain age, we passed our prime.
31:12Abraham became the father of many
31:14nations. That covenant started when he
31:16was 100 years old. And some of us are 50
31:20years old. And we saying, "Well, God, my
31:21work is done." No, it's not. What are
31:23you doing? Somebody needs you. Get up.
31:27>> Do something like help. You understand
31:30what I'm saying? I want us to understand
31:32that no matter what your age is, there
31:34is a work for you to do. No matter what
31:36your status is, no matter what your
31:38level is, we Rome wasn't built in a day,
31:40right? So even if you want to start at
31:42the lowest level, keep building yourself
31:44every day. Spend time with God every
31:46day. And you'll be surprised by the time
31:48by the time you look, you and God are
31:50the best of buds and and you on a whole
31:51you on a whole different plan for you.
31:53You see things completely different
31:55because now you've touched the mind of
31:57God.
31:57>> You understand what I'm saying? So I
31:59want you to I I want us to get us I want
32:01us to get to the place where we realize
32:03that the work that is required for us to
32:04do because again our assignment is to
32:06bear fruit.
32:07>> Our assignment is to bear fruit. But in
32:09order for us to bear fruit and bear
32:10fruit continuously, there's a process
32:11that we have to go through. We don't run
32:13from the process. We stand in it. We we
32:15stand firm in it. We not quitting. We we
32:17like, "Okay, God, we this is this is
32:20this is beating me up, but I'm gonna
32:22stand here because I'm trusting you.
32:24There's an assignment that is that that
32:25is for me, and I'm not going to let the
32:27rocks cry out for me. So, I'm gonna
32:29stand here and I'm I'm gonna do this
32:31thing, right? I'm gonna stand here and
32:33I'm gonna take it because I know you
32:35have a plan for me. Jeremiah, we love to
32:37talk about Jeremiah 29:1. For I know the
32:39thoughts that I have. He knew all of
32:40that stuff. But in order to get where
32:42you need to go, you have to trust God in
32:45the pain. You have to trust God when
32:46things get hard. You have to trust God
32:48when things are not looking the way you
32:49want it to look. You have to trust God
32:50in everything.
32:51>> Right? So, I want to encourage your
32:53hearts and your minds. Believe that God
32:56chose you.
32:57>> Believe that God chose you. And and and
32:58this is the beautiful thing about being
33:00chosen by God. Imagine, and I gave this
33:02analogy in the last service. I'm a I
33:04love playing basketball. Thus, this
33:06thing on my leg. Um I love playing
33:08basketball, right? But imagine the GOAT
33:11Michael Jordan, the greatest of all
33:12times. Michael Jordan
33:15>> came to you.
33:17Somebody said, Larry, that's Michael
33:19Jordan.
33:20So imagine, imagine the goat comes to
33:22you and says, "Hey, listen. I'm
33:24assembling a team and you're my first
33:27pick.
33:28Matter of fact, forget everybody else.
33:30If you say yes, I'll go with it. If you
33:33say yes, we're cool. No matter what else
33:35happens, just as long as you say yes.
33:37How's that going to make you feel?
33:39Great. Because this this man is a
33:41six-time NBA champion. Never lost in the
33:43finals. Never been to a game seven in
33:45the finals. He is the ultimate winner,
33:47right? He's he he's that guy. And he
33:50wants you on his team. Like there must
33:53be something special about me. Even if
33:55you can't shoot for real, he see
33:57something right now. Imagine this God,
34:00the creator of the heavens and the earth
34:01in Genesis 1 verse one.
34:04>> Imagine this God who knows the hairs on
34:06your head. Imagine this God who we say
34:09is alpha and omega in Revelations 22.
34:11Imagine this God who in numbers 23:19
34:14says, "God is not a man that he should
34:15lie, neither is he the son of man that
34:17he should repent."
34:18In in 1 Timothy uh 1:17 it says that he
34:22is king eternal, immortal, invisible.
34:25Right? Imagine this God who holds the
34:27world in his hands. And if he says
34:30breathe, you breathe. Imagine this God
34:32that built you up. He spoke and the
34:34world came to be. And then he put his
34:36hands on you. So you know he he he he
34:38went down into the dirt. He didn't just
34:40speak and tell you, "Hey, be formed."
34:41No, no, no. With you, with you, the one
34:43that he chose, he built you with his
34:45very hands. And then he blew his breath
34:47into you. Imagine that God who cons who
34:50can calm the winds and the waves. Every
34:53aspect of this world obeys him. Imagine
34:55that God deciding to choose you.
34:59Imagine that God saying, "Well, YOU KNOW
35:01WHAT? THERE IS SOMETHING about that
35:03young man. There is something about that
35:05young woman that you know I want them. I
35:09need them to operate in the way that
35:11Imagine that God choosing you." Amen.
35:15>> Imagine the God that NEVER LOST
35:17ANYTHING, WILL NEVER lose anything. He
35:19knows the end from the beginning,
35:20choosing me and you. What a gift.
35:24>> We talk about Michael Jordan picking me.
35:26Imagine the God of the universe who
35:29heaven IS HIS THRONE, EARTH IS HIS
35:30FOOTTOOL, choosing me.
35:33>> Y'all ever been up in an airplane and
35:35when you're flying everything looks so
35:36small? I imagine God looking down at me
35:39and the fact that like I I'm this small
35:41person, but he still sees me and he
35:44chose me. What does that say about his
35:46confidence in me?
35:48>> So instead of us sitting here and giving
35:50him every excuse that Moses gave him,
35:51God, I can't speak. I stutter a lot. I'm
35:54too short. I'm not attractive. I don't
35:56got facial hair. I'm bald. We can say a
35:58lot of things about it. Everybody can
35:59find an insecurity about themselves.
36:01Everybody can find something about
36:03yourself that would hinder you from
36:04doing the will of God. But instead of
36:06focusing on the things that we don't
36:08think are right with us, how about we
36:10focus on the thing that is right with
36:11us, which is the Jesus Christ that is
36:13living on the inside of us.
36:15>> So even as we all stand, because my time
36:17is up, even as we all stand, I want to
36:19encourage your hearts and I want to
36:19encourage your minds. There is a work
36:21for you to do. My there is a work for
36:24you to do. God didn't choose you on
36:27accident. It wasn't it wasn't no it
36:29wasn't no, oh well, let me just pick.
36:31No, he knew your name. Yes,
36:33>> he knew. He knew everything about you.
36:36>> He knows every aspect of your life. He
36:38knew where you f He knew where you fell
36:40short. He knew where you would struggle.
36:42He knew every He knows everything about
36:45you.
36:46And imagine even after all the things he
36:48knew about you, he still chose you.
36:53>> Who am I not to repay his kindness and
36:55his grace? Who am I not to to ex Y'all
36:59think I want to be up here? Absolutely
37:01not. But the fact that God chose me for
37:04a time such as this, it is my honor to
37:07serve the King of Kings. It is my honor
37:10to serve the Lord of Lords. It's because
37:13of him while we live, while we move,
37:15while we have our being. The biggest,
37:17baddest man in the entire universe chose
37:19me.
37:20>> So, who am I to be afraid?
37:23>> Right? I want to encourage your hearts
37:24and I want to encourage your minds. Do
37:27the work that God has placed you to do.
37:30bear the fruit that God has asked you to
37:32bear. And when it comes time for the
37:34pruning and the trimming and the the
37:36cutting away of some things that are not
37:37so great, stick with it because the God
37:40that we serve, your reward is in in
37:42heaven.
37:43>> We can't be looking for a reward down
37:45here because you may never get it.
37:46>> Nobody may ever tell you thank you. Like
37:49I'm I was real close to not saying
37:51nothing to him about him sticking with
37:52me through through the Holy Ghost
37:54situation, but his reward is not coming
37:57from me. All I can give him is a thank
37:59you and maybe maybe a little bit of
38:00cash, but God got him. If he stays in
38:04the way, God's got him. I want to
38:07encourage your hearts, specifically my
38:08young people, do not let what happened
38:11this week go to waste. Don't let it be
38:13an emotional experience where we like
38:15you you you spoke in tongues and you
38:17felt good and you cried and you released
38:19whatever pent up emotions you had.
38:21That's that's cool and all, but how
38:23about we allow our intellect to to like
38:26to to to to think about the Bible says
38:29when I think
38:31>> it wasn't an emotional experience. It's
38:33when I think like when I remember
38:35everything that God How about we allow
38:37ourselves to really just sit in the
38:39presence of God? We remove the emotions
38:41and we say, "God, I'm here. I'm I'm
38:43ready to listen. I'm ready. I'm ready to
38:45do whatever you called me to do because
38:47there is a work for each and every
38:48single one of you to do. Just turn to
38:50your neighbor and do me a favor. Say,
38:51"God chose you."
38:56>> That was a good practice run. Now turn
38:57to the next neighbor and say, "God chose
38:58you."
39:02>> And one time for good measure, just say,
39:03"God chose you." To the next person, God
39:06bless you.
39:11>> Praise the Lord. Praise the Lord. Praise
39:13the Lord. God chose you.
39:16Amen. that you should go forth and bear
39:19fruit.
39:20>> Hallelujah. Perhaps you are here today
39:22somebody and you are going through that
39:25process and maybe you're feeling some
39:29challenge. You're feeling the
39:31difficulty.
39:32I want you to come step up forward this
39:34morning in this altar and come reach out
39:38your hands and lift your faith to Jesus.