Do all you can and relax. God's
in control. He's not dropped the reins of
this universe. And that's good to know. So you
won't have to take your blood pressure medicine if you take
Romans 8.28. Just relax. 2013. God's in control. Let's
go to 1 Corinthians. I hope I can help you today.
I hope I can bless you today. I just feel So aware. Hurt here today. I can feel it. Hurt. There is a bomb in Gilead. The Holy Spirit is called the
Comforter. Some of you in here may not be
Christians. The Holy Spirit is the Comforter.
And you can't see the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God. The Holy
Spirit is the Spirit of Christ. And He's called the Comforter. And what the Holy Spirit does
through the Gospel, through the message that you're going to
hear today, is He makes that Gospel alive. You see, you can't
believe that Gospel as you are in your natural state. You're
here, you're hurting, you're very confused. You don't know
whether there is a God. It all looks like a mess to you.
In fact, some of you may be prone toward suicide because it just
seems hopeless. Sometimes people who commit suicide
before they kill themselves get very happy. You know why? They
think they've found an answer. It's usually not the person who
says, I'm going to kill myself, I'm going to kill myself, that
goes ahead and kills themselves. It's usually that person who
may have said that in the past, but all of a sudden seems like
everything's in order. You know why? They've got it
all planned out. They're going to get relief. The Holy Spirit
today. Maybe God will save somebody's
life. Not only their soul today, but
their life today. I want you to know there is hope. Not, I hope, I hope, I hope.
But real hope. Solid hope. Hope that will generate
excitement. And make you get up in the morning.
Say, this is a day the Lord's made. I was glad when they said,
let us go to the house of God. Not another day, another dollar.
Somebody in here dreads getting up in the morning. New Year means
nothing to you. You've tried the resolutions
year after year. And life seems to get worse,
not better. The Holy Spirit comes and He
makes the Gospel alive. And there is this kind of battle
that goes on. But He says inside of you, I am God and there is
none else. I created you. I have a purpose
for you. You're not an accident. Yes,
most of your life has been lived in the armpit of life. Down and
out. And maybe you're here and you
have plenty of money. But you drink every day. You can't get
it together. The Holy Spirit comes and He
makes this real. God so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son. That God actually came into the
world. Not to spy out your sins or to
give you ten commandments to keep so you can go to heaven
that nobody has kept, by the way. But God came to save you
in the person of His Son. Died on the tree of the cross.
Went down into the grave. Got up the third day. Up from
the grave He arose. Ascended back into heaven. And
there He sits and will soon return. And while waiting, the invitation
is given by God Himself in the Gospel. Come unto Me, all you
that are laboring. Listen, I'm telling you, this
is a direct message for somebody today from God. I'm telling you
that. This is from God for somebody. You're here. I know you're here.
I feel you're here. I sense you're here. I didn't
know. I didn't know. I know you're
here. He got up the third day, went
back into heaven, and there He sits interceding for you. And right now, He's telling you,
trust Me. You've tried everything else.
Trust God. Say, well, I feel like I've got
to go to church. I've got to do this. No, no, no. Be still
and listen to me. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. That's it. God in Christ is the
way, the truth, and the life. There is no other way. God so
loves you that He gave me that to give to you. I don't know
who you are. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. In this chapter in Corinthians,
Paul said, I'm glad I baptized none of you. That's what Paul says. Verse
14, he said, I thank God I baptized none of you. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 14. Now,
for all of you folks that are counting on baptism to get you
to heaven, many of you in here can't even remember when you
got sprinkled as a baby. If I were you, I wouldn't count
on what I can't remember. And it would seem to me if baptism
saved people, the Apostle Paul said, I'm glad I baptized all
of you. Truly, if holy water saved people, I'd just go around
flicking. I'd take Herb's water here. I'd save this whole crowd. You say, well, Pastor, you shouldn't
make light of holy water. There is no holy water. It's
a holy Redeemer. It's a holy Savior. It's a holy
God. All of the mess of religion has
failed you. Oh, this is for you too. This
is for you too, whoever you are. You've been raised in religion
all your life. All your life. And you are as unhappy and miserable
as you can be. Scared to death to live and scared
to death to die. You have no peace. You don't
enjoy life. You have everything you want
but don't know what you want. That's miserable. Jesus Christ
is the answer. I baptized none of you. Paul
said, I'm glad about that. Because you'd be saying, I'm
a Paul. You ever heard anybody say this?
Old Father so-and-so baptized me. Or old preacher so-and-so
baptized me. So what? Where is the old preacher? Oh, he died years ago. Well,
you've got a dead Savior then. You know, when I was in Kentucky
pastoring, I used to... Miss Pam and I lived on the farm.
We used to baptize folks in our pond. But before we baptized
folks, we'd send somebody down the pond to get the cows out. You don't want to count on cow
water to take you to heaven. It's not water, it's the blood.
It's the sacrificial, substitutionary death of Jesus Christ on the
cross and that alone. And in order to be saved, you
must believe that and nothing else. You must trust Him and
nothing else. No church, no water, no priest,
no preacher, no good works. Christ alone. Say, it's too easy,
preacher. If it's so easy, why don't you
do it? Right now, those of you who are hurting the worst and
the person to whom I'm speaking is battling with that right now.
That can't be it. You can't solve all my problems that way, Pastor.
You can't say I can be filled with joy that easy. You don't
know what's happened to me in life. Believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ. So I don't know much about it.
I don't even know. This is the first time I've been
in church in years. I've never even heard somebody like you.
That's alright. God has got you here. You're
trapped. You're caught. It's too late. I'm glad God's got you here.
Alright. Paul said, I'm glad I baptized
none of you. Then he begins to talk about
what really is the wisdom of God. And he says, the wisdom
of God is the foolishness of man. We preach Christ and Him
crucified, Paul says in the Corinthian letter. In fact, when you get
to the second chapter, he said, God forbid that I should glory
Save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. I want to assure
you, I'm getting just a little ahead of myself here, but I want
to assure you 2013 will not bring a new message. Now listen to this. I love these
passages. Verse 25. The foolishness of God is wiser
than men. You ever thought about this?
Who would have ever thought that the Creator, God, would come
to earth? Isn't that an amazing thing?
That the God who created everything, actually, supposedly, religiously,
December 25th, what happened? God came to earth. That's what
we said. That's the Christian message.
Although Christ was born in the spring and religious people set
up December 25th. But at any rate, God did come
to earth. God came down here. He must have had something important
to do. I mean, when he wanted life,
he said, let there be life. Let there be planets, millions,
billions of them, trillions of them. But God come to his own creation. Must have been something important. He must have had to do something
that was impossible for anybody else to do. Think about it, just
think about it a little bit. He came to Earth. Because he's
the only one that could save a mess like you or me. Some of you are real sophisticated
and you're sitting here saying, did he just say I was a mess?
Let me say it again. He came to save a mess. You know
you're a mess. If people really knew what was
going through your mind, we'd all drop to our knees and pray
for you. Because the foolishness of God
is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
Now, watch this. Or look at your calling, brethren
and sisters. Look at yourself. Who are you? How is it that God has called
you? Somebody in here will probably
leave here today knowing God. And at some point in your life
after coming to know God, or you may leave here going home
and not saying it out loud, but you're going like this. Could
all that be true? I mean, does God know about all
my mess? And yet, I had warm and fuzzy feelings. I for the first time felt like
I was loved of God. But God can't love me. I've gone too far. I've done
too much. I'm a sinner. I'm a mess. I'm confused. I'm in this dark
place. But it seems like there is a
beam of light. It seems like I don't want to
give up. Could it be that God loves me? You see your calling. It's always
good for us to remember the pit from which we were digged. Oh,
God didn't find you sitting on a rock. He found you in the miry
clay. By the time you got on the rock,
He's the one to put you there. He found me in the miry clay
and from sinking sands He lifted me. With tender hands He lifted
me from shades of night to plains of light, O praise His name,
He lifted me. On Christ the solid rock I stand. All other ground is sinking sand."
Do you feel like you're sinking sometimes? You say, well, Pastor,
about 98% of the time I feel like I'm sinking. I know. I understand. Look at your calling. How that not many wives Wise men and women, for the most
part, go to hell. Only us stupid folks. Simple. Dr. So-and-so in philosophy. Some of the wisest men with the
most degrees that I have ever heard are complete idiots. I had a man who was, as Pam knows,
a doctor, professor at Moorhead University in Moorhead, Kentucky,
tell me that I came from a chicken. Now, he may have came from a
chicken, but not me. I eat chicken. I'm a preacher, I'm a chicken
eater. Lots of chickens have entered
the ministry. Kentucky Fried. How that not many wise men after
the flesh. Look at the ones God saves. That's
what Paul is saying. Look at yourself and then praise
God. You saints of God. Just look
at your calling. Where did God find you? Oh, down
in Lodibar. Down in the hood. In the crack
house. In the whore house. Wouldn't
it be wonderful if God found somebody today in the church
house? Wouldn't that be good? I went over there to Grace Gospel
and God found me. You see, God's not lost. You
often hear people say, I found God. No, you didn't. You didn't
find God until He found you. Isn't that something? Sometimes
I play hide and seek with Hayden, and she always peeks or wants
me to call for something as to where I am. And she says, I found
you, Papa. You didn't find me. I gave you signs of where I was. I reveal myself to you. You see your calling, brethren,
how that not many mighty, not many noble are called." I'm so amazed, not real impressed
though, with all the king and queen stuff in England. Prince
so-and-so and Prince Harry and Prince Edward and Prince Charles
and sometimes Those princes aren't very nice boys. There's none good, no not one. Listen, the only people that
God came to save are messed up people. He came to save sinners. Now if you're a good person here,
I mean really, really good, God has nothing for you. But if we
can find a real bona fide, certified, petrified sinner. We got some good news that Christ
came to save sinners. He did indeed. Look at verse
27. But God has chosen the foolish
ones of the world to confound the wise. So people go like this. You know, that guy's a half-wit.
How on earth is he saved? Spurgeon. Spurgeon preached in
the 1800s. Charles Haddon Spurgeon in London,
England. And they didn't have nice names for people who were
mentally ill then. They called them half-wits. And
there was a young man who attended Metropolitan Tabernacle. And
he got saved under Spurgeon. And in those days, After you
were converted to Christianity, you came before the elders of
the church and they approved your church membership. And in
order to get your membership approved, you had to give your
testimony. So the elders got to quizzing this halfwit about
his conversion. And he got all messed up. And
finally, he said, I am a poor sinner and nothing at all. But
Jesus Christ is my all in all. Sign him up. Amen. That's the good news. God has
chosen the foolish ones of the world. The weak ones. Oh, you
may be hearing so weak. I don't know. Young man. Maybe
you're a young lady. The Bible talks about you being
the weak vessel. The weaker vessel. You operate
on your feelings and emotions. And life has just kicked you
so very, very bad. This morning's paper, this is
the second time I've read this about Oakland University woman's
coach survived sexual abuse from her father. I've got to get more
known to her, but she married the president of Oakland University
and just a few years ago was converted came to know Christ. And she had hid her story for
all of these years. And now she's publicly confessing
Christ and helping abused women and children. We've got to have
her come and give her testimony. But she talks about being so
fragile as a child. And you may not have been sexually
abused, but man, you've gone through a hell of a life as a
child. And now you're a little orphan. Or I don't know what's
happened to you. A young man you perhaps abused
and mixed up about your manhood. Those things happen in life.
But God has chosen the weak things and nobodies. Maybe you're just
one of God's nobodies. Let me tell you, if you're one
of God's nobodies, you're somebody. And God, verse 28 says this,
God has chosen the base ones. I mean, there's some of you in
here that can't even tell what you've done in public. You can't
even talk to yourself about it. You're so ashamed of it. God
has chosen you. And His blood will make you white
as snow. Verse 29, that no flesh should
glory in His presence. That's why God does this. To
get glory. Who's going to give Him more
glory? I wouldn't be at any other church than this church. I love
pastoring this church. You know why? It's a great fishing
hole. I don't have to go anywhere to look for a sinner. Everywhere
I look, there's one. Christ came to save sinners.
I'm a sinner. I don't know. I feel so strange.
That's okay. That's okay. That may be a good
thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah, but I'm also
thinking about all the things I've done. Forget that. Let it
go. Then lift your hand up and say,
Thank You, Lord, for saving my soul. Thank You, Lord, for making
me whole. Thank You, Lord, for giving to me salvation so rich
and free. You don't want to read the newspaper.
Top stories of 2012. Don't read it. Go home and throw
the Oakland Press away today. Because it's not going to be
good news. Top stories of 2012. County goes through a year of
tragedy and pain. These teenage boys killed a mother
and father. These are the headlines. Why would anybody want to read
this? There's the obituaries. Police officer in West Bloomfield
murdered wife and four children. Bad news. Well, I'm not going
to talk to you about bad news because this world is not my
home. I'm just a passing through. As we approach the coming new
year, there's so many questions. In my own mind, so much to consider,
so many things to put on the scales and weigh. But let me
tell you, God has been good in 2012. We got the Michiganian Award, the
Crane's Best Managed Charity Award, huge statewide recognition
for our organization, and we make no apology for our message.
I just spent 20 minutes telling you our message here. We make
no apology for that. This church is known around the
world. Presidents and governors know this place, although I didn't
get a Christmas card from the president this year. We did get
one from the governor. We got one from the lieutenant
governor, the attorney general, senators, congressmen, Oakland
County judges, county executive, Brooks Patterson, Sheriff Bouchard. Others have sent their greetings.
That's a blessing. Think about who we are here in
downtown Pontiac. And those kind of people even
taking note, much less than the Christmas card. Sermon Audio
continues to get thousands of downloads of the Sunday services
here. WMUZ broadcast is picked up and
streamed to places we've never been. We're on the verge of seeing
an all-time high in gift-giving. I want you to think about that.
Our God owns the cattle on a thousand hills. His eyes on the sparrow. And He watches over little Grace
Gospel Fellowship. This year we've seen church attendance
here at Grace Gospel compel us to two services. Darren keeps
talking about Three services. If we do, we'll have to have
a renovation of the old pastor. We're going to need a larger auditorium.
You say, well, what about clutch cargo? I don't know yet. As soon
as I get the check, I'll tell you. We live by faith and not
by sight, do we not? We need to enlarge our elder
board. These are the things I think about. Men have been called of
God who have given themselves to serving this membership. We
need the elders who will visit the hospital, the sick. Members
who will come alongside and help us with business matters. This is the king's business.
This is big business. Our little baby, Grace Gospel
Fellowship, 5.7 million dollar organization. Many of you have become homeowners.
In fact, I was just reading this last night and I don't know whether
Jim and Lisa Toner here or not, but Cliff Sieber, who heads up
our development and home ownership program here, sent me an email
that he sent to Jim and Lisa. Please note that in the coming
year, the balance remaining on your house will be paid for. $1,688. What a great thing that is. They're
going to have their house paid for. You know her story. I mean, her testimony. And I
wish she was here. She was prostituting. And Jim
picked her up and began to witness to her. She became a Christian
and they got married. She came through the program
here. Think about that. How God sought
that girl out and that man out and brought them together in
the most unusual way. Out of your loady bars. We now
have nearly a hundred pieces of property. Over a hundred employees. Who are we? Oh, we're that inner
city bunch of former nobodies. Been saved by the grace of God. We are a people who have committed
every sin known to the carnal mind, but who are washed in the blood
of Jesus Christ. This year, the faces of men of
grace have changed. We've added Jeff and Phil. Herb Mullins has just left us. Thinking about men of grace. You know, the Lord adds to the
church daily as such as should be added. Men of grace are in
the hands of God. And it was Herb's appointed time
and we'll miss him. And this is a new year and there
are lessons for us to learn from Herb's going. God has recruits. When God gets through with me,
I'll go. But the work doesn't go away.
The gospel doesn't go away. Really, nothing that's real changes. I hope you know that. God is
in control. This is God's business. This truly is God's business.
I mean, without God, this thing would go under in one day. This place would go under in
one day. God is the CEO here. And speaking
of men of grace, wonderful, wonderful jazzy Christmas concert. A lot
of applause, a lot of beautiful music, a lot of compliments. But men of grace are not about
men of grace. Men of Grace are not about the
jazzy Christmas. It's not about Milton or Billy
or Herb who passed away. What is Men of Grace about? They're
about taking the gospel of Jesus Christ to literally millions
of addicts who think there's no hope. who have never heard. And to mothers and fathers who
have given up on their kids. And to say to mom and dad, your
child is not lost. There is hope for your child.
And I'm not talking about seven years old. I'm talking about
38, 40, 50 year olds. Yes. That there is hope. And so with the coming year,
men of grace, I commission you to practice and practice, get
better, win every award you can win. Win every award you can win.
You know why? The more you get known, the more
you get to make known. You know what I'm talking about.
You may think that I get heady somewhat about Michiganian wards
or, you know, best managed non-profit. Oh, no. All of those things are
just sneaky things of God for me and you to be able to be put
in a position where we can tell the world the answer to the sadness
and sorrow. It's true. People have to point
at this place. This is a good day. I feel better
already. People have to point at this
place in wonderment. You know why I know that? Because
I'm in a state of wonderment. Some gentleman yesterday called
the center and said, Pastor there, I've heard him on radio, and
said he told us We could either give our money to Grace Centers
of Hope or give it to big government. I'm coming over to give you a
check for $7,000. First time donor. Say, well, well, well, well. Those things don't just happen. He heard me on radio say that.
I did say that. It's all about telling the story.
It's all about giving God the glory. Our production team, to Joe and
Kyle and Dwayne, all of these things that are flashed up on
the screen, aren't they kind of neat? You know, there was
a time when we didn't have those. It's really wonderful how much
it adds. I thought the video at Herb's
funeral, it was just so... comforting and so great that
we had that. Bill Davis is here, and the cameras
that we use, Bill's helped us a lot with those cameras. And by the way, Bill, they're
about out of coffee and donuts here. That's not a hint or anything,
but two years ago he bought Several thousand dollars' worth of coffee
and donuts, and you've ate it all up in the last two years,
too. The production team, we have
plans to do videos for the purpose of getting the message out, to
turn Foreknown into a full-blown movie. I thought this morning,
I wonder if she would play the part. She experienced it. Say, well, Pastor, you're as
loony as a June bug. No, God just does things like
that. You know, God may have been sending me a message. Hey,
you looking for the person to play the Pirate of Fornone? Here
she is. I don't even know this lady,
by the way, don't go writing her letters and stuff, telling
her congratulations, you got the Pirate of Fornone. Let's turn this city upside down,
what do you say? 2013. So I close with this. Our message
won't change. Because it's a message of grace
and hope. And God just keeps honoring it. He will keep honoring the message.
We honor His Son. We say it's all by grace. It's
not by works. It is not us, Lord, it's You.
And we're mighty grateful and we're thankful. And as we keep
glorifying Him, He keeps blessing.