"Called to Work" By Director of Fellowships Rod
Williams February 28th,
2016
Amen. You may be seated. What a mighty time of worship this
morning. I know God definitely moved,
and is still moving. Let’s have a word of prayer. Lord, God, as we come into this portion of
your service, God, we ask You to lead, guide, direct. Lord, to feed us with that You would have us
to be fed with, God. And, Lord, that we
take what You have, and go ahead and use it; go forth and declare Your Gospel
message. Lord, that we would go out and
share with confidence and boldness, through the Holy Ghost, to see souls
saved. In Jesus’ name, amen. Amen. So, how’s everybody doing this morning? Fantastic, right? Okay.
That gave us a little time to sit down, but I would like, right now, for
everybody to stand up, and if we could get John 15, if everybody would read with
me, verses nine through fifteen together.
Is everybody ready to go? Hold up,
hold up. Is everybody ready to go? One more time: Is everybody ready to go? Okay, because I was just getting ready to
walk out the door. Get it? Out the door?
But, let’s read these Scriptures, in all seriousness. John 15:9-15 As the Father hath loved me, so have I
loved you: continue ye in my love. If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide
in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his
love. These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and
that your joy might be full.
This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater
love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye
are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not
servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called
you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known
unto you. Amen. You may be seated. You know, Jesus was talking to His
disciples about love. You know, He had
chosen the twelve, He taught the twelve, He loved the twelve, and, when he
died, the commission was given to them to carry the Gospel message throughout
the world. We are those disciples,
today. We are those disciples, and we
should count it all joy that we do what we do, you know? And, the title of this message, it’s called,
“Called to Work.” I know your theme has
been, “Receive Ye the Holy Ghost,” right?
Okay. Oh, and, by the way, so
everybody can feel comfortable and unfold their arms, I believe in talking to
one another. I believe in us working
together, and participating, because we all have something to offer. Okay?
Now, I was sitting there thinking as you guys were singing, another
person that had a great impact in my life, coming up in ministry, Brother Kirk
Orelup. I was stationed down in
Charlotte, and we had a fellowship down there, and, my constant communication
was Brother Kirk. He shared with me, in
fact, at that time, remember the old welcome book, Kirk? So, we was going through that, and making
communication and so forth, and he and another brother came down to visit me,
and, I guess, right now, I’m doing the job you used to do, Kirk, is that true? Kirk says that’s true. So, this call to work principle—I’m
not going to be behind the odium, I’m going to be moving all about, so—we’re
talking about being called to work. God
called us to so a work, right? Okay, all
right, relax, I’m out here. I don’t have
a lot of experience with the pulpit; I like to talk. But know this, right here, He called us to
work, for what purpose? For His glory,
right? You go to work on your job to do
what? Get a paycheck. To do what?
Pay the mortgage, come on, food, car payment, what else? To live life; what else? Recreation; what else? So many different things, right, that you go
to earn that paycheck for? So, for all
these things that we have, that we go to work to pay for, who goes to work, and
says, “You know what, boss? Today, I’m
going to sit around my office and my desk and do nothing,” anybody? What would happen? Get fired; get canned. What else?
No paycheck, no house, no car, no food, no everything, right? So, we’d lose all that, okay? Now we can relate that right there, let’s
look at the spiritual aspect of it. We’re
called to work, and when the Holy Ghost come, and says, “Hey, you know what,
Rod? I need you to go pray with
somebody.” “Not today, God, I’m still
tired. I just flew in, okay?” “Go have fellowship with that brother.” Not today, I want to go paintballing.” I’ve got to say stuff that I know y’all don’t
do so don’t offend nobody. “Hey, Rod,
get up and study.” Not today, God; not
today.” “Hey, go do this.” “Not today,” right? We may not verbally come out and say it, but,
in our actions, what are we saying?
Right? Now, all those things are
vital to ministry, right? The prayer,
study, the fellowship? So, outside of
everybody but me, how many, every time the Holy Ghost has spoken to you, you
got up and did what It told you to do? Anybody? So, I’m the only who does that. Good. But, there is a serious thing to
listening to the Holy Ghost. Very
serious. I’m going to share something
with you that I hadn’t shared but maybe to a few people. I remember when I was in the Navy, I was a
second class at the time, E-5, and I was going to a school, and my instructor
was a first class, and God was dealing with me about inviting him out to
church Invite him out to church. So, I’m looking at—this is how my mind
worked— I’m an E-5, he’s a first class, so that intimidation kind of crept in
there, all right? So God was constantly
dealing with me, He was on me, but I didn’t do it. So, Monday morning came up, and, all the
students are in the class, and we looked around, and I said, “Hey, where’s our
instructor?” They said, “He’s in jail,
because he murdered somebody.” And, I
felt so bad, even to this day, it sticks to me that God was asking me to go
invite this person out to church; that might have prevented him from killing
somebody and being locked up. True
story. True story. And I look at it, today, as that blood is on
my hands, because I didn’t listen to the Holy Ghost. Now, let’s look at Matthew twenty,
verse one through sixteen. Matthew 20:1-5 For
the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that
is an householder, which went out early in the morning to hire labourers
into his vineyard. And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day,
he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour, and saw
others standing idle in the marketplace, And said unto them; Go ye also into
the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you. And they went their way.
Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. Okay, we’re going to stop right
there. Now, we’ve got this situation: it
says, for the Kingdom of Heaven is what?
Or, Heaven is like unto who? The
Kingdom of Heaven is like unto a man that is an householder, which went out
early to hire laborers to work in his vineyard.
So, we’ve got this man, the householder; he has a vineyard. And he calls people to his vineyard, and they
agree to work in his vineyard for a penny.
Back in that time, it would have been a Dinero, which, today, is about
twenty cents. So, he went out again, and
got some people, about the third hour, he saw them standing idle in the
marketplace, and then he found some in the sixth and the ninth, and then he
said, “Hey, whatever is right, I will give that to you.” Right?
Now, let’s look at it like this right here. Let’s say, Christ, God called us, right? And He said, “Hey! I’ve got a work for you to do. I want you to come into my vineyard.” And that vineyard being the souls that are
around us. Right? We’re working that vineyard. Some of us have been here for quite a while,
in the ministry; you’ve carried a lot of the burden, you know? You’ve done a lot of work, you’ve been
faithful throughout the years. And the
next generation has come along and benefitted from the fruits of your labor,
and so forth, the next generation. As we
did earlier, when everybody stood up with thirty years, twenty, ten, and so
forth like that, you know? We’re all
called to work for God. Anybody
disagree? Anybody disagree? Okay. Now, in your job you have what? A 401 what?
401K? I’ve got a 401H, because I
don’t have anything. But the reward that
we’ll get now, in our retirement is what?
We’re striving for Heaven, right?
For the Kingdom? Okay. Everybody’s kind of like, “I don’t know if
I’m following this right, here.” Matthew 20:6-10 And
about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith
unto them, Why stand ye here all the day idle? They say unto him, Because no
man hath hired us. He saith unto them, Go ye also into the vineyard; and
whatsoever is right, that shall
ye receive. So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his
steward, Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first. And when
they came that were hired about
the eleventh hour, they .received every man a penny. But when the first came,
they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received
every man a penny. Okay, so we’ve got that eleventh
hour crowd, right? “Lord, I’ve been toiling,
and I’ve been doing it. I’ve been going
on and on and on, and, here I am. What’s
in it for me? What’s my toll? What am I going to get from you?” Right?
But we know that these laborers, the first group, agreed for one
penny. Then the other group, he spoke
with them, “Whatever is,” what? Whatever
is right. Because we can’t look at it
and say, “Because I’ve been in ministry for so long,” or, “Because I’m so
young,” right? We can’t look at that,
you know, because God gives us our different gifts, our callings—right?—to be
used for His glory, to be used in His vineyard, in this world, to see people
come to Christ. So, now, it’s tie for
the reckoning, to come together, and, here you have it where the group that
carried the burden, see this group here, “Hey, they’re getting a penny, they’re
getting a penny, they’re getting a penny, so we know we’re going to get more
than what they got. We was here longest,
you know, so we’re going to get more.”
And I often think about this story, and I was just being humorous with
myself, and I said, “What if they were the first ones, and they saw other
groups coming in, and they said, “You know, we can slack off, kind of, because
we’ve been here a little bit, and kind of wait it out.” And the eleventh hour, “Hey, we’ve got to
hustle, because, you know, guess what?
We haven’t had a job in so long, we’ve got to do what we can; we might
lose this.” And, so, I got to thinking
about that, how are we when it comes to our walk with God? It is serious? Is it lackadaisical? Is it, “Hey, I’m riding off my merits, of
what I’ve done for God throughout the years?”
But, every day, we’ve got to be doing something for God. Every day, we’ve got to be digging in. Every day.
You know? Matthew 20:11-16 And
when they had received it, they
murmured against the goodman of the house, Saying, These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them
equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day. But he answered
one of them, and said, Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me
for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto
this last, even as unto thee. Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with
mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good? So the last shall be first, and
the first last: for many be called, but few chosen. But many be called, and few are
chosen. “Hey, wait a minute! I’m supposed to get more! I’ve been around more! I’m saved!
What’s up with these new people getting all these things? God, don’t I deserve more?” Jesus tells us what? His ways are not our ways, right? (Isaiah
55:8) So, think about this right
here: Does God owe us anything? No.
Same thing, right? Does anybody
else owe you anything? But we do have
that what? That entitlement mentality. “I want my respect; I want my due! Why is such-and-such doing this, and I’m not
doing this?” Why is this person…? Come on, now.
I’m talking—I go through the same things. You know?
“Why are they able to do this, and I’m not able to?” Right?
But we already went over what the Bible tells us, what? We should love one another, right? (John
13:34) And, what? We’re one body, yet many members? (1
Corinthians 12:12-27) Everybody has
their part and place, you know? The eye
can’t look at the ear or the nose and so on.
I’ve got the Scriptures to back me up, but I just want to let everybody
know I’m in this together with you, right?
How many people here every get angry?
Frustrated? Sad? Cry?
Laugh? Love? Hate?
All of us, right? Good; I’m with
the right people, now. I don’t have to
talk so much; I’m with the right people. We had a message, a while back, in
Norfolk, and it was quite humorous. I
did it like this right here, I said, “What if—“ we got that marquee, “Christian
Fellowship” with the church times and all that, like what we used to have at
621—I said, “What if, just, what if, we had a sign out there that said,
‘Sinner’s Anonymous Meeting Wednesday at 7:30, Sunday at 10?’” And I thought about it, I said, “Man,
wouldn’t the approach be different?”
Like, now, we come to church, we wear a suit and tie, we walk in all
straight-forward, like, “Hey, we’re all good,” right? Now, if you go into that meeting—you know,
you want everybody to see you going to church, you know, but, if you go into
that meeting, you’re probably looking around, like, “Oh, man, are any of my
friends driving by to see me walking to this right here?” It would be a different approach, right? Let’s be realistic. I know I’d be
looking… Think about your friends, “Hey,
didn’t I see you the other night going to that Sinner’s Anonymous
meeting?” You know, and, now I’ve got to
contemplate how I want to answer this, right?
“Um, you may have. You may
have.” But, we are glad to let people
see that we are going to church, but, how about allowing people to see that we
are living for God? There’s a
difference. There’s a difference. It’s like, when you see that sign, “Sinner’s
Anonymous,” you say, “Hey, I got a problem, and I’m trying to get it
solved.” It’s like we come to
church. We all got problems. This is the hospital for the sick; the
hospital for our souls. So, I said to
myself, “If my friend was to see me, and I met him at work, and he asked me
that question, I would say, “You know what?
Yes, you did see me. I have an
issue. I have sin in my life, and I know
that this is a place where there are people that had the same issue that I did,
and they can relate to me, and help me overcome.” Right?
So, church, don’t be ashamed to live for God. Don’t be ashamed to hold that banner up that
says, “I’m a Christian.” I ain’t saying
the sign that says, “I’m a Christian,” but the banner. Issues in the heart and mind. People should see us and know that Christ is
living in us. Now, of those five groups, there’s
only one group that felt like they got slighted. But, then the householder said, “Look, I did
thee no wrong. Did we not agree for
this?” Right? When we got saved, who did we make our
commitment to? Jesus, right? So, what else matters, you know? We’re going to get our reward. Some on this side, and some on the other
side. But let’s look at this as it
relates to ministry today. Let’s look at
the different groups that we have in ministry.
Okay, I’m going to call a few groups that we have in ministry, and please
stand when you hear it. We have Bible
Study teachers in the ministry. Bible
Study teachers, stand up. Look around,
church, this is one group that we have in the ministry. We have Children’s Church. If you work in Children’s Church—they’re
probably in Children’s Church, right? Or
have ever worked in Children’s Church, okay?
We have any teens in here? Any
teens? Teenagers, teenagers, all
right. Wow. It’s been so long, I forgot how to be a
teenager. It’s been a while. So, anyway, thank y’all for being in service,
and, amen. All right. People that work the sound equipment. Media Arts.
Seniors. Amen, amen, amen. Y’all are the ones that provide us with that
wisdom and experience and, you know, that like, I look at them and say, “If
they can do it, I can do it, too.” Ken,
I like that suit you have on, can I borrow it?
Music ministry. Whether you’re in
the band playing music, singing songs, there’s another group we have. Men’s ministry. All right, quit you like men; get up. All right.
Women’s ministry; men, sit down.
All right; all right. Women’s
ministry. Okay. Military ministry. Okay.
All right, have a seat. Do y’all
have an altar team? Do you have people
working with advanced education, the new Cornerstone course that we have in the
ministry now? Okay. Ushers, stand up. Y’all are probably like, “Wooo!” Anyway, ushers assist the leadership. Visitation; you that go out and visit
people. Nursing homes, hospitals, so
forth. All right. People who provide people with rides to come
to church. Okay. Thank you.
Do we have any fathers out here?
Fathers? All right. Sit down.
Got any mothers? All right,
mothers. Thank you. Sit down.
Got any sons and daughters? All
right, all right, all right. Thank you
very much, you can have a seat. I just
wanted to make sure I didn’t miss nobody; that’s my failsafe. But, we have all this that God has given to
us to work together. Right? To work together. We shouldn’t have to feel like we’re in this
alone. But there will be times when we
feel alone. Look around you. We’ve got people who are doing different
things in the ministry, but, yet, we’re one body, we’re brothers and sisters,
and we’re called to do that work.
Right? Anybody ever—let me try to
put this the right way—has anybody ever worked beside somebody you don’t
like? Anybody? Me?
I’m going to put up two hands.
It’s good, it’s all good, right?
So—hey, I’m going to tie it in right now—how does it feel to work beside
somebody you don’t like? Come on, be
honest. Terrible, miserable, right? What else?
Agitating, frustrating. What
else? Challenging. What else?
Restless. What else? Character-building. I like that.
What else? What’s that,
Matthew? You’ve got to be overly
cautious. So, it’s not a comfortable thing;
it’s uncomfortable, right? But, as you
continue to work with that person, and come to find out how they think, and
what they’re about, because, now, I’m reversing it, because we’re Christians,
right? So, we’re supposed to be able to
find a way to work together. So, as you
get to working with them a little bit ore, and being patient, and praying, and
learning about them, you come to find out, “Wow! We’re pretty much the same!” Anybody ever done that? “We’re pretty much the same. It’s just that I didn’t know them.” You know?
I remember, when I was in the Navy, I had a friend of mine—we became
friends; in the beginning we couldn’t stand each other—but, he taught me a very
valuable lesson, and his lesson was this:
He said, “No matter how good you think you are, you’re only as good as
the weakest person.” And, that stuck
with me today, because I know what God was using him for; God was using him to
help me with my arrogance. And, I stick
to that, today; I still remember it plain as day. I think about that sometimes in ministry; I
think about how sometimes we can let our spiritual arrogancy to get in the way
of the ministry that God has called us to do.
You know, we have to realize that we’re in this together, and that,
guess what? The weak are needed. In fact, the weak have what? More honor.
Because Paul talked about, “When I am weak, that’s when I’m—“ what? Strong (2 Corinthians 12:10). That’s when I’m strong. Okay. Y’all
got quiet as a mouse right now; what’s the deal? Good gracious! (Pulling a pen out of his pocket and dropping
it on the floor) Okay, I heard it drop. All right, church? Do you know we have to share the Gospel in
our homes? We have to share the Gospel
on our jobs? We have to share the Gospel
at our schools? We have to share the
Gospel in our community? We have to
share the Gospel on military bases?
Military ships, boats, regular sailors?
On airplanes? In foreign
countries? At restaurants? At Avalon?
Oh, okay; everybody’s, “What?”
While we’re shopping? Everywhere
we are, we take the Holy Ghost with us.
We should seek those opportunities, not only to live the Gospel, but to
share the Gospel. Everybody still with
me? Are we called to work? All right. Now, there are going to be some
times that God is really going to challenge us.
He’s got to put us in situations in front of people who just don’t like
us. Okay? One of my favorite examples of this is
Ananias, when God told him to go share with who? Go share with Paul, right? And what was Ananias’ big beef, what he was
trying to put before God? What did he
say? “This guy kills people! Haven’t you
heard? This guy kills people! And you want me to go!” “Yeah, I want you
to go. I want you to tell him that he’s
going to suffer for--” what? “—for My
name’s sake.” For His name, right? So, I got to thinking about this: Here it is, this man who’s killing the
church, going in and causing havoc.
Right? “And you want me to share
with this guy?” I’m going to get real
serious about this now, so that it has weight.
“You want me to share with this guy who killed my wife, killed my
children, killed my uncle, killed my aunt, killed my mother, and You want me to
share with this guy?” That’s an
impact. That’s, you know, rusting in
God. Okay? And, then, when he goes on to share with
him—right?—now, what do we have today?
We’ve got the New Testament, which Paul pretty much wrote what? The majority of the New Testament. So that person that you may be irritated, you
may be fearful about, that God, the Holy Ghost is leading you to talk to them,
do it. Do it. We’ve got examples in the Scriptures for
it. There will be obstacles in the way. There will be obstacles. There will be some trials and tribulations
that we have to deal with. There will be
some persecutions. There will be some
misunderstandings. There will be some
sickness. There will be some
disappointments. There will be
depression. There will be some
anger. So what? That’s life.
Because—what?—greater is He that is in me than he that is—what?—in the
world (1 John 4:4), okay? Like I said,
we’re just talking to each other this morning.
You know, I’m in the same boat.
But, knowing that, through the Holy Ghost, He can help us overcome all
things. Through the Holy Ghost, He can help us overcome all things. Church,
why do we live for God? To do what? “Uh, to go to Heaven.” Come on, now.
Church, I guarantee you, right now, I could go to a gym right now, and
I’m not talking like an NBA Sports team gym, a regular, high school, elementary
gym, and you ask them what they’re there for, “(excitedly) Hey, I’m ready to
play some ball, how about y’all‽” And we come to
church, “(robotically)Heaven. Yes, I’m
living for God today. Um, where is my
suit and tie? Oh, we got to stand up and
pray. Oh, we got to sing. The worship team is going to tell me to raise
my arms.” Come on, now. Does that sound like I want to be a part of
that? Ain’t no way in the world. If I were to hear that, you know what? I’d probably say, “You know what? Here’s my dollar; holler at me when you get
done.” But, church, people need to know
that we’re excited about the Gospel. We need
to know—just think about this right here:
You have the most important gift there is in life, and you got it from
the Creator. Why not be excited about
it? I guarantee you, if I catch you
watching a basketball game, football game, baseball, Rachel Ray, come on,
women, give me some more things, One Life to Live, General Hospital, huh? All My Children… Everybody’s so quiet now. “You’re not supposed to be talking about
that. You’re supposed to be in the
Bible, giving us Scriptures and stuff.”
Hey, we’re just talking this morning.
We’re family, right? So, if you
get all excited about those things, how much more should we be excited about
living for God? You know? How many people in this room have
had somebody come up to them and say, “You’re a Christian, aren’t you?” Okay.
How did it make you feel? Very
humbling, right? Sometimes, great, like,
“Thanks, God, I needed that right there.
How many of you have ever, maybe you’ve been in an accident somewhere,
or, someplace you weren’t supposed to be, and somebody came up to you and said,
“Hey, I thought you were supposed to be a Christian!” Anybody?
Come on. Come on, come on. Right?
So, you’ve got one that was exuberant, and the other was, “Oh, my
goodness! My testimony! Lord, forgive me please; let me make this
right.” Because we fall down, right? Right?
But if you go to God, repent, make it right, say, “Okay, God, let’s move
forward.” Okay? Now, this reward that we’re waiting for, it’s
going to be a good reward. It’s going to
be a good reward. It’s going to be
something where—guess what?—no more sickness, no more crying, no more trials or
tribulations, no more disappointments, no more having to go to work. Oh, man, wow!
But, on thing we’ve got to realize:
In order to get this reward, we can’t get weary in the race. We’ve got to keep going. We’ve got to keep pressing forward,
okay? Because, church, I’m looking
forward to that day when we all come together in that beautiful place where we
rejoice together. We won’t be separated
by miles, countries, continents, or anything of that nature. You know, we’ll be with our Maker; we’ll be
with our Father. So, I want to encourage
everybody that, each and every day, when you get up, Thank God for, that day,
allowing you to get up. And you ask God,
“What would You have me to do today?”
You ask God, “Hey, God, keep the goal on my mind, of making it to Heaven;
why I do what I do.” Because, if each one
of us do this, and we see it—guess what?—it’s going to cause more people to
want to be a partner. I just want to say thank you,
church, for your time and patience. I
love you all, and this is great. I’m
telling you, this is great. We serve a
great God, right? Let’s give the Lord a
praise.
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