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Transformation Church
It's About Time // God Chose You (Part 1) // Charles Metcalf
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The Bible is the story of God choosing people at the right time. In Week 1 of our God Chose You series, Pastor Charles Metcalf reminds us that God didn’t just choose us on purpose—He chose us on time. And that time is now.Even when it feels slow or...
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That's PolicyGenius.com welcome to Transformation Church podcast where we represent God to the lost and found for transformation in Christ. We're so glad you're here and wherever you're listening from, we believe God will transform your life through today's message. Good morning. Good morning, friends. I hope you're doing well. You can grab a seat. Grab a seat. Seat. What a great Sunday to be at church. I mean, there's so many amazing things about our church. I tell you what, I'm about getting sick and tired of this ridiculousness that's happening between Pastor Michael and Ro. They writing all these songs up on stage. That last one, I said, what is happening? I looked at six people on my row. I said, what song is this? Like, we don't know. I think it's happening right now. This. So some people, you just see, it's like, it's just like. They just walk up and it's just like, that is crazy that you are that good at that. But I love our church so much. I really do. It's such a beautiful place to be. And before we jump into the word today, I just want to take a moment and just tell you because many of y' all know Pastor Michael as Pastor Michael up on this stage, who is doing an example and convicting you and encouraging you and punching you in the kidney and lifting you up at the same time. I know him as that as well, but I also get the privilege to know him off this platform as a friend, as a father, as one of the greatest encouragers in my life. And you just need to know our pastor is very rare. It's not rare to just be a pastor, but it's rare to be a pastor. And the thing I told him, I said, you did not have to share everything God did in your life with me. You didn't have to. You didn't have to share your influence, you didn't have to share your relationships, you didn't have to do. But you've done that in abundance. And I just want to take a moment and say to you, wherever you are, that there you are. Hello. And pastor that. Hello. You're so beautiful. Give it up for Pastor Nat, the queen of all queens. The best. I love you a lot. I love you. Thank you. Both of you mean so much to me and my family. And I've said it to you so many times. But the greatest thing about both of you is you can look at someone's life and see the fruit of it. And there's hundreds of thousands of people around the world, but I know Charles Metcalfe, Abby Metcalfe, Arlo, Luna, Jade and Blue are all a result of who you are. And someone said one time that they were like, man, we're. I'm looking for someone at my church to do what you do for Pastor Michael. And it's just so cool to see all the stuff that happens. And I said my life and influence and ministry and all those things are only as big as Pastor Michael has created space for. And I get to, by the grace of God, see a lot of big things happen in my life. And I want you to know we have pastors who aren't just there in the big moments, but they're there in the low moments. This book actually opens with a story of two in the morning, when I'm going through it and they showed up at my house with all four of those kids and prayed over me. And so can we take a moment and just thank our pastors? I love you. Thank you. I love you very, very much. The awkward stand as well. Also, before I preach, I have to thank my wife. I wouldn't have been able to write this book without my wife. She. Yes, you can give up for Abby Rose. I love you genuinely. She heard all the revisions, the ideas, the 2am sitting up next to her. And so I want you to know how much I love you and I'm so grateful. Just all of this, I'll get emotional, talk about it, but beautiful thing about wives and the power of a woman in your life and this Pastor Michael said it about the words you speak, but she saw all this when I didn't. I remember being 19 years old, meeting each other and she was like, you're to going, going to do this and this. You're going to be an author and you're going to be a preacher, and you're going to blah, blah, blah, blah. And I was like, girl, I'm just trying to wake up in the morning and not die. Like I. And. And you just, you spoke so much life. So I love you so much. I love you so much. All right, y' all ready for the word today? Let's get into it. Thank you, keyboard player. I will not be needing you anymore. Okay, sorry. I'm the worst at, like. It's just. Let's just get into it. Okay? We're going to start a brand new series today. Oh, a cool thing that's happening. Sorry, real quick, before we jump in. This Friday at the Barnes and Noble at 71st Memorial. So this is just Tulsa people. If you want to drive, you can. But we're going to be having like a book party signing. So this Friday, 7pm Barnes and Noble. Come hang out. Okay. Now we can get to the word. Sorry about that. Okay, we're starting a brand new series today called God Chose Me. Somebody say God Chose Me. Oh, it's about to get ridiculous. Ridiculous up in here. Okay, this series, I gotta say this about the series won't be in this series for the next. Including today, it'll be a total of seven weeks. I need you to know this is not the book. So if you like, okay, I'm gonna read two chapters and you gonna come tell me about those two chapters. No, no, them chapters is in the book. You're gonna have to read the book if you want to know what it say. This is all the stuff that was in me that didn't make the cut for the book or God gave it to me after the book had already been sent off. So this is all new stuff. So don't be showing up like, oh, I know what he about to say. No, you ain't. Cause this is all the fresh stuff, the good stories, the wild stuff they wouldn't let me say in the book. I, like, bet I'll show up at my church and say it. So for the next couple weeks, we're about to be in this series. And I know for a fact that if you have been living in a season of your life where you've been tired of hiding, you've been tired of the hurt you've been in, and you have to, something has to change. I know this is the series for you. This is going to give you the confidence to be who you've known you've always been. It's going to give you the confidence to stop fighting those lame and useless fights with insecurity. Because here's what I've realized. Many of us spend the energy God gave you to take ground in your life fighting insecurity and a lack of confidence. Half the energy that God put on the inside of you spend looking in the mirror, worrying about how you look and wondering what your teammates doing and wondering what they think about you. You. We are done fighting fights that are a waste of time. We've got ground to take. We've got people to share the gospel with. So I'm just letting you know, if you want to stay the same and you like just where you are, okay. But if you're tired of some. If you sick or tired of being sick and tired is the way I really want to say it. This is the series for you. One of the most beautiful things that's happened as I've written this book, and Pastor Michael said it, but this book was born out of a sermon I preached in 2023. And. And one of the things that has happened is as the message of the book has started to come out and people have heard about it. I love our church because our church is so encouraging. Like, we are the most, like, anytime you do anything, our staff is the same way. We and be staff meeting. And we do we wins every single week. And somebody will be like, hey, how y' all doing? They're like, okay. It's like, okay. They haven't even said anything. They're like, so, you know, the Bible says, like, ooh. It's like you don't even know what was going to happen. But it's a spirit of encouragement. But one thing that's happened to me is as I'd be out and around in the city, people walk up to me like, hey, Pastor Charles, God chose you. And I'll be like, oh, thank you, brother. God bless you. And there was one time, a gentleman, I was riding my bike. I'd be cycling around in Tulsa, and I'll just be riding. I'll just hear somebody scream out the window, God chose you. I'm like, just throwing my hands up, like, ah. And I was talking to somebody, and this happened multiple times. And I was traveling this past week, and someone put their hand on their shoulder and they. They got really serious and kind of got emotional. And I was like, oh, geez, what's happening? And they looked at me they said, pastor Charles, I want you to know that God really did choose you. And it's just. It's not a mistake. It's not a fluke. And just you are. And they start going in, and I could tell, you know, this was a moment really, for them. But can I be honest with you what I was thinking? I was thinking, baby, I know God chose me. Baby, I feel good. I don't. I don't know. I didn't. Well, the sentiment. I got to. And this is going to help our sermon today is, I didn't write this book so that you would know God chose me. That's not what this is about. I wrote this book so you would know God chose you, that he gave you a call on your life, that he put something on the inside of you that your family needs, that. That the world needs. And as long as you keep backing up and comparing yourself and showing up halfway, we are missing out on you. So the title of this series, I told the team I was going to do this. The title of the series is no longer God chose me. That lasted a whole six seconds. The title of the series is God chose you. Somebody look at your neighbor and say, God chose you. I'm telling you, you need to know this. God chose you, Father, to be the parent of those kids. Nobody else is showing up. I know you feel like you don't have what it takes. I know you didn't have the example. I know you feel insecure, but God chose you to raise those kids. God chose you to be in this city. I know it feels like it was happenstance and it's an accident, and you just happened to land here, and you're really just here for school until something else comes along. No, no, no. God chose you to be in this city at this time. God chose you to have those relationships. He chose you to start that business. He chose you to be exactly where you are right now. And over the next six weeks, we're about to walk through, and I promise you, at the end of this, you're gonna stand up with a confidence that nobody can mess with and a spirit that says, I know why I'm here. I know what I'm called to do, and the devil better watch out. He messed up letting you wake up and get to church this morning. That's all I'm gonna say. All right, we're going to jump in today's sermon. I need you, if you have your Bibles turn into the book of Galatians. The book of Galatians is where we're going to be. And Galatians, chapter number four. I'm going to read a nice little chunk of scripture, but we're going to focus in on one verse. But we're going to go ahead. Galatians, chapter four, starting in verse number one, shout out to the team. How dope is the yellow stool in the chair anyways? That was just for me. Okay, Galatians 4, starting in verse one. It says this. Children who are underage are no better off than slaves, even though everything their parents own will someday be theirs. This is because children are placed in the care of guardians and teachers until the time their parents have set. This is how it was with us. We were like children ruled by the powers of this world. But when they the time was right, God sent his son, and a woman gave birth to him. His son obeyed the law so he could set us free of the law, and we became God's children. Now that we are his children, God has sent his spirit of his son into our hearts, and his spirit tells us that God is our Father. You are no longer slaves. You are God's children. This is the good part. It says this, and you will be given what he has promised. I'm gonna focus on one verse. I want to read it one more time. But when the time was right. The title of my sermon. If you're taking notes, write it down. It's about time. It's about time. It's about time you realize what God put on the inside of you. It's about time you stand up and stop playing like he didn't gift you. You let me calm down, okay? Jesus, help us to realize it's about time. And everybody said, amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Okay, here's the thing about time. I have four kiddos, and they are learning to tell time. My son Arlo is 6, and he is learning to tell time. And so he'll ask me all the time, hey, dad, what time does this say? And he's got a little washing, so we'll be going back and forth. The other day, he was like, how many minutes till we get home? And I was like, like, three minutes. He's like, how long is three minutes? And it's like, well, a minute is 60 seconds, so you got to count to 60 like, three times. He's like, all right. One, two, three. So then we were, like, around the corner from our house, so I intentionally started driving slower so I know I'd be right. I'm like. And we pulled in the neighborhood. I was like bam. See, told you three minutes. But what I've learned about time is your relationship with time is all about your engagement and your expectation. Let me explain it to you this way. I got some friends that love Marvel movies and they will go sit in a movie for. I think the last Marvel movie was 18 hours is what it was. I think the last one. But you will sit in a movie. Me and my wife went to go see Mission Impossible, Shout out Tom Cruise. I don't know how you look the same, but you do. But we sit in this movie and it's like, what's the runtime? It's like 3 hours and 49 minutes. Like Jesus. But it's interesting. You can sit and watch a movie for three hours but then you ever get like a, a a heat up meal? Like, come on, I grew up on banquet meals. Y' all don't ever has that Salisbury steak with the corn and the mashed potatoes. Come on. Don't get it. I'm wearing leather now, but I was not back then. Okay, but you put that thing in and you look on the back and it says three minutes. And you put it in you a beep and then you just sitting there and stare. And that three minutes might as well be six days. It feel like why is it taking so long? It's because many of us, our relationship with time depending on our expectation and how engaged we feel and what we thought was gonna happen. We get unsettled with time. We don't know how to deal with time. And the truth is before we go in talking about the importance of God choosing you and the call he has on your life, I, I have to talk to you about time because one of the most potential biggest disappointments of your life when you realize you're chosen by God is sitting around waiting and wondering when is it going to happen? When is it going to happen? He said he chose me. He gave me the idea, but I don't see nothing in my life that looks like what he said. He said he chose me to be the parent. But right now when I look at my situation, it feels different, it feels disappointing, it feels unsettling. We have to talk about time. Here's the first thing you need to know. I want you to write this down. If you're taking notes when it comes to the timing of God is God chose you at the right time and right now is the right time. God chose you at the right time. It was not an accident. It was not happenstance stance. It's not a delay time. Right now is the right time. He's chosen you for this moment, this hour, this day, this second. God has chosen every part of you. It's not the part of you that doesn't have the weakness. It's not the part of you that gets somewhere else. He's chosen you right now. How you are, who you are. He's chosen you right now. Let me help you understand time in this way. I wrote this statement out, and I'm going to walk you through it. So. So just bear with me. But here's how time works with God. God stood outside of time, then he created time and he placed you in time. So at the right time, you would be on time for his appointed time. Let me say it to you again. God was standing outside of time. He's not bound by time. He doesn't stand on your time. He was standing outside of time and he looked at time and he said, what is missing? And he created it and then he placed you in time. So at the right time, not too early, not too late, you would be on time because he has an appointed time. Some of you haven't picked it up. Let me help you. God was standing outside of time, and then he created time and he placed Abraham in time. So at the right time, he would have a son named Isaac. So he would be on time at the top of that mountain, about to sacrifice him. And the ram would walk out at just the right time, because God always has an appointed time. God was standing outside of time, and then he created time and he placed David in time. So at the right time, a prophet Samuel would walk up asking for a son to anoint, and David would be on time at the right time because God had an appointed time for him to be the king of Israel. God's always on time. Don't get it twisted. Just because you feel like he's late does not mean he's late. He stands outside of time and he created time. And then at the right time, he placed Esther in time for an appointed time. He was standing outside of time, and then he created time and he placed Paul in time. So at the right time, he'd be on a path and would get knocked off his door donkey. And Jesus would say, hey, I have needed you. Because at the right time, he was on time. Because he had an appointed time. He knew he called Paul while he was being called Saul and killing Christians, he knew there was an appointed time. And let me tell you, friend, just because you feel delayed and discouraged, do not get it twisted. God has an Appointed time for your life. Every detail, every pain you've went through, the disappointment you experience, the things you didn't see coming. God is always on time. When he looked at your life, he was standing outside of time and he created time. Then he placed you in time because he knew there would be a right time. Even though it feels disappointing, even though it feels like you don't know why it happened. There was a right time so you would be on time. Cuz he's got an appointed time. There's a scripture in Habakkuk Team. I know I didn't give you this scripture, but that's the way the Bible works. Sometimes it. It works all. Let me find it. Let me find it. Let me read you the scripture in Habakkuk 2 because this thing is gangster. It says this. The vision is for a future time. It describes the end and it will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, wait patiently for for it will sure take place and it will not be delayed. It might seem slow right now, but trust me friend, it's on the way. It might seem slow right now, it's taking a while to get the business off the ground. But let me tell you something, it's on the way. It may seem shaky right now because the marriage isn't working out. But let me tell you something friend, it's on the way. I serve an on time God. He's always on time. And no matter where, you find yourself in his timeline. And let me tell you that the truth, it's his timeline, it's not yours. I hate to break it to you. I know we love plans. I know we got ideas. I know there's things that we expected and it didn't happen and we were disappointed. But let's be clear about it. It was your expectation, not his promise, that disappointed. We can acknowledge that that's important. We need to talk about it. But let be clear, he didn't say that. You thought of it, held him to it. He didn't do it. Now you mad at him. That's okay, I'm not mad at you. Do it all the time. And he has an appointed time and he knows every single detail of your life. How it needs to come together and who you need to meet and where you need to live and how it needs to go. There's a divine timing of God. Many of us spend most of our time frustrated with his time. Well God, if you chose me, how come it's not happening? How come this happened and how come I don't feel this way and how come? Let me tell you something. Let me just talk about this. This ain't even part of my sermon. I understand as a formally completely controlled by my emotions individual, formally. I say, because I got them jokers under lock. We had to bring them in. They tried to take us out. I said, hey, brother, you're gonna have to calm down. You can't. You can't. I didn't let you drive the car for too long. We done hit six mailboxes, and we almost ran off the road, brother. My emotions did not pass the driver's test of my life. And some of y' all have been letting that thing drive your emotions, your attitude, your opinions, okay? But just because you don't feel like something does not mean it's not true. God has the right time, and he chose you at exactly the right time. You see, you need to understand this about the scripture. The scriptures are all about God choosing people at the right time. And here's the beautiful thing about the right time. The right time is not always your time. Start off with Abraham. I mean, if I'm choosing somebody to be the father of nations, let me tell you who I'm not choosing and what time I'm not choosing. Brother Abraham. Father Abraham was old than a mug when God came and found him. It didn't seem like the right time to say, walk out from your tent and look into the stars. As many stars as you see are the descendants you will have. It didn't seem like the right time. But because God was standing outside of time and placed him in time, he knew it was always the right time. Some of you feel like this is the most disappointing thing that's happened to many believers. You feel like you ran out of time. You feel like you made too many bad choices. You feel like you missed your moment. And on the other side of that coin, some of you feel like you don't have enough time. It's like, well, I just need. I just need more time, and I need more things, and I need more. I mean, if there was just more hours in the day. I was having a conversation with a friend this past week, and we were talking about timing. And some people say, you know, I just need more time. And it's like, let's be clear about time. You got just as much time in the day as Beyonce. So, you know, we all making decisions with our life. So you got just as much time as anybody doing anything you look up to. So we all given the same time, but it's how you relate to that. Time. It's how you use that time. God was standing outside of time. He created time, placed you in time, so at the right time you'd be on time for his appointed time. Now there's something when it comes to the life of Jesus, there's a prophetic word that is given through the prophet Isaiah. The prophet Isaiah is before the time of God and he starts to speak of this king that will come. And I want to read you this scripture out of Isaiah. It says this in Isaiah. It says, out of the stump of David, a family will grow up, a new branch, fruit from the old root. And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him. The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord. He will delight in obeying the Lord. He will not judge by appearance nor make decision based on heresy. This whole chapter goes on to be one of the most formative prophetic words about the soon coming Savior. Fast forward to Luke chapter two. And the scripture says, when it came time for Mary to have the baby. You want to know how much time is between Isaiah and the right time? 700 years. I don't know about you. I don't know if you've ever received a prophetic word. And you be like, all right, so tomorrow, I think this is a real life exam. I was talking about this the other day. I got a prophetic word back in 2019. And it was like, man, you actually. It's crazy. One of the things it said is you need to start writing because you're going to write. Boy, when I tell you I made so many dramatic decisions in that moment. I was like, all right, I need like eight people to help me do this. And we got, I got all my friends in on stuff and we just now getting to the time. I was like, wow, I definitely missed the timing on that one. But many times when you're waiting for that timing, you feel like it's about time. It's about time God comes through on what he said. It's about time the marriage works out. I'm running out of time. I feel like he's missed his time. But here's what you need to understand about God. While we are many times sitting around frustrated, thinking it's about time. You need to understand, when it comes to Jesus and his very life, it was always about time. I'm going to walk you through this. It's about time with God. It's not about the time and when you thought it was, but it's about his time. Let me explain it to you this way. There's a lot of things that had to happen for Jesus to come into this world. The reason you need to understand the importance. There are parts of your Bible that you skip over where it's got the list of all the names and so and so begot so and so and begot so and so. What that is is actually a testimony of the faithfulness of God and his timing. Because Jesus couldn't come at any time. He had to come at the right time. He had to be there. We said he had to be the seed of Abraham, he had to be of the tribe of Judah. He had to be the line of David. He had to be at the right time in Bethlehem. Because even with the life of Jesus, God stood outside of time and he created time and he brought Jesus at the right time. Think of the birth of Jesus. It wasn't an accidental time. What happens if Caesar Augustus at the time doesn't call a census? You want to know what happens? 500 and 700 years worth of prophecy don't happen. Because he couldn't be born anywhere. He had to be born in Bethlehem. And the only way Jesus gets to Bethlehem is if God calls. Caesar Augustus, stands outside of time, places him in time at the right time. He calls a census so that the Savior of the world can fulfill the prophecy right on time for his appointed time. There's a story in the scripture of a father that comes up to Jesus and he says, my daughter is dying. And he says, okay, I'm coming. Just wait a second. And on the way, the father is rudely interrupted by a woman who dragged her way through the ground and touched the harm hem of his garment. And it seems frustrating until you realize that the Son, same day, the Bible says, it says this. The girl was 12 years old. And at the end of Mark 5, it puts in parentheses and the woman suffered for 12 years. Let me tell you, God was standing outside of time and then he created time. And in one hospital room, there's a little girl being born. And the parents are full of excitement. And down the other hallway, there's a woman getting a diagnosis. And she doesn't understand why it's happening. That's because God was standing outside of time and he created time. And. And then he placed both of them in time. Because the only reason Jesus is passing by that woman's house is because there was a girl who was born at the right time. Some of y' all gonna catch this on Thursday. But at the right time, Mary her brother dies, Lazarus. And she goes to Jesus and she says, jesus, can you please save our brother? And he says, yeah, yeah, yeah, I'll be there. And he waits for four days. He doesn't wait four days on accident. He waits four days. Because at the culture of the time, at four days was when it was absolutely done. And scientifically, your body starts to decompose at four days. He waited four days because they knew him as a healer, they knew him as a provider, but they did not know him as a resurrector. And he wanted to make sure, baby, I'm always on time. Even if it feels late, even if it feels dead. Do not doubt the timing of God. He's always on time. And I know it feels frustrating waiting. I know it feels frustrating being delayed. But if you could see the timing of your life. I was telling this to Pastor. Some of the most crazy things and the most gratitude and most powerful worship you will ever have in your life is you start to look at the timing of your Life. Bishop Gary McIntosh and Pastor Debbie started this church back in 1999. And one of the first buildings they ever had. There's a few people in the room that will remember this. There was a building on first street downtown. There was a school bus in the building, if I remember Bishop, shout out to black and yellow, Black and yellow, black and yellow. They're in this. And this is where they start. They eventually moved to 15, 19. Fast forward, years later, there's a young couple starting a church, and they're looking for a building. And they walk up to this club on first street, and they walk in and they say, hey, we're looking for a venue to start this church, and this will be the perfect venue. And the owner of the building says, you know, that'd be perfect because this place used to be a church. And this couple, they created a whole branding guide of how they were gonna launch the church. And the tagline was this. The church is back, baby. You wanna know how I know this story? Cause that was me. Me and my wife were starting a church, and we walked into first street and we said, oh, this used to be a church. And it's about the time I had no idea I was gonna be here. The first February 1st, when Pastor Michael became the pastor. You know what was beautifully happening in the timing of God? Me and my wife were meeting at a Super bowl party, and Pastor Will was sitting in court trying to decide if he was going to jail or not. But the timing of God had worked all things together. Cause he knew. He stood outside of time. I'm about to act a fool. He stood outside of time and then he created time. And he placed my me and Will and Bishop and Pastor Mike in time. And he said, there's a right time for them to be on time. Cuz I've got an appointed time. God's got you. It's on the way. Do not get it twisted. But it's about time. It's about his plan. It's about who you need to meet. It's about who you need to become. The Bible says that he is not being slow, as some of you would think, but he's giving you time. Some of y', all, it ain't happened yet. Because you need time. You need time to figure out who you really were. You needed time to stop dating them. You needed time to get over that. You needed time to let that go. You needed time. And don't get frustrated at it, because with God, you never lose time. Some of y' all feel like you lost time that you were in that marriage or in that relationship and you lost the. Oh, do not get it twisted. He was right on time. He knew what he had to make in you. He knew what he was doing when he placed you in that family. He knew what he was doing when he sent you to that school and you didn't get the degree. He knew what he was doing. He was standing outside of time looking at the timeline of your life, and he looked at it and said, okay, I'm going to. If they. If they make this decision over here and then they meet that person and they feel like they missed it and, and then they got pregnant and they didn't know they were going to get pregnant. And it feels like an accident now, but I don't. I don't do accidents. And I know you're surprised and I know you're wondering what you're going to do, and I know you don't feel like it, but what I know is they don't know down here that child is going to be raised. And they don't know that down here. Here, I'm going to break something off their family, and they don't know down here I'm going to raise them up and they don't know down here. So I'm going to come back over here because I'm standing outside of time and I'm looking at their life and I'm saying, baby, keep going. I've given you everything you need to raise that kid. God chose you to raise that kid. Yeah. Don't send them to that school. Yeah. They can't go over to that house. Okay. Send them to that college. Okay. They came home. Don't make them feel bad. Just lift them up because I have an appointed time. There is no accident with God. There is no mistake with God. Just because you are surprised does not mean he is surprised. He's standing outside of time looking at your life, and he knows the details. He knows where you're at. He knows. And here's the beautiful thing you can say when you realize this. You say this. It had to happen. I may not have wanted it. I wouldn't want to go through it again, and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy, but it had to happen. I tell you right now, I stand here right now knowing what God did in me. And I wouldn't want to go through the depression I went through back in 2020. And I wouldn't want to have to write those letters wondering if I was going to live. But let me tell you right now, Pastor Mike, it had to happen. Because what God put on the inside of me was the thing I didn't know would become the thing that would help so many people. And as long as you spend time discounting and dismissing, you lose the beauty of the story he's writing in your life. There's something he's connecting. There's dots you don't see. There's threat. There's people that you lost that I understand. And we grieve because it's pain. And we grieve because we were never supposed to experience. And at the same time, he knows I know it's painful. I know it's broken. I know you feel like you don't know what you're going to do without him. But also, I placed a legacy on the inside of you. And this is going to show you that there's more in you than you think. And it's going to show you that you are strong, even if you don't have the people you thought you needed. It's going to show you. Some of y' all don't know how strong you are, but the things God has taken you through, it's been about his time. So the question is, what do you do in the meantime if he's got his? Because I'd be feeling. It's a great. It's a great preaching point, but sometimes it feel like, okay, okay, okay, he's got the time at the right time. We get it, Dr. Seuss. You got your. It was really powerful the way you did that. But what do I do in the meantime? Because here's the truth. Many of us, we either worry or we waste our time. So you can get a word from God, you can get an encouragement from God. You can finally accept that God chose you. And then you spend the whole process worried about when it's going to happen. Okay, so I don't want to miss it, and I don't want to. And what am I going to do? And where's it going to be? And, oh, I'm too late now. I'm too early. Okay, let me back up. Let me scoot. And you got to bring peace. What do you do in the meantime? I'm going to give you three questions to ask yourself, three words to think about when you are trying to figure out what to do in the meantime. The first question I would ask you is, what are you believing? What do you believe? What do you believe about God? This question is very important to ask yourself, because if you don't know what you believe about God, it'll shape a lot of your frustration about his timing and his plan. Do you believe the Scripture when it says all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purposes? Because if you have the power to believe that scripture, there's a level of peace and trust and security you can have. No matter what happens, no matter what happens when you wake up, no matter what the world's going through, no matter the unrest, no matter you can understand. What I believe about God is that he's faithful. So even though I don't see how it's working out right now, even though this is frustrating, even though I don't know what's happening, I trust because I know what I believe. What do you believe about God? The other question you need to ask is that, what do you believe about you? Because some of us have been chosen by God. But here's the tension. God chose you, but at some point, you gonna have to choose you. I can't even go into how important this is. But at some point, it doesn't matter if I chose you. If I said right now, hey, come up on the stage, I'm gonna give you a million dollars. I chose you. You still. Some of y' all say, hey, is this Crazy Face Sunday? No, this ain't. If I chose you, you still have to stand up and walk up here. And many of you, you know, God placed something in you. You know he's giving you a vision. You know he wants you to make some steps and dedicate yourself to some things. But the truth is, what you believe about yourself is you're not enough. You'll never be enough. And so you don't choose you. Every day God speaks to you. Go speak to that person, God. What you believe about yourself is you don't hear from God, or the last time you heard from God, it wasn't right, or it didn't happen, or you don't know how. And so what happens is you slowly work yourself out of the time he already had. Now here's the beautiful grace message of Jesus is you actually can't work yourself out of the time. I mean, he knows everything. So while you sitting there, like, I don't know what I'm gonna do. I don't know if I'll obey or disobey. He knows you're gonna disobey. You don't have to. You don't have to worry about it. I know what you're gonna do. You pray. And this is nice, but you're gonna do the same thing you always do. You're gonna get emotionally gonna compare yourself. You're gonna try to get somewhere early before you're supposed to be there. And so you're gonna circumvent the whole process I have for you just to get there. Realize you don't have what you need to be be where you are. So then you got to go back and start over. He knows what he's doing. But what do you believe about God? What do you believe about yourself? What do you believe about what he's placed on the inside of you? What do you believe about your voice? Some of you don't believe your voice is important, so you don't speak up in sitting in the middle of the problem, you have the answer. You have the answer 90% of the time. But what you'll do is you'll just sit there and be like, oh, okay, yeah. Mm, interesting. You got anything to say? No, no, guys, I meant. No, I don't wanna. Hey, listen, I'm just here so I don't get fined. That's what you just be. What do you believe? Cause in the timing of this thing, there's something that God is creating. And here's the questions you have to ask. You talk about what you believe, because what you believe shapes the next thing. What you believe shapes who you become. And in the meantime, you gotta ask yourself, who am I becoming? Because we all want to pray prayers about where we're gonna be. The truth is, who are you gonna be when you get there. I told this to my wife. There have been some moments that have happened in my life where I'm standing in a moment, and I'm just like, this is. Wow. This is actually crazy. And I take a moment just to register, like, this is wild. And last Sunday was one of those Sundays I got to speak at Elevation, and I was like, what is happening? This is kind of crazy. And I've spoken at their youth conferences, been in the room, stepped on the stage. But I came around the corner and ELE Worship was singing Elevation songs. And I looked up on that stage and looked around that room, and Pastor Steven's face was on the screen, and he was just smiling. And I was like, all right, brother, we from Kentucky. This is kind of crazy. You know what I'm saying? You're trying to act cool, keep it together, but this is crazy. And I was sitting in that moment thinking how wild it was. But what I told my wife after I got done, I said, more proud than where I am. It's pretty cool where I am. This is wild. I never thought I'll get to speak at this place, but more proud than where I am. I'm proud of who I am when I got here. The truth is, many of us, if you don't realize the timing of God, this is a moment. He's intentionally trying to make you into who you've always been. This is the beauty and the grace of God. Let me explain it to you this way. When I stood at the altar with my wife 10 years ago, it and said, I do. I became a husband. But how many of you know I had no idea what it meant to be a husband? The last 10 years have been me becoming who I've always been. It's the same way with you. God has chosen you right now, and you feel like you don't have the tools, and you feel like you don't know what you're doing. But the process of him choosing you and the timing of him choosing you is he's giving you space. Space to become space to become the man of integrity that needs to run that business. Because what good is the business if you're gonna do the wrong thing when you get it? What good is the marriage if you gonna cheat anyway? So he's giving you this time. Say something like that hit you. They're like, ah, dang. You gotta be honest. The truth is, if he answered some of our prayers tomorrow, we would not be who we need to be to stay there longer than a day. So we ask ourselves in the meantime, we're praying God, would you shape me? Would you mold me? Would you change me? Would you take that comparison off of me? Would you break this insecurity? Would you have me stop people pleasing God? I don't want to do it. He's trying to make you into something. In the meantime, what do you believe? Who are you becoming? The last one is, what are you breaking? I gotta tell you something. In order for you to be, to believe and become who God has chosen you to be, there's some stuff you're gonna have to break. This past week we had a staff retreat here on the campus. And Pastor Michael was teaching through the story of Gideon. And in the story of Gideon, he comes to this moment where God calls him a mighty warrior. And he steps out and he's about to to go step into battle. And he's about to have one of the greatest victories of all time. But before he goes to war, God says, you gotta go back to your father's idols and tear them down. Because you cannot go build what I've called you to build until you break some things off of your family that have always been there. Friend, the reason God chose you is there's some stuff that's been on your family, there's some stuff that's been on the men in your family. There's a lack of commitment that's been in your life. And God has chosen you to break those things, to break the patterns, to break the habits, to break the insecurities, to break the comparison. He's chosen you. But if you want to step into this timing, there's some stuff you're gonna have to break. You're gonna have to stop doing the same thing you've always done. You're gonna have to invite some people. Men. Let me talk to you for a moment. I know it's Father's Day and it's awesome and we're kind of like, dang, how come it's not Mother's Day? That's just how it be. I know, so sorry. They gonna give us some bacon when we go outside. I don't know what we got. We all like bacon and chainsaws apparently. But Father's Day, let's get some chainsaws and some hot rods. And it's like, dang, bruh. We got mom a petal laced vase from Italy and we're like, yeah, just get em bacon donuts, they'll all be good. Okay, man, we're up here. I'm in a leather suit, sweating like I don't like bacon. Okay? But men, you gotta. If you want to become and believe some things, there are some patterns you're going to have to break. You're going to have to break the pattern with all your homies that y' all all pull up at that person's house and play video games till three in the morning. Come on, man. What you got against Minecraft? I ain't got nothing against Minecraft, but it's taking all of your mind and energy off of your wife, and your wife needs you right now. So you got to tell the homies, hey, dog, not going to be there on Minecraft Monday nights because I have marriage Monday nights. And when y' all gone and y' all living in your mama's basement, I still have a wife to take care of and I've got kids to rape. So I gotta break this pattern because I've got something to build. Some of you have to break the pattern of waiting on the approval of your family to do what you know you're supposed to do. I'm thinking about going to this school and I'm thinking about doing this thing. And I just want to make sure my parents, I hope they are proud of everything. And at the same time, they may not understand it, they may not get it at this moment. And your responsibility is not to make sure everybody heard from God just like you did. Did you hear from God? Did you hear from God? Okay, I just need confirmation. I just went. You don't need confirmation. You need courage. You need the boldness to do what he said to do. You don't need to compare. You don't need more confirmation. You need to pray. God, give me the boldness to do what you've asked me to do. In the face of disappointment, in the face of being insecure, you got to break some things. Some of you need to break the pattern of not committing all the way. You. You. You commit halfway. And the only problem is we don't know if you didn't make it because you committed halfway or you don't have what it takes. So the enemy's able to convince you you don't have what it takes. And that is not true. You just didn't commit all the way because you were so afraid of failing. You think if I commit all the way and I fail, then I can say why? Didn't give it everything I had, and that's why I failed. And it's more fearful to risk the fact. And maybe you've got some stuff to learn. Maybe you got some stuff Maybe your first try wasn't good enough. Now I know we in church will be like, the devil is a liar. He's giving me everything. Okay. Yeah. And. And you gonna have to learn. You're gonna have to grow. You're gonna have to fail. You're gonna have to figure some things out. But it all goes back to, what do you believe? Because your earthly father rejected you when you failed, you think God will reject you when you fail. So you believe that. And so you become someone who doesn't take risk because you're trying to avoid losing love. Because when I take risk, I fail. And when I fail, I lose love. So there's no reason for me to break these patterns because these patterns keep me safe. That's all our patterns are. They're just things we've developed as a kid to keep us safe. And I'm not mad at everyone's need for safety. It's psychologically true. We all need safety. The only question, and really the message of God chose me is not an issue with your safety. It's not an issue with your confidence. It's just the issue of where do you get it from? I'm not mad at you wanting to be safe. I'm not mad at you being frustrated about the timing. I'm just questioning, where do you go to get your security about the timing. Abraham was frustrated with the timing. The only problem is when he had questions about the timing, he went to his wife's servant to get security about the timing of God. So he said, okay, I know I'm supposed to have a kid. It hasn't happened yet. Ooh. And then his wife going to come to him and say, you can sleep with my servant. And you had to know that brother was like, girl, I know you playing. This is not. I am. You ain't gonna get me. April Fool's not. But it was frustrating with the timing. All I wanna submit to you this morning in the first week of this series is instead of sitting around frustrated, thinking, it's about time, what if you backed up and looked at your life entrusted. I know I'm frustrated. I know I'm disappointed. But I can trust it's about time. It's about when he wants me to get there. Because many of you have spent your whole life asking if you were gonna get there. That's been your frustration, that's been your disappointment, that's been your anger is if God was gonna do it, if you'll be single your whole life, if you're gonna get married, if God's gonna heal if he's gonna be faithful. And let me just change your mind for a second today and say submit to you. It's not a question of if, but it's the matter of when. And God has been standing outside of time your whole life, and he created time. Here's the beautiful thing about time. If you think about it, it's just a testimony of his love. He didn't create time for him. He don't need time. He got time. He created time for you so you could wake up and know, okay, his mercies are new every morning. He did that for you. He stood outside of time, created time and placed you. Placed you in that family, placed you at that school. He placed you in that business. He placed you in your daughter's life. He placed you in that church. He placed you on that row. And he stood outside of time and he put you in time because he knew there would be a right time. Some of you have been asking this whole sermon, Charles, when is the right time? Because I'm just where, Let me tell you, with God, right now is always the right time. There reaches a point in your life. What I love about that scripture in Luke, it says, when it came time for Mary to give birth to Jesus, it reaches a point in your life where it's no longer preparation. It's no longer about planning. It's no longer about the prophetic word. There reaches a point where Mary had to step up and say, it's time to have this baby. And there are some of you, you've been waiting on the timing, you've been waiting on the plan, you've been waiting on the preparation, thinking, God, when is it going to happen? But the Bible says today is the day of salvation. The Bible says right now he's put something on the inside of you. And so I want to submit to you today that God has chosen you at the right time. And right now is the right time. I know you wanted to believe it before. I know some of you are thinking, dang, I really could have used this in high school. But that doesn't matter now. It's behind you. Right now is the right time to be confident. Right now is the time to step up and be who God's called. Right now is the time. I ask everybody to bow your heads and close your eyes. Nobody moving around for the next five minutes. There are a couple groups of people in this room. The first group of people is you've been frustrated with time, frustrated with how long it's taken, frustrated with the time you feel like you missed, you missed out, whatever it is. But time, when you think about waiting on God, when you're thinking about wondering what's happened, it's been frustrating. And maybe you don't know how to wait, or maybe you just need some faith while you wait, or maybe you need the courage to step up in this right time. If time at all has been an issue with you, I'm going to ask you right now, all over this room and everyone watching online, take a moment. I just want you to lift your hand. And we're going to lift our hands. And what we're saying is, God, we surrender our timeline. God, right now, I pray for every person with their hand lifted, Lord God. And we're submitting our timeline to you. Whatever time you want to do, whatever you have planned, we will say yes. If it's tomorrow, if it's the next day, God, we say yes. But in the meantime, you will find us faithful. Give us the courage to change what we believe. Give us the courage to become somebody we've never seen before. And give us the courage to break some habits we thought we couldn't ever break. Every hand down. Eyes still closer. Some of you in this room, I said it already. But the Bible says that today is the day of salvation. And you need to know, no matter what you've went through, no matter what's happened in your life, God was standing outside of time. And for some of you, he saw this time, he saw today. And he knew today would be the day that you would surrender everything to Him. Some of you have been fighting, you've been wrestling, you've been trying to do it by yourself. And let's be honest, you've run out of energy and hope. You don't have to put on a face for anybody in this room or online. You don't have to pretend for anybody. The truth is you're tired, you're worn out, and you don't have any answers. Let me tell you, Jesus will meet you right where you are, and you don't have to change stuff about you. You don't have to stop being a bad person. We are all bad people who met a very good God. But when you say yes to him, when you surrender to him, when you say, I don't have the answers, he meets you. And at that point and today, for some of you, this is the time to give your life to Jesus. I'm going to count to three. And on the count of three, everybody watching online and everybody under the sound of my Voice in this room, you're going to lift your hand boldly. And what you're saying when you lift your hand is, this is the time I give up control of my life. I don't want to be my own boss. I don't want to make my own decisions. I need God. I need a savior. I need a hero to do something I can't do. So I want you to lift your hand boldly on the count of three. Don't worry about anything. Don't worry about anybody else. You're giving your life to Jesus today in the room and online. 1. He loves you. 2. Today is that day. 3. Lift your hand all over this room. All over this room. Oh, come on. Can we sell people giving their life to Jesus? I'm so proud of you. So proud of you. So proud of you. So proud of you. But everybody back, bow their heads and close their eyes. We're going to say a prayer together as a family. Everybody say, dear God, I admit I've made mistakes. Save me, change me, transform me. I'm yours. In Jesus name I pray. Everybody said, can we celebrate everybody who just gave their life to Jesus? Oh, come on, y'. All. Hey, listen, if you just made that decision, this is super, super important. We would love to know about it. We just want to help you on this journey of following Jesus. If you just made the choice to follow Jesus, text the word save to the number that comes up on the screen. We want to send you some resources. We have some gifts we want to give you to say congratulations on giving your life to Christ. Now, the whole time I was preaching this message. There are some of you that you felt like you missed your time to get baptized. Some of you, if you are going to become somebody different and you're going to believe something different, and you're going to break some things off of your life. So now is the time for you to go public with your faith. You've been feeling it. You feel like, I don't know. We got stuff for you. The team's prepared for you. This is that moment. You're like, really? This is that moment. Yes. Right now is the time. Here's what we're gonna do. I'm gonna invite the worship team to come back up. We're gonna worship together. And if you want to get baptized today, not tomorrow, not the next day, you don't want to wait for another time. We have our team, who are in these amazing blue baptism shirts. They're getting in the pool. But our team is going to put up A big sign that says prayer on the back wall. I think they'll throw that in just a second. Walk straight under that sign where it says prayer, and the team can get you all the resources, and they gonna get you right in line to come up here and get baptized. I'm telling you, some of you, you've been waiting for a moment in time to to take a new step. This is that moment. Don't wait on anything else. Some of y', all, you ain't gonna get baptized, but you're gonna stay and encourage and worship together as people take this step of faith. I'm gonna text say a prayer over us as we close out our service. God, I thank you that you're always on time. God, I pray right now, even for everyone who is making the decision to get baptized today. Lord Jesus, that you are working out the timing of their life. And there would be a courage and a boldness and a beauty that shows up in this moment as their life is transformed. God, we love you so much. To the name of Jesus, we pray. And everybody said, would you stand up on your feet? We're about to celebrate people going public with their faith. We love you so, so much. Come on, let's do it. Thank you for joining us today. If you said that prayer and accepted Jesus into your heart, it's the best decision you could ever make. We want to celebrate with you, and we have some tools to help you on your journey. Text saved to 828282 and to find out more about TC Text connect to 828282. Be sure to subscribe and share this podcast with your friends. Thanks for listening. Now go out and live a transformed life. RA.