← ArchiveSunday, August 3, 2014DateAugust 3, 2014Speaker—Text—Passages in this sermonRomans 15:3019:46TranscriptClick any line to jump there.0:00I stood because the healer's here. I believe that he's here. If he wasn't here, I don't think I'd want to be here. But he is here, and he's here not only in the mighty presence that he has as the Holy Spirit of God,0:27but he's here through you as born-again believers in Jesus Christ who have been changed by the gospel. He's here. I forgot to tell you earlier, if you men sign up for this Men's Weekend online, you'll go to Bethelnet.com. It'll take you right over there, and you can register and save us a lot of time and a lot of help if you'll do that.0:58And I'd love to see about 40 to 100 men that want to be better men, want to be men of God, want to be stronger, have stronger homes and families. I want to see God do it. Let me tell you why what's happening in the world today, and I've been around enough preachers and I've been around enough people that have been all over the world, but what's wrong in America today is the men of God and the church of God have sat down and quit.1:22So I want to challenge you to get up and get busy and do what it is. Sacrifice. You know, well, I just don't want sacrifice. It calls for sacrifice, sacrifice, whatever you have to sacrifice to do what God has called you to do. As we were singing, you can imagine the emotions that I'm going through,1:47and I am going to try to keep them as in check as possible, but the person that I am, sometimes it's hard, and it may come out and it may not. So we'll see. We'll get as far as we can get and still get out of here in time to go to the tea later.2:13I thought when they were singing, when I was teaching missionaries this week, we were talking about their story because everybody has a story. Your story is about you. It's about your life. It's about your walk with Jesus. It's about your walk with your grandchildren, Terry. It's about you.2:42It's your story. But you have to condense that story. And so our teacher looked at me, and he said, what's your story? And I said, well, it began on a, I don't remember if it was a Sunday night, a Monday night, or Tuesday night, in a revival service at 9th Avenue Baptist Church that no longer exists, in Eastlake, right outside of Birmingham.3:10I said, part of Birmingham, actually. And little did I know that when Jesus was stirring my heart as a seven-year-old, that I would come to this place today. And that's why I can challenge you that, as a child, if God is stirring your heart today,3:38let him have it because the journey is worth it. Now, that journey, my story included a lot when you think about it, and it's hard to condense it. If you had to tell somebody that the plane's going down, and you got 30 seconds to share your story, what are you going to tell them? And, you know, that Jesus loves you, and the journey's worth it,4:07and they need to confess him. That's part of it. But, you know, our journey hasn't always been this wonderful road that you have helped provide a beautiful life for us with three wonderful sons and six wonderful grandchildren. No great-grandchildren yet, but they are great, amen. But there were bumps along the road. There was the journey that when I was 12 years old,4:35a pastor said, if God's called you to preach, he's called you to prepare. And I said, what does that mean? And he said, well, you got to go to school, and you got to study. And I said, oh, is that right? And so I turned at that moment and said, God, if you called me to preach, you called the wrong one. You got the wrong number. And I took off running down a road with bumps and darkness and danger and stupidity and ignorance and foolishness until I was 19.5:05And then God entered my life again in a very special way. I don't think he ever left my life, but he did in a very special way. And he introduced me to my wife. And through that, God used to bring me back to him. And that's part of that journey. And that's part of my story. And we got married. And part of that story was our first pregnancy winding up in a miscarriage and not knowing how to minister5:35to my wife at that point because I didn't feel what she felt. But that was part of our, that's part of our story and that bump in the road that God gave us. And then ultimately going to a doctor and her becoming a high-risk pregnancy woman. And our story includes the birth of one of the most stubborn, hard-headed, godliest sons6:01godliest sons I could ask for. That journey called us to New Orleans, Louisiana. In New Orleans, I was going to finish, God, I don't know how I got out of Sanford University, but if you know anybody there, don't tell them to look back. But I got out and it led us to New Orleans, Louisiana with this little one-year-old in trail. And we went to seminary6:30and we struggled as Gail worked nights and as I worked the days and as we went through and God saw us through that. I never knew what that would be like and what it would mean. But that's part of the story is God brought us through it and I actually got a master's degree in something and I never thought I'd get a high school degree much less a master's degree. That story led to a little mission church in South Louisiana where people6:59where people ate weird stuff. And Gail and I became home missionaries and as home missionaries we had to eat weird stuff believing that you know if we ate it God would keep us from dying from it. And we got a jar we we let it out that we loved gumbo and we got a jar of gumbo with vine and sausage in it. Figure that one out. Whole vine and sausage.7:29But that was part of the journey and it was a year of growth tremendous growth for Gail and for myself as we lost another child. It's part of our journey. I was a little more mature and I knew a little more how to hold her how to suffer with her the 4th of July that was July the 3rd actually and how I got her up the next day7:58and loaded her in a little Ford Escort and took her over to one of my deacons for a 4th of July party and she didn't feel like going. but my journey had put a pastor's wife in my life. She went. I remember she even had to make some baked beans to take with us and I put the baked beans and we were headed down the road and she said where are the baked beans? And I said they're on I don't know she said oh you forgot them8:28I said oh yeah and I hit the brakes and then we saw the baked beans I'm serious they came flying off the top of the car they hit the hood of the car and they shot out into the road and they went everywhere and she said there's the baked beans and I said I stopped too fast I said we ain't got time to make any so we went on8:57that's part of our journey I resigned that church as we finished school because a church in Tuscaloosa had contacted us and wanted us to come they were running about 60 in Sunday school and they had gotten my resume and they said would you just come talk to us and meet with us and we did and in that journey we packed our bags and we moved to Tuscaloosa Coley Alabama where our journey was three more years of ministry9:26of ministry and another addition another son was born to the Burns family precious little boy you know him as Justin he's he's he's different in a lot of ways than his big brother but he's he's part of the journey so we stayed9:55there three years and his church called us from Tennessee and they said we want you to know if you'd be interested in moving to East Tennessee Tennessee and had I not had a dream back when we were in seminary that we would be living in East Tennessee I probably would have said no but we said yeah we'll be glad to talk to you and they said well we want to come hear you and so they come down six people10:24in a Cadillac in a church running about 90 by now and they park in the parking lot and you can't park a Cadillac in a country church parking lot with Tennessee tags without people going where are they from and we met with them for hours and they said we want we want you to come be our pastor and we did one of those trial sermon things and on that time I never will forget I go up there and a guy says hey come here10:54you're going to enjoy this you're the new preacher they had a big dinner for us before that Sunday morning I said yeah we've got to go over here what are they talking about Matthew excuse me Matthew's not around yet Justin and Christopher and Justin's what a year old and Christopher was five six years old so they get out and we go over there and he plops a tailgate down and there's a snake I thought God it's a snake handling church he said yeah11:21we got these little copperheads up here everywhere and I thought oh me five of the most awesome years of our life five precious years had six permanent deacons they didn't rotate off they fired each other but they didn't fire anybody but I did have one to resign during that time and they brought another known but they were11:50they were they were the most precious men I've ever served in my life they're part of my story because they set a pattern an example for my sons that Christopher will tell you till today that he looks to because of their godliness and righteousness one of them called me he's Parkinson's now and he's got some really serious illnesses and I got a phone call and he says Chris yes I'm serious it was just that I said yeah he said12:20he said this is buddy he said what's this I hear that you're quitting preaching I said oh buddy I'm not quitting preaching I'm just moving to a different level of preaching he said well I better not hear that I just wanted to hear it from your mouth I said buddy I'm not I promise I'm not I'm not I'm just I'm just not going to be pastoring he said okay but that's part of my story and then12:50and then this church calls us from Broadway over in Maryville Tennessee and they asked us to consider coming as their pastor the pastor left with nowhere to go and they had a lot of hurt and a lot of confusion and they had visited with us and talked with us and I want to tell you I went sat in the chairman of the pulpit committee's living room and cried like a baby just like this saying I don't think God wants me to come over here and him telling me13:19telling me that that's what God believed they believed I was the person and God ultimately let me just tell you God created another moment in our life and if I someday down the road I'll share it with you we won't have time today but Gail can tell you it was without a doubt the greatest assurance we ever had that God was leaving us from a loving church to another church that we would serve at through Elaine Watkins a radiologist so we13:49so we went but back at Ebenezer there was another part of the story Gail got pregnant again and all this was exciting I was so excited I played golf all the time I was pastoring a little church having the time of my life and I came home one Friday afternoon and she was home and she's not supposed to be home on Fridays14:18on Fridays and I found out that our baby died she had a fetal demise we didn't have a miscarriage we had a full-blown baby that died it's part of our story she went through so much but she never wavered in her faith she was a pastor's14:48pastor's wife we went to the hospital I'm standing beside her through all this so she's got to give birth to this baby and we know it's the heartbeat nothing there and so the doctor comes in and he just checks her and out slides a little boy a little baby boy the size of the doctor's hands and I15:16and I saw him so the doctor unwrapped the umbilical cord from around his neck and he held him in his hand and he said that's what took his life and I didn't know how to handle that Gail was just going through the pain of having had him and we struggled not maritally never there but we15:46but we just struggled so we tell our boys they got at least one brother maybe two in heaven maybe a sister we don't know but that's part of our story and a couple maybe not quite a year later she gets pregnant again and that's where Matthew comes in now you16:11now you say what are you going to say about Matthew what can I say about Matthew he's our baby and he completes that part of our story so we moved to Broadway and we passed her there and then after almost five years I get a16:40call some of you don't know this from Sandy Gunner because I had done the funeral of brother Shelly's wife Alita Glenn Carr of all people was there and he said if I come through East Tennessee I want to get in touch with you got a car and I pulled it out said yeah call me call me years couple years later Sandy Gunner used that car to call me17:10me and say we're looking for a pastor would you be interested I said I'm really good where I'm at hadn't been here quite five years they just built us a new house and we were getting settled in and I'll tell you right now if I've got one son I mean he would if it had been left up to him we would have never moved and that was scary because I knew how hard it was on him that's part of our story and17:40and through that we prayed real hard for a month and people don't know about these things but I left and went to Asheville North Carolina to the conference center there for Southern Baptist and spent a week praying and seeking God because I wanted to know that this is where God wanted me to be because we were happy where we were at and I wanted to make sure that this is what God wanted for us and God18:09and God put a vision for this church in my heart and I came and only two people that are still in the church that were here then Stock Holiday brother Cook here they were on that committee they met with us Sandy Gunner was on it and Jimmy Culpepper was on it and I think the rest are deceased I'm not sure oh no Cindy Ward was on it but18:39but anyway we came I never knew that you would complete pastoral part of my story you gave me the opportunity there were times you could have fired me there were times you probably wanted to I made a lot of mistakes I do19:08I do not stand before you and declare any self righteousness but just humbly thank you for letting me into your homes for letting me do your weddings the funerals of your loved ones the baby dedications of your children and19:36and now as we end this part of our story our story continues and it continues in Romans chapter 15 verse 30 Romans chapter 15 verse 30 Paul had spent so much of his time with different churches he20:05he never left a church without leaving them a message without leaving them with a desire and I want to leave you with this minute I want you to hear me here I know that some of you think we're moving to Virginia and we're not we're staying in trustful at this point in our life we're not moving anywhere we didn't date another church nor20:33nor were recorded by another church but ten years ago Doc you were there you saw my heart and God began working in my life probably twelve years ago to do something with missions and I wasn't sure about what that was for a long time but I knew it was there21:03there and some of you have come to me in the last week or two and said Chris we just knew that if we if you ever left that you would go into some sort of missions Paul says I appeal to you so let me say I appeal to you brothers by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit to strive together with me in your prayers to21:32to God on my behalf that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea from the unbelievers in the world and that my service and you can change that name to Bethel to Christianity and that my service for Christianity may be acceptable to the saints so that by God's will I may come to you with joy22:02joy and be refreshed in your company may the God of peace be with you all amen so Paul says I want you to join with me in the journey for the rest of my story now Paul did not get to come back to Rome after this he was hoping to but he didn't but I want to ask you I want to appeal to you22:32you as my church until the end of the day as pastor but also as a fellow brother and sister in Jesus Christ under the option of the love of the Spirit of God to strive with me through prayer that you understand and I understand that what I do is on God's behalf that God has called us and that God has said this23:02this is how I'm going to finish your story that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea and there was a lot of persecution going on and I went in a Sunday school classroom today and the sweet teacher there said brother Chris you be careful listen God did not call me to be careful God did not call me to be safe God called me to serve but he also called me ultimately23:32ultimately to sacrifice there was no way that Jim Elliot that Nate Saint and the other missionaries that landed on that little peninsula in Ecuador that day were worried about their safety they were worried about whether or not the gospel of Jesus Christ would get to a tribal people that had never heard of him before and thus they lost their lives I'm not worried about losing my24:01my life I I I I I mean we're pretty safe in the countries that we go to except Honduras right now and what goes on there and we have six missionaries that are in Honduras and Honduras is one of the most dangerous countries right now outside the Middle East in this end of the world but we want to be ready to go so I want to ask you to join with me that God will protect me from24:31from the unbelievers that want to cause the gospel harm and that my service for Christianity he says Jerusalem because that was the base of the church at that time but that my service may be acceptable to the saints that I not make you ashamed of me that I not stumble morally that I not stumble figuratively that25:00that I not stumble spiritually or in truth or integrity so pray for me so that God's will may be done so that by God's will I may come to you for joy I want to be able to come back in here and sit out there where you are and hear a new pastor preach and25:29and know that when I come you're going to say hey man I'm glad you're see is everything going good what's happening I want to have that fellowship with you no longer as your pastor but as your fellow servant I want to be able to come back and know that my home church has supported me and I felt your prayers and I can give you a report and I can share with you what God is doing in other parts of the world I want to come back to you and25:58and be able to say that God is alive and well and be refreshed by you to be refreshed by your spirit to be encouraged by your love and to know that you're there whatever befalls us while we're not I want to know that26:28that when I'm not here on Sunday that my wife and my children and my grandchildren have a pastor that's preaching with integrity and without reservation the truth of God's word and that he's living it as an example before them not that he's perfect but that he's called and he's in the midst of building26:58building his story now I want to close with this do you have a story do you have a story does your story include a life changing experience with Jesus Christ does your story include a mark that27:28that God made on your life when you confessed him as Lord and Savior because it doesn't matter what your story has in it if it doesn't have that in it you're in trouble so I'm going to ask our musicians to come and I'm going to challenge you in this invitation time to review your story I want you to review and27:57and see where did you meet God and when you met God did you meet God in a saving way or did you meet God in a rebuking way you know Balaam the donkey met God Judas met God Satan met God Peter confessed God Paul confessed God does your story have a28:26a moment and a time when you confess God as your Savior as your Lord does your story have times of tough times but times when you know God was in the middle of your life working out his purpose if not let this invitation be about God speaking to you if you're looking for a church home this is a good28:56good place to start a lot of former members here that will amen that amen let's stand to
