Pastor Wayne Cordeiro
September 15, 2019 - W1937

Twenty-Fourth Anniversary

Still Growing 24/7

A Life Worth Living

Pastor Wayne Cordeiro

September 14 & 15, 2019

It was with great pleasure that we listened to our Senior Pastor Wayne Cordeiro greet us with: “Happy Twenty-Fourth Anniversary, New Hope! We look forward to all that THE LORD will have for us the next 24 years!  But today, we look at the best of the last 24 years with one who has been with us from the beginning—Tommy Walker!  Together, let’s worship the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords. Welcome Holy Spirit!”

As we opened with “JESUS, You’re my master and my king, my everything,” Tommy Walker said, “A strong Christian is not a strong person, just a Christian that can run to a strong God!” Eileen, his 17-year-old daughter, led us to worship: “Lord, we run to You, no one else will do.”  Both songs are from his Make It Glorious album, 2004.

Pastor Wayne continues: 

When I was a new Christian, I went through some very difficult times.  Many times I was tempted to give up, and the book of James is very important to me because it deals with trials, and it encouraged me to persevere. It’s the first scriptures I memorized—James Chapter 1:

James, a bondservant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, To the twelve tribes who are  dispersed abroad: Greetings. ² Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, ³ knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. ⁴ And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. ⁵ But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. ⁶ But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, ⁸ being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."

(James continues and says)

¹² Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. ¹³ Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. ¹⁴ But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. ¹⁵ Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. 

¹⁶ Do not be deceived, my beloved brethren. ¹⁷ Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow. ¹⁸ In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures. 

¹⁹ This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger;  ²⁰ for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. ²¹ Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.  ²² But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. ²³For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;  ²⁴ for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. ²⁵ But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does. 

²⁶ If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. ²⁷ Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.”

I recited that for a purpose: Although I received Christ into my heart, the rest of me was scattered—there was a war going on between my heart and my brain! I loved God and had received Christ by the Holy Spirit into my heart but my actions didn’t follow suit!  That bothered me because I couldn't figure out the sin congruency.  You are in good company if you have ever been caught with a heart that loves God, but a lifestyle that doesn't match up!  

The Apostle Peter was just like that—he had just promised to live his life for Christ, and in the very same chapter, denied Christ three times!  The Apostle Paul in Romans 7:15 NASB says: “For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.”

When you're by yourself, your self-will fills your heart, and you're fine. But when the Holy Spirit comes in, you get pushed to the side, and now you must share the space in your heart with the Holy Spirit!  If you’re making all the decisions, you becomecarnal in your thinking; but when you let the Holy Spirit lead you, you become spiritual! You must decide everyday which one will make the final choice—you or the Holy Spirit.  

You're fueled by your passion/desires that motivates and moves you in a particular way. Your fuel could be a desire for prominence or success.  But, without the Holy Spirit, a bad and very powerful emotion, such as, greed, hate, revenge, and lust may overtake you. Good fuels, such as, love or purpose in life are also mixed with the bad ones in your heart. 

Just as crude oil needs refining, your heart also need refining, because your motivations want to do something: Either you will say, “I'm going to use it for me,” or Holy Spirit says, “I'm going to refine it for you.” This is the reason the word of God is so important—Psalm 119:11 KJV says: "Thy word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against thee." 

James 1:18 (NASB) “In the exercise of His will, He brought us forth by the word of truth so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures.”

This is when God said, “Wayne, you need to memorize a ton of the Bible because self is still too big in you.  I have come into your heart, but you're not making room for me!”

Paul the Apostle in Romans says, “I must die daily,” and self begins to move over, and allows the word of God to take over.  

Hebrews 4:12-13 NASB says: “¹² For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. ¹³ And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.” 

God knows what's going on.  The word of God is here to help us with discretion and discernment, because the thing that's so dangerous is that, even though the Holy Spirit is the creator of the universe, God has given us the power to override the Holy Spirit with our free will!  It doesn't matter if we've walked with the Lord for 40 years, we can still override the Holy Spirit.  If we don't let the Holy Spirit refine our choices, then it becomes the difference between planning or plotting, serving or scheming, and managing or manipulating. Listen to the Holy Spirit.  Submit to Him.  Obey Him. 

James 1:22-25 NASB says: “²² But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. ²³ For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; ²⁴ for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. ²⁵ But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.”

Holy Spirit takes our passions, desires, and gifts (the crude fuel we have), and He will filter it out if we submit to Him. When self gets out of the way, and our soul (will, thoughts, emotions) is yielded to the Holy Spirit by choice, the Bible says that we are to“watch over your heart with all diligence for from it flow the springs of life,” Proverbs 4:23 NASB.

God wants our will to be submitted to the Holy Spirit, so that we don't have to go to church or have to read the Bible, but we want to.  We want to be good and choose to walk with Jesus.  This is a healthy soul. Scripture says the greatest commandment is to“love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength (actions),” Mark 12:30 NASB. 

When we memorize scriptures and fill our minds with the word of God, the old patterns of thinking erode; we now are developing the mind of Christ and thinking differently. We are putting on a mind of Christ! And instead of reacting badly or hating what someone does to us, we will say, “Oh, you know, it's all right. You are forgiven!” 

It has taken me a lifetime to accomplish this because I would jump in and veto the Holy Spirit: I would scheme and sometimes serve; manipulate and sometimes manage; be selfish and sometimes selfless—that’s a double-minded person!

I encourage you to persevere, keep going.  Keep giving the Holy Spirit control. Keep giving Him the final word. And when we do, we shrink, and He increases!  And little by little we'll start to see things change.  For a while, we will see a confusing mix of the bad mixed with the good, but don't give up.  Some of us are on the verge of giving up on what God has called us to do; but remember James 1:12,^“ Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.” Just keep going and never stop! 

Winston Churchill in one of his speeches got up in front of a huge graduating class. He took off his top hat and cloak and put his cane aside.  He peered out over the graduating class of this very large college and gave the shortest speech he's ever given.  He looked out over them and said, "Neva, neva, neva give up. Neva give up!”   If I would say anything to you as you're growing in Christ, it would simply be, “Never give up!”   

Walter Payton was one of the greatest running backs of all time with the Chicago Bears.  In one of the football games a commentator said, "Ladies and gentlemen, having added up the yardage of Walter Payton, today, I want you to know, that he will have run over 11 miles with his football under his arm, scoring 125 touchdowns! That is absolutely amazing!”     

The co?commentator said, "That's great, but what's really amazing is, statistically speaking, every 4.4 yards, he's hit by someone twice his size and knocked down.  He gets up, and every 4.4 more yards, he's knocked down, he gets back up, and repeats that cycle for 11 miles."  The same should be true for you and me—keep getting up!

Your arms and feet are placed in front of you so that no matter what happens, God is saying, 
“Keep reaching; keep moving forward!”   

Keep persevering.  That's what the Book of James is all about. I believe that's a word for us on this 24th anniversary!  We will keep pressing forward.  Amen?   

STUDY QUESTIONS:

1.       What is the difference between self-will and The Lord’s will in your life?
2.      How can we love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength?
3.       What is the meaning of Hebrews 4:12:  “The word of God is living and active and sharper than a             two-edged sword?”  Why is this important?
4.      Thinking on the past 24 years growing closer to Jesus, what are your goals for the next 24 years?