0:10

Coming up on the Botters Touch. And

0:13

if you walk away from what's now trying

0:16

to establish what's next, then

0:18

next will only replace now and

0:21

you haven't really progressed at all.

0:23

And the reason you're so tired

0:26

is because you're so busy getting

0:28

to next and losing now that

0:30

you're still at home plate. After

0:32

all of these years, you haven't

0:34

gained anything because you're just swapping

0:36

out next with now, now with

0:38

next, next with now, next with

0:40

now. All of a sudden you've got to

0:43

strengthen what remains. It's

0:52

not Gucci, baby. It's Remnants. It's

0:57

not Louis Vuitton, baby. It's Remnants. It's

1:00

not even Nike. It's Remnants. It's

1:02

Remnants. It's something that she took,

1:05

something that almost was forgotten

1:08

and made something out of it. She

1:10

valued it. She would make shirts

1:12

for me and blouses for Jacqueline, a

1:15

few trousers for Ernest, all from discounted

1:17

Remnants. So today we

1:19

go to the Remnant table. Today

1:24

we go to the Remnant table to

1:27

stitch two texts together that

1:29

are as different as wool from satin

1:33

or burlap from linen. Two

1:36

texts seem like they don't have anything to

1:38

do with each other and yet it is

1:40

my responsibility to measure them and

1:43

stretch them and sew them

1:46

and stitch them together. Like

1:51

in the world does the

1:53

St. John text where Jesus is

1:55

talking about, unless you eat my

1:57

blood and drink my flesh. unless

2:00

you drink my blood and eat my flesh, you'll have no

2:02

part with me. What in the world does that have to

2:04

do with the apocalyptic

2:06

texts of revelations right into the

2:09

church at Sardis, where he says,

2:11

I strengthen the things

2:13

that remain. They are both remnant

2:16

messages on the

2:18

table of the coffron, this son.

2:22

Let's not discount what can be done

2:24

with the fabric of a theological table

2:26

of texts bypassed by scholars

2:28

and ignored by contemporary tailors of texts

2:30

who like the creativity to see what

2:33

can be done from God's remnant table.

2:41

Though it may seem strange to you this morning

2:43

that I'm talking to you about remnants, it

2:46

should not be strange. It's

2:48

unfortunate that only certain texts are preached

2:51

about in this contemporary society because the

2:53

truth of the matter is the word

2:55

remnant is mentioned 540 times in the

2:57

Bible. And

3:02

yet you hardly ever hear anybody talking

3:05

about remnants. This

3:07

would be a difficult message to preach. It's gonna

3:09

be a hard message to preach because I'm preaching

3:11

against the trends of the culture we're living in,

3:14

who is racing on the autobahn

3:16

of technology to be

3:18

fast, to be first, to

3:21

be previously frantically in pursuit of

3:23

what's next. If

3:26

you are pursuing, if all that

3:28

you are pursuing is what is next, you

3:32

will always find that what's next at

3:35

the expense of losing what's

3:38

left. Today

3:43

I'm going to swim against the current and go

3:45

against the grain and probably get on someone's nerves

3:48

whose only focus is to be innovative to the

3:50

lady, explore trends,

3:53

what's new, what's fresh. If

3:56

you're from the streets, I'm

3:59

fresh. You

4:02

don't know anything about remnants.

4:06

I'm not here to

4:09

talk to you about the next

4:11

new and improved anything. I

4:16

simply want to know if you will grab

4:18

my hand like I grabbed my mother's hand

4:21

and take a serious look at why God

4:23

mentions this word 540

4:25

times and

4:27

mostly in reference to

4:30

prophetic fulfillment. Why

4:33

is God in love with

4:36

remnants? Let's

4:41

start with the text in Revelation. Are

4:43

you with me? I

4:46

love you all. There

4:48

is no other place I'd rather preach in the world than

4:50

upon a house. I tell you, this

4:52

is my church. This

4:55

is my world. The

4:58

book of Revelation is penned by

5:00

John but authored by Jesus. You

5:04

must understand the book is divided into

5:07

three categories and it divides itself when

5:09

it explains itself by saying, John, write

5:11

the things which thou hast seen and

5:14

the things which are and the things which

5:17

shall be hereafter. When John writes about seeing

5:19

Jesus with his hair like lambswool and his

5:21

feet as if they had been burned, he

5:24

is writing about what he has seen. When

5:26

he writes to the churches, he is writing about the

5:28

things which are. When God

5:31

says, come up hither, I will show you

5:33

the things which shall be hereafter. This

5:35

is the syllabus from which

5:37

Revelation is written and it's

5:40

the masterpiece because it is

5:42

Jesus responding to the question

5:44

that the disciples ask him,

5:47

what should be the sign of your coming

5:49

and what should be the end of the

5:51

age? He said, he is not given to

5:53

the Son to know but the Father which

5:55

is in Heaven because he

5:57

had not yet been to the cross. Book

6:00

of Revelation is him writing back over

6:03

the balconies of heaven down to John to

6:05

answer the question. Though

6:07

John himself is a remnant. John

6:13

is a remnant because all the other apostles

6:17

are now gone. And

6:20

John is all that's left. And

6:23

Jesus is talking to a remnant

6:26

about a remnant. Wonder

6:31

how many of you are the only one left. Still

6:35

standing with

6:38

stubborn bodacious faith and

6:40

tenacity unrelenting

6:42

unwavering standing by

6:45

yourself standing

6:48

in the integrity of who you are in

6:50

Christ even when other friends have gone in

6:52

other directions. And yes you

6:54

have suffered some losses along the way

6:57

but you are still here. You

7:07

see the text in Revelation 3 is

7:09

largely a clarion call to strengthen the

7:11

remnant because all that

7:13

stood around the remnant had

7:16

really fallen away. They

7:20

had a reputation that they were alive but

7:22

they really were not. They had been so

7:24

influenced by the culture and the world around

7:27

them that they had lost their identity in

7:31

exchange for popularity. If

7:34

you're not careful you can lose your identity

7:37

seeking popularity and lose sight of

7:39

who you are trying to fit

7:41

in with who they want you

7:44

to be. And

7:47

the church had lost its way trying to

7:50

pursue the culture. You had to be relevant

7:52

to the culture. And they

7:54

were so relevant to the culture that they

7:56

had lost sight of who they were in

7:58

the book of Revelation. says that

8:01

only a remnant was recognized. I

8:05

want to be in the number

8:08

of people who resist the trends

8:10

and winds of fluctuation and know

8:13

who I am so that I don't

8:15

get caught up in the current of

8:17

who you want me to be and

8:19

lose sight of who God created me

8:21

to be. Even if I

8:23

end up on the table, I

8:26

would rather be a few in

8:28

number and know who I am

8:30

than to be diluted and polluted

8:32

by public opinion until I lose

8:34

all sight and direction

8:36

and uniqueness of my

8:39

own self. That

8:43

means I'll do it if I have to do

8:45

it by my... That

8:50

means you don't have to like me, but you do

8:52

have to respect me. But

8:58

you don't have to agree with me,

9:00

but I refuse to let you discard

9:02

me because I'm willing to

9:04

be a remnant. Even

9:07

if it's at this expense of not

9:09

being relevant to you because

9:13

God works with

9:15

remnants. He

9:20

says strengthen the things

9:22

that remain before

9:25

the influence of the world has

9:27

taken root. There are

9:29

still a few people in Sardis that

9:32

are yet holding

9:36

on. The

9:39

tolerance of sin had taken its toll. A

9:41

deadly spiritual cancer known

9:43

as complacency had

9:46

unknowingly made its way into the church

9:48

and sucked the spiritual life out of

9:50

it without even a fight. But

9:54

not the few they were still holding

9:57

on while he

9:59

rebuked the church's sin. then

12:00

wake up! Wake

12:04

up! Wake

12:08

up! Father

12:16

God in the name of Jesus we thank you

12:19

not just with the fruit of our

12:22

lips not with this verbal praise not

12:24

just by watching the service, but we

12:26

praise you with our substance and

12:29

in so doing we enter

12:31

into covenant with your ability

12:33

to exceed our expectations Not

12:36

just in spiritual ways, but in

12:38

tangible ways We thank

12:40

you for divine paper We

12:42

thank you for the kind of doors that open

12:44

to us that cause us to get butterflies

12:47

in our stomach We thank

12:49

you Lord for a future that is so

12:51

bright that we need sunglasses to be able

12:53

to see it We thank

12:55

you Lord for an escalator ride of

12:57

a area where we've

12:59

been climbing up steps you're going to

13:02

expedite the process Hallelujah,

13:05

it's going to be big. We thank

13:07

you for surrounding us with big people

13:09

with big ideas And sometimes we don't

13:11

even understand how we got connected, but

13:13

you're setting us up for something This

13:25

is challenging because the vast majority of

13:27

the church had become a

13:29

victim of the societal culture Yet

13:33

there was a minority that was fighting

13:35

to refrain from the gravitational pull of

13:38

her downward because there's always

13:42

something to pull you down Instead

13:46

of up and forward

13:49

the remnant wasn't perfect. They were

13:51

almost dead But

13:54

yet holding on the

13:58

power of the sentence in fact is almost

14:00

dead, but not quite.

14:04

God said, before death

14:06

can get you, I'm

14:09

going to strengthen what

14:13

remains. Can

14:16

I talk to tired folks and weary

14:18

folks and run down people who are

14:21

at the end of their rope, who

14:23

have to fight their way through all

14:25

kinds of storms and all kinds of

14:27

tragedies and all kinds of adversity, just

14:30

to be who you are and get

14:32

where you're going. I've got news for

14:34

you, God is about to strengthen you

14:37

like you've never been strengthened before.

14:40

Oh. And

14:47

then let me challenge the thinking people because

14:50

the great challenge in our lives is

14:52

how can we be innovative and

14:55

creative and productive and

14:58

go forward without

15:00

losing what we

15:02

had? Sometimes

15:05

you become so addicted to what's

15:08

next that

15:10

you don't focus on what's now. And

15:15

if you walk away from what's now trying

15:19

to establish what's next, then

15:21

next will only replace now and

15:23

you haven't really progressed at all.

15:26

And the reason you're so tired

15:28

is because you're so busy getting

15:30

connect and losing now that you're

15:32

still at home plate. After all

15:35

of these years, you haven't gained

15:37

anything because you're just swapping out

15:39

next with now, now with next,

15:41

next with now, next with now.

15:43

All of a sudden you've got

15:45

to strengthen what remains

15:49

before you can gain what's

15:52

next. So

15:55

we're stuck in between in this text, two

15:57

different dilemmas. One is not. to

16:00

try to get back what I lost. And

16:04

the other one is not to fall in love with

16:06

where I'm going at

16:09

the expense of

16:11

expunging where I'm at. Let

16:15

me work with this. I'm going to bring it on down home. It

16:17

is like growing up in a home where

16:20

the troubled child gets all the

16:22

attention and

16:26

the good child gets none. Because

16:29

there's so much drama coming from this

16:31

kid that all the parents'

16:33

focus is trying to get back what

16:36

they lost. And

16:38

they don't strengthen what they have. And

16:42

if you're not careful, the

16:45

one who was the good child will

16:47

start acting up for the attention.

16:50

Because you're teaching them that the only

16:52

way to get your attention is to

16:54

be bad enough. This

17:01

is the hidden lesson in the prodigal

17:03

son. It's not just about the boy

17:05

going and coming back. It is about

17:07

the neglect of the elder brother. Because

17:10

the father is so focused on what he lost

17:14

that he neglected what

17:17

he had. Because

17:22

it's hard to strengthen what remains.

17:24

Because what remains becomes

17:27

common. And

17:32

normal and ordinary and

17:35

so predictable and so dependable that

17:38

you take it for granted until

17:42

it dies. If

17:48

you are not careful, you will

17:50

undervalue who

17:53

stayed.

17:55

Trying

17:58

to get back who left. Or

18:02

get who's next because

18:06

sometimes there's nothing really

18:08

sexy about being a

18:10

remnant, about

18:12

being dependable, about being stable, about hanging

18:15

in there, about being by your side.

18:17

If you're not careful, you will neglect

18:19

the people that

18:22

stayed with you

18:25

for the people who are

18:27

next to you. But

18:36

we serve a God who is talking to

18:39

us in 540 texts

18:43

that what he is interested in is

18:46

the remnant. He

18:48

always preserves the remnant. His

18:51

promise is to the remnants. His

18:54

prophecy is to the remnants.

18:57

Over and over and over again,

18:59

the Bible tells us the value

19:01

of people who stick it out

19:03

and hang in there and take

19:05

a lickin' and keep on tickin'

19:07

and that God has promises that

19:10

you can only get—come on Bible

19:12

class—if you abide, if you abide,

19:14

abide, abide, abide, if you abide

19:16

in me and my word abided

19:18

in you, you shall ask what you

19:20

will. I'm not gonna give you nothin'

19:22

if you leave, but if you abide,

19:24

I will open up the windows of

19:26

heaven and pull you out of blessing.

19:29

You won't have room enough to receive.

19:32

If you see me when I'm

19:34

taken up, you will have a

19:36

double portion of my spirit, but

19:39

I can't give this to people

19:41

who are going one-night stands. For

19:48

the anointing falls

19:50

on people who stay.

20:02

Both texts were written by the Apostle John. Both

20:05

texts have a senator

20:08

sinister overtone. Both

20:11

texts have John reporting the

20:13

words of Jesus. Both

20:15

texts are at

20:18

inflection points. Both

20:20

texts speak of separation.

20:24

Both texts have a sense of

20:27

cynicism. Both

20:29

texts are connected to a

20:33

principle that

20:35

I am sharing with you. The

20:39

principle is profound and provocative that

20:43

you need to focus on

20:45

what you got left. The

20:51

child has stayed. The

20:55

friend who stuck. The

20:58

business you got cannot suffer

21:01

for the business you're going

21:03

after. Because

21:07

if you make that mistake again, you

21:10

are only replacing what

21:13

you lost. Which means

21:15

you are not gaining anything

21:18

at all.

21:22

The real test of relationship isn't

21:25

when it's easy. It's

21:28

when it's hard. The

21:34

second text is interesting. Can I pick it

21:36

up for a minute and play with this piece of garment?

21:41

It is

21:43

undeniable that Jesus has changed his

21:45

message from the kingdom of heaven and

21:47

this. The kingdom of heaven is lacking unto this. The

21:52

scriptures might be fulfilled in your hearing. All

21:55

of those things were palatable and

21:57

enjoyable and receivable. that

22:00

he's resented him they could not

22:02

debate against him because he was

22:04

the word made flesh and

22:08

it was all cool until he

22:11

broke out and started talking about death

22:15

and they got quiet and

22:17

then he brings up this almost

22:20

cannibalistic statement if

22:24

you're gonna be my disciple imagine now

22:28

if I say if you're gonna be a member of the potter's house you

22:31

must drink my blood and

22:35

eat my flesh you

22:37

can understand why that would be disrupted

22:42

and you say what Jesus

22:47

started talking cannibalistic drink my blood

22:49

and eat my flesh to the

22:51

carnal mind it was cannibalism Jesus

22:56

is actually calling

22:58

for them to consume him spiritually

23:03

not literally but

23:05

when you hear with carnal ears

23:09

you draw carnal conclusions

23:13

and so this was an inflection point

23:16

to prove are you

23:18

a fan or

23:21

a follower and

23:25

all the fans walked

23:28

away and

23:31

what I got out of the text it

23:33

was really amazing is that Jesus didn't chase

23:35

them stop

23:37

chasing people who are needed stop

23:44

chasing people who are offended stop

23:47

chasing people who don't get him

23:49

stop chasing trying to get back in

23:51

your life people that God is trying to take

23:53

out of your life Jesus

23:56

Simply let them go. He didn't go behind and

23:59

tell you no, What

24:01

are you? Don't get what? I'm a

24:03

little of that immigrants my mobile data.

24:06

Is good for cycles of

24:09

women. had said will do

24:11

be be Also. Because

24:22

what are going to invest in is

24:25

what I've got left. Not

24:28

what I love. You

24:32

see, Jesus is

24:34

bringing them to replace. The

24:41

day you had an inflection point. You

24:45

can be there, become so engrossed in

24:47

your future. The

24:49

to do not see your present. Nor

24:54

so relieved by your past

24:57

better reaching after what has

24:59

walked away. The

25:02

word of God to you is to

25:04

strip him. Or. How

25:08

am I talking to the. This

25:13

is not about a monologue

25:15

about death or drinking. Or

25:20

the. Mess We have to turn the page

25:22

or that we've got to go to

25:24

the next level of that. We got

25:26

to understand that what com is trying

25:28

to do is bigger than. That. He's

25:33

trying to do a

25:35

methodology that creates conflict

25:38

resolution. Between

25:41

opportunistic people. And

25:44

Covenant people. Take

25:49

a leak. We.

25:54

Could have problems in the first place.

25:57

It is if you can walk away.

26:00

you weren't meant to say. Come

26:04

on. God's getting

26:06

ready to kick the brakes off. He's

26:09

getting ready to unlock your limitation. That

26:11

drag that's been in your life, that

26:13

undertow that's been in your life. The

26:15

Lord sent me here this morning to

26:18

tell you He's going to unlock your

26:20

limitation. Get ready to unlock

26:22

your limitations through God. I'm tired

26:25

of coloring inside of the line.

26:28

I'm tired of being a good little boy and eating

26:30

my apple and going to bed. I'm

26:32

getting ready to launch out into the deep. For

26:34

your gift of any amount, start the new

26:36

year off right with the new year blessing

26:38

bundle, including the ready for more 2024

26:41

wall calendar, favor for life 21

26:43

day devotional, and the powerful prayer

26:46

declaration card. God has maneuvered you into

26:48

a position so that he could get

26:50

the glory out of your life. Just

26:53

when you thought you'd miss your season,

26:55

just when you thought it was over,

26:58

God said, Lord, sound into the deep.

27:01

Receive more in 2024. Call

27:03

or click today. Your

27:07

future isn't time

27:09

is sticking away. Always

27:14

down it. Always

27:17

moving with a virtues. his

27:25

powers where

27:29

should should

27:36

which yet

27:51

one and in this And

27:54

in this. You

28:01

International leadership some registered today at

28:03

this is high. As.or. Simply

28:07

to reach out to us on social media and

28:09

share your story of how God is impacting your

28:11

life. Who the for the same the

28:13

next time.