Worship: Pt 2 - The Banner of Worship

And I've struggled a little bit this week, not only just because I was at conference, but I just struggled because there are certain things that God, when I was expecting God, we're hoping that God will reveal to me for this message today, and I'm like, God, what are you going to do? And I look at what God is doing today, and he just said, Ryan, I'm going to take care of it right now. And so typically my preparation is if, yes, there it is, I know what it's going to be in. Guys like no, depend on me. I'm like, God, but you know, that's not how I roll. Like, you know, I'm type-A. I am a planner. I'm executed. I like that. Have everything together. But he said, I designed you and created you. Sorry to know how you are and who you are. I say, okay, quick. Check me quick. I'm like this. I'm like, I surrender. It says, I've just been prepared all week long. And there's just certain things that in my spirit, my God, there's there's something that I know that you want forth that I haven't received just yet for this message.

I'm like, What is it? He said, I'll give it to you when it's ready. So church we've been on is we just started a mini series about worship. And so these next couple of weeks, this week and next week is just a short mini series about worship because we know worship is powerful and worship has so many different forms and fashions. And so I want to make sure that we understand what worship is like and what God is called worship to be. And last week, as we started our worship sermon series, we, we talked about worship is more than just singing. Worship is more than just lights and cameras and is more than just smoke. Is is more than just what we what we believe it to be. Worship is so much more than just a song. We said that worship is more about the posture of your heart than the position of your hands. Now, the position of your hands is an important, but it's more about the posture of your heart and what God is wanting to do with you. Last week we talked about worship is when you give God breath, his back guy's breath is back.

Worship is when we give God his breath back. Amen. There we go. Amen. Yes. Our worship should lead us to our witness. Right. We came out of John Chapter 40 last week, and we talked about the women of the world at the world where she met Jesus. And after she encountered Jesus Christ herself, her worship became her witness. She came to a place where she said, Let me go back and tell other people about what God is doing in my life. So worship should be our witness. So this is week two. I promise I won't be before you till I just. Because I believe that God has something already is that He already has something in the atmosphere. So I want to make sure that I lean into what God is doing, where God is going. So if you have your Bibles, turn to Exodus Chapter 17 versus eight through 16.

And I want to just celebrate one of my great friends, and I call him my mentor. He doesn't know it, but he is just such a great role model for myself and other young men in the church. Coach Brown is in the House today. Coach has touched so many lives, just not only in Australia but across this world. He is and continue to be an example for what evangelism look like. Coach has a way about just spreading the gospel in a light and just in just engaging way. He told a worker at a restaurant. He said he likes cream in his coffee. That's how my church is as well. That's one of coach's sayings. And so just know the man that I'm talking about is is such an amazing man. And I would be remiss to say if you know who coach is, you know, he's accompanied by an amazing wife, McDaniels. Let's give it up for Miss Dion as well.

Coach, you can write me a check later on, but some of our leaders, who's next to coach? Let's reach out our heads. Let's just pray for him are quick. That's what I pray for. Coach, if we can just reach out to him. Coach has been battling cancer. He has been he wasn't supposed to be here this time last year. The doctors said he would not make it through Thanksgiving or better yet, he won't even see Christmas last year. But Guy said otherwise. God had other plans for the father. We think of who you are. We proclaim that you are the Almighty God, that you are the source of our health and our strength. God, I pray today, God, that you would give coach peace and rest. God, that you know that He's been dealing with this this disease for quite some time. Father, we know that he's he's grown weary, but got here yet continue to press on. God, we just pray for his healing in his body. God, that you will continue just bringing the right doctors and nurses around him. God, God, I pray, God, that you will begin to restore the cells that's in His body. God, that the right blood cells and the white blood cells and the red blood cells. God, that you will bring everything back at level. Holy Spirit, when you have His have your way in His life today. God, we think you got for his testimony. I even where he is not have the strength God to carry on God that he desires to be in the house of the Lord God.

We thank God for the testimony that He has. God, that He is continuing just to walk so faithfully this journey of faith, God that He's done for so many years. God give him strength. God will lift up his family to you today. God, we celebrate his life, his testimony, and his willingness to be a part of this church. Father, do what you only can do. God heal and restore. We love you. Father's in Jesus Christ. We say amen. Amen. Exodus Chapter 17 versus eight through six team. I promise I won't be before you very long. I believe God is going to say a lot in a very short period of time. Exodus 17 versus eight through 16. Verse number eight The Miller case came and attacked. The Israelites reappeared them. Moses said to Joshua, Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Miller case.

Tomorrow I will stand at the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand. So Joshua fought off the Miller case as Moses had ordered and Moses and Aaron or went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held his hands, the Israelites was winning. But whenever he lowered his hands, the Miller kites were winning. When Moses hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it air and in earth held his hands up one on one side and one on the other, so that his hands remained as steadily still till sunset. So Joshua became the Miller Case Army with a sword. Then the Lord said to Moses, write on this scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it.

Because I will completely blot out the name of Melek from under heaven. Moses built an altar there and called it The Lord is my banner. Yes, or Jehovah Nishi in Hebrew is said, he said, because his hands were lifted up against the throne of the Lord. The Lord would be at war against the Miller case from generation to generation. So today's message, the title I will call it the banner of Worship. The Banner of worship. Last week we talked about the evolution of worship and if you guys remember last week we did the evolution of worship, where we begin to talk about, you know, the old school choir. Our choir came in marching in singing, oh, happy day.

And then we went to church clap because my daughter felt some kind of way because in her generation she wanted some type of hip hop or something. So we did that. Then we sang some hymns and we kind of really went through the evolution of what worship looked like. Here are one church, what we desire to do to make sure that we have something for everybody in every setting. And so we're today we're talking about the banner, the flag there we're holding of worship. Why do we have the flags in our worship services? Because I believe this. What you're flying represents you and what you're saying. And so this is a story in Exodus, right? This is Moses. You know Moses, right? Baby Moses. I'm not going to go there.

Okay? I'm gonna go there. This is chicken nugget. Eden Moses. Right. This is Juice Box of Moses, right. Now, remember, Moses, you know, this is Moses, the baby Moses. The Moses that was drifting in in the sea, right where they took them out of a basket game, a juice box, and a five piece nugget for McDonald's. Hey, man, draw from the river. Moses, the murderer. Moses, the one who murdered an Egyptian. This is Moses who. Who navigated the ten plagues. This is Moses who's parted the Red Sea. This is Moses who. Who took water from the rock. This is Moses, who's led the children of Israel to the Promised Land. Moses the chicken nugget. Eden. Moses, right. Moses The one that we know today.

So in Exodus chapter 17, Moses is beginning to ask a question. The Israelite communities began to get upset with Moses like you brought us this far in. You going to leave us? Hey, you leave us out to dry. This is Moses. Where? There. They're coming up against him. They say Moses. Why did you bring us to this place where we don't have any food or anything to drink? And chapter 17, we see Moses is conflicted. He's confronted with the children of Israel. And verse number three says this Why did you bring us up out of Egypt? To make us and our children and our livestock die of thirst? Moses cried out to goddesses, What am I to do with these people? They're complaining. They're bickering. They we just we just went through this whole this whole ordeal.

But yet they're still not satisfied. They're asking God, why? Where are you going to take us? Why did you bring us this far to let us die? Maybe, just maybe, you've been asking God, why? Why God, why did you bring us this far? Why did you bring us this far to let us die? Or better yet, maybe you're wise. Not why? But maybe it's where. Like our. Where are you leading us? Where are you leading? My farm. Where are you taking us? So God, tell Moses to do something radical by this time, Moses, you get it right. You know, he. He navigated the team place. He part of the Red Sea. You know, the Moses? No, the guard. He operates in ways that we just don't know what and how he's going to operate. So the very staff that God gave Moses, you know, the staff that turn into a snake, he picked it up, became into a rat. That's the Moses we're talking about today. He says this. He says, Strike the rock and I will let water flow from it.

If you strike there, rock, water flow from. So that way your people, my people will be satisfied. But they didn't know the walk the rock that he was talking about is going to be rock that will restore not only the Israelites but people for the nations and for generations and generations to come. How do I know that? Because the Apostle Paul Rises and First Corinthians chapter two verses one through four. Paul writes in First Corinthians Chapter one, Chapter ten says this for I do not want you to be ignorant of the fact, brothers and sisters, that our ancestors, the Israelites, were all under the cloud, that they passed to the sea. They were baptized into Moses in the cloud, into the sea. They are at the same spiritual food. They all drink the same spirit to drink for they drink not from a spiritual rock that was accompanied by them, but that rock was Jesus Christ himself.

The Apostle Paul was saying the rock that Moses was talking about was the rock of Christ. And just think about it. The rock is the foundation. Moses strikes it with the staff, a flowing outcome, and for him was flowing water, living water, water that we have been called to take a part of. So let's let's look at this passage for a quick beginning. Ask myself, who are the Miller case? Right. Who are these group of people? They were. Who are they? Where did they come from? The Miller case is what we look at in our in our day age today or even in that time frame. They are anything or everything that is evil in our life. They keep us from glorifying God. These are the things that was coming up against Moses. These are the things that you may be coming up or be faced with from day to day.

This is Joshua. He says, choose some men to go out and fight the Miller case. And I will stand on top of a hill with the staff in my hand so that Joshua will fight against this. And I'll begin to think about this. Joshua is asked to go out and fight the Miller case. Joshua just got out of this being a slave. He was in Israel. So you have an army that is experienced in Joshua and his slaves. Well, former slaves. How in the world can you fight against an army that has been trained, who are skilled, and you're coming up against slaves? Do you guys see that? How the world can you begin to fight against somebody who is trained?

That's like me getting a ring with Jonathan Wallace. The I don't know Jonathan, but he's a black belt. Mark, the whole family, right? That's like me. Get into the ring with Jonathan is like, let's just squirm. Let me just see what I can do against you. Just like now you don't have a chance. Like, you're not even trained. You only have, you know, you watch enough Bruce Lee movies, but that doesn't do anything for you, right? That doesn't do anything for you. How in the world can we get to the point where God is saying, just trust me, I want you to trust me? In verse number nine, Moses, tell Joshua. Choose some of your men to fight the war that I put before you.

So Joshua chooses man meets with Moses. Moses goes up on a hill with Aaron and Earth. And what we see here is this as long as Aaron Moses is. Hold up, Aaron. Excuse me. As long as Aaron is holding up Moses his arms. What's happening? They're winning. But the moment that he lets them down, what happens? They're losing. Do you have an Aaron? In our era in your life? Do you have an Aaron in a year in your life that says, you know what, I got your back. Do you have somebody in your life that says, you know, no matter where you go, what you're doing, I got your back and I'm ready to roll out with any time, any any day of the week.

So what we need to begin to realize that we need people around us. You need community around you, or you need to engage yourself into a community where you have a aaron in or if you're going through life right now, if you don't have community, you're missing out. If you walk in through this church and you don't have community, you're missing out. Yeah, guys, we're a friendly church. Like, I mean, literally, we'd love to hang out and chop it up and kick it and do whatever you want to call me. This. That's what we do. Mark, my question is this. Why don't you want somebody to get close to you? Oh, you say that someone gave you my answer. This is back before Christ.

I remember when I was in a church, but not in the church. I kept my church family one in one group, but I kept my other road dogs and another crew. Y'all know what I'm talking about? That means you do your your godly things and somebody and you do your dirt. And this sign is. So if you're not connected with the church to a certain degree, then it makes me wonder, how are you living? Right? How are you living in such a way? Guys, we're not a perfect church. And so by me's I'm not. I'm not a perfect pastor. Nobody's perfect, right? But we need to begin to start doing life in such a way where we can encourage each other so that when we're we're struggling, when we need help or we need somebody just to give us a word of encouragement.

Yeah. Come on, Becca. Keith. She has a Barnabas spirit. That's a word of encouragement. If you don't have anybody that can just surround you and say, You know what? I got your back. I know. I know that you're tired. You need support. Let me walk with you. Let me do life with you in such a way that when you're tired, we can step in and support you. So we see this with Moses, that Moses is holding the angel with the staff in his hand. Verse 12 says this When Moses hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it up under him, and he sat on it. Aaron and her held his hands up one on one side, one on the other side. Moses Foundation was the rock, not just any rock, but the rock of Christ.

Our Foundation. Your foundation should be the rock of Christ. But more or less, Moses didn't go at it alone. He had a community. I don't know what you came here today. I don't know what you're dealing with. I don't know what you've been struggling with. But Moses was tired. Moses been doing it for quite some time. So he's been he's been at war for all day long. He's been fighting in fight and fighting. He's been prayed, interceding on behalf or for Joshua as he's going down and fighting the middle guys. But Moses got tired hours, days, weeks, months. But see, Moses just wasn't fighting this fight. He's been fighting this for quite some time. Imagine being chased by Pharaoh month after month. It gets tired, even in battle.

And week after week it gets tired. You're expected it to be over, but it's still day after day. You're faced with the same struggles, the same trials, the same situation. I don't know what you've been fighting for, for months, weeks, years, or whatever it may be, but know that God has your back. Know that air and earth has your back. And how did Joshua overcome this? Joshua overcame this by one way, only it wasn't a Joshua strength. It was Moses in verse number 12. Joshua tells us this, Well, Moses writes this. Reporter So he goes back and tells us to take a picture of it, write it down, put it on a banner. He says this After the victory in verse 14, the Lord instructed Moses Write this down on a scroll as a permanent reminder and read it aloud to Joshua.

Our Race The Memory of Malek from up under heaven. I begin an exodus of what a row does. Does Joshua need this to be written down? Because Joshua was fighting a battle down in the valley. He's already fighting about the battle in the valley, and he doesn't know what Moses was doing behind the scenes, because Joshua would have had believed that he'd won the battle all himself there, his own might.

There is a will, there's a skill set, but that's not even the truth. Joshua didn't have anything to do with except for him being willing and able be ready to be used by God. Are you being willing? Are you being ready to be used by God? So Moses wanted to remind Joshua it. Was it in your strength? It was in God's strength of strength alone. So I want you to go back and think about it. Where are you right now? Whatever you've been struggling with, go back and remember those things that God is delivering you from those battles that God has already fought for you, those battles that you have to have victory from. We're today as a church. It's not in our own strength. It's not our leadership. Strength is all about God. God has given us everything that we've had. Every victory that be won has been won by God. Is that because we're savvy or we're smart? We have strategic plan in us like that? None. None of that where I'm at the where I'm at today in my life because of the prayers of my my mother, my father, my grandmother, my grandparents, and the walk that I've been able to walk out through them, they laid the foundation for me.

It's not a monastery. It's the foundation of what was being done. So I want to encourage you today, is this as you begin to walk and do life together and Moses had an era in our earth who is your air and and your earth? But how am I going to tie in this whole banner thing? Right. What is this? The banner of my worship. We all fly certain flags. It may not be a physical flag for some of us. That may be a cross that you're wearing. You're saying that you're repping Jesus Christ for some of us, you have the little fish in back of your car. It may be a bracelet. This is WW. JD What would Jesus do if any material or marketing material that you say that you are a believer, you're flying the colors of a flag.

And so this if you go to fly the flag, represent it well, because if you're flying it, people are believing it, or if you're not going to fly it will take you down. If you're not going, fly, will take it down. One of my favorite movies I love to watch is called The Patriot is by Mel Gibson. And one of the things that we're going to see here in a second, Mel Gibson, you know, there were the last battle on the field and what was taking place that they were getting ready to take the field and they were about to retreat. And Mel's like, no, no, no. He grabs the flag and he rushes on. You guys, you get to see here in a second.

Jump, oh, my God. That turned like a dream. Oh, oh, I was. Yeah, right. So even as Christians, there are certain things that banners would do for you, right? There's five things that I want to remind you today that that what a banner can do for you if you lift it and represent it well, a banner would tell you who you represent, right? That's what a football jersey does for it tells you what team that you're playing for because it lets us know, like what side of the team that you're playing for.

It says you who you're representing, and it's like a signal on a hill, a banner also does this. A banner also signals the intent about what's to come. Jeremiah, 51/12 is this You lift up a banner against the walls of Babylon, reinforce the guard stations, the watchmen, prepare for an ambush. Imagine if you have the banner that you're carrying and you're taken up upon a hill. You guys get ready as leaders, as warriors, and we're called to charge against the enemy. The enemy knows what we're doing, where we're going to go. It's a signal of intent of where we going, where Mel Gibson picked up the flag. He said, no, we're going the wrong way. Keep pushing forward. Keep going, keep going, keep going. We have to press in even when there's opposition.

Yes. A banner indicates the victories that you've won. I'm gonna give a shout out to Miss Stephanie. She's an educator. They're actually in the semifinals. Finals, third round of finals, football team, East Forsyth High School. They are a multi state championship divisional team for for a high school. They want just just walking or football field right is like going to the Carolina Panthers said I'm sorry they don't have one just yet but if you go to the the Steelers you see all the the flags that they have and I'll make my way around to the Dallas Cowboys and all those other two.

But if you walk into their stadium, you begin to see, I guess, the stadium walls of what, the many championships that they won. I'm gonna let you know. That's that's in my intimidating right you walk into a field or court where you get to play the opponent you see the all of their banners and their accolades of how many championships they won. That's that's somewhat intimidating. It's a reminder to let them know when you walk on this field, you better know that we're represented. Right. And as believers in when people come across us and we're worried, you know, what would Jesus do? A We're part of a church or we're a part of a community. They they need to know. The enemy needs to know that. Guess what? That's good. You know who you dealing with. So it's a reminder. It's a representation. Also, it puts enemies to flight and I love the part when they walk up and they don't know like who's who's on your team. Right. And they know like we know. I remember this past week, we took a picture with this young lady and we had the opportunity to pray for a waitress at our conference at In-N-Out Burger, of all places.

Right. You know, Becca doing what? Becca, always just let us pray for you. And the next thing happens. Like, you know, all all of our team, we have surrounded this one person. I think their name was Henry or Harry or Jason or something like that. And we begin to pray for this individual. And guess what happened? We have people, staff from outside the counters who were Christian believers, came in, partner with this and lay hands to start praying for this individual. So when you fly the banner that you are a Christian believer and you begin to pray for someone else publicly, other believes would begin to circle around you. So you know what? Let me join in to what God is doing to help, agree and pray and intercede for this person. See, our banner that we have that we're flying is so much more than just a flag.

It's our conduct, it's our character. It's the way that our speech is. Our is our it's our character. What God has called us to do. So what God is asking us today, what better are you flying right? If you are a true believer and you're asking, gosh, guess what, let me just touch in a green. We didn't know that their staff was Christians, but there is something about this group of people coming together. They said, You know what, let me be a part of that transformation process. She came from behind the counter and she's from Africa. I think she was from Guyana. And she said, You know what, there is something different about your group. There are something different about what you guys are doing. And she led and prayed with us. Last but not least, the banners that we fly is an indication of God's presence.

There's a beauty. Whenever I see our banners, our flag girls and a guy. Now we have a guy now. George, he came out the box this past week. George picked up some flags going like this. But for me, I'm going to be honest, when we have people at the altar and their flag and over them, I just imagine their collar in flight, their angels that God has already commissioned to them and they're prayed over them. They're interceding over them. They are allowing, with the fresh wind of God to come in and begin to flow over their lives. And just there's a presence about when we flag and how we flag, we're flying banners. Y'all is a part of this this this banner of worship. I wanted to call up a couple of people so that we can hear for themselves, don't they?

Vos sa da da da. Don't see. Come on up for us. Yeah. We locked eyes They like our way. Call me up and this is just something different. Every now a service, guys, we'd like to do a Q&A or just an open mic. We can give it up, like on the podium. And I like to hear back from like, just, just real people so they can kind of really talk about their experience and reason why you do what you do. And so I know, I know there's some history where you were gifted, some banners, some flags, and how they really transformed your life and just just kind of talk about your experience and why you do what you do. And then we're going to let Harry say his spiel, too, because George came out the box this past week. Y'all just watch out.

It's going to be on social media soon. But there was there was a release, I must say this, and I keep referencing this past week, we took 25 people to a Mosaic conference in Nancy said, God told me to lay down my flags at the altar. And we've I've been a part of this conference for four out of the five times that they had this conference. And the release of the Holy Spirit was unmatched this past season. What this past conference, more so than any other conference of the other four conference that I've been a part of, and I believe this is because of her obedience, was the release for everyone else that was in participants. And so like the Holy Spirit just just was unleashed from Nancy kind of tell us what why you do what you do and if there's other individuals I know we have a few and a house, we'll just may make room for a couple more.