Rev. Antquan Hill
Pastor - Mt. Lebanon Missionary Baptist Church
4716 7th Ave South , Birmingham, AL, United States, 35222
mtlebanonmbc.bhm@gmail.com

https://www.facebook.com/p/Mt-Lebanon-Missionary-Baptist-Church-100064761067274/

“RENEWED”

Speaker: Pastor Sparks

Scripture: Eph. 2:10; Acts 9:1-18

-Are you & The Lord ok?

-Do you know what your purpose is in The Lord, and are you living it?

-So many things in our life require renewal (drivers license, passport, vows, professional licenses, etc), so it only makes sense that we renew relationship—especially ours w/ The Lord

-Your purpose & vocation aren’t typically the same thing; it can be, but it doesn’t have to be

• Don’t confuse level of employment with worth of purpose!

God Made You On Purpose & For a Purpose

1. • Don’t ever think you’re “self-made”; you can’t make yourself because you didn’t make yourself!
   • When we use what God has given us in service to Him, we should be excited & happy when doing it!
   • Finding purpose has no age limit! 
2. You May Be Suffering From a Misplaced Purpose
   • What you’re doing may not be what you need to be doing; that doesn’t mean it’s wrong, but maybe just that you can be much more impactful elsewhere (not job, but purpose)
3. You May Experience a Divine Disruption
   • Sometimes God will allow something to happen that seems—initially—as a negative, but it turns out being exactly what you need to get you where you’re supposed to be!
4. Others May Have to Help Guide You to the Path to Purpose
   • Don’t neglect help from those who can help you get to the next level of your life
   • You aren’t meant to “go it alone”! 
   • Who is the Ananias in your life?
5. Renewed Purpose Will Always Align w/ What God Has Already Stated in the Bible
   • God’s not going to let your “come up” benefit only you; 
   • Renewed purpose for our lives is something we can’t do on our own; God’s not going let your “come up” be something you can do without Him
   • Renewed purpose is confirmed thru obedience; step out on faith and trust Him to get you where you’re supposed to be!

Sermon Notes courtesy of Deacon Anthony Sparks

-Your age has nothing to do w/ how “advanced” you are in your spiritual walk

-If you feel like life has been dumping on you, know that you’re not alone—AND—scripture is filled w/ people who had their fair share of issues!

    A Renewed Spirit is a Clean Spirit (Psalm 51)
        How clean is your spiritual filter? Sometimes, we feel detached & bogged down simply because our “filters” have too much junk in them
        The more we allow “little things” to add up, the more—over time—we get clogged up
    Jesus Initiates Conversation & Conversion (Luke 19)
        In the story of the blind man sitting by the road (Luke 18) & Zacchaeus (Luke 19), what these two men have in common—despite their economic differences—is that religious folks tried to keep them away from Jesus
        After having been looked down on his whole life (bc of his stature & profession), Jesus looked UP at Zacchaeus
        The fact Jesus “came to that spot” (the tree Zacchaeus was in) signifies that Jesus knows—and can meet us—exactly where we are!
        Jesus also honored Zacchaeus by calling his name; the name of a person who was looked down on all his life by others, was called by Jesus
            Be careful trying to witness to folks when you don’t even have a relationship w/ folks; you trying to turn somebody on to Christ could actually have the opposite effect. Be relational, not confrontational
    Sincere Change Requires Repentance
        Zacchaeus was saved the second he dropped down out of the tree! Don’t make it more difficult than it has to be, all you gotta do to get Jesus is accept Jesus, and the second you do...you’re saved!
        Zacchaeus made the personal decision to give away half his possessions bc he knew he’d gotten it by cheating folks! He made the decision to SHOW he was a new person!

        Outward actions show inward change!

Sermon Notes courtesy of Deacon Anthony Sparks

Text: Philippians 3:12-14

-An optimist stays up past midnight to see the new year come in, the pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves

-Paul wrote this scripture while in prison

1. Everybody Has Errors In Their Past

• There are some things in your life you wish you could press 'backspace' on
• Paul was as religious as they come, but he still messed up!
• The reason I have an imperfect past is because of the junk/sin in my life

2. You Don't Have To Be In Bondage To Our Past

• Some of us stay stuck on the page of our mess ups
• We have bookmarked the page and we keep rereading the same page
• Paul said to forget what is behind and STRAIN towards what's ahead!
• You do not have to be a slave to what's behind you

3. No Matter Your Current Circumstances, You Can Start A New Chapter

• Colonel Sanders was 63 years old when he launched into KFC
• At 43, Circuit Court Judge Helen Shores Lee (first black civil circuit judge in Jefferson county) STARTED law school after a career as a clinical psychologist

4. Change Requires Intentional, Determined Effort

• All of us would get closer if all we had to do was sit & wait with our hands folded; Paul said we have to PRESS!
• You have to actively try to be better!
• We'll press for a ton of other things before we press to get things better with Christ

What do I do to make this relationship better? I HAVE TO BE CONTENT. To do that:

A. I have to turn the page on a casual relationship with Jesus

• No more DIY faith
  • You have to be willing to be taught
  • If you're not being fed, do you have an appetite?
• Stop being a decent devil
  • The kingdom of God does not need any thugs or heavenly hustlers---Christ is supposed to change you!
  • 2 Corinthians 5:17
  • Stop worrying about keeping it real and just BE real!
• Stop acting like someone makes you come to church/work in the church
  • If you're pressing, you ought to WANT to be and do in the church!

B. Turn the page on unforgiveness

• Move on and let it go!
• Some princes come with mud on their boots & know less than you, BUT they know how to love you the way you want to be loved---that's enough!

C. Turn the page on THAT sin

• Whatever your THAT sin is, stop it!
• You have to care more about your reputation!
  • Don't present yourself one way but live another!

D. Turn the page on handling God's money your way

• You don't have to be rich to live well

E. Turn the page on being common

• Common means you're mediocre or of inferior quality; lacking rank or distinction
• Zig Ziglar: A rut is a grave with the ends kicked out 
• We're not in a rut anywhere else in our lives (cars we drive, clothes we wear, techology, etc) but we're ok with an average relationship with Christ

Sermon Notes Courtesy of Deacon Anthony Sparks

-If all the stores that sold gifts, closed, Christmas would STILL be here

-Just like a circus elephant is able to stay chained [to a small stake and a rope] because it’s been conditioned since birth,  the enemy plays on our minds and conditions us to remember when we were “chained”. And unfortunately, all he has to do to keep us chained/stuck in our past, is remind us of the time when we were chained...

-It’s time for you to get unstuck from what you’ve experienced and come into the FULLNESS of freedom that you’ve been given in Christ!

-Your joy has nothing to do with your strength, might, or power, but it has everything to do with who you believe is in control and who you put your faith in!

-We can never allow ourselves to get in a place of saying “I can’t wait til Christmas is over”; if you’re in that place, it might be time to check what your Christmas spirit is rooted in...

It’s Ok to Be Joyful—AND HAPPY
Joy should be present in spite of situations; and you should absolutely be happy when something good happens to you!
The two things are NOT mutually exclusive or at odds with one another!
Christmas, at its core, comes with joy. If you don’t feel it, ask yourself what you’re celebrating in this season
Joy Is Our Strength (Nehemiah 8:10)
If you’re struggling to tap into your joy, you need to remind yourself of how you felt when you first fell in love w/ Jesus—and what led you there!
It’s possible to forever have this joy because THE WORLD DIDNT GIVE IT...SO THE WORLD CANT TAKE IT AWAY!
We Can Choose Joy
We can choose how we react to our circumstances
Rejoice is the verb form of “joy”; re- signifies that it’s something you DO AGAIN. In order to REjoice, that means you can constantly tap into the joy you’ve experienced before!

Sermon Notes courtesy of Deacon Anthony Sparks

December 6- Peace 
December 13- Joy 
December 20-Love 

This year, Forty-fifth Street Baptist Church will be engaged in reading a plan containing devotions for each of the four weeks before Christmas. Based around the weekly themes of hope, peace, joy, and love, there are seven devotions for each theme. The Advent season begins on Sunday, November 29th. For a copy of the devotional, please visit - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NJhLhfDhHNtINm_WfXkdvnDAwYTFbjod/view?usp=sharing 
To give to the ministry - https://app.easytithe.com/App/Giving/fort7600279oly Spirit lead you on a journey of peace, joy, and love—and ultimately to a deep encounter with Jesus. 

SERMON SERIES:

“The Struggle is Real”

Speaker: Pastor Sparks

Text: 1 Samuel 18:6-9

-Just because we can’t see the end result of what we’re doing doesn’t mean what we’re doing doesn’t matter

-Faith helps you get thru hardships, not avoid them

-What happens when one is jealous?

Jealousy has two parts: 1) I’m resentful of other people’s blessings & 2) I’m ungrateful for my own blessings

-Saul was easily a “fool”. How? Because anyone who is blessed by God, kept by God, cared for by God, & graced by God, yet turns his back on God, can’t be anything but that!

-Instead of Saul being grateful that the country’s biggest enemy had just been defeated—on HIS watch—he focused on ONE line in this spontaneous song, and let that line jack him up all the way up!

———> Saul has been the recipient of solo glory for 20+ years, and once someone else gets one line of glory, he completely lost his mind!

———> Being jealous of and keeping your eye on others makes you miserable! (Proverbs 14:30)

-When you’ve got a jealous spirit, it warps how you feel about normal situations: The women singing were simply saying how much of a killer combination Saul & David were, But all Saul could hear is that “David is better”

-Saul was hell-bent on taking out David, WHO HAD BEEN ANOINTED BY GOD, which meant that David—come he’ll or high water—was going to be king REGARDLESS!

———> Be careful who you mess with, because you have no idea if they’ve been chosen by God—and if so—you ain’t fighting them, you’re fighting God!!!!!!!!!!

-If you’re jealous, you’re not being controlled by the Holy Spirit, but by the enemy himself. And the enemy pays attention to your cues, so when you show him what bothers you, she amplifies it and puts directly in front of your face!

-Jealousy isn’t a “summer cold”, it’s a full-blown disease!

* If I don’t get rid of jealousy, jealousy will get rid of me. So do I get rid of it?

    1. Admit you struggle with it

    2. Deal with your own insecurities (every time I get jealous of someone else, I’m revealing something about myself)

    3. Be more grateful (jealousy at its root is a lack of trust in God)

    4. Refocus on what God has for you to do (if you get wrapped up in your calling, you won’t have time to worry about anybody else’s!)

        * David didn’t fill out an application to be king, God simply said “you will be”; God is saying the same thing to you (“you will be”), the question is, is that good enough for you?”

Sermon Notes provided by Deacon Anthony Sparks