John K. Jenkins Sr - The People That God Chooses

I’m 55 now, y’all. I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing, but it’s a good thing. It’s a good thing to have lived for 55 years, to have the activities of my limbs, and to be in my right mind. It 's a good thing. I could be dead, I could be incarcerated, or I could be in a cell. There are a lot of places I could be, but I’m still standing here today-55 years. I’m grateful for the provisions that God has given me in my life. I’m grateful for a beautiful wife; I married up. I married several stages up in my 35 years of life. Yes, I am married to the best bride, the best wife. I have six wonderful kids-well, I will hold off on elaborating too much on that. Thank God for my six kids! They 've never given me any serious drama or problems. They 've had their share of teenage behavior, issues, and challenges, but I haven’t had to bail any of them out of jail yet. Thank God for that! I’m grateful for my life. I’m grateful to pastor the greatest church on the planet. Out of all the people that God could have chosen for this spot, and there are a lot of folks who wanted it, I am grateful to God that He has chosen me to be in this position, at this place, at this juncture in time. Of all the things and all the places I could be, there is no other place on the planet I would want to be, no other church I want to pastor, no other city I want to live in, and no other people I want to serve than where I am. God has chosen me to be where I am today. Thank God; I’m grateful for that. Now, I often ask myself why God chose me. I’m not the sharpest knife in the drawer; I’m not the smartest cat in the room. I keep telling y’all my elevator does not go all the way to the top floor. Y’all ever felt like your elevator stops between floors? You know which floor you want to be on, but the door opens, and you’re not quite there yet. Go ahead, look at it and act like that ain’t you! I acknowledge that I’m a jacked-up joker. I’m jacked up. And yet, the thing that I have longed for all my life, the thing I’ve always wanted, is for God to choose to use me. More than being a millionaire, more than having fame and fortune, more than anything else, I simply want to be in a place where God can use me. I would take that over everything else on the planet. The greatest compliment that anyone could give me in life is that somehow, someway, God used me to make a significant impact in their lives. That 's what makes me shout, glorify, and give God praise. If somebody chooses to say that God, somehow through something I said, something I did, the way I live my life, or the way I walked my journey, used me to help give them encouragement, to speak life, to bring deliverance, to heal their marriage, to deliver their kids, or to give them the right frame of mind, I just want to be an instrument that God can use to make a difference in somebody’s life. That 's the thing I’ve longed for, and it’s what I am in constant pursuit of-to be used by God. Paul takes the time to write to the jacked-up jokers at the Corinthian church to tell them that as jacked up as they are, he tells them in the very first chapter of his first letter to them that God can and will use them. That 's an important thing-it’s a significant matter for him to say that to them because Paul, in fact, is a guy that God uses. As a matter of fact, in the scripture, Paul declares that God used him to bring the unsearchable riches of Christ to the Gentiles. He said God used him to bring the ship of the mystery of the gospel to the Gentiles. God used me, Paul says, to empower the church to make known the mysteries of the gospel and the power of the gospel. Paul recognizes what God does and how He chooses the people He wants to use, and I want you to know today in this brief sermon that I’m going to preach, in this brief message, in this brief homily, in this brief teaching, that God wants to use you. I know you’re jacked up; I can look at y’all. You 8 o’clock crowd looks dressed up and put together; you look good. You seem sanctified, and you don’t come in here with tattoos all over and earrings all over the place-that’s the 12 o’clock crowd. You' re dressed up, you make it look pretty, and you look sophisticated. But I know behind your smile, behind your fancy attire, behind your pearls, and behind your hat cocked to the side, is a jacked-up person. But you look good-you look religious, you look smart, and sophisticated. Now, the 12 o’clock crowd, I’m going to tell them they are jacked up, and they look jacked up .