FREE.CHURCH - FREE CHURCH OAK PARK
FREE.CHURCH - FREE CHURCH OAK PARK
I Will Always Be...Expectant // Pastor Chuck Colegrove // October 13th, 2024
Like this message? Hit "Subscribe" to get notified when our Sunday Sermons are uploaded!
Wanting to get connected to church life? Text "Hi" to 773-295-0781.
Well, I'm ready to preach God's word. Are you ready to receive it? Today the year was 1984, and I grew up in Grand Rapids, michigan, and I have been for my entirety of life a diehard Detroit Tigers fan and really just about anything Michigan. So like Detroit Tigers, detroit Lions, detroit Pistons and the University of Michigan, and what I've known is that I like that means I've lived a lifetime of hurt and heartbreak and just being on the verge of winning something, only to lose it all. And so we've had our moments and we're thankful for that.
Speaker 1:And I think you know we went a little further than the Bears last year and we might go further than the Bears this year, I don't know. I meant to check the score. They were getting beat. I knew somebody was watching. I knew At about 945 this morning. I thought I did not think the Bears would beat us on Sunday, getting to church, but apparently enough of you watched the game as late as you could and then got to church.
Speaker 1:But anyways, back in 1984, the year was 1984. And as a Tigers fan, this was actually a year that they would end up winning the World Series. It was one of the greatest years of my life, 14-year-old, loving baseball. But this one particular occasion, we were driving from our home in Grand Rapids, michigan, to where my sister lives over in the Detroit side of town and we were listening to the game. This is what kind of fans we were we listened. We couldn't watch it because we didn't have a TV, but we listened to the games, no matter at home or wherever we were. We're driving in the car and on this day, the Tigers they were losing by two runs and it was going to the bottom of the ninth and they were trailing by two and I was expecting that they would come back and win. It just was already that kind of a season.
Speaker 1:But my dad, my dad, bless his heart, my dad was never like, he was never a positive fan of anything in sport land. If it could go wrong, it was gonna go wrong, and my dad would know when it was going wrong, how it was going wrong. And so he was. As we're driving, he's like, oh, this game's over, I'm gonna turn it off. It's terrible, these guys are the worst. And and I'm like, dad, dad, don't turn it up. This, the best part of their lineup's coming up, don't turn it off. And he's like, no, I can't listen to it anymore. It's kind of what I do now. And he's like no, yeah, I learned it from him. But he's's like no, no, he's like I'm turning off. I'm like dad, please, please, turn it on.
Speaker 1:And so the first guy gets on, the next guy gets out, the next guy gets on, the next guy gets out, so there's two on and two out in the bottom of the ninth and the catcher for the Tigers, lance Parrish, gets up and he's like this guy's terrible, there's no way. And I had I terrible, there's no way. And I had. I just had this expectation. I was like dad, just keep it on, just keep listening, something good is gonna. I just had this expectation. And once you know we're driving and it got real quiet in the car and I'm like leaning on the edge of my seat in the back of the car and dad, dad's driving and and he, it's real quiet, and all of a sudden the announcer makes the call and you can hear the crack of the bat and the announcer starts saying it's way back, it's way back. And I was like Dad, dad, and he's like it's going to be an out, and he turned it off. I was like Dad, and so then he turned it back on and you could hear the crowd celebrating and the announcer saying, yes, a three run home run to win it off. I said see, dad, I told you. I think that's what my dad was trying to avoid, was me saying. I told you. But it really was the year I learned like there's something about expectation that draws out the very good things that can happen. So, hey, why don't you just lean over to your neighbor and say I will always be expectant, and to the other one that you've looked at, just say, man, you are singing your heart out. I think something.
Speaker 1:I think there was something in the atmosphere different today, because sometimes we get so used to reading the words, like we focus on reading the words, like I'm gonna read it, I'm gonna read it, I'm gonna read. Okay, next screen, I'm gonna read it, I'm gonna read it. And then something happens today, when we start singing without the the crutch of a screen and we just lose ourselves and listen. I don't know all the lyrics either, and when I don't know the lyrics, I'm, and when I don't know the lyrics, I'm just like yeah, yeah, mm, ah, bah, you, mm, ah. Time I get the last word. Just get to the last word.
Speaker 1:But something changes when we don't have to like rely on the technology, we just let it come out of our heart. And they used to tell us when we were in choir like hey, if you can't, if you don't know the lyrics or you forgot the part, just say watermelon in the frame of the book, then you'll get it. It'll be look like you're singing, so but there's. I love how pastor Ben said it last week, like if you've been around free church for the last few weeks or today, you can tell something is happening in the atmosphere. And let me just say this If you allow Renee to be a part of your community, of connecting to church life, the notes are actually. Renee sent out notes this morning and you can find them on the Bible app. If you don't communicate with Renee, so you could at least follow along in Scripture with me as I preach today. You don't need the screens, you can actually follow along and I'll tell you the verse references as we go as well, so you can write them down, because note-takers are All right.
Speaker 1:So let's read the first verse, psalm 62. This is David writing. He said my soul, wait thou only upon God For my expectation everybody say expectation, for my expectation is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, he is my defense and I shall not be moved. So there's something that's in this atmosphere, something's moving, something's changing around here.
Speaker 1:I didn't think if Pastor Ben and Priscilla were going to be able to like make the transition. I thought we're just going to worship them straight out, like, keep going. There's something happening, and I love to say this because I love like. I think what's happening is it looks like heaven, but it feels like home, doesn't it? You just get in here and you just start feeling like, oh man, this feels good. Even if you're not comfortable or familiar with an expression of worship like you experienced today. There's something about it that, if you're not comfortable or familiar with an expression of worship like you experienced today, there's something about it that, if you just will be honest, you could say it's different, but it sure feels good. And there's something happening. And I think, as scripture tells us, if we have eyes to see, we should try to see, and if we have ears to hear, we should open our ears to hear, because the spirit is saying something and moving in a way and there's, there's something different there's. There's something different in the atmosphere and let me just tell you, like expectation is not born of trends and tendencies.
Speaker 1:It's not like there's a trend happening and so, oh, I have an expectation. Because this is how it happens. Expectation is born of, or formed out of, a hope that God is able. So it's not that I have a trend that I have to follow or I have stats or analytics to let me know something. It's because I have this. The expectation is a hope that God is able. Show me a situation and I'll show you a declaration Is there anything too hard for my God? I dare you name the situation, name the sickness, name the angst or the battle of the relationship, name the financial difficulty, and I'll say is there anything too hard for my God? So we have this expectation. I'm going to give you some rules of expectation and help you through this. So the first rule of expectation is this Typically, you get what you expect and it's this. Have you ever noticed that, like you could expect good, and good happens, or you start to expect something bad to happen and the bad starts to happen?
Speaker 1:Just in like reference and carry on of my opening story, elliot stopped by the house yesterday. I told him I was like he got married in April and he and my beautiful daughter Anise, they live down in Wrigleyville and so we get. I told him he was at the house yesterday. I was like it's so good to have you here. I said it's almost like you live out of state. You live eight and a half miles from our house but it's almost like you live out of state because I feel like we don't get to see you enough. And we were talking and while we were talking he said, dad, the Tigers, their game five against the Indians it's on right now and they're winning one nothing. I was like well, where's it on at? And I said he told me. So I moved the TV to watch that. But I told him as I was turning it on, I said the thing is typically when I really engage and watch, something bad happens. And wouldn't you know, in the next couple of minutes the bases were loaded and the guy's hitting a grand slam and Detroit loses again. And I was like it's what. It was my expectation. And so I apologize to all of Detroit baseball because I had a bad expectation.
Speaker 1:But there is actually history of this in the Bible, the book of Job. We know the story of Job. He had everything. He had his wealth, he had his family, he had riches, he had land, he had cattle. He had it all and then it was taken from him. But look at what he says in Job 3.25. It says the thing I greatly feared has come upon me and what I dreaded has happened to me. It's almost like Job even though he had everything, he still had this fear that he could lose everything. And he did.
Speaker 1:And he did when I was, or Sean and I were I don't think we were yet engaged, we were starting to get more serious, but I was just starting to, because of my dad, gain a love for motorcycles and I would. I'm not going to tell you that I would ride the motorcycle my dad's motorcycle and sometimes he would know it and sometimes he wouldn't know it. Students, I do not recommend that ever, but I just want to be honest, and now I feel bad for telling that story. So don't ever do that without your parents' knowledge. But I would take the bike around the block. I would go a little further, and one day we rode up to the church and I rode with my dad. I wasn't driving the motorcycle. But when we got there I was like, hey, dad, can I take the bike? Like just, I just wanted to go for a ride. He's like, yeah, I got a few things to do, I get, I start riding and then I get to a certain spot, I turn around to come back and I crashed the motorcycle and like in the middle of the road, like traffic crazy.
Speaker 1:And I remember the first thing I get up seeing first of all is the front wheel of the motorcycle like spinning, just still kind of turning from the momentum of riding. And then and I'm looking at myself and I look at the car that almost hit me and like the guy has like one time short, you know, stop short for his wife, like stop her from falling. And their eyes are like this and I'm like, oh, my goodness. But then I had this picture that I had seen over and over again before this happened. I had like a vision that I had actually seen that running tire over and over again and later that day I talked to my mom about it. I was like, mom, it's so weird. Like when I got up and saw that motorcycle, it was like I had seen that before. And she said the next time you see something like that, in the name of Jesus, rebuke it and cancel every assignment. It's almost like I had this picture of it and it became an expectation and it took place.
Speaker 1:And so we can expect good or bad, and we'll see that. And, trust me, you'll see that everything begins with a thought. Everything from a thought goes to an act, goes to a habit, goes to a character, goes to a destiny, and so this rule of expectation, then, is that you get what you expect. The second thing, a rule of expectation, is this when God wants to do something for you, he begins by doing something in you. God doesn't start at for you, he starts at in you, and so you're going to.
Speaker 1:The reason why I tell you is that because, when you get into atmospheres like today, already, you should be sensing something Like I sense this. I have an expectation of something that's happening there, something is building, there's momentum happening in my life that there is a faith that's stirring within me, there's God's doing something in me, long before I see it happen. Come on, I wonder how many of you like, like I was thinking this week, like I got. I believe God, I have this expectation. Don't say amen too loud, but I have this expectation I still haven't preached my best message yet that, hey, maybe for you you can have an expectation that you still have your best year ahead of you. You still haven't closed that largest deal you've been dreaming about. You still haven't reached that dream that you've been putting together and it's on a board somewhere and you still haven't seen it. Somebody have an expectation that God is not finished yet. Like David, my sole expectation, my sole expectation is in God alone, and that God has a plan for you, that he's got a plan for your life. So we know, then you get what you expect and God starts in you before he starts for you.
Speaker 1:And then the next one is expectation always precedes the arrival of a new season. Expectation always precedes the arrival. And all you have to do is think about expecting parents. You see a young couple. I remember when Ursh and I were expecting Ethan and then Elliot and then the twins. Like life changes when you're expecting. First of all, there's noticeable signs. I had the complimentary signs and she had the real deal, and I ate everything as well. So it was like, why not? We're eating for two, all of us. But the reality is that, like you're expecting, so you paint the nursery and then you start putting together all of the furniture and then you open the closet and you see that the closet is starting to be full of little cute outfits that you just cannot do without, and shoes and hats and blankets. But it's because you're expecting and all of that, there's no arrival before the expectation.
Speaker 1:And what I'm here to do today is to stir up this idea in you To live with a declaration of your life that I will always be expected, that you can put a demand on the goodness of God, that you can draw into the promises that are fulfilled in yes and amen through Jesus Christ, that you can say, for your name's sake, lord, show up in this situation. And that you can actually know that God is, he's able to do, exceeding abundantly more than you could ever ask for or imagine. And so why not imagine all that you can and have an expectation for it All for his glory? Listen, philippians 1.6 says this I'm confident that God, who began the good work, look within you. You thought I was just making up a nice line to say that expectation that God begins something in you before he does it for you. Look, he who began the good work in you will continue his work until it is finally finished. Listen, whatever your situation is, god is not done yet. You can have an expectation. It doesn't look like it. I really want it to look, but God's not done. God's not done yet, god's not finished. So there's this framework that we live in an expectation. And I will tell you, when you live with expectation, you've got to be careful who you surround yourself with. Some people don't like expectation.
Speaker 1:When the angel appeared to Mary and said, mary, you're highly favored and the Holy Spirit is going to dwell within you and work in you and you'll have a baby, and Mary was like whatever, you'll have a baby. And Mary was like whatever. You say yes, holy Spirit. And then look what she does. Everybody else, joseph's afraid, everybody's going to be judging them. But Mary goes and finds herself in the company of Elizabeth, who is her cousin, who, by the way, is also also expecting by the promise of God, the one that would go before and declare make way for the Lamb of God, make way for the kingdom of God, repent, repent and be baptized. That was John. And when Mary gets in the presence of Elizabeth. She was in the presence of somebody who also could live in the reality of expectation, and so you need to surround yourself with people who will celebrate what you're expecting.
Speaker 1:There's another. Let me give you another one that it's not in the notes, but you can read through it. It's in 1 Kings, chapter 3, and it's it might be 2 Kings, but it's in one of the books of Kings, chapter 3. Should have been in your notes, but we talked about Solomon when we were talking about I will always be a student and pursuing wisdom and one of the things that Solomon takes a lot of, gets a lot of credit for in being wise Two moms of similar age and they both have sons of similar age.
Speaker 1:And the Bible said that the one mother, in the middle of the night, rolled over in her sleep and rolled on top of her son and he suffocated, he died. And in the middle of the night, while the other mom and son were sleeping, the mom got up and took her dead baby and switched the babies out and left the dead baby with the other mother and brought and coddled and cradled the live son. And in the morning there was a dispute Why'd you take my son? This is my son, this is not your son. There was a dispute, so they brought him before the king, and the king said this they were arguing, arguing, arguing. And the king said this I'll tell you what, give me. And the king said this they were arguing, arguing, arguing. And the king said this I'll tell you what. Give me a sword and I will cut this baby in half and you each will have a half of the son and you both can go home happy and guess what? The mom whose son had already deceased. She said absolutely that's what I want. And the mother, the real mother, said oh king, please don't harm the baby. She can take him home if it will spare his life. Let me just tell you something the greatest danger in your life are the people who have slept until their dreams have been killed, and now they want to kill yours. Listen, if God is not finished with you, don't let anyone else finish it. So expectations and expectations and seasons go together.
Speaker 1:The book of Daniel, chapter two, says this he changes the times and seasons. He removes kings and raises up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding. He changes the times and the seasons. Now. We don't have that capability with seasons, although I can promise you, in February I wish with all of my heart that it would stop being cold and it would begin to get warm. I felt the Holy Ghost just sweep through this room Like let it snow. I don't know why it snows every October 31st. I don't understand that. It seems a little too early. It shouldn't snow around Thanksgiving time. I'm just saying Christmas, let it snow, let it snow. Let it snow January, let's get on with it. Let's get on with it, and by February, please.
Speaker 1:But you can't wish your way out of a season, because God changes times and seasons. And look, there's a purpose to the season and the season doesn't move to the next one until what is supposed to be accomplished in the season is done, and spiritually it's the same thing for you. There are things you wish you could get out of this season, but you're not going to get out in. The season is done and spiritually it's the same thing for you. There are things you wish you could get out of this season, but you're not going to get out of the season until you get something out of the season. I can tell you watch, single people, I'm going to pick on y'all single people for a minute.
Speaker 1:Single people, it's like, oh, if I could just be married. If I just get married, everything will be okay. And all the married people are like, yeah, you go there, sparky. And all the married people are like, oh, if we just could have kids, our marriage would be so much better. And all the married couples with kids go ha ha ha. And then the parents with older kids watch the parents with younger kids go man, we just can't wait till our kids sleep through the night. And the parents with older kids say, yeah, but wait till they just start staying out all night. It's a different kind of a stress load. And then some of the parents with older kids are like, oh, soon we're going to be empty nesters. And the empty nesters are like, just wait and see the fabric of your marriage. If you poured everything into your kids.
Speaker 1:What I'm telling you is like sometimes we can't enjoy this season because we're not in sync with what God wants to do in this season and we think, oh, if I could just get to this next season. Guess what? If you're in a season that's to develop your patience, things aren't going to just appear all of a sudden, god's working on developing your patience. That means there's going to be some sit down and take some time, but that doesn't mean you don't have expectation. You just have an expectation. God's going to get me through this. And what God wants me to get out of this, I will get out of it. John 5, 4,.
Speaker 1:Look at this. Jesus goes to an area. It's called the pool of Bethesda. You can come up. Who's ever coming to close out? For an angel went down a certain season. Look at that. A certain season.
Speaker 1:Now, look at this. An angel went down at a certain season into the pool and troubled the water. Whoso then, first, after the troubling of the water, stepped in, was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. So look at this. So there was this pool of water and there was a certain season and what that means. That season means something is possible now. That was not possible just a minute ago. The season shifted. What's possible now was not possible a minute ago because something shifted and there's an expectation that whoever gets to that water first is going to get healed. And now Jesus steps in and he turned it all upside down because he looked at the guy who couldn't get to the water and said why don't you just get right up and walk out of here? Why? Because Jesus has the control to move the seasons in your life, spiritually in your life. He has power to do that.
Speaker 1:Then the next thing watch this about seasons Galatians 6, 9, and let us not grow weary in doing for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Other versions say if we do not faint, we will in due season. So why am I compelling you to live with this attitude of expectation? Because as long as you're sowing the right things, you can have an expectation that you will reap and have a harvest of the right things. Because if you don't give up, if you won't give up, there is a promise of a return of that harvest. All right, we're almost done so. Here's the rule. Then. Expectation is keeps me from giving up. Expectation keeps me from giving up. Psalm 27, 13,. David says I would have fainted. Watch this. I would have fainted unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. David's like. I almost gave up, but something inside of me had an expectation that I would see the goodness of the Lord.
Speaker 1:Somebody needs to put that verse on their mirror, on their phone, so it comes up every day to remind you Listen, you might be getting tired, but listen, if you just have an expectation, you'll see the goodness of the Lord, it will drive you through. Remember Jacob, jacob and Esau his brother, you through. Remember Jacob, jacob and Esau his brother, how Esau comes in, and you could put the verse up there. It says Jacob, he made some pottage, he made soup, and Esau came from the field and he was look, he was faint. And Esau said to Jacob feed me, I pray, feed me, I pray thee, with that same red pottage, for I am faint, faint, and therefore his name was called Edom. And Jacob said, hey, I'll feed you, but sell me this day, thy birthright. And he's Esau says this, look.
Speaker 1:He says, behold, I'm at the point to die. So what profit shall be this, this, this birthright due to me? And they, esau, in a moment of being tired, sold, sold the blessing on his life. Look, when you get tired, you're going to do crazy stuff, you're going to give up, you'll let go of the promise God has for your life. When you get tired, you'll be like is it even worth it for me to stand here and all I'm telling you is if you could just if you could get a little bit of expectation in you that, oh man, there's never been a time, there's never been a minute, never been a moment that you're not in it. Come on, there's never been a time, there's never been a minute, there's never been a moment that you're not in it. Like that begin to stir up in you and then, hey, I don't need to sell what's permanent in order to get what's temporary. Expectation says in due season I'll reap if I don't give up the last verse, the last verse Isaiah 40, 31.
Speaker 1:But those who wait, look at this is the amplified version. Sometimes, when I think of the amplified version, it's the version with the megaphone, so like you could just read scripture. Or you get the amplified version and it's with a megaphone. You're reading it with a megaphone. It gets a little louder because there's a little more wordplay and clarity for you as you read it. But watch this. More wordplay and clarity for you as you read it, but watch this.
Speaker 1:But those who wait for the Lord, who expect, who look for and hope in him, they shall change and renew their strength and power. They shall lift up their wings and mount up close to God as eagles mount up to the sun. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint or become tired. What? Who is that? Those who wait or expect on the Lord alone.
Speaker 1:So my challenge to you is this this is not, there's no hyperbole in this. This is not like let me preach something that's exciting and stir you. I am just telling you if you would live with expectation in your heart, you'll see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. If you would live with expectation in your heart, you'll have the strength to not give up when it gets difficult. If you have an expectation that God's going to show up, you'll be willing to say listen, I don't know what's happening around me, I don't know what's going on right now, but I know God's not finished yet. Because, listen, there's something that happens when we put a demand on the goodness of God over our life. Can you receive that word today?