The Necessary Struggle: Part I (Sunday Sermon Notes)
The Chosen Church
Speaker: David Dewberry Sr.
Title: The Necessary Struggle
Scripture: Genesis 32:22-28 (NIV)
As long as we keep the “I” in front of what we do, we will never fully understand the “GOD” in the situation. Lord! Increase in us that we may INCREASE in you!!! (Catch that)
⬇️⬇️⬇️
John 3:30-35 (NASB)
30 “He must increase, but I must decrease.
31 “He who comes from above is above all; the one who is only from the earth is of the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.
32 What He has seen and heard, of this He testifies; and no one accepts His testimony.
33 The one who has accepted His testimony has certified that God is true.
34 For He whom God sent speaks the words of God; for He does not give the Spirit sparingly.
35 The Father loves the Son and has entrusted all things to His hand.
Throwback memory: It’s NOT about us! We are NOT the main character. It’s about GOD getting ALL the glory! It’s about the edification of GOD’S KINGDOM!! Let’s keep GOD on the throne in ALL that we do and say!! Making sure the main thing is the main thing…KINGDOM!!!
Thankful Reminder of how GOD is ALWAYS with us:
⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️
Joshua 1:5 “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.” (ESV)
Simply PUT: Joshua 1:5 is God reminding Joshua that NOBODY/NOTHING will be able to stand against him because GOD is with him, just like He was with Moses. God promises He'll never leave or abandon Joshua, giving him the strength AND courage to lead Israel into the Promised Land with confidence, knowing the victory comes from God.????????.
⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️ THIS ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️
Isaiah 54:17 “no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, declares the Lord.” (ESV)
Pause and Reflect: Elder Dangerfield stated in his message to The Chosen Church: “God calls us to complete devotion; He’s not looking for perfection and performance BUT maturity in the pursuit of HIM!"
Collectively, these scriptures teaches us that:
1. Every human being is a sinner and need JESUS.
2. God ALONE possesses perfect goodness.
3. No one should claim to be morally flawless. Jesus is our moral compass and we should always seek to follow His PERFECTION!!
4. Recognizing we will fall short and we can get back up again with GOD’S PERFECTION!!
• Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
• Mark 10:18: Jesus himself stated, "No one is good except God alone."
• 1 John 1:8: "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us."
When try to do things on our own...the moment we do away with our own way of doing things, listen to GOD, HE will guide you through the necessary struggle.
Meaning: It’s NOT up to us to be PERFECT! There is no way to be Jesus perfect BUT we can be spiritually mature.
The moment you give it to God, you will be able to do the impossible.
Pastor Craig Walder Jr. often said, “The message comes to the messenger first, the process of being a messenger, you have to walk the message out.”
Before God corrects through us, He corrects us first.
Sometimes, God corrects childish ways in us so we can GROW up!! Growing up is a NECESSARY struggle for some.
Before God heals through us, He has to heal us first. Ex: God had to heal Pastor Craig first BEFORE Chosen could become Chosen!!
God delivers through those who are used by GOD.
According to 2 Corinthians 5:17, “He who is Christ is a new creation. Old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
God will sometimes use:
✓ Different voices.
✓ Different personalities.
✓ Different experiences.
✓ YET the same SPIRIT to get His Word delivered to whomever He chooses. He uses willing vessels to reach whom He chooses to reach.
God will sometimes repeat Himself to get our attention.
Message: There are no coincidences in God, only confirmations!!
Question: Does He have your attention??
Newsflash: Watch what you entertain. When you entertain clowns, you are bound to live a circus like life.
• "Clowns" symbolizes people or influences that bring chaos, immaturity, manipulation, or unnecessary drama.
• "Circus" symbolizes a life filled with confusion, instability, conflict, etc.
Duly noted:
Staying mindful of what and who you consistently give your time, attention, and energy to, because those people/influences can have a lasting impact on your life.
Ric Flair the wrestler:
✓ He was a famous wrestler for the WWF.
✓ Had World Heavyweight Championships.
✓ Formed The Four Horsemen.
✓ Flair became a Triple Crown Champion in both World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and the WWE.
✓ Flair was known for The Figure-Four Leglock.
Question: Have you ever felt the pressures of life closing in on you? The harder you fought or tried to break free, the tougher things seemed to become?
⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️
When Ric Flair got a hold of his opponents while using his signature wrestling move…Eventually, the pain would become so intense that the opponent would have to make a decision. They have to decide to KEEP fighting or TAP out….Because Ric was not going to let go.
Many people are wrestling right now:
✓ Some are wrestling with some ships—Friendships, Hardships, partnerships, companionships, etc.
✓ Some are wrestling with situations.
✓ Some are wrestling with some rejections.
✓ Some are wrestling from disappointments.
✓ Some are wrestling from their decisions.
✓ Some are wrestling with things of their past.
✓ Some are wrestling with their purpose.
✓ Some are wrestling with their identity.
✓ Everyone wrestles with something.
Some have been fighting for so long that they are tired.
Not every struggle is meant to stop you some struggles are necessary. Some stuff you just gotta go(grow) through. Somethings you cannot circumvent or get around. Some struggles are JUST necessary.
Somethings can ONLY be developed through a struggle. There are some prayers that are answered through a struggle.
NOTED: There are some levels of faith that are not reached in a struggle but are reached THROUGH ➡️➡️➡️ the struggle.
Psalm 23:4 (NASB) tells us, 4 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
When God close doors, please don’t open them.
When God attempts to get your attention, please take heed.
Many are wrestling in their life right now with fighting against something that God wants to deliver them from.
There are some identities discovered through a struggle.
Genesis 32:22-28 (NIV)
Jacob Wrestles With God
22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.
23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions.
24 So Jacob was left alone, and a manwrestled with him till daybreak.
25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hipso that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.
26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 The man asked him, “What is your name?”
“Jacob,” he answered.
28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”
Genesis 32:22-28 (KJV)
22 “And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two women servants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok.
23 And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had.
24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast.”
Jacob would NOT let go until GOD blessed him. VS. 26
Jacobs struggle forever changed his life.
Hebrew and Greek meaning of struggle have the same meaning. They both mean to fight, to contend and to wrestle.
One should NOT run away from a struggle.
✓ Struggles create strength.
✓ Struggles create fortitude.
✓ Struggles develops character.
✓ Struggles develops patience.
✓ Struggles develops persistence.
✓ Struggles help us with our obedience and allows for us to understand who our identity is in Christ Jesus.
Instead of going through the necessary struggle, we tend to create escape routes. We tend to circumvent the process because we don’t like going through the necessary struggle.
Most don’t like the struggle OR the process.
We want to open up multiple lane highways when God has called us to stay planted in our lanes .We want to go in other lanes and routes that we were never designed to be in. Stay on the street called straight away! Acts 9:11.
Taking alternative routes can cause us to be in situations that we were never designed to be in.
For example:
✓ Ships - Relationships, companions, etc.
✓ Causing us to make decisions that we should have never made.
We cannot cheat the process. We align/re-align ourself in God, for the purpose He has for us, the door can unlock and give us access. It’s all about the necessary struggle. We cannot forsake the necessary struggle!! It’s necessary!!
THE STRUGGLE IS NECESSARY BECAUSE:
1. We learn who we are when we embrace the necessary struggle.
2. Identity can be found after we go/grow through the necessary struggle.
3. We need to understand our identity.
4. We learn what we are made of in the necessary struggle.
5. We learn the critical things in the necessary struggle.
Question: What is your name?
When we don’t understand our identity, we tend to:
1. We tend to seek validation from people instead of God. Like God’s Amen is not good enough for us. Like what God said isn’t good enough. We would rather seek someone else’s amen. Say AMEN or say OUCH!! If it’s not attached to the Kingdom—it won’t last!!
2. We like to attach our worth to successes, failures, titles or possessions. What do I have??
3. We start to compare ourselves to others. We feel like we’re inferior or superior. The spirit of comparison is a thief. Sometimes we compare our age to what we are supposed to have or where we are supposed to be in life. You don’t know the cost of someone else’s oil in their alabaster box.
4. Some live according to what they are going through rather than who God says they are.
5. Some tie their identity back to toxic trauma bonds. Some always go back to the scene of the crime. Some always tying who they are back to things and events of their past. Some go back to what’s familiar to them.
6. It gives access to wounds, to mistakes, and for past experiences to find us.
7. Some chase purpose without first understanding their identity. ALWAYS doing something first without seeking God.
Matthew 6:33 Seek GOD first in ALL things.
Through the examination of Jacob, we’ll see that the necessary struggle involves:
1. Desperation
2. Intentionality
3. Separation from the things we know and sometimes from the things we love.
4. To understand Jacobs necessary struggle...we have to look at His background.
⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️
Jacob was known as:
✓ The heel grabber. Jacob literally means "supplanter" or "holder of the heel"
✓ The trickster
✓ Manipulator
✓ Stealing Esau’s birthright with the help of his mother.
Speaker: David Dewberry Sr.
Title: The Necessary Struggle
Scripture: Genesis 32:22-28 (NIV)
As long as we keep the “I” in front of what we do, we will never fully understand the “GOD” in the situation. Lord! Increase in us that we may INCREASE in you!!! (Catch that)
⬇️⬇️⬇️
John 3:30-35 (NASB)
30 “He must increase, but I must decrease.
31 “He who comes from above is above all; the one who is only from the earth is of the earth and speaks of the earth. He who comes from heaven is above all.
32 What He has seen and heard, of this He testifies; and no one accepts His testimony.
33 The one who has accepted His testimony has certified that God is true.
34 For He whom God sent speaks the words of God; for He does not give the Spirit sparingly.
35 The Father loves the Son and has entrusted all things to His hand.
Throwback memory: It’s NOT about us! We are NOT the main character. It’s about GOD getting ALL the glory! It’s about the edification of GOD’S KINGDOM!! Let’s keep GOD on the throne in ALL that we do and say!! Making sure the main thing is the main thing…KINGDOM!!!
Thankful Reminder of how GOD is ALWAYS with us:
⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️
Joshua 1:5 “No man shall be able to stand before you all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.” (ESV)
Simply PUT: Joshua 1:5 is God reminding Joshua that NOBODY/NOTHING will be able to stand against him because GOD is with him, just like He was with Moses. God promises He'll never leave or abandon Joshua, giving him the strength AND courage to lead Israel into the Promised Land with confidence, knowing the victory comes from God.????????.
⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️ THIS ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️
Isaiah 54:17 “no weapon that is fashioned against you shall succeed, and you shall refute every tongue that rises against you in judgment. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord and their vindication from me, declares the Lord.” (ESV)
Pause and Reflect: Elder Dangerfield stated in his message to The Chosen Church: “God calls us to complete devotion; He’s not looking for perfection and performance BUT maturity in the pursuit of HIM!"
Collectively, these scriptures teaches us that:
1. Every human being is a sinner and need JESUS.
2. God ALONE possesses perfect goodness.
3. No one should claim to be morally flawless. Jesus is our moral compass and we should always seek to follow His PERFECTION!!
4. Recognizing we will fall short and we can get back up again with GOD’S PERFECTION!!
• Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
• Mark 10:18: Jesus himself stated, "No one is good except God alone."
• 1 John 1:8: "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us."
When try to do things on our own...the moment we do away with our own way of doing things, listen to GOD, HE will guide you through the necessary struggle.
Meaning: It’s NOT up to us to be PERFECT! There is no way to be Jesus perfect BUT we can be spiritually mature.
The moment you give it to God, you will be able to do the impossible.
Pastor Craig Walder Jr. often said, “The message comes to the messenger first, the process of being a messenger, you have to walk the message out.”
Before God corrects through us, He corrects us first.
Sometimes, God corrects childish ways in us so we can GROW up!! Growing up is a NECESSARY struggle for some.
Before God heals through us, He has to heal us first. Ex: God had to heal Pastor Craig first BEFORE Chosen could become Chosen!!
God delivers through those who are used by GOD.
According to 2 Corinthians 5:17, “He who is Christ is a new creation. Old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”
God will sometimes use:
✓ Different voices.
✓ Different personalities.
✓ Different experiences.
✓ YET the same SPIRIT to get His Word delivered to whomever He chooses. He uses willing vessels to reach whom He chooses to reach.
God will sometimes repeat Himself to get our attention.
Message: There are no coincidences in God, only confirmations!!
Question: Does He have your attention??
Newsflash: Watch what you entertain. When you entertain clowns, you are bound to live a circus like life.
• "Clowns" symbolizes people or influences that bring chaos, immaturity, manipulation, or unnecessary drama.
• "Circus" symbolizes a life filled with confusion, instability, conflict, etc.
Duly noted:
Staying mindful of what and who you consistently give your time, attention, and energy to, because those people/influences can have a lasting impact on your life.
Ric Flair the wrestler:
✓ He was a famous wrestler for the WWF.
✓ Had World Heavyweight Championships.
✓ Formed The Four Horsemen.
✓ Flair became a Triple Crown Champion in both World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and the WWE.
✓ Flair was known for The Figure-Four Leglock.
Question: Have you ever felt the pressures of life closing in on you? The harder you fought or tried to break free, the tougher things seemed to become?
⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️
When Ric Flair got a hold of his opponents while using his signature wrestling move…Eventually, the pain would become so intense that the opponent would have to make a decision. They have to decide to KEEP fighting or TAP out….Because Ric was not going to let go.
Many people are wrestling right now:
✓ Some are wrestling with some ships—Friendships, Hardships, partnerships, companionships, etc.
✓ Some are wrestling with situations.
✓ Some are wrestling with some rejections.
✓ Some are wrestling from disappointments.
✓ Some are wrestling from their decisions.
✓ Some are wrestling with things of their past.
✓ Some are wrestling with their purpose.
✓ Some are wrestling with their identity.
✓ Everyone wrestles with something.
Some have been fighting for so long that they are tired.
Not every struggle is meant to stop you some struggles are necessary. Some stuff you just gotta go(grow) through. Somethings you cannot circumvent or get around. Some struggles are JUST necessary.
Somethings can ONLY be developed through a struggle. There are some prayers that are answered through a struggle.
NOTED: There are some levels of faith that are not reached in a struggle but are reached THROUGH ➡️➡️➡️ the struggle.
Psalm 23:4 (NASB) tells us, 4 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
When God close doors, please don’t open them.
When God attempts to get your attention, please take heed.
Many are wrestling in their life right now with fighting against something that God wants to deliver them from.
There are some identities discovered through a struggle.
Genesis 32:22-28 (NIV)
Jacob Wrestles With God
22 That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two female servants and his eleven sons and crossed the ford of the Jabbok.
23 After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions.
24 So Jacob was left alone, and a manwrestled with him till daybreak.
25 When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hipso that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.
26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for it is daybreak.”
But Jacob replied, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.”
27 The man asked him, “What is your name?”
“Jacob,” he answered.
28 Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”
Genesis 32:22-28 (KJV)
22 “And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two women servants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok.
23 And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had.
24 And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
25 And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled with him.
26 And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.
27 And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
28 And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast.”
Jacob would NOT let go until GOD blessed him. VS. 26
Jacobs struggle forever changed his life.
Hebrew and Greek meaning of struggle have the same meaning. They both mean to fight, to contend and to wrestle.
One should NOT run away from a struggle.
✓ Struggles create strength.
✓ Struggles create fortitude.
✓ Struggles develops character.
✓ Struggles develops patience.
✓ Struggles develops persistence.
✓ Struggles help us with our obedience and allows for us to understand who our identity is in Christ Jesus.
Instead of going through the necessary struggle, we tend to create escape routes. We tend to circumvent the process because we don’t like going through the necessary struggle.
Most don’t like the struggle OR the process.
We want to open up multiple lane highways when God has called us to stay planted in our lanes .We want to go in other lanes and routes that we were never designed to be in. Stay on the street called straight away! Acts 9:11.
Taking alternative routes can cause us to be in situations that we were never designed to be in.
For example:
✓ Ships - Relationships, companions, etc.
✓ Causing us to make decisions that we should have never made.
We cannot cheat the process. We align/re-align ourself in God, for the purpose He has for us, the door can unlock and give us access. It’s all about the necessary struggle. We cannot forsake the necessary struggle!! It’s necessary!!
THE STRUGGLE IS NECESSARY BECAUSE:
1. We learn who we are when we embrace the necessary struggle.
2. Identity can be found after we go/grow through the necessary struggle.
3. We need to understand our identity.
4. We learn what we are made of in the necessary struggle.
5. We learn the critical things in the necessary struggle.
Question: What is your name?
When we don’t understand our identity, we tend to:
1. We tend to seek validation from people instead of God. Like God’s Amen is not good enough for us. Like what God said isn’t good enough. We would rather seek someone else’s amen. Say AMEN or say OUCH!! If it’s not attached to the Kingdom—it won’t last!!
2. We like to attach our worth to successes, failures, titles or possessions. What do I have??
3. We start to compare ourselves to others. We feel like we’re inferior or superior. The spirit of comparison is a thief. Sometimes we compare our age to what we are supposed to have or where we are supposed to be in life. You don’t know the cost of someone else’s oil in their alabaster box.
4. Some live according to what they are going through rather than who God says they are.
5. Some tie their identity back to toxic trauma bonds. Some always go back to the scene of the crime. Some always tying who they are back to things and events of their past. Some go back to what’s familiar to them.
6. It gives access to wounds, to mistakes, and for past experiences to find us.
7. Some chase purpose without first understanding their identity. ALWAYS doing something first without seeking God.
Matthew 6:33 Seek GOD first in ALL things.
Through the examination of Jacob, we’ll see that the necessary struggle involves:
1. Desperation
2. Intentionality
3. Separation from the things we know and sometimes from the things we love.
4. To understand Jacobs necessary struggle...we have to look at His background.
⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️
Jacob was known as:
✓ The heel grabber. Jacob literally means "supplanter" or "holder of the heel"
✓ The trickster
✓ Manipulator
✓ Stealing Esau’s birthright with the help of his mother.
Posted in Sunday Sermon Notes
Posted in #TCC #CHOSEN #BLOGGING, #NecessaryStruggle, #Jacob, #Genesis 32, #WrestlingWithGod, #IWontLetGo
Posted in #TCC #CHOSEN #BLOGGING, #NecessaryStruggle, #Jacob, #Genesis 32, #WrestlingWithGod, #IWontLetGo
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