Welcome to Waymaker Church! We are so excited to have you join us today! We exist to Encounter, Live for, and Advance the Kingdom of God!

Good Morning Waymaker…

This month after today’s message, you will have seen and heard from all four of your pastors on staff. I can tell you right now that I’m thankful to have men and women who seek out the word and seek out the face of God in order to discern what it may be that God wants to say to his people.

On any given weekend, you see the culmination of hours, weeks, even months of thought and preparation coming to fruition. It may have been a nudge from the Holy Spirit in prayer that transforms into a series of teachings. It may have been a word that was heard 4 months ago that struck a chord in Pastor’s heart that was chewed on and studied on to deliver said message.

I don’t know about you but I’m thankful that there are people willing to take a step and devote themselves to this line of work for the sake of the kingdom. I know there is calling involved, but a choice had to be made.
“Will I follow the calling or will I not?”
“Will I do what has been asked or not?”

And this isn’t simply for vocational ministry… this isn’t simply for the Levitical Priesthood dynamic. We all have the same dilemma.

“What are we going to do with what we have been entrusted?”

Thought

Whether you fully recognize it or not, every person that is in this room and every person that is watching this online, be it live or later has the mandate to be discipled and to disciple! There isn’t one of us that get’s a pass on that.

• I’ve said this before and I say it again...We are responsible for what we know.

• With that in mind though, you don’t get to choose ignorance either. If you chose to not learn so you are not responsible, then by default you are immediately choosing to disobey by not growing in God. You know you are supposed to grow in him.

So willfully choosing to not grow is actually harboring sin as we are immediately countering God’s desire.
• And when we do it our way and not his… we have sinned against him.
• Now Ps Marcus said, sin isn’t the issue… it a submission issue. It’s a throne issue. My ways or his ways. My desires or his desires?
• Remember we will stand before God one day and give an account for our lives. And even if we can make it look good on the outside, God knows the heart!

CHOICES!!!
What are we doing?

Today we are going to start in the word in Isaiah 55, then we will be going to 2 Chronicles 13. So if you want to kinda put something there… that would be great!

Do you see Isaiah’s immediate plea…

Seek — Call — Change

Turn to God that he may have mercy… turn to God for he WILL forgive!

Ps. Marcus was talking about this last week… there is a refreshing that comes from living from this place of pursuit of God and forgiveness of sin.
**If you happened to miss last week… get online and either watch the message or listen to our spotify/apple podcast. It would be worth your time.

Turn to God that he may have mercy… turn to God for he WILL forgive!
And we are are quickly reminded… we think and act nothing like him! We can’t. We can’t even imagine!

In that, we need to trust God, for as the rains and snow cover the earth for the purpose of producing for needs, so the word goes forth producing fruit.

Now Isaiah lived 200-250 years after David slew a giant without Saul’s armor and we are 160-200 years removed from Solomon’s son’s splitting the Kingdom of Israel into 2 factions when this was written.

In that time frame, we have had 31 different kings between Judah and Israel that have come and gone — with the exception of a few that finished well — that had done evil and chosen not to follow God, yet Isaiah is still saying, “seek the Lord while you can find him! Call on him NOW while he is near! Change your ways! Banish your thoughts of wrong doing!”

This is a call we can all still heed today!

I want to read you something real quick... It’s found in 1 Kings 15:1-4

You hear what was being said… Abjiah(m) didn’t start his kingship well and we can read he didn’t end it well either. He did what was evil in the Lords sight… just like his father Rehoboam, yet we just read in 2 Chronicles his ability to stand on God’s word and promise.

I want you to see something here. Judah was outnumbered 2 to 1. And though they hadn’t been walking fully in God’s ways, they had a leader that made a choice. He stood on the mountain and yelled over to the King of Israel… He was saying,

“Don’t fight God!” And then he tells them why… “Your sin and idol worship has handicapped you! You have driven out all godly things. You ran off the priests of God and done what the pagan nations have done!”

But as soon as he says that, he cries out, “BUT AS FOR US… the LORD (YHWH) is our God and we haven’t abandoned him. We are still doing what he has asked us to do. We are still offering sacrifice as he has asked us to offer sacrifice. We are placing the bread… we are lighting the lampstand. You have abandoned Him, but we haven’t.”

In the wake of that comment, Jeroboam went on the offensive with a sneak attack from the rear and when Abijah and the army of Judah realized that, they cried out to GOD for Help! The priest blew the trumpets and the men of Judah began to shout. At the sound of their battle cry… GOD DEFEATED Jeroboam and all Israel and routed them before Abijah and the army of Judah.

500,000 Israeli select troops died that day.

This is reminiscent of Joshua’s remarks to Israel in Joshua 23-24 as He was giving his final words to them and Renewing the Lord’s covenant with them,

Joshua is saying… you want to worship those Gods… then go do it! Get out of here! You want to worship old idols… then go do it! But not my house!

The truth is, the same applies today! I don’t want you to burn in hell!
I don’t, but I cannot make you chose Jesus! I cannot make you serve God! My faith will not save you on the day of judgement. I cannot make you give of your time, treasures and talent! I cannot make you do anything!

Choose this day whom you will serve!!
-Isaiah made a choice! I will serve God!
-Joshua made a choice! I will serve God!
-Even Abijah made a choice! He wasn’t even fully living right, but he still chose to do it God’s way! We see it in verse 18 of 2 Chronicles why they got the victory!

Application

Who are you going to serve???
Are we going to be selfish or selfless?
Are we going to run after our kingdom or His?
Are we going to pursue idols or God?

Going back to the story of Abijah… He wasn’t perfect. None of us are.

This doesn’t serve as an excuse to willfully walk away from God, but I can tell you that God can work with a person who humbly goes, “help me… I can’t do this without you Lord.”

But there had to be something in Abijah’s life that left a mark because the next two kings of Judah both did what was pleasing in the Lord’s sight. Both Asa (Abijah’s son) and Jehoshaphat (Abijah’s grandson) started and ended well. There was 65 years of good leadership because one Man made a choice.

Here is a couple things I want you to get from this today.

1) You have a choice!
We want you to win in life, but not at the expense of losing your eternity!

2) Victory comes from the Lord!
Much like Abijah, it’s not always our right standing that invokes God’s victory. Sometimes its our humility and willingness to call on him in our time of need.

3) What are you going to do with what God has given you?
You may look at your life right now and say... "I really don't have much to offer..."

What talents has he given you? What quivers has he put in your sheath? (kids, finances, abilities, leadership qualities, talents?)

You will give an account for your choices! Choose this day whom you will serve! And then serve them!

Altar

Maybe you have never chosen Jesus as your Lord and Savior… You haven’t responded to God’s desire to graft you into the family. God desires you as a family member! He wants to adopt you! And there are no “red-headed-step-children” in the kingdom. You are not designed to be an outcast in the kingdom.

Well Pastor, I’m not really worthy!

You’re right… join the club! None of us are! ALL have sinned… AAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLL fall short of God’s glory. So welcome to the misfits club of righteousness in Christ Jesus!
Choose this day whom you will serve!

Maybe like Abijah, you know of God and his decree’s and commands. You maybe even know how to operate in his church… but you don’t really know him! You’ve said yes to the altar call before, but nothing changed because there was an idea of some miraculous moment where all the troubles melted away, and they didn’t. So maybe I messed up. Maybe something is wrong with me. Maybe I’m not worthy. And in that, we kinda went back to our old ways because at least they are familiar.

That was Israel’s approach… and they ended up in captivity way sooner than Judah. They simply did it their own ways and in the end it lead to bondage.
God is calling you home prodigal son/daughter!
Come to your senses and choose this day whom you will serve!!

Maybe you have given your life to Jesus and seem to find yourself in constant struggle! Be it that the enemy is seemingly on the attack OR we are simply making dumb choices! We are running after the things of this world to compensate for our frustrations in this faith walk!

-Money won’t solve the issues!
-Drugs won’t solve the issues!
-Alcohol won’t solve the issues!
-Pornography won’t solve the issues!
-The affair won’t solve the issues!
-Eating won’t solve the issues!
-Chewing out your neighbor/spouse/kids won’t solve the issues!
-The abortion won’t solve the issues!
-The gender choice won’t solve the issues!

You want to serve those gods… those lower case “g,” spiritual entities… then so be it… but know that they will not solve the issues!
Choose this day whom you will serve!

GOD (YHWH, Elohim, Jehovah, Adonai) IS THE ONLY ANSWER! And if you have been living a life contrary to his will and his ways, than get to the altar and bring forth your sacrifice of humility and repent! Ask God to forgive you! Ask God to redeem you! Cry out to God as a battle cry for God to intervene… Because He will! Surrender yourself to the victory that is only found in believing in the one and only Jesus who was nailed to a cross for our sin… for our issues… knowing full well we still struggle with the same things! In that surrender… and believe that what Jesus did is enough changes everything!

Isaiah 55:6–7 NLT
6 Seek the Lord while you can find him. Call on him now while he is near. 7 Let the wicked change their ways and banish the very thought of doing wrong. Let them turn to the Lord that he may have mercy on them. Yes, turn to our God, for he will forgive generously.

So accept him, his will, and his way… then go and sin no more.

Choose this day whom you will serve!