Happy anniversary to you, happy anniversary to you, happy anniversary Embassy City, happy anniversary to you. Love you guys.

Y'all, all right?

I would apologize for the volume but I'm not going to do it. I'm not going to do it. It's our sixth anniversary, we're having a party, and we turn up on party day. I don't know how you listen to your music in your car, but my car. Then let me just say at the end, just all of those hymns he started to sing were reaching so deep into my spiritual roots. Even when I wasn't saved, I wasn't committed to the Lord, these are songs that my parents sang in the house growing up, at church on Sundays, and it was just good to hear those songs coming back. I'm grateful for six years. I'm grateful for six years.

I have a testimony to share. I know we finished the giving series last week but this testimony is just spectacular. We wrapped up the series on giving last week, and I got a message that was sent through I think Instagram or something. My team got it to me and I just want to read you what the young lady said. She said, "I've been attending Embassy for nine months, been following the series on tithing." Her mom is a single parent with three kids.

They've always been faithful to tithe but the last few months, it's been very, very difficult for them; the roof needed repair, the car breaking down, the ceiling in the bedroom was collapsing. Now, it's one thing when somebody sends you something, they tell you what's going on, its another thing when they send you pictures. Do we have a picture of that ceiling? That was the hole in her ceiling. She said, "It was difficult to praise God and tithe with a literal hole over my head."

Last week, she decided not to tithe and then heard the sermon about the rich young ruler, the part about the rich young ruler. She literally said, "That was enough for me to be like, no, let me go ahead and give this title anyway." That was on Sunday. She said on Tuesday, she got a $10,000 check from the US Treasury that would literally cover every bill that they were going through.

Now, there's probably some logical people in here that's like, "Oh, that's sweet but that check was coming anyway." How she felt about that check was completely impacted by her obedience. I heard a story years and years ago of a person in California who was in the same type of situation. They were struggling financially. They laid out all their bills on the floor. This wasn't an irresponsible person, they just had hit very hard times and they were crying out to the Lord around 9:30 AM in the morning, "God would you please. I need help. If you don't come through on this, I'm working as much as I can, I've stood at the money but if you don't come through, I'm about to be out of everything." At 9:30 AM in Southern California, okay? LA area. At 10:15, someone knocked on their door. When they opened the door, it was their friend from San Francisco, California. San Francisco to Southern Cal?

It's an eight-hour drive. They started praying at 9:30, at 10:15 their friend knocked on the door and they said, "The Holy Spirit won't let me sleep last night. He told me to write a check and get in the car and drive to your house and give it to you." Now, I want you to think. It doesn't take 45 minutes to get from San Francisco to LA, but what the person praying didn't know is that while they were speaking to God, their blessing was already on the way.

I don't know who needs to be encouraged by that today, but I just need somebody to know that whatever you're believing God for, it's already on the way. You might as well praise Him like it's already done because it's already on the way. Alright, so we are going to be in a series the next couple of weeks, two or three weeks. It's just simply called, let's party. Just called let's party. I just thought this is the perfect opportunity to throw a party, it's our sixth anniversary. I want to talk to you about why parties are so important to us, and so let's parte. Now, the reason why there's an E and not a Y, I'll explain that later. We spell party with an E around here and I'm going to tell you why in a little bit.

If you have your Bibles, I want you to open them to Ephesians chapter number four. I'm going to read the Bible. For all the visitors that are in the room, I'm so grateful that you're here today. I teach from the Bible. I start in the Bible, I teach from the Bible, I end in the Bible, we go home. Except, today we go straight to that parking lot, and don't nobody gets that grilled cheese truck before me because I'm about to light that thing up. I'm so excited about all the stuff we're doing after this.

I want to read you some scriptures. I'm going to read 16 verses in this chapter and I want to give you some context to it as we go. Is that all right? I won't read straight through and go back. As I read, I'll stop in some places. Then when I land on 16, that's where I want to get to, for what I believe God is doing for Embassy City in this season. Here's what Paul says, "Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling for you have been called by God." Always be humble and gentle. That's enough sermon right there. Be patient with each other. That's another sermon right there. Making allowance for each other's faults because of your love. Can I just stop? If we just did that right there, your Facebook post would clear up.

Your whole timeline would be so happy if you made allowances for other people's faults instead of dropping into that comment section to reinforce how faulty they are. Don't you got something better to do? Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. Let me tell you why this verse was so important because the Gentiles had just been granted access to worship Yeshua, Jesus in the same way that Jews had been doing because it was through Jesus's broken body on the cross that he took both Jew and Gentile and in his own broken body on the cross made a new group of people.

Now let me tell you why that's so important because we can break every racial division that exists in this country if we would simply remember what Jesus's body was broken to do. It was broken to repair and unite the biggest division there had ever been in human history, which is not black and white. The biggest division in human history was Jew, Gentile because from Genesis chapter number six when Abraham was called out of the nations, God established a covenant with Abraham that would not include the rest of the world until Jesus shed blood on the cross. The next time you see somebody that has any racial, anything on the inside of them, any prejudice thing on the inside of them, let them know, "You know Jesus did something about this. You don't have to act like that no more."

Ain't that good news?

Instead of getting mad at them and, "You are racist." [screams] "Can't stand you." Just give them the good news, "Hey, you don't have to be a hater no more."

Jesus died and all that blood covered up all this skin. You're looking at white, black and all this stuff and all he saw was red. We're free of this. Can we go eat lunch now?

You bring fried chicken, you bring potato salad. Trying to help some folks right now. Because the church is so divided over this as if Jesus wasn't the solution.

I'm just trying to make it plain. For there is one body and one spirit just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future. There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God, and father of all who is over all in all and living through all. However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the generosity of Christ. Each one of us have a special gift. Repeat after me, I have a special gift given to me by Christ. Say it again a little bit louder and own it. I have a special gift given to me by Christ. One more time with a real attitude. Loosen up that neck.

I have been given a special gift given to me by Christ. I'm glad everybody's said it because everybody has it. He didn't go duck, duck goose.

He didn't go, "You look like you need one. I don't like that shirt. You don't get one. I don't like the denomination you came from, you don't get one. You don't pray long enough, you don't get one." He gave everybody one. That is why the scripture say, whoo, the preacher in me, I got a mic in my hand too, pray for me. I don't know how this going to turn out.

That is why the scripture say, when He ascended to the heights, He led a crowd of captives and gave gifts to His people. Now a lot of people interpret particular verse to mean His victory over the enemy, but other theologians interpret this gift to mean that when he ascended to the heights, when he rose from the dead, he took people that were never checking for Him.

He took people that were in their sins, notorious in their sins and made them believers in Him. He made those that were captives a crowd that followed him and He gave them gifts. Notice that it says, "He ascended." This clearly means that Christ also descended to our lowly world. The same one who descended is the one who ascended higher than all the heavens so that he might feel the entire universe with themselves. Whooh. Listen, that right there, I don't have time for that one.

That He would ascend to fill the entire universe with Himself. Not Him and some other stuff, not Him in some other ideologies, the entire universe is filled up with the word. Marvel universe ain't big enough, Guardians of the Galaxy don't have a universe by which He wouldn't be in. The whole universe is filled with Him. Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church, the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors, and teachers.

Their responsibility, and please make sure this stays up for a minute, their responsibility is to equip God's people to do His work and build up the church, The body of Christ. I'm going to land right there just for a minute. Christ gave gifts to the church. The Holy Spirit gave gifts to the church as well. You can find those gifts listed in Romans and First Corinthians, but Christ also gave gifts to the church. His gifts to the church were apostoles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers.

Say it with me, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers. Again, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. One more again, apostles prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers. He gave five gifts to the church. For what? Their responsibility is to equip God's people, to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. Now let me say this, the reason why you could never hear me preach 52 weekends in a row is because you would not be built up and well-rounded. You would not grow the way you're supposed to grow if I'm the only voice you hear. If you've ever been in the church and the pastor was there every weekend, he wasn't faithful, he was disobedient. That was strong, I didn't mean for it to. I didn't mean to come for your past like that, but it's the truth.

"I'm faithful. I'm going to be here every Sunday. I take my vacation Monday through Saturday and I'm back in the pulpit on Sunday because I'm faithful." No you're disobedient because the church will never be well-rounded if they only hear from you. The church will never be well-rounded if you only hear from me. This is why I'm so glad y'all grew up over three months over the summer and didn't make coming to church about my voice. You made it about his voice. Even though I know you love me because I love you and when I'm not here, I miss you too, but when I'm off you not off, you didn't preach nine weeks in a row, you ain't off. You didn't do nothing.

Is he here? No, no. You have to grow up because the perfecting of the church is by apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastors and teachers. None of which any man or woman has ever been all. If anybody ever hands you a business card and they start with some foolishness like, "You know what, I functioned in all the fivefold." You do everything? You do all at the same time?

You're apostle and prophet and evangelists and pastor and teacher all at the same time? I can't do it. We understand how we get well-rounded is because we hear from these voices that shape us in different parts of our spiritual walk. This will continue until all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God's son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

Then, thank you, we will no longer be immature like children. Paul saying it right here, "if you lay this out, if y'all would get over your petty squabbles, if you will unify and really embrace the five fold ministry, you will actually grow up. You won't be kids anymore". You'll be able to handle what's going on in culture right now because you won't be immature anymore.

You will no longer be bemoaning all the things that are going around you because you will have an anchor so strong and deep in you that whatever you see, you'll be able to contextualize it to what scripture has already said. We won't be tossed and blown about with every wind of new teaching. Woo. When you become mature, you will not follow every new teacher. You will know that what the Bible says has not changed since it was written and when somebody tries to jazz it up, "I'm going to add a little something." Y'all have never heard this before. We've never heard of this is not true.

Book ain't change. Culture changes, method changes, His message has not changed. Just hasn't changed. My mother has a saying, a why saying being the Birmingham, Alabamian woman she is, she always told me from a young age she said, "Baby, when it comes to the Bible, if it's new, it ain't true and if it's true, it ain't new." I just finished preaching a message at transformation church a couple of weeks ago on sexuality. I'm grateful for all the people that have watched it, but then there's all these people arguing like, "Is this even relevant for right now?" The Bible ain't changed. Everybody's sexuality is changing. The Bible ain't changed. You can feel whatever you want to feel. That Bible has never taken a poll on your feelings to make sure you will feel cool with this.

It says what it says. If you're anchored as a disciple in Jesus Christ, you won't be offended by what it says. You'll know that whatever is there is to protect you.

Not to hurt you, not to harm you. It's there to protect you. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. Oh, boy, happy anniversary.

You see, we planted this church six years ago and I'm grateful for our journey. I have friends that have planted churches teaching the truth and I'm grateful for their journeys. Go back to that verse real quick. What's interesting about this verse is that when you become mature as a believer, you won't be influenced when people try to trick us with lies. Now, it wouldn't say you wouldn't be influenced by people that try to trick you if it wasn't dealing with people in the body of Christ. Paul wouldn't even bring it up.

He said, "There's going to be some people bearing the name of Jesus who becomes so influential that they will try to trick you with a lie so clever it sounds like the truth which is why I read so much Scripture." Because what I would love you all to do is to turn into Bereans. This is a group of people that Paul went to go preach to that everything Paul preached, they didn't say amen until the next weekend.

Paul would preach a sermon, they just be like this, "Mm-hmm."

He preached, "Ha, ha, Jesus, the Messiah, Yeshua, our promised one." "Mm-hmm, mm-hmm." "The Scripture saying in Isaiah, the Scripture saying in this, and the Scripture is saying that." They're writing them all down. Then as soon as the synagogue was over, they go home and search everything He said to see if it was true.

Next weekend, Paul comes back out to preach and before he can open his mouth, they're like, "Amen."

"[gasps] Jesus. What you're saying amen for?" "Would you said last week?"

"I didn't say nothing. I thought you all hated the message." "No, we just had to check."

What would happen if we checked that we just didn't get enamored by the charisma and we just didn't get enamored by the wise words, but we actually went back and checked, "Is that even in the Bible? Does it even say that? I just want to make sure you're a really nice person. I just don't know. I never heard that before. I just want to check. I'm going to say amen. It's going to be delayed. I just want to check first." Instead, we will speak the truth in love growing in every way more and more like Christ who is the head of his body, the church. All that to get to this. He makes the whole body fit together perfectly.

As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. Two points to this message, please write them down. Point number one, got to have this. You are a part of this special work. The reason why we call our parties here parties with E is because we want everybody to play a part in what Embassy City has been assigned to do. Our assignment is very, very simple. We have been called to upset the world with the message love and hope of Jesus Christ.

To that end, everything that we do on a daily basis is to turn somebody's world upside down or from kingdom's perspective right side up so they can see exactly what Jesus' message, his hope, and his love is all about. I'm going to read that part again. He makes the whole body fit perfectly together as each part does its own special work. Remember I said, everybody has a part to play and you have a special thing that God has called you to do.

When you activate that in the house of worship, everything gets better. Last weekend, we again finished the giving series and this was the other testimony that I wanted to share, but it fit more into the sermon than talking about it upfront. I had a friend call me after the service. Remember I read, Exodus 35 and I talked about Aholiab and Bezaleel, those two dope names. I don't know why there's no, Aholiabs right now. There should be in like an Aholiab Smith.

Bezaleel Washington. I just think that those are some good names. If you're starting a family, I'm just saying two names. I think Aholiab would be great. My friend called me and they said, "Hey, I need to talk to you about your stupid sermon." Don't get mad. This is my friend. I like y'all. Y'all defensive. Y'all like, "Okay, who, what's the name?"

"Where do they live?" No, no. The reason why they said that is because the Holy Spirit started convicting them as they were listening to the message. I said, "Listen, you already know where I am financially. There's no extravagant giving going on around here." They said, "But when you started talking about the gifts of those craftsmen," and I said, "Aholiab and Bezaleel?" I got hyped. "Aholiab and Bezaleel got to you?"

They said, "Yes." I feel the Lord has put it on my heart for many months but when you, "Oh, it's the sermon. Oh, the sermon got to me and the Holy Spirit spoke to me." I just want to submit that. I want to share my gifts with you anyway that I can and you just tell me where it needs to fit. Here's what I feel like an offer. You tell me where it fits and I just say, "Yes, I'm ready to share this gift."

Here's what's happening. First of all, this individual was ahead of my message today, but they were ready to play a part. They said, "I have a special gift and I know that our community won't be everything it's supposed to be unless my special gift gets put to the special work that is Embassy City Church." Let me tell you, every single one of you that call Embassy City home have a part to play. We don't all play the same part, but the parts that we play blesses the church.

We got people that work here full-time, but the majority of the help that we get are people that are just saying, "I just want to use my gift here." You need me to open the door, I open the door. You need me to straighten some chairs, I'll straighten some chairs. You need me to cook some food, I'll cook some food. You need me to stack up the chairs. I stack up the chair. Oh, you need help with the sixth anniversary, I got you. You need me to stand at the door and make sure nobody comes through here, I got-- Whatever you need me to do, I'm ready to play my part.

This brings me to the second thing I want you to write down. Your part helps other parts grow. What you do helps somebody else grow. What they do helps you grow. What we do helps them grow because your part helps other parts grow. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow. Do y'all see how I be doing y'all?

I will give you a point and then the point is just what I read, so antipsychotic. It helps the other parts grow, why? So that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love. There's no way that I could do everything in this church and the church grow. Have you ever been-- Anybody in here by show of hands you have a favorite restaurant? You have a favorite restaurant, like by default, if they say, "Where you want to eat?" You are like, "There." Alright, favorite restaurant. Do you have a favorite dish at that restaurant? Yell out the dish. What is it? Alfredo? Lobster tail? Gumbo? Nachos?

Girl, they must be popping.

"Get out the bed, get dressed." "Where are we going?" "Nachos." I love it, girl. I love it. Make sure I get the name of that place. Those must be popping. She said that with pride, "Nachos."

"I could have them five days a week, sir." Them Nachos are popping. Okay. At the restaurant that you go to, that you frequent the most, that you love, by show of hands, all the people that raise your hand, you have a favorite restaurant, you have a favorite dish. How many people have met the chef? How many people met the chef that served your actual food? We had a bunch of hands that were raised. I see five hands that actually met their chef. As good as that lobster tail is, as good as those Nachos are, you don't want your chef at the hosting table. "Welcome, so glad you came. It's Nachos, right? I'll get right on it."

"Welcome. Oh, you want the lobster tail? Okay. Oh, I was waiting for you through the door. I can't wait. I will cook it right now." If the executive chef is at the front of the house, it's going to take two hours for you to get your food. There's a hostess there that says welcome. You probably get to know some of the hostesses and then you sit down and you get to know some of the waiters and waitresses. Very rarely by show of hands. I had five in here. Very rarely do you actually meet the person to actually cooks the food, but you come for the Nachos, but you didn't actually come to see the guy that made the Nachos.

You didn't actually get out of the bed and say, "I have to go see Sarah." "Where's Sarah. Sarah is at my favorite restaurant. Got to go get him." No, you want the food because if they play their part correctly, you get exactly what you wanted when you came. It's not that the executive chef wants to be standoffish. It's just that there's an assignment that he has. If he does his assignment, then the whole restaurant flows. It's the same way in a church. There's no way I can do everything. I need my pastor to be at the front and say hi to everybody before I leave. I feel better if that's the case. Well, I'll be dead.

I can do it for a little bit and then I'll die. Here's what I know about humans. We know how to move on. You'll be like, "Oh God, he died. Why? Who's the next pastor coming?"

That uncomfortable laugh is because you know I'm telling the truth. You're like, "It's not like that, but it is." Write this down. We want Embassy City to be healthy, growing, and full of love. That's our assignment. There's no hype behind this. This is not no six-year. Oh, you're all ready to take over the world.

You've been to churches like that. Every weekend is about to be the best weekend ever, "You don't want to miss Sunday. It's going to be epic."

"You don't want to miss the next series. It's going to be amazing."

"What's going to change?" "Is it the same worship team?" "Yes." "Are you teaching next week?" "Yes." But it's going to be epic. Sundays are not supposed to be epic. They're supposed to be mundane. You don't go to get that lobster bisque because there's fireworks outside in the spotlight. When you walked in, they were like, "Yes, she's here. She's really here. Lobster tail is going to be epic."

Does that happen? No. Why? That's unsustainable. The reason why you keep going back for lobster tails is because they're consistent.

Every time I come, the lobster tails taste the same way, so I can evangelize to all my friends, they like lobster as well. Let them know you got to come get this lobster tail because it is so good. Now where you would start to find some hesitancy inviting people to this favorite restaurant of yours is if you walked in one day, and they were like, "It's epic today." You're like, "Oh, so I brought three of my friends. Are we going to have lobster tails?" "No, God's doing a new thing."

"We ripped that menu up. We know that's why you fell in love with us, but now we've changed because we're epic. Consistency is all we have this week."

"I'm sorry. We came for the lobster tail." "God's shifting, and it's epic." “That is what he said in my prayer time. That's what you'll get."

No, that's not-- Church is supposed to be what I call the beauty of the mundane. You come in, you get in God's presence, you hear His word, you grow, you go. You come back, you get in his presence again, He starts shaping you up a little bit more, you get some word, you go, you grow. You come in, you get some more word, you start to change a little bit. There's a young lady at this church whom I love dearly. She came a couple of years ago and she was like, "I had never been in church." She said, "It's my first week. I haven't been in church in a while." She came back the next day she said, "I'm on a two-week streak."

Next week she came back. She said, "I'm on a three-week streak. No, three weeks in a row. Woo, I'm on a streak." It wasn't because the services were epic, "God's doing a new thing every weekend, come see." She just kept coming in, getting worship, word, and fellowship. That streak went from three weeks to four weeks to five weeks to six weeks to seven weeks to eight weeks, then I didn't see her no more. I'm like, "Oh, the streak broke. We'll start a new one whenever I see her again." The next time I saw her was after like maybe six or seven weeks. She had on an Embassy City shirt. I said, "Where have you been?" She said, "Upstairs serving with the kids. Oh, my bad."

She found her purpose, and she started playing a part. That's it.

She kept coming until she found her purpose, and when she found her purpose, she started playing her part. Let me tell you why we do everything we do. It's according to 1 Corinthians: 13. I read you this and then we're going to go home. I'll pray over the food we're about to eat, and we're going to go outside and have a party. I bet you I don't have the sweater on though because Satan's outside.

I've given all the visitors enough composite to know if you ever want to come back to this church, y'all have wrote notes like, "No, I'm good. I don't like this guy." If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn't love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging symbol. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God's secret plans and possess all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn't love others, I would be nothing.

If I gave everything I have to the poor, and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it, but if I didn't love others, I have gained nothing. Love is patient and kind, love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way, it is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. I wish there was a parenthesis there to say, it's not petty. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up. Love never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Prophesy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. Let me just pause and just say this. A lot of cessationists people, if you don't know what cessationists mean, they believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit stopped working back there when Paul was writing this. It says that prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. It didn't say it became useless, it said at some point it will become useless. Not yet though, but love will last forever [sings] And I-- I could not resist that.

Our knowledge is partial and incomplete and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture. When the time of perfection comes, these partial things will become useless. When I was a child, speaks to maturity again, when I was a child, I had spoken thoughts and reasoned as a child, but when I grew up, I put my box of toys away, put away childish things. Now we see things in perfectly like puzzling reflections in the mirror, but then, we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then, I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely. Three things will last forever. Faith, hope, and love. The greatest of these is love.

Let's have a party and let's play our part out of the love that we have for one another. In Embassy City, it has been and continues to be my greatest blessing, outside of giving my life to Jesus, Juliet, Nathan, and Noah, my greatest blessing is loving all you. I'm grateful to play my part, and now I'm asking you to play yours. Would you bow your heads and close your eyes? What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message? My hope and my prayer is that you could hear God speaking about how important and valuable you are to what God is doing here, at Embassy City Church.

For those of you all that may have just been visiting and you have a home church, I want you to be able to go back home to your home church, and play the part that God's told you to play there. If you haven't been released from that church, go straight back to that church and tell them that you are ready to play your part with a special gift that you've been given, so that we can see the world turned upside down with the message of love and hope of Jesus Christ.

Holy Spirit, I thank you for everything that you are doing in and through this group of believers. I pray in Jesus' name that you would take every word that was spoken, and all the worship that was offered, and that we would have a party on your behalf. Thank you for six years. Thank you for six more, six more after that, six more after that, until you're done with everything you've called us to do. May it all be for Your glory, none of our credit.