God of the Underdogs – Jesus: Pastor Corey Sanders

MESSAGE TRANSCRIPTION: 

This morning. Good morning, Community Church. Hey, I’m excited about what God will do in this place this morning. I wanted to tell you something. I mean, the world is going to be full of truth but full of grace. I pray that you open your heart, receive it, and allow God to use you.

I want to start his morning by honoring my student leaders, student volunteers, and all of you. Thank you so much for trusting in me, supporting me, and just welcoming me. I’m so excited about what God has done in our student ministries. Man, these are exciting things happening this fall. And if you are still in here and haven’t been plugged in, the entire student ministry, I mean, the team and I will be out in the lobby at the service, come out and talk to us. We’ll get you connected and plugged in so you can be all God calls you to be. Some of you know me. Some of you don’t. I’m new around here. My name is Corey Sanders. I’m one of the pastors here. My wife and I just moved here from Nashville, Tennessee. Yeah, from Nashville, Tennessee. And it’s been exciting to come here and embrace the newness we enjoy here. And also, my wife and I are expecting to, so be praying for us on that. Yeah. Yeah. So. So we love our church family. We love the Poconos. And, you know, thank you for trusting us. Thank you for believing in us. And before I tell you the story of Underdog today, I want to honor take this opportunity also to honor my lead pastor Pastor Becca and Pastor Dave around here. Around here, we say that honor is our call. And what that means is that we speak life. We love each other. And I’ve only been here for a short period of time, but the time I’ve been here, I spent a lot of time with them behind the scenes. And what I do know is they love each other. The other kids that love this church love this community, and they love you. And the only reason I’m preaching today is the 24th wedding anniversary. Yeah. So I told Pastor Dave that, you know, I take care of everything, you and your wife. You’ll enjoy each other. And so I’m excited for them and hope they have a blessed, blessed time.

Before we wrap this series up today before we read the series of today, I want to tell you my personal story. I’ve been an athlete all my life. I got a Division one football scholarship at Mississippi State University. I had a career in a professional arena football league. I had some opportunities in the CFL, and God called me to leave all of that to go into ministry. So I started ministry at a small Baptist country church in Mississippi, started in Mississippi. I was a youth pastor. When you say Mississippi, it’s country now. So in Mississippi, I was a youth pastor there, but it was small, so I wasn’t making any money. But I knew the Lord had called me to work with people to help people. So I started outside of the fitness profession, and I had won the toughest season of my life as a fitness professional. When I got here at this popular health club in Lebanon, Tennessee, and the position I was being hired for the guy who once filled it, he was the man. . I mean, this guy had been in his position for ten years. He had won multiple awards. He had done everything that there was to do in his position. And so I showed up on the first day, I showed up and was immediately humiliated. I start to teach my first-class people to walk out on me. So I end up teaching myself about myself. I’m in there, I’m alone, nobody’s talking to me. Everybody’s talking about me. I was in a tough place. Broken. Had no value.

Have you ever been there? Have you ever felt overloaded? Have you ever felt like you were on the outside looking in? Have you ever been in the shadows behind the curtain? But you knew that God created you for more than He created you to be on the stage. Have you ever sat on a bench of life and knew you were supposed to be in those meetings? No, your voice is supposed to be heard. Some of you have come here this morning. And your silence. But, you know, you have a voice. And maybe, and just maybe, it’s that group of friends you hang around with every week, and you are invisible. They don’t even value you. You mentioned that you’re going back to school. Nobody’s impressed. I don’t even believe you’re finished. Some of you are actually the black sheep of the family. Some of you allow the words of others to define you and hurt you to your core. And some of you have come here this morning looking for an opportunity. We aspire to be motivated. Some of you are in a seat in your life. You need a word from God right now, and some of you don’t even know why you’re here. But you know that you need to be accepted, and you know you need affirmation if you ever have felt inadequate. If you ever felt damage, good. If you ever actually asked the question, how could God use somebody like me? Well, this series, the heart of Underdog, is for you. You are in for a treat.

So the question may be asked, what type of people does God choose to do extraordinary things? Well, we’re going to find that out in the story of David. Now, when you think of David, you think of a mighty warrior, a successful king. But I would tell you a different story, David. A story of when God was choosing him in the same way God goes about when he chooses us. God has to. God has four different ways for the type of people that He chooses. The first person that guy chooses is he choosing broken people? Let’s go to 1 Samuel.

4 Samuel did what the Lord said. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town trembled when they met him. They asked, “Do you come in peace?”

5 Samuel replied, “Yes, in peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come to the sacrifice with me.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

6 When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed stands here before the Lord.”

7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” 9 Jesse then had Shammah pass by, but Samuel said, “Nor has the Lord chosen this one.” 10 Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?”

“There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.”

1 Samuel 16:4-13 NIV

A couple of quick points you need to understand about this story before you understand the context there. Yes. David’s father was named Jesse. David had a horrible relationship with his father. He never measured up. Nothing he did impress his father. David also had a dysfunction with his brother. His brother belittled him. He was the youngest. But Samuel was looking for King. So Samuel invites Jesse and his sons to a party, and Samuel invites Jesse invites everybody except David. See, Samuel and Jesse thought they knew what value was. They thought they had it figured out. Then God stepped in and said, I am not like men. I don’t look at the outward appearance, but I look at the heart.

Some of you have had a lot of Jesse’s. And Samuel was in your life. People who consider you were nothing. People who counted you out. People that didn’t see your gifts. But you ought to be praising God that he is not like men. Some of you are here at this moment right now, just like David. You are in a broken situation. Your family is dysfunctional. You have a dysfunctional relationship with your siblings. David was in that position. Some of you are here. You got a broken heart because of a bad breakup. Some of you here you got broken trust because of insecurities. Some of you got broken health because of bad choices. Some of you got broke in finances because you lost your job, and you can’t quite seem to find another one. Some of you got broken dreams because you didn’t get that opportunity. You didn’t get that great. I don’t know where you might be, but I know that somebody in here is in a season of brokenness. And David was there. David. They get an invitation from his own family. They have every right to go to his father. And pleaded to be with the party. But I want to tell you something you can be in a season of brokenness and be rich in Jesus.

David was broken. And I’ll tell you about a season of Broken. A season of Broken can be a time of intimacy with God. It could be a time of restoration. It could be a time of healing. But most of the time, we go through a season of brokenness. What we do is we pull away from the church, that we pull away from God. And in that same season that God is trying to heal you and create some intimacy and develop you, God cannot do that because your heart is not with him. And so what happens is because there is no growth, there’s no restoration, and there’s no healing. You’re left with brokenness. David was there. He was in brokenness, but his heart was with God. His heart was with God. Everybody was at the party, and everybody knew that day was it. So maybe you didn’t get invited to the party. Maybe you people don’t like to consider you as the cool kid. Some of you got friends. Now, one day they like you; the next day, they don’t. But I want to tell you. They’re even in your season of prudence brokenness. God still chooses you. Samuel and Jesse thought they knew what success looked like. You can’t allow the power of people to control you. You’ve got to cling to the power of Jesus. Jesse and Samuel that was there. They had all the best of the best David was left out. See, sometimes we don’t allow God to work on us in our broken. Is that why he can never bring it to light? They were there. They thought he was it. But their heart went with God. But David was God. But David was in a broken place. And get what God did gossip for. David put David in front of the line in anointed David King right in front of everybody.

I want to tell you something right now. You can read the Bible back to front, but in God, I know he specializes in broken people. Adam and Eve were with God. They were the first ones with God, the first humans. God was with them. God loved him. They said it was broken, but God still chose them. Even when they were ashamed. Moses was raised by the Egyptians. He committed murder. He ran. He abandoned his family. Everything he knew. But God saw him in the. Where does this that Moses? I choose you. Gideon was supposed to be a powerful warrior. He was supposed to be a powerful warrior, but he was a coward. Because I still see something in you, Gideon. Rehab was a prostitute, but God still used her in a mighty way. And I’m telling you, no matter what your story is, you fill in the blank. God still can use you. God uses broken people. In your brokenness, be more concerned with God than you are with people. God uses broken people.

The second person to God will choose. God chooses honorable people. I want you to listen to this because some of you need to hear this. First Samuel, 17.

14 David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.

1 Samuel 17:14-15 NIV

So are you telling me that David, the one who had a dysfunctional relationship with his father, the one whose father didn’t even see his value, treated him like he was nothing? You’re telling me he still went back and forth to make sure his father was okay, that he still honored his father? Okay. Go to the next verse now?

17 Now Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah[a] of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. 18 Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance[b] from them.

1 Samuel 17:17-18 NIV

So you are telling me that David also served his brother to honor his brothers, even though David was an artisan? He was in his brokenness. They still have honor. He still had a spirit of honor. In spite of what David’s father and brothers did, David kept a heart of honor. And I want to ask you a question this morning. Do you honor your leadership? I know you don’t see that our time. Do you honor your friendships? I know your friends get clingy and leave you out of the picture. Do you honor your family? I sometimes know your family considers you the black sheep. Sometimes you can be a part of the family but still be so distant from the family. The only appearance I know. Sometimes your parents can’t expect so much from you. They don’t really see the value in you. Do you honor your parents? Do you honor your boss? I mean, I know you go to work, and they want you, and they don’t want to see your value, and they don’t treat you right. But do you still on your boss? I’m asking you this Community Church, do you have honor in your heart? See, David didn’t allow the actions of others to corrupt his heart. See, if you’re not careful, you can allow a spirit of dishonor to be attached to you. See, just because you do something honorable doesn’t mean you always get it right. But when you have a heart of honor. You have a heart that is for God.

Matthew 13. Jesus said that he was a prophet without honor and because there was no honor there that he couldn’t even do miracles. I want you to catch this. The power of God in Jesus was shut down because there was no honor. I’m going to tell you, someone, to speak right to you. Some of these ministries around here don’t even flourish because that is on. Some of your marriages are not flourishing because there is dishonor. Some of your families are not flourishing because there is dishonor. You can be around the most unknown individual and mission breakthrough because of dishonor in everybody else getting the breakthrough. You cannot allow people to control the way you act. I know they did invite you to be a part of the crew. I know they talk about you when you ain’t around, but God wants to do something to you. And if you allow God to do something through you, then you can be a light to them.

I’m trying to build a student ministry. I’ve got kids who can’t even come on Wednesday night because they don’t like me. And they did this, and they did that. Ain’t got time for that. What I’m trying to do is help you become who God calls you to be. So if you show up. If you show up. You could become bigger than the problem is.

I’m talking about honor. The same power of God was shut down in Jesus because there was no honor. And some of you are not receiving what God has for you in this season because you can still do some honorable in a dishonorable manner. Let me tell you something. My mom told me to do something. I do it. But my attitude is right. I don’t know about you, but I’m from the south, Obama. And my mom told me to do something, and I grit my teeth or something, and I lose one. I’m just serious. Some kids, some teens, here right now. You are using our blessings over your life because you don’t. You dishonor your parents. I’m talking about a heart of honor.

Luke six says said that. What is it for you to do? Good for people who do good to you? Luke Six says, what is it? What is it for you to listen to people who you are? Don’t us sinners do that. Don’t even people who don’t even have a good heart, who don’t even care? Don’t they do that? But then God created us to be difference makers, to be world changes? Didn’t God create us to push the darkness back, to be light in the darkness, to bring heaven to earth? Didn’t he create us for that? It would not happen with a spirit of dishonor. So community church, I’m challenging you to honor your marriages. Honor your family. Honor your parents. Honor, God. Honor your friendship. Don’t tell me what they did with you. I’m asking you to honor me. I want to tell you something. If I always made excuses, the reason I ain’t doing that because somebody did, I’ll never get where I am supposed to get. And that was some of you. Oh, I can’t do this because she did this, and she did that. He did this, and he did it. But God the honor, because God is trying to do something. And you went through you, and some of you are just stagnant because you ain’t still with God. You allow people to dictate what you do and when you do it. I know you don’t like that, but you got to have honor.

We have enough people. We could turn on the news. We have enough people tearing each other down every single day. I get tired of hearing it, and I’ll have a meeting with people I don’t want. But can you be? Who can I call you to be? I believe I know you can be who God called you to be. If God has always been in a problem. But you can’t make the problem bigger than God. We got to stop tearing each other down. We. This is the church. We can’t be like the world. We’ve got to be different in the world. What is Honor? It’s speaking life and lifting each other up. Oh, she was ain’t speak to me yesterday. But sorry when I see him speak to you. I heard from her in I don’t know how long, but when I see I’m a hugger, I’m embracing. I’m a lover because that’s what God called me to do. And I’m just here to tell. My goodness. Some of you are in a season you’re in right now. Some of you got all these questions right now because you have a spirit of dishonor. I pray you have the heart to honor this morning. The next person God will use is obedient. God chooses obedient people. My 1 Samuel 16.

10 Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 So he asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?”

“There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.”

Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.”

1 Samuel 16:10-11 NIV

Stop there. Everyone that’s at the party. David is in the pasture. Everyone is with the popular kids. You’ve been left out. Teach them about obedience. Obedience allows there to be trust between you and who you are, old man. God calls us to be obedient, not because he wants to be in control, but God calls us to be obedient because that’s how Father raises, develops, and teaches his children. And there’s so much we can learn from obedience. David had every right, every right to leave the pasture to go do something that God didn’t tell him to do. He could have demanded his way into that party. He could have tried to plead with his father to let him show himself. Let him prove himself. David didn’t do that. But David was obedient to do what God called him to do. And, you know, I’ll tell you what. What David was in the past. God was developing him for the palace. And some of you, just because you ain’t with the crowd. Just because you are in a situation that you can’t understand. Just because you are not doing exactly what you want to do. When you want to do it, you feel like God is not at work in you. If you could stay, we’re gonna stay obedient in what God is calling you to do. You see how God has taught you to use those gifts that lay dormant in you and bring them to the surface. And you’ll be walking in your season. Some of you are supposed to be obedient. In what God calls you to do in a season. Has God called you to park cars? Has God called you to welcome to greet? Has got call you to play a part in making this ministry impact this community? What has God called you to do in this season? Your obedience will open the door to you being developed and used by God even when you don’t even understand it. David in understanding. David was in a place he was by himself. Nobody considered him. Nobody saw his gifts. David had a lot of wisdom and a lot of bravery, but Jesse didn’t even see it in his own son. Sometimes we allow people to have power over us, and the very thing that people speak over us instead makes us. And it keeps us in a season of just being stagnant and not moving. And what God has called us is a move-in. And then we wonder, what is our purpose? What are we doing? And God is saying, be obedient. What I told you to do. I know it doesn’t look like what you want it to look like. I know it doesn’t seem what it is supposed to seem? I know that is different, but if you can trust me and be obedient, I know everybody is out there doing what the cool kids do. But you stay doing what I told you to do.

See, that’s the problem. Everybody wants to follow the crowd. Nobody wants to stay and be developed and be and be refined. Sometimes God will have you in this season where He is refining you. When you try to open your eyes to what it is that you’re supposed to do. But you are so concerned with following the crowd, and you just don’t know that same crowd to follow it, distracting you from being what you’re supposed to be and what you’re supposed to be. David was tending to sheep, and God saw his heart. David knew he wasn’t who his brother was. And sometimes you just got to admit maybe you might not be who your friends are. It’s okay. Maybe you might not measure up to what your mom and dad want you to be. That’s okay, you know what? God got something for you. If you stay obedient. Trust God. Even when you don’t even understand it. They had no idea he was going to be a King. He had no idea he was going to be a king. But he’s staying faithful. He stayed obedient. And God was preparing him, equipping him even when he was in a season of brokenness. And I’ll see you. Maybe you might be in a season right now when nobody understands. You might be in the season, you might be separated, you might be alone, you might be in the season where you just don’t know. But I’ll tell you something. I’ll tell you something. God sees you. God wants to use you. If you got breath in your lungs. That’s the purpose for you. That’s the purpose for you. But you got to believe that. You got to believe that. And you’ll never be able to step into the purpose that God has for you if you don’t take time to sit with God. David sat with God. David was solid before I, God. David was in a lonely place by himself. He sat with God. See, some of you want to be entertained too much. Do you want to be with the crowd too much? Sometimes you got to be by yourself. Be developed. And David was in that season when he was developed, and nobody was around. But you stay faithful, intending to see you stay faithful servant. You stay faithful. Your partner knows the card. You stay faithful to what God is telling you to do and what God did in due time. God elevated David and put David in front of his brother. Who sent you to see David? But I. So, David. And now I’m going to anoint David. When they don’t see you, God sees you. When they don’t know your gifts. God knows your gifts. This is where it starts. The world. We’re turning back on you. God is always for you. Can you be obedient in this season? The next person uses. God chooses the people who trust him. Let’s go to the verse the

37 The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.”

1 Samuel 17:37 NIV

This is a guy who was never valued. Who never was considered to be nothing. A guy who was overlooked. A guy whose own family didn’t value him. But how can a God have so much faith in God and say things like this? David said. Look, the Lord rescued me from the power of the lion and the power of the bear who rescued me from hell and is finished. So I said to David, go. And look, David was a young boy. David had more faith than Saul did. How can somebody who is broken, who was overlooked, who was in the shadows, who wasn’t seen? Have that type of faith in God. You know, they tell me that no matter what they went through, David stayed with God. When nobody saw David, David saw God. When nobody was around, David was with God, and even though David had heartbreaking and he had things he was dealing with, David trusted God through it all. So that’s why he could speak the way he spoke right here. David was on the side. David was at a point in his life where he just said, I’m going to trust God with everything. He was up against a giant. Nobody thought that David would win. But it was just the same old story because David was never expected to do anything. It’s family dysfunction. He was the youngest. No purpose. Nobody believed in it. But David trusted in God.

I don’t know what you came here with this morning. I don’t know what you’re burdened with. But I want to tell you. That you can trust God. Whatever you do know, the way you can trust God. And maybe you can relate to David. That you are alone, that you are misunderstood, that you are up against a giant. But you can make the choice today. To trust God. Give it a go. I never finish my story. I told you that was humiliating. I told you that I was talked about. I told you. That I wasn’t valued. But let me tell you something. A year later, I rewrote the script. A year later, I broke every record that he had in one year that he did in two years. I’ve won numerous awards. I’ve reached thousands of people online and in person as a fitness professional. Let me tell you something. It wasn’t because of my gifts. It wasn’t because of my strength. It’s because when things got tough. When I couldn’t understand my way. When I couldn’t figure things out. I decided to trust God instead of trusting my own way of thinking.

Community Church, I believe you. I believe that everything that God has for you in this season that you can be and become and experience it. You can be like David. You could be on the outside looking in. You can be misrepresented. You can be undersized. But no matter what you go through in life, if you don’t allow God to lead you and guide you, you’ll never get to where he’s calling you to be. That’s why it’s important that you have a heart of honor. Because if you don’t have a heart of honor, what happens is the very thing that you’re doing starts to destroy you and make you a person that God has not called you to be. And God cannot use you in that manner. I know they said this. I know they did that. I know. But what is God calling you to do? I know it’s tough. I know you can’t figure it out. You can’t see it. You wonder what happens. But can you stay obedient? Can you stay obedient? Can you keep walking that path? Can you keep doing it? Very difficult. All you do. And when the going gets tough. Can you trust God? Can you trust God?

Think about a tree. The stronger a tree is, the deeper the roots. No matter what comes against that tree, it’s planted. It’s rooted. It’s grounded. And when God created you, he didn’t create you to try to figure it all out. He didn’t create you to try to build your own kingdom and be your own Savior, but God created you this day, planted him, and rooted in him no matter what comes your way. Because when you are planted and rooted in God, people can’t control you or dictate to you. I want to tell you something. Some of you are in seasons right now where God wants to do so much in you and through you. But God cannot because you focused on people and not on him. And when you focus on people, I’ll tell you, you hope one day you’re down A that you hear what I’m saying. But when you focus on God, no matter what comes your way, you stay grounded. You stay rooted. You got joy in the middle of a storm. And I’m telling you that if you want to be who God called you to be. If you want to be who God called you to be, then you might learn to stay with God no matter what happens in a season of brokenness. Stay with God in a season where people are not honorable and not respected, and you keep an honorable heart in the season when everybody’s being disobedient, and they are part of the problem, you stay obedient.

I don’t want you to focus on who David was and who David wasn’t. I’m almost done. From this sermon today, we understand that David was the youngest. He was undersized. He was a misfit. That David had a dysfunctional family. That David was broken. But I don’t want you to look and focus on that. I want you to focus on David’s heart. David had a heart for people. When it cost him something. Dave had a heart for people when it wasn’t convenient for him. And half of the people is a heart that God can use. A heart for the racists. A heart for the poor. A heart for the confused. For the broken. For the world or for the sick. I know you can have that heart. But if you want to have that heart, you got to stay on the. And if we get this part right, Community church. We don’t have to keep talking about the church, but we can be the church wherever we go. If we get this right community church. We don’t have to just rely on the sermon. We can be the sermon wherever we go. Because a heart for the underdogs is a heart for God and a heart for people. I believe in you. But I challenge you today. No matter how tough it gets. No matter how confusing it gets. That you keep your eyes on God. The author and defender of your faith.

If you’re here today and you heard this message, and you feel like your next step is baptism. I want to pray for you. If you’re here today and you feel like your next step. To have a church family, you don’t have a church family. I’ll pray for you as well if you’re here today and you don’t know why you’re here, but you need somebody to smile, encourage you and, love you, speak life into you. That’s what we do. We honor here. We do that. Let’s pray.

Father God, thank you so much. Well, I thank you that you use a broken average, ordinary person like me to do extraordinary things because I trust you. And I pray to every individual here, Father, God would trust you with their lives, would give you their lives, would see that they have a purpose in this world. A Father God would know that even when seasons are tough, you still see them. But you still love him, and you’re still for them. God, I pray for the person here right now. That feeling like they need to go down in the water as a broken person but come up, restored and renewed, and you forgot. I pray they’re here today for the guy as they leave. I pray they have the confidence to stop by the can they call it fill out a form. But I pray for the person who’s here and they feel alone. They feel separated. If you are misunderstood, and they need a community, they need a church family. I pray, Father God, for them as well. I pray, Father, that they will connect with somebody here, and they will get plugged in, and they will know that this is a place. Where they can discover their faith and make a circle of friends for God. I pray for the person who came here and doesn’t know why they are here. Well, they need to be accepted. They want to be loved. They just need somebody to listen. They came to the right place Father God. That’s so you created us to be.

So, Lord, I pray right now, at this moment, that you feel every heart here. That every heart, Father, God will know that they have a purpose and they will rise to be exactly who you called him to be. And we will be a church that is different from the world because we will be a church that looks to a God that is different from the world. Let me thank you. We praise the holiest name; I pray, Amen.