Church On The Rock-Abilene
Wednesday Night Service 6/24/2026
  • Mighty Name of Jesus
  • God Turn It Around
  • REVELATION SONG
  • Introduction:
    Good evening, everyone.
    Tonight's Bible study is going to be a little different.
    Before we begin, I want to take a few minutes to talk with you as your pastor.
    Over the years, you have watched many people grow in ministry here at Church on the Rock.
    Some have discovered gifts they never knew they had.
    Others have found healing that eventually became a testimony.
    Still others have been equipped and sent into new areas of ministry.
    That is how the Kingdom of God works.
    God calls us.
    He walks us through a process.
    And then He entrusts us with the responsibility of using what He has done in our lives to help someone else.
    Sometimes that ministry happens inside these four walls.
    Sometimes it reaches far beyond them.
    Tonight, I want to share with you why, for a season, you are going to see a change on Wednesday nights.
    This is not a story about changing a schedule.
    It is a story about God's calling, God's process, and God's purpose.
    It is a story about how God can take something that once felt like a struggle and transform it into a ministry that blesses other people.
    My hope tonight is that, by the time we finish, you will not simply understand why this change is happening.
    My hope is that you will see how God wants to do the very same thing in every one of our lives.
    Because every one of us has a testimony.
    Every one of us is in a process.
    And every one of us has a responsibility to use what God has done in our lives for His glory and the good of others.
    Text:
    2 Corinthians 1:3–4 NKJV
    3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

    There is a process to Ministry. It is not an overnight endeavor.

    It begins with a call the Devine call.

    Galatians 1:15–16 NKJV
    15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, 16 to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood,

    When we surrender to the call there is an equipping process.

    1 Timothy 3:6 NKJV
    6 not a novice, lest being puffed up with pride he fall into the same condemnation as the devil.
    1 Timothy 5:22 NKJV
    22 Do not lay hands on anyone hastily, nor share in other people’s sins; keep yourself pure.
    2 Timothy 2:2 NKJV
    2 And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.

    The Process prunes.

    Proverbs 3:11–12 NKJV
    11 My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor detest His correction; 12 For whom the Lord loves He corrects, Just as a father the son in whom he delights.
    The pruning process is how she discovered that she was on what used to be called the Asperger's spectrum. (She would want me to tell you at this point that she is High functioning autistic.)
    She had no idea until she started the process that there was a problem— (If there was a problem she was sure and confident that the problem was with everyone else.)
    This is her story but it is my sermon, everything that follows is from my prospective.
    In my prospective it was bondage. She had problems in interpersonal problems. She thought the problem was that people just didn't like her. Sometimes she was deeply hurt, some people where mean, some people where probably retaliating for wrongs she didnt even know she commited.
    It was bondage for her.
    She discovered deliverance because she was obedient to the call.
    In fairness to her I need to tell you that I didn’t believe that she was on the spectrum and went and got tested.
    Because she was obedient to the call she learned to take responsibility for her own disability. in doing that she learned skills to overcome.

    The Lord has given her wisdom to proper despite difficulties, we will call it a testimony.

    Luke 8:39 NKJV
    39 “Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.” And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him.
    In order for her to do this it will take time to write these chapters.
    She was actually asked to write the book by Temple Grandon.
    She is the executive associate pastor and the woman's pastor and the worship leader. if she is going to write this book she needs the prayers of this Church and the support of her bishop to cross the finish line.
    He Bishop is going to do that—
    As her husband I am very proud of her.
    I have never seen her not accomplish what she puts her mind to. I am exited to see what this will become.

    The Responsibility Belongs to All of Us

    1 Corinthians 12:12–14 NKJV
    12 For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. 13 For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit. 14 For in fact the body is not one member but many.
    The Body of Christ is not one member.
    It is many.
    That means we are a team.
    Every member has a calling.
    Every member has a gift.
    Every member has a responsibility.
    Pastor Deadra is not taking a break from ministry.
    She is using this season to develop another tool for ministry.
    That tool happens to be a book.
    This is not stepping away from ministry.
    This is expanding her ministry.
    Books have a unique way of going where we cannot go.
    They can enter homes we will never visit.
    They can encourage families we will never meet.
    They can help churches we will never pastor.
    As a church, we have the opportunity to support this calling.
    For this season, I will be teaching on Wednesday nights so that she can devote the necessary time to writing.
    This is what the Body of Christ does.
    When one member follows God's calling, the rest of the body supports that calling.
    Together, we all share in the ministry.
    I am asking you to pray for her.
    Encourage her.
    Believe with her.
    And let's send her into this new season knowing that this church stands behind her and believes God is going to use this book to help many people.
    Conclusion:
    As we bring this message to a close, I want you to see the pattern that God so often follows.
    First, He calls us.
    Then, He walks us through a process.
    Finally, He gives us the responsibility of using what He has done in our lives to help someone else.
    That is the pattern we see throughout Scripture.
    It was true of Paul.
    It was true of Timothy.
    It has been true of countless men and women throughout the history of the Church.
    And it has been true in Pastor Deadra's life.
    God called her.
    God has faithfully walked her through a process.
    And now God has opened a new door of ministry.
    The very thing that once caused confusion has now become part of the testimony He intends to use to bring hope, understanding, and encouragement to countless others.
    That is just like God.
    He has always taken our greatest struggles and transformed them into opportunities for ministry.
    So tonight, I want to ask something of you as your pastor.
    I am asking you to see this season through the eyes of faith.
    Pastor Deadra is not stepping away from ministry.
    She is stepping into another expression of ministry.
    For this season, I will gladly teach on Wednesday evenings so that she can devote herself to this assignment.
    As the Body of Christ, we all have a part to play.
    Your part is to pray.
    Your part is to encourage.
    Your part is to believe with us that God is going to use this book to minister to people we may never meet this side of eternity.
    We are not losing a Wednesday night teacher.
    We are sending one of our pastors into a new field of ministry.
    And when that book is finally placed into someone's hands, and they discover hope because of what God has done in her life, this church will have shared in that ministry.
    Because that is what the Body of Christ does.
    We answer God's call.
    We trust His process.
    And together, we fulfill His purpose.

      • 2 Corinthians 1:3–4NKJV

      • Galatians 1:15–16NKJV

      • 1 Timothy 3:6NKJV

      • 1 Timothy 5:22NKJV

      • 2 Timothy 2:2NKJV

      • Proverbs 3:11–12NKJV

      • Luke 8:39NKJV

      • 1 Corinthians 12:12–14NKJV

Church On The Rock-Abilene
churchontherockabilene@gmail.com
3256725446
https://church-on-the-rock-abilene-tx.faithlifesites.com
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