This Sunday, we were privileged to hear a powerful sermon by Pastor Davone Allen as we delved into the heart of our faith. In a world filled with choices, we, as believers, were presented with the most important invitation of all – to reflect the nature of Jesus Christ. Drawing from Scripture and real-life examples, Pastor Allen guided us through the profound truth that we have a choice in how we respond to this divine call. Be encouraged to embrace the challenge of mirroring the love, compassion, and grace of our Savior!
Catch The Fire Church Raleigh
Reflecting God's Nature | Davone Allen
(upbeat music) - Welcome to the Catch the Fire Church podcast. We're so glad you're joining us and we hope you're encouraged by this message. Let's give it up one more time for Jessica, please. (audience cheering) Goodness, supposed to preach after that. How many of y'all know these are nice songs that we just sing? Let me try again, wrong room. How many of y'all know that these are not just songs we sing on a Sunday? Let me help somebody. See, when you know God's goodness, when you know His power, when you've experienced His presence, these songs mean something different, right? Amen, 'cause I remember you couldn't get me to sing a gospel song. No, I'm dead serious. I remember when I thought this was a performance. I remember looking at people fall out and raise their hands and questioning like this can be serious. So let me help somebody. God is real. And when you felt the power and the love and the presence of God, these songs mean something different. So that's why it was hard for me when just got up here and she's singing about the power and the goodness of God because I know who I was. And I know I was literally, I was soul. I was soul to the Christian. And look at me up here now. (audience cheering) Praising and dancing and raising my hand and speaking in tongues and reading my Bible and saving and changing the world that needs changing. Come on, give God a round of applause. Not me, let's give the Lord a praise. (audience cheering) And I pray for y'all that these songs start meaning something more than just something we do on a Sunday. I pray that we get to that point where these songs mean something more. Father, we thank you for today. Just take a moment. Thankful, we're thankful, we're grateful. And as we were worshiping, I don't want to have a Jonah and Big Fish moment. I heard I need to do this 'cause I wanted some fun and in light. Y'all know how I do. Like, I like to encourage. But I hear the Holy Spirit. There's good things that you let go. And almost you've put a tombstone and you continue to like visit it and you polish it and you polish this good thing, this good idea, this business, this person you're supposed to minister to. But you aren't living it. You're almost grieving this good thing. And I hear God saying I did not come to agree with that and grieve with you on this beautiful thing that I've given you, this idea, this moment, this time. I do not agree with you polishing it and keeping it clean. I actually came to rectify and bring it out of the grave, that idea. Amen. So what happens when you dig dirt? What happens if there was something buried and you begin to pick it up and pick it out? What happens? It gets dirty, it gets muddy, it gets nasty. And some of you are experiencing that right now. And I hear the Lord saying, all right, stop polishing the tombstone. Grab a shovel and rectify, not grieve, but rectify the thing that I ask you to do in Jesus' name. So is that anybody in here? Anybody been grieving something they were supposed to do? All right, let's pray. Father, you did not give us these visions, these ideas, these moments that's meant to change our family, change the world and to improve Lord God and look like you. You did not give us these ideas to look at and be sad and mourn and polish and keep the tombstone clean. For God, you are redeeming your rectify and bringing death back to life. So I pray for that person, those people, these movements, God, that are so needed that they would grab a shovel and that they would dig with you, that they would live with you and desire to rectify rather than grieve. And Jesus' mighty name led to soak in for a minute. In Jesus' name. All right, we'll have you guys been enjoying this series. I get to wrap it up in his image. By Aaron gave a wonderful word, set us off, right? And then we had Duncan give us a word on, what was it again? It was the broken reflection and then Jess and now I get to talk about reflecting God's nature, made in his image. They made in his image. Yes, so when I was asked to preach, I went to God and said, okay, what is it, Lord, that you want to talk about? And instantly it goes, all right, image, okay? Pictures, yeah, pictures. Photo copies, right? Copy machine, how it works, right? Photography. And in the midst of that, I'm like, the Holy Spirit said, hmm, it's funny because these are some of the most miraculous inventions ever, ever invented. And we disregard it every day. We take pictures every day, right? We make photo copies every day. But the Holy Spirit said, you know, we treat God the same. Miracle after miracle, breakthrough after breakthrough, increase after increase. We become desensitized by the goodness of God. And that's when the light bulb clicked. I said, bing, that's what we're going to talk about. So I started off with, I'm about to get real nerdy on y'all right, unless you like devices. So I started with, how does copy machines actually work? How do cameras actually work? And with cameras, I wish I had mine, I don't. But it starts with a closed shutter behind a clear lens. Use your Holy Spirit as I do to see God in this, please. A closed shutter, a clear lens. But when the shutter finally opens and allows light, come on now. When the shutter finally says, you know what? I was meant to be used and opens up and receives the light and looks into that image. Come on now. It creates a chemical reaction and hits this nasty dirty stuff behind the light and the shutter called film. And if you've ever touched film, you know it's very nasty and sensitive. But it eventually transfers the heat and the image creating what y'all? A photo, an image. Then I researched a copy machine, right? First you put the picture down, light, where there it is again, light hits the image and it bounces to a drum that's able to move. So it catches the light. It has an electric reaction that causes it to move and connect with toner particles. Anybody ever spilled toner on the ground or on yourself? Ooh, taking me back to my corporate days. Thank you, Duncan Smith for hiring me as a pastor. So the toner connects with the light, dark light. Y'all see where I'm going? But they all are propelled to move and do something. It hits with light a blank piece of paper and now you have two images because of light and movement. Y'all see where I'm going? Getting nerdy up here, I told y'all. And I even thought about actors. I thought about comedians and people that do impressions and they have this thing that's called method acting and we got me drama majors in the house, nobody. We got one, I knew you, I should've known, Matthew. I should've known, oh, okay, okay. So method acting, right? Is a range on a rehearsal of techniques that seek to encourage sincere and expressive, let me say it again, sincere and expressive performances through identifying with, through understanding and experiencing how a character would've felt in those moments or in those situations, right? So, hi, ho, this is Kermit the Frog, coming to you live from Sesame Street. Ah, Kermit, why are you talking like that? Right? So that's Kermit the Frog, right? I'll watch the, thank you. I'll watch a lot of 'em up at babies growing up. All right, could simply come on here and I'll tell you what I wanna tell you. You do the arm like this and you know, thank you, it's Denzel Washington, right? How am I doing so far? How am I doing? All right, how am I doing? Let's do some more, all right. If you've ever experienced a goodness of God, it would wreck your brain. Your brain would fizzle. Of how good his love and his power she got boomedah. (audience applauds) (audience applauds) Ah, what did I do? (audience applauds) I'm gonna roll, let's try one more. Truly God, truly God is in all of your situations. He gives you all the authority, all the power. As we sing songs to God, would you just let him reveal his true presence? And who's that? I was Aaron. (audience laughs) How was it? Yeah, yeah, yeah. That was our lead pastor, Aaron. (audience laughs) But seriously, it's one thing to south. Here's the thing. Pause the beer can really imitate Kermit because he spends a lot of time. Denzel Washington, he has a son that's an actor now. I'm sure he watched countless film and he now gets to imitate who. Duncan, I'm sure Jess can imitate you really well. Yeah, and Aaron, Jude, eventually, probably will have you nailed because he spends time. And it's one thing to sound like the person or the thing you're trying to imitate, right? And it's one thing to look like him. Me modern day makeup, I can look like whoever I want, right? But here's the thing. But through Jesus Christ, the Lord is graciously inviting us, not only to look like, not only to sound like, but to live like the one we are imitating. And our time on earth, y'all, my wife is so good at this, reminding me, our time on earth is simply a rehearsal. How many know that? It's a wonderful rehearsal. That us as actors, we search for intermotives and we search for motivation and we search for missions that justify our actions. And it justifies our definitions of what we will do or what we won't do in those same situations that Jesus was put in at any given moment, good or bad, amen? And this is why I love the church. This is why I love y'all. This is why I love us. I didn't grow up in church. So all of the politics and nastiness, it don't faze me 'cause I know it's worse. Amen? This is why I love the word of God. That the members of this book and the members of these accounts and occurrences and scenarios all have either gone really good or they've gone horribly bad. Nothing new has what y'all happened, repeat it again. Nothing new has happened. It just all happens in a different way. And then his word and through countless individuals, look on your right or left because they have a story too. We get to learn about what people went through. Or maybe what people are actually going through right now or maybe you will be, right? Or maybe in a foreseeable future, there's something that somebody went through and either one or fail. We regularly get to be put, oh no, I'm so grateful y'all, I mean this, we get to be put in situations where we can fold under the pressure and go to our default setting of sin and failure and disappointment and self condemnation. Or we can get like hyped and excited. All right, here's my second time. Here's my second opportunity. Here's my third opportunity to respond like Jesus would, right? Like the one we say we get full reign. Like the one we say we're being made and transformed into his image. Like the one we study about and spend hours on hours saying this is who we are, we get to be what Christ like, what a revelation that you actually have to be put in scenes and scenarios to look like Jesus. Isn't that a mind blowing thing? The key is we have to respond. As I share about being made in God's image, I think about, let me just do a temperature check. Has anybody ever been in a situation where you thought there's no way this is gonna change? There's no way this is, I'm gonna get out of this. There's no way, raise your hand. But in God's perfect design, he always has a response, right? Even if your response is yield and don't do nothing, that's a response. But nine times out of 10, if you put your trust in him, he'll give you a way out. Now, here's the dangerous part. If you say that we are made in God's image, what does that mean? We too have the ability to respond and not give up and not see this as this is the end. It says in Psalms eight, four through six, "What is mankind that you are mindful of them?" Whew, human beings that you care for them, you have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor, God. You made them rulers over the works of your hands. You put everything under their feet. All flocks, herds, the animals of the wild, the birds of the sky, the fish in the sea, all the swimming, that swimming, the path of the seas. Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth? Let's give God's word to the same be. So he, ladies and gentlemen, God loves and believes in us so much, this should humble you, that with the world in his mighty hands, he made us for his pleasure. He made us to be with him and together, partner with this thing he holds in his hands, called the world. Ephesians two, 10 says this, "For we are God's workmanship." Anybody, any creators in the house, that can take something in their mind and make it happen. That's right, Antoine. We are God's handiwork created in Christ Jesus to do what? Good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. So if you are trying to imitate and look like our father as we partner together, their minimum bones basics, if you follow in somebody, you shouldn't know their character. So I like a little response. Let's share, what's God's character? Buss it, love, God is love, God is patience. God is a protector, faithful, steadfast, remarkable, holy, kind, holy spirit, forgiving, merciful. Well, righteous, we could spend all, probably this whole service talking about different characteristics of God, right? And if God is all of these things and more and we are made, who are we? Are we love? Are we servants? Are we holy? Are we righteous? Are we wonderfully made? And if we finally see yes to these things, which I hope we all have, we become what is known as Repra Zen to tears. Representatives, you and me represent because we are made in this image. So take some time really quickly and think about when did you experience good or bad representation? Think about it. Maybe it's that customer service at a well known company, those home improvement. (audience laughs) Excuse me. (audience laughs) Maybe it's at your favorite restaurant and the service representative was terrible grumpy monkey, Myrtle Beach. Sorry, something wrong with my throat. (audience laughs) Maybe it's at a church. Maybe there's a pastor. Pastor Dave on Allen, who keeps bothering you and asking you, how are you? Well, you just want to get in and out and leave. (audience laughs) Forgive me, I'm using the platform, a blast, sorry service. (audience laughs) But seriously, here's my point. When bad reputation happens and unfortunately puts a blemish on the organization, on the business, y'all see where I'm going? The church too. And the saying goes for us who are called little Christ, disciples, lovers are what you may call Christians. (audience laughs) We get to show the world. We get to show each other. We get to show church who God is and isn't. One of my favorite, we got anybody that loves sculpting, the genre of sculpting. I'm the only one. I'm the only one that gets moved by a sculpture, I guess. But it's amazing to me, right? To see a person take raw material, think about how can I take this big blob of nothing and use a couple tools and a whole bunch of attention and make something beautiful? Whether it's a human figure, an animal or something abstract, it blows my mind. And I thought God must have felt like this, right? Like as he's creating all of these things and beings and he looks at you and me and he goes, "Oh my goodness, I'm cooking. "I'm on to something." And this one is so good that I want it to look like me and think like me. So when I read, here's the down, when I read the part in the Word of God early in my faith about them making idols, I kind of like, I was like, "Wow, I can, I feel, I sympathize "because when you go on through, "y'all know what I want to say. "When you go on through it, "self-preservation begins to kick in. "And God, if you're asking me to see and trust you "through these knuckleheads that look like me, "and how they respond like me, I'm in trouble. "So forget them, God, I need to see you. "I need to see who I'm speaking to. "I need to see who I'm putting my future and my trust in. "I need to see because when you took me "out of Pharaoh's house, I can't see anymore. "I have to put my faith and my trust and my hope "and the things unforeseeable. "And God, you're asking me to do that through them? "And in my opinion, this is why God is so wise. "This is why God is so awesome and I praise him "for his strength to move past our comforts. "God knew that making us, you and me, his people, "his image bearers, rather than him wanting "to be worshiped through sculptures and through idols "and through symbolism." See, it says this, I don't want y'all to notice this as me in Exodus 20, verses four, verses five. Maybe you've read it. "You shall not make for yourselves a carved image "or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above "or that is on earth beneath or that is in the water "underneath you shall not bow down to them "or serve them for the lure your God is a jealous God." So as hard as this is, ladies and gentlemen, to accept or perceive, God created us as functional works of his image. And he did this for us to look at ourselves and have some sort of understanding, but I would say, most importantly, that we would have the conviction to seek him rather than people, because the image is easy. We can make an idol out of anything. Anything becomes our answer when we are in self-preservation. So God knew rather than to make an image as something that we can make, he made us his image. To gain clarity, to gain wisdom, to gain understanding and to gain at the end of it all resolve, like my dear brother Aaron preached when he said, "Will you seek the art or would you seek the artist?" (congregation laughing) See, with that being said, Jesus is the perfect functioning art. Jesus is, he's the mold, right? He's the framework. He's the software program and that terrible photo that you took that's all blurry and wrong and your head is cut off. It says this in Matthew three, starting at 16. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water and at that moment, heaven was open and he saw the spirit of God descending like a dove and a light on him. There's that word again, that light. What is it about light that makes your image clear? I digress and a voice from heaven said, "This is my son, my love with him, I am well pleased." Now we all agree, we're made in God's Jesus image, correct? So that means that he's pleased with us too. 'Cause it says it in the word as well. It says in Genesis 1, 31, starting, "God saw all that he made and it was very good." Thank you, Jesus for calling us good, very good. And then there was evening, then there was morning. By the seventh day, God finished the work he had been doing and he rested. So in Christ, his victory, his deed on the cross, we become children of the most high God. We are now not just trying, we are made in his image. It says in John 1, 9 through 13, the true light, there's that word. It's something about being in light constantly where you, okay, the true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world and though the world was made through him, the world didn't recognize him. He came to that, which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, those who believe in his name, is that y'all? Is that me? He gave the right to become children, say children of God. So as we talk about image and image bearers and photocopies and pictures, I think about my childhood living with my mom and then my grandma in Pittsburgh. And between playing, there's this thing kids, it's called vinyl albums. So between listening to records and looking at these, it's called a, this kids is called a photo album. And you would take real pictures and print them and you would put them in a book rather than your phone. But anyway, I was eager in these photos, I was eager to know what were the stories behind these images in my family photo book. I would think about what would people feel like in those exact moments? I was laughing at the Afros and the bell bottoms and the platform, I was like, "Doh, whoa, grandma, "man wore platform shoes, it's crazy." But also I would think about my lost family members, the people that I never met, but somehow managed to be an important part of this book. And I would think about why did they have an impact on our life? And subconsciously, maybe you've done it too. I think those moments of sitting still and reading my photo album, it prepared me for the things that I wanted to be and the things I didn't want to be. As I learned from my grandmother and my mother, stories of both failure and success in our family has set me up and I got a chance to look like that image or create my own. Y'all see where I'm going? And even to this day, I'm purposeful on creating my own pictures and my own images. So when quest is a father, maybe you'll have the same thing. And this is why I love God's image. This is why I love scripture. This is why I love reading the word and being with you because it's practically learning how to love. It's practically learning how to honor others. And especially those who may or may not look, live, believe, vote, eat like you. As well as understanding that you are in a battle. A battle with one who looks to kill, steal and destroy. But you also recognize what battle tactics work and don't work. This is why I spend the time in the light and in this presence. I dare to say this is our family photo album. Think about it. Because we all under one blood. We're all under one spirit. So Noah's story is my story, Jonah's story is my story, Saul's story, Paul's story is my story. It says this, but you are chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possessions that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness and to his wonderful light. There's light. All right. So if we look at God's word and see image after image, like the family photo album, it is people group after people group who look all different, but they're the image of God. I have to challenge us. You have to love those who don't look like you. You have to love us. You have to love those who you want to ignore and you want to keep comfortable and cozy, especially here in the church. It is unwise and unhealthy and unfruitful for me to take my or my grandma or my mother's photo album and rip out the pictures that I don't agree with. Or rip out the pictures that I don't like. So how can we do that with this? How can we pick what stories, what people, when we all say we're all under one God? If you are thankful about the story of Jesus, if you are inspired and feel empowered by a scripture after scripture about ancient Israel and every other people group that got to the point where Jesus' mission was finished. My question, I pose, whether you knowingly or unknowingly disregard this holiday of Black history month, Black and white, red and green. I don't care who you are. How can you not be motivated to honor, to celebrate, to support Black culture, white culture, brown culture, red culture, or any other people group? It's not Christ-like. It's not biblical. Practically, it's silly to say I can't learn nothing from anybody else. The story of African Americans in this country is the story of identity. It's the story of tribulation. Yes, but it's the story also of resilience. It's the story of empowerment. It's the story of faith. It's the story of hope. And I'm brave enough and smart enough to know that everybody in here has their own version of meeting resilience, showing resilience, showing faith, showing hope. Just be inspired and learn. I think those who have celebrated and those who do receive and learn and share and just do life together. But it's hypocritical to say you can't learn anything. How, how can you say that day? Well, I'm glad you asked because God's Word says that His Spirit and His image is inside of us all. The second we say yes, as Jesus says our Lord and our Savior, we now are family. I don't care what race you are. I don't care what race you are running. We have to respond in light. We have to respond in truth and we have to respond as the image of God. Let's stand up really quickly. The ability to respond like Jesus in your dreams respond like Christ and your hopes respond like Christ. And your self-governing respond like Christ. And your ideas and your walk respond like Christ. If we would do that, spend more time in His presence and in the light more than the dark. I don't know if we have any photography people, but there's this thing called a dark room, right? And it needs massive light to produce the picture. Infrared burning light. Can y'all be that? Good. For a world that doesn't care about God's image and that prefers the structures and the statues and the idols, the low-hanging fruit. I want to show y'all a video and we're going to pray out. [ Silence ] Black history and black culture is extremely important because it is history and culture. You don't even have to put the black on it. That's what it is. I believe in acknowledging our faults and once you acknowledge what's wrong, you can correct what's wrong. That old adage of he who conceals this disease will not be healed. If we do not acknowledge what has happened, we will never be healed. We start healing by loving. If you don't have love, you don't have healing. I believe it all starts with forgiveness. Forgiveness, if we look into the heart of God, that is why Christ came for forgiveness. So if we can forgive because he has forgiven, will you allow God to change your mind? Will you allow God to change your heart? Will you allow God to change your spirit? When God speaks, will you choose to hear it? My brothers and my sisters, would you allow the blood of the lamb to wash your mind and cleanse it from the brainwashing that we've experienced of racism, of prejudiceness, of being treated unfair? My brothers, my sisters, will you step into turning the other cheek? To all those that hear my voice, that look just like me and I look like you, are you willing to set your hand out there and hold another that doesn't quite look like yours and believe for a better tomorrow? Faith is living a life when adversity strikes. Faith is continuing no matter what. ♪ [applause] Let's bow our heads. [clears throat] Oh Lord, you're so good. You're so good. ♪ Father, as we go past conviction to connection, as we desire lunch meetings and coffee and breaks and life and football and basketball and Bible studies with people who don't look like us, sound like us, live like us. We know that love is power. We know that love is power. We know opposition will come because they don't like love. But Father, as we desire the next steps, which we all hopefully do Lord, may power be propelled by your presence Jesus. As we look to build memories and take photos and make copies and make more people who look like you Jesus, we would only be successful if we're plugged in, if our copy machine is plugged into the power source. If our cameras are battery operated through your power, if our fire is stoked only by your wind, we can't do this on our own Lord. Show us how to love. Show us how to laugh. Show us how to build. Show us how to have fun. Show us how to forgive as my wonderful brother Rashad just mentioned. And all month I've shared this with some of you. I encourage you to stop looking at the mulch and the fertilizer of the seeds that we've been planting. Would you take your eyes off the ground and the disappointment and start looking at the fruit of your labor, to start looking at the branch that we're connected to, which is Jesus. And I pray in the mighty name of Jesus that you would be oblivious to rejection, that you would be oblivious to racism, that you would be oblivious to sexism and any other isms, and that you would just walk and live the way He promised us to walk and live. Father forgive us if we've given negativity and darkness too much attention. And we know that family can be messy. But can I get a witness? How many are y'all willing to do to work? I am. Because if we're made in His image, you will be persecuted. You will be made fun of. You will be ridiculed, but there will be victory in His sweet. Amen. They killed our Savior and they just made twelve more. Those twelve made twenty-four. Those twenty-four made forty-eight. And I'm going to stop now because then I've got to do math. But I think we all get the picture. Just grab your hand on your left or your right. And just tell that person they are loved, they are important. And however you want to encourage them, we'll do that for ten seconds. Ten seconds of encouragement. Can't you do it? [MUSIC] It's all right. Be like children, right? Well listen, I'm glad this is why we know God is real. Because in the midst of all that hard stuff, we got the laugh and smile the second we encourage somebody. Proof is in the pudding. So thank you for coming out. Thank you, but let this not be the end. Have fun, make a friend, learn a story that is not yours. And let's begin. This was the first photo album, but we all have our own version of family photo albums. Thank you all for listening. I appreciate it. God bless. Thank you so much for joining us. There are so many opportunities to grow, connect, and be encouraged. To learn more, visit CTFRolly.com and follow us on social media. Thank you so much for being part of the family. We are so thankful for you. [MUSIC]