It's Time to Reset | Pastor April Carter | Forward City Church

Hey everyone, April here. I have the privilege of bringing the word today. We're in the middle of our series, Level Up. The title of my message is it's time to reset. I believe no matter where you're at in your journey with Jesus, whether you've known him a long time or you're just getting started, this message is for you.

So, I was reading and I was studying in the book of Revelation. Now, church, let me tell you, I was scared to death of the book of Revelation. Anybody from the Left Behind Times when that series came out? My mama made us read the Left Behind series. I think she was trying to scare the hell out of us, but she scared me to death.

There were stories in there of pilots flying planes and the rapture came and took the pilot and then the plane continued to fly and crash because the pilot went to heaven. Everybody else crashed on Earth. And it always seemed like someone was getting snatched from someone's bed in the middle of the night.

So you had to sleep with one eye open just hoping to God that if he was going to snatch somebody, it was going to be you. And then Y2K came around. And Y2K is where the year was turning from 1999 to 2000. And there was this weird thing, these um what is that called? conspiracy theories where somehow that nine was going to turn to a zero for 2000 and the whole power grid was going to go out and all mayhem was going to happen.

The world was going to be ending. So, people were stockpiling groceries and waters and generators. And my mama was one of the ones who had a generator. I was scared to death. So, I never wanted to open the book of Revelation. I just wanted all the grace and mercy stories.

But God brought me to Revelation 2. It says this, "Write this letter to the angel of the church in Ephesus. This is the message from the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand, the one who walks among the seven gold lampstands. I know all the things you do.

I have seen your hard work and your patient endurance. I know you don't tolerate evil people. You have examined the claims of those who say they are apostles but are not. You have discovered they are liars and you have patiently suffered for me without quitting. But I have this one complaint against you.

You don't love me or each other as you first did. >> God, I pray that we'd lean in today. That we wouldn't just listen, but we'd respond. God, that as you deposit your word, it would come alive in us and bear fruit. That we wouldn't just clap our hands and stomp our feet and have some good tags to put on social media, but it would be a life transformation that we could tag along with us for life.

So God, change us, renew us, restore us, build us in Jesus name. Amen. >> Amen. >> I'm going to ask you not to take notes today. Okay, if you have your journal, I'm going to ask that you put it under your seat. If you have your phone, put it in your pocket.

Put it on silent. I think sometimes we get so accustomed to trying to grab the next line or the next thing that we actually don't hear what the Holy Spirit's trying to say and we just try to grab the oneliner that we can post. When I was in high school, there was a hot guy that showed up at my school.

When I say hot, I mean hot. He wasn't the brightest bulb on the tree. It was a secondyear senior, so he did his senior year twice. But I didn't care about education. He looked good. >> He had the kind of waves that would make you seasick. And I was like, in this predominantly white school, this light-skinned guy comes in with these waves and he's got thick diamond earrings, Carl Cany, Timberland boots.

I mean, I was like, "Oh, yes, Lord. What is this?" 
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 Now, this was before social media and Facebook and Instagram, so I absolutely couldn't stock them and get all the things that way. So, I did the next best thing. It's 1997. I go to the counseling office and I'm like, I need to see Mikon Carter's schedule and I pull up his schedule.

And I look through those classes and I said, "Oh, I know that teacher. I think he needs a TA in seventh period gym class because Mr. Carter is scheduled to be there." So, I became a TA for seventh period gym class. Imagine his surprise when this girl comes walking in like and he said, "What are you doing here?"

And I said, "They needed a TA and I had to be here." So, here I am. And we get ready to go out into the field that day. Now, I don't do a lot of things well, but your girl can play some fast pitch softball. It's been a lot of years, so I should say I could play fast pitch softball.

And so we're playing softball that day. And this guy, he loved to be seen. I mean, he would match the the earrings to the chains to the shirt to the jeans to the boots and he walk with his little like, "What's up, girl?" You know? And I was like, "Okay."

Okay. And really, I was like, and so he he goes up to the batter's box and he wants to be seen that day and he takes that bat and he points out to the outfield. And all of you that know baseball know they're trying to say, "I'm going to get a home run."

And your girl said, "Not on my watch." So, I backpedalled out to center field. And I was ready. I'm standing there. I got my stance. I am ready. They do a slow pitch to him, swinging a miss. I'm like, maybe I should come into second base. I stay out in center field and all be dang, this boy launches this ball.

I see it coming. He's starting to round the bases. He's got his arms up causing a scene. He's doing the little face he makes when he's worshiping. Y'all know the face I'm talking about. Imagine that years ago. He still did it. running around. Right when he thinks he's going to round to second base, I go up.

Got him. He said, "That's not fair. That's not fair." I said, "What do you mean that's not fair?" He said, "You only got that because you got that go- go gadget glove on your hand." He said, "That thing's like 25 in." Let me tell you about this glove.

I got this glove and this is the exact glove that I caught that ball with in 1997. I got this glove as a birthday gift from my dad when I was 13 years old. If you know anything about a glove, gloves are very expensive and so this was a big gift to me and I treasured it.

But it didn't come to me without instruction. My dad gave me this mitt and he says, "April, you need to take care of that mitt. You take care of that mitt, that mitt will take care of you." He said, 'I want you to go and get some good oil and I want you to rub it in the leather every night before you go to bed.

Make sure you get in all the places and make sure it's oiled completely from top to bottom. He said, "Then I want you to take a ball and I want you to put it in the basket of it and I want you to wrap a string around it and put it under your mattress and lay on it."

He said, "When you do that, it gets the leather working so it's flexible and able to catch anything that's coming its way." Come on. >> He said, "In some days, not always," he said, "I want you to make sure you put it in the oven because the heat will help it mold and be able to be flexible in and out of season."

And so that day when I was out in center field, he was right. I caught that ball that day because I had spent time in the background getting some oil. And I allowed that oil to work in there. And I did the hard work. And I laid on the mitt when it was uncomfortable and hard.

And I preheated the oven and stuck it in there and watched it to make sure it didn't get too hot. It didn't overheat. It didn't burn. And then take it back out and give it some more oil. And then I did the same thing again and again and again.

This was 31 years ago. This mitt right now can still catch a ball, >> but it doesn't have the flexibility that it used to >> because it's been sitting in my closet >> since then. This mitt is now stiff. And if it was in cold weather, the leather actually may crack.

It's faded. If you look at it, you can look in the webbing of it. It's not what it used to be. And if I'm honest, this is some of us in the church right now. >> There are a lot of things that God is trying to throw our way.

There's things he's trying to give us, but we're not even in position to catch it. >> He wants to restore your home. He wants to restore your family. He wants to bless you financially. He wants you healthy and whole and sober. He wants to do a lot of things in and through you, but you are not ready to catch it.

You're stiff. You're tired. And it has nothing to do with age. Because even though this mitt is 31 years old, it still has the ability to do what it was designed to do even 31 years later. >> You're never too old. You're never too young. But you need oil. >> Good word. >> And oil comes from crushing. >> This mitt was left in my closet.

In fact, when I was getting ready to do this message, I was like thinking, God, do I still have that mitt? Cuz I started feeling like this analogy about this mitt. And when I saw it sitting there last service when I was worshiping, I realized that in 2019 when my world fell apart, I found myself in a closet.

In 2019, I'd been pastoring a church for almost 15 years alongside my husband. I preached at least once a month at the church. I led leaders and students. I helped plant our kids ministry, did outreach. I was a stay-at-home mom for a lot of years. Life was good until it wasn't.

I did a lot of works for God. I laid hands. I tithed. I prayed. I preached. I worshiped. I gave. I sacrificed. I fasted. I did all the works. And yet in one moment, my entire world came crashing down. In 2019, I lost my job, almost lost my marriage, the hometown I'd grown up in for 38 years, almost all of my friends, and I found myself in Birmingham, Alabama.

And while I'm in Birmingham, Alabama, I'm probably there two weeks, maybe three. and I notice a lump in the right side of my breast. And in my head, there's no way. I'm 38 years old. It's definitely not cancer. I'm gonna be fine. We were in the middle of our summer 21 days of prayer.

I thought, God, this is just a setup. I have this lump. I'm going to go to 21 days of prayer. Elders are going to lay hands on me, anoint me with oil. Lump's going to be gone. only it wasn't. And so I go into the office and the oncologist comes in and he said, "April, I'm sorry to tell you, you have cancer."

God, that doesn't seem really fair that I'd been faithful for 38 years. I'd honored my husband and my church and my kids. I gave. I sacrificed. I did everything you've ever asked me to do. Why is my body now going to be rire of this disease? And why is my name being smeared through the news?

I didn't do anything but honor and stay. It almost would have been better if I left the marriage than to stay married to the man that I committed to. And so my body began deteriorate. And I went from 140 lbs to 113 pounds. and I lost every hair on my head.

I had surgeries that removed every female part you could think of, both internally and externally. All my femininity was gone. Not only my femininity was gone, but all my works were gone, too. What good would it be for me to shake hands at a door when my life is crumbling internally and out?

I think they have a picture of me after one of my surgeries. Let me tell you something about oil. Some of you work really hard to please God. >> You want to do the right thing. You're not malicious. You're not mean-spirited. You're not trying to be religious. You're not trying to be any of those things.

You want to do the right thing. And Paul did, too. Paul wanted to honor God. He worked his whole life to honor God. He set himself apart. He stayed upright. He had the education. He did all the right things and yet with the wrong spirit. And so he's on his way to do the right things, thinking he's doing it for God.

And on that ride, God knocks him off his horse. And I can relate >> because though I was doing everything right, you can get in such a rhythm of doing the right things, right? And serving and loving and giving that now it just becomes who I am. And I work really hard for him, but I don't walk with him.

And now I know how to do the things but I don't hear him anymore. And for a long time I was angry at MCON. And I remember a relative of mine was sitting in a car with me when I was bald and I went back to Washington to visit and she said, "I'm so sorry."

And I said, "Don't be sorry. I said, "This is more about me than it's about him." >> Because I didn't know he was actually giving me a gift. >> That I would get my first love back. >> And so I found myself stripped of all my works, all my accolades, my reputation.

And I remember this closet. It was actually the closet where Meon was sitting when I came home. He was hiding in the corner when I called him and said I had cancer. And it was in that same closet in a borrowed house with borrowed furniture that I learned about oil again.

And I remember going in there with my body emassiated and I closed the door in that closet because it was only a small townhouse that didn't have a lot of space for me to have my own office or my own place. So I had to make one. And I shut that closet and I gripped the carpet fibers cuz I couldn't understand how I got here when I was so good.

And I was being filled again with oil. >> And it wasn't oil that came because I was so gifted. >> It was oil that came because I was so squeezed and I was so crushed and I still could bear fruit if I would just surrender the moment to him.

And I was so angry because I had friends that were battling cancer, too. and they would tell me, "Oh, the Lord said this to me and that God did this to me and God was speaking this and God was saying that." And I remember thinking, "Why isn't God saying anything to me?

I'm in this closet just holding the carpet fibers." And I didn't know that six years later I'd be sitting on a stage talking about my first love again with you so that you could love the same God that I love. I didn't know 
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 there is a place with God that you can only get through crushing and surrender.

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 The truth is, church, I don't get my body back. It's gone. The pieces are gone. I don't get my church in Washington State back. The name is changed and someone else is pastoring it. I may never get my reputation here on earth back. 
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 But I don't count what's missing. >> I count what remains.

So I'm asking you church, do you work for him or do you walk with him? Forward city, there is a city in a world dying around us. They are hurting and broken and they don't need your religion. They don't need your perfection. What I didn't need was a handout.

What I didn't need was someone to tell me it's going to be okay because they didn't know if it was going to be okay. What I needed was God himself. >> And if we don't provide the space to have the presence of God for people to experience, our kindness will mean nothing.

We can have the best worship. We can have the best kids ministry. We can have the best parking lot systems and the best shuttles. We can have the best sound and the best hurrah all over the place, but if we don't have him and the only way you get him is through the time and the crushing, it's in the oil where you say, "God, I am sorry.

I'm sorry for the things I've made it. I'm sorry that I've been more concerned with my consistency in my work than I have you. I'm sorry that I've made it about a checklist and I have to read my Bible because I have to prepare a message or I have to lead my city group or I have to lead prayer.

My prayer for you church is that you get hungry and passionate for his love again. It's time to reset. When we used to play Nintendo, Pastor Mon talked about it in his message. I would get so angry at my siblings. They were punks to me when it came to Nintendo cuz I was really good.

And they would come into the room and they would hit the reset button. And I was like, "That's garbage. I built up 30 guys on there jumping on that turtle shell a hundred times and you just had all of them killed." And I was so upset. But I felt the Lord use the analogy when Pastor M was preaching the other week that even though you lost some things by resetting, you actually get to start over and you gain some new things >> because maybe you went to some levels and some tunnels and some places you weren't supposed to go.

And yeah, you collected some blessings along the way and you got some things you thought were good and you got some some things you thought you needed and you got all the things that felt cool and you got the fire power and you got the sprint power and the star power, but you didn't know it.

You didn't need it in the end. So, I'm giving you a chance to reset today, church, to start over with fresh life. Maybe you got yourself in some places you weren't supposed to be. and you got into some tunnels and some darkness that you were never supposed to be in and exposed to.

Will you fall in love with Jesus again? Because he's so in love with you with every eye closed and every head bowed and no one moving for just a moment. Thank you, Holy Spirit. Thank you for the reminder of the closet that the same place that I picked up that unused mitt is the same place I now sit at your feet.

God, I pray right now that your presence would be so thick in this place. That we would hear nothing and see nothing but you. Help us to not just believe in you, but believe you. Not just in what you can do, but who you are. God, if you never heal our bodies, if you never make a way, if it doesn't all come back, >> you're still good.

So, with every eye closed and every head bowed, if you'd be honest and you'd say, "I have forgotten my first love. I've been just going through life and just doing the motions and doing the things. And it's not that I'm out in sin and acting crazy. I think I just got caught up a little bit.

And so if that's you, I'm going to ask that you stand to your feet. This doesn't mean that you're awful person. This doesn't mean that you're bad. It just means, man, I've gotten sidetracked a little bit. I've got more focused on my doing than my being. I've got more focused on my working than my walking with him. and I'll wait and so will he because I don't want you to leave here with your own righteousness >> because it's worth nothing but filthy rags to him.

God, thank you for the tears that fall and the freedom that follows. Thank you that your yoke is easy and your burden is light. God, I thank you that even as people were standing, chains were falling off, religion was being depleted, weariness. God, thank you that you said that the weary can come to you and you ask for it.

God, I thank you that there's a difference between being childish and being childlike. And so God, I thank you for the childlike today who unashamed stood up because they want you. They don't care about their things. They don't care about their reputation. They don't care about their position.

They want to be in love with you again. So God, we repent before you. Forgive us for the areas we've made it about me. Change us, Lord, from the inside out. and give us a hunger and a desperation to believe you again. That when we worship, we believe the words we sing.

Yes, Lord. When we read, we believe the words we read. And when we serve, we believe that it's your hands serving through us. Thank you for your anointing. And thank you, God, for the crushing because we know the oil it produces. Today, God, it's time that we reset with you in Jesus name.

Amen. Thank you for taking the time to watch the message today. We'd love for you to like and subscribe to our YouTube page and to keep up with Forward City.