Joy and I apologize for not updating the Cross Trainers’ website these past few days.

We live in North Harris County, twenty miles north of downtown Houston, and we had to evacuate our home because of rising waters. We spent one night at a motel, and another at the home of our oldest son. Our other son, who lives just a few miles from our house, traveled north to Dallas with his family.

Water rising on the street in front of our house

When we returned to our home on Tuesday, we were thrilled to find everything in good order, unlike tens of thousands of others who have suffered terrible loss.

Our prayer is that many will find consolation and blessing through their relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ.

About donations for Hurricane Harvey relief. Although we have received offerings for missionaries and Christian programs around the world for over ten years, and although we send 100% of every dime received on to the designated recipients, we are not equipped to receive funds for hurricane recovery or victims.

Please be careful that any funds you do send go to a reliable organization, such as the Salvation Army.

We have been encouraged by the tremendous outpouring of generosity and volunteerism we’ve witnessed all around us.

God bless you for sharing your hearts with the people of Houston and the Gulf Coast.

[email protected]

First Baptist Church, Earlville, NY

Rev. Jeremy Stopford, Pastor

“SINK, SWIM – OR WALK!” (Matt. 14:22-33)
Aug. 20, 2017 10:30 AM

TODAY’S SPECIAL: “A Worry Funny”

Two kids are talking to each other. One says, “I’m really worried. My dad works twelve hours a day to give me a nice home and good food. My mom spends the whole day cleaning and cooking for me. I’m worried sick!”
The other kid says, “What have you got to worry about? Sounds to me like you’ve got it made!”
The first kid says, “What if they try to escape?”

INTRODUCTION

One of the more familiar – if not apart from the birth, death, burial and resurrection of the Savior – the most familiar story in Scriptures. A simple story (recount it). “During the fourth watch” [no, not Timex, Pulsar, Omega, nor Seiko!]. The Roman accounting of time which the Jews had adapted: there usually were watchmen at their posts throughout the night to protect the city. The 4th watch was between 3-6 am. The disciples had rowed throughout the night about 3 1/2 miles. Yet mingled throughout the story of “Peter Walking On the Water” are several key words that should prick our hearts, and, better, prod our faith. PRAYER

1.   “Immediately”

The Spirit of God Who inspires God’s Word purposefully weaves words where He wants them. “Immediately” = “the change of life, the challenges of life, the aligning of one’s life to the eternal purposes of God. How do I know that?
Look at Use #1 (v. 22) That takes us back to v. 15 (disciples say, “send them away”). Why were they there? V. 13 “Jesus heard what happened.” What happened? V. 1ff Matthew recounts the beheading of John the Baptist, and Jesus knows the disciples need, what? REST! So v. 22. NOW (a) WHO purposes that the disciples get into the boat? JESUS – aligning their lives! (b) THEN what does it say – NOW He sends the crowd home, WARM AND FED.
Look at Use #2 (v. 27). Jesus says 3 things: Take courage. It is I. Fear not. He SAYS. And He speaks to us today in His Word. How much is His word a part of your life?
Look at Use #3 (v. 31). WHEN did Jesus reach out His hand? When Peter was sinking. When Peter took his eyes off of Jesus and put them on the storm. Hmm. Sounds like a DEEP lesson here about faith! Do we really appreciate just how wonderful our Savior is?

2.    2 words together: “IF” “Come” (vs. 28-29)

The first, “IF” is a word of faith and doubt mingled together. But it also is a word of acknowledging where I am. I am at a crossroads. Jesus presents Himself as worthy of my trust. Do I really trust Him? “IF you’re the Son of God, come down from the cross”. Was that TRUST or TAUNTING? We sometimes taunt Jesus and not TRUST Him! How? When we say, “IF you are really Who you say You are, I DEMAND You take care of this right now.” Peter was at a crossroads between demand and trust. He chose the latter.
The second, “COME”. By now you know that this is one of the greatest invites in Scriptures. “COME unto Me all who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you REST.” COME into the ark and find refuge. COME to the living waters. COME.
IF You are Who You say You are, tell me to COME. “COME”!

3.    SAW (v. 30)

In describing being focused on heaven while living for Jesus on earth, Paul told the Corinthian believers, “we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Cor. 5:7)
Peter walked by FAITH when he stepped out of the boat and walked, keeping his eyes on Jesus.
Peter walked by SIGHT when he SAW the waters and took his eyes off of Jesus.
But it doesn’t stop there: Look at vs. 32-33. Those in the boat had SEEN the entire incident, and they did what? WALKED BY FAITH – worshipped Jesus. HERE’S A GOOD QUESTION: why did they worship Jesus? Because they saw Jesus on display through Peter. Who is looking at you, at me today to see Jesus on display? Who will trust Him because of our walk by faith and not by sight?

CONCLUSION

SINK, SWIM – OR WALK. Our choices in life are one of 3. That’s it.

Choice #1: We can SINK.

We can take our eyes off of the Lord Jesus and look around us at the waters coming our way. But when we do, remember this: those waters are there for everyone. They are no different.

Choice #2: We can SWIM.

What does this mean? This wasn’t in the story, you say! It means, we live as if God doesn’t even exist. We live like everyone else. The storm hits – we either make it or we don’t. But we swim in hopes that we’ll make it. And who gets all the attention? YOU DO. What about God – as far as you are concerned, He can swim or sink, too. You say you know Him, but you live as if He doesn’t exist.

Choice #3: We can… WALK!

Remember, Peter DID walk! And he remembered that for the rest of his life. The details are the same – the waves were rough. It was the middle of the night, no daylight, no help visible except…he knew, he just KNEW, that Jesus was right in front of him. And he was able to walk through the storm…as long as he kept his eyes on Jesus. Wow. 3 choices. That’s it.

Week Thirty-Four, 2017

SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES

 ©2017 John Grant | Florida State Senator (Ret.) | 10025 Orange Grove Drive | Tampa, FL 33618

First Baptist Church, Earlville, New York, J.B. Stopford, Pastor

Aug. 6, 2017

Week Thirty-Two, 2017

“THE SACRIFICE”

©2017 John Grant | Florida State Senator (Ret.) | 10025 Orange Grove Drive | Tampa, FL 33618

“IF YOU’RE SO RICH…” (James 5:1-12)
Series: JAMES July 30, 2017 10:30 AM
FBC Earlville, NY, J B Stopford, Pastor

TODAY’S SPECIAL: “The Lousy Sermon”
Dad (on the way out of church): “That was the lousiest sermon I ever heard. I didn’t get a thing out of it.”
Son: “Well, what do you expect for a dollar?”

INTRODUCTION In the section from James 4:1-5:12, James is giving 6 “Warnings against Pride”. Last week, we discussed “Do not judge a brother” and the “Deaver Principle”: “Do not boast about tomorrow.” Remember my good friend Jim who, after hearing a message from this passage, spent the rest of his life making plans centered around the Biblical expression, “if the Good Lord is willing”? He lived what he learned from God’s Word – and so should we!
Today we’ll look at the final two, passages which center around the wonderful ill-fated theme of…PATIENCE! PRAYER

WARNING #5 RICH OPPRESSORS WILL BE JUDGED (5:1-6)
Illustration: when I was in elementary school, I would walk or ride my bike the 4 miles round trip to school. Once a week, it was an anticipated joy to stop at the “penny candy” store and for a nickel, get a really thick packet of bubble gum, about 5-10 pieces of gum 2” by 5” wide. And the highlight was the comic card in the package. One of the cards has always struck my fancy: it read, “if you’re so smart, why ain’t you rich?”. So, to paraphrase that, for this section of scripture it could easily be entitled, “if you’re so rich, why ain’t you smart?” – sounds like a good sermon title.
I recently read another paraphrase of that: “is your income an indication of your intelligence? OR…is your intelligence an indication of your income?”
Let’s look at our text. What is v. 1 actually saying? “Do your riches own you, or do you own your riches?” In other words, has the Lord blessed you financially and you don’t use those finances for His glory but for your own? OR is the Lord free to use the funds He has blessed you with – whether large amount or small – for His glory? Are you holding hard on to those funds, or do you have a good steward’s heart and seek His glory in all that He passes through your hands?
Scripture backs up what James has to say. James is the NT version of Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 and Ecclesiastes 5:13-20.
Let’s read these two passages now. Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived. Many believe he wrote Ecclesiastes near the end of his life – when the Lord had brought him through the pitfalls of all that his life entailed.
Note that the two key phrases here are: “meaningless” (from the Hebrew often translated “vanity; empty”. And the second phrase is “a chasing after the wind”. We learned this word in the NT last week in James 4:14, “a mist” = “a vapor, a mist, a morning fog”. It is kind of like the bottle with soapy water in it that we give to our kids – and have them put a circular tube in it and do what? Blow bubbles – which they can save? NO? Within fun-filled seconds, those bubbles – “a mist, a vapor, a morning fog” – are gone! In both Ecclesiastes passages, Solomon came to the same conclusion that James did – riches had him. And he was left empty in spirit. His life, when all was said and done, was empty, meaningless, a vanity, a sham, worth little or nothing in the eyes of eternity.
Which leads us to ask the same thing: “do our riches – our STUFF – have us, or does everything that the Lord has blessed us with have the freedom to be used for His glory?” Tough question – but a most necessary one which each of us should ask ourselves DAILY.

WARNING #6 PATIENT AND PERSEVERING (5:7-11)
This is a neat passage! In our beloved KJV, we have the origin of a phrase which has become a regular classic in the English language! Did you hear that? The Bible has provided a phrase which we regularly use in our language! And the phrase: “the patience of Job.” We ALWAYS use that phrase for dear people – whether Christian or not – who seem to be able to handle situations in such a wonderful, loving, and persevering way. We say, “why, you have ‘the patience of Job’”. And what was Job’s patience – or “perseverance” as our NIV wisely uses? He endured the obstacles of life – the tests of family and health, the tests of his not so great comforters, and the unseen tests which had been sent to him by the enemy of his faith. God didn’t plan the test – He allowed it under the umbrella of His sovereignty – knowing that His good would be accomplished through the…perseverance of Job.
And the NT has two wonderful passages for us: Hebrews 12:1 (right after the great Faith Chapter): “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,” We run with perseverance – with patience, if you will – because God has a plan, a race which He has outlined just like the “Utica Boilermaker” run every July. That race is outlined – the runners run the course planned for their age division. Even so, isn’t it unbelievable to know that the Providential, All-Knowing, All-Wise God has a race marked out for you and me? And note one more thought: Paul was writing to a…CHURCH JUST LIKE OURS! So this race was not only being run by the individuals within that church. It was being run by the church itself! And so are we! Run it with courage and encouragement because God has planned this race for you and me.
And look at 2 Thessalonians 3:1-5: “As for other matters, brothers and sisters, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you. And pray that we may be delivered from wicked and evil people, for not everyone has faith. But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen you and protect you from the evil one. We have confidence in the Lord that you are doing and will continue to do the things we command. May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.”
We can be obedient because, before we were charged to be faithful and have a long-range obedience, our Savior was faithful and had a long-range obedience! How long did His “perseverance” last? The Bible says (Revelation 13:8) that, in God’s eyes, the Lord Jesus is the “Lamb slain before the foundation of the world”. How can that be? We know that in time He went to Calvary’s cross. That is History. Yet in eternity past, an eternal focus was made for Him to take upon Himself your sin and mine. For all intents and purposes, Calvary took place before eternity began – at least in the mind of our Savior. Can you imagine – that for all eternity our Savior persevered with the focus that He was to become our sin, though He Himself is sinless, so that we might become His righteousness”? (2 Cor. 5:21). Wow.
Now THAT is perseverance.

CONCLUSION (5:12)
The Amplified Bible reads, “let your yes be [a truthful] yes, and your no be [a truthful] no, so that you may not fall under judgment.” And The Message wisely translates, “And since you know that he cares, let your language show it. Don’t add words like “I swear to God” to your own words. Don’t show your impatience by concocting oaths to hurry up God. Just say yes or no. Just say what is true. That way, your language can’t be used against you.”
What is the point? Our lessons today concerned not allowing your wealth – or lack of it – to show any evidence that the Lord is not Lord of your life. And may our lives be obedient to Him over a long period of time – regardless of what circumstances life brings us. Verse 12 shows us that the result is that what the world sees, then, will be truthful lives. The world? You know, those people that the Lord has wisely placed in your daily path, who are hungry to see truth, who are fed up with their own world system, who are sick and tired of religion and want to see a real love – the love of Christ on display.
Pilate asked the Savior before sending Him to the cross, “what is truth?” – and Truth was standing right before him. The Lord Jesus on display. Truth. That is what we become when, instead of stuff, the Lord Himself is our riches. And instead of bucket lists, the will of God over a long period of time is our purpose and goal.
James says, “brethren – live for the Lord Jesus! Make a difference where the Lord has wisely planted you and me.”