“Hear my
prayer, O LORD; let my cry come to you. Do not hide your face from me
in the day of my distress! Incline your ear to me; answer me speedily
in the day when I call” (Psalm 102:2).
Amateur radio, also
known as ham radio, is a hobby enjoyed by several hundred thousand
people in the United States and by over a million people worldwide.
Recently I was visiting the home of a “ham.” He took me
into his radio room and I was amazed. It was like walking into the
cockpit of a big jet.
He proceeded to
demonstrate his equipment and I was even more amazed as he projected
a signal to the moon and back in three seconds. That’s a distance of
238,855 miles each way. The speed of light 186,282 miles per second.
In theory nothing can travel faster than light. In miles per hour,
light speed is: about 670,616,629 MPH.
But there is
something faster: the speed of prayer. The speed of light is a
non-issue when I realize that there is no distance or time delay
between my mouth and God’s ear. I don’t need to do more; I need to
pray more.
A Chinese company which recently became the world’s third largest maker of smartphones has declared that its new flagship product is the fastest smartphone in the world. This announcement no doubt came as good news to avid smartphone users. This information will likely result in the mass purchase of the phone, making plenty of people happy….and wealthy!Human beings have become reluctantly accustomed to waiting for many things. Perhaps that’s why fast download speeds on high-tech cell phones are a very attractive feature. Technically, to download means to receive data (pictures, files, etc.) to a local system (your computer) from a remote system, [email protected]. In the past, downloading took a long time, but today’s downloading speeds are simply unbelievable!
Although the speed
of downloading has accelerated markedly over the last few years, it
still can’t (and dare I say, won’t ever) beat the speed of prayer.
No, your prayer won’t bounce off the ceiling, but in record time it
will enter the very throne room of God. His response will be faster
than the speed of light. “In the day that you call, He will
answer you speedily.” (Psalm 102:2)
Take time to pray.
He desires to hear from you. As long as you do this, your life will
never be the same again.
***
SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES
Consider trying
these habits for success:
• Taking time to
reflect on your day, every day. Keep a journal of your thoughts,
successes, failures and the lessons you have learned. Review your
journal each weekend.
• Giving back to
your community. Volunteer for causes and organizations you feel
strongly about, and especially help those who are less fortunate than
you are.
• Being
comfortable being by yourself. Scheduling some “me-time”
each day can give you an opportunity to be alone with your thoughts
to reflect and replenish your energy.
• Staying
persistent. Don’t give up or stress when you encounter a bump in the
road, persistence can often be the difference between success and
failure.
• Having a good
sense of self-awareness. Know your strengths, weaknesses, limits and
never underestimate yourself.
• Knowing when to
say no to things that don’t matter or add value to your life or
career. If you say ‘yes’ to everything, your ‘no’ means nothing.
• Being
disciplined and practicing self-control and avoid letting your
emotions get the best of you. Visualize your goals and stick to them.
Practice self-control like it’s a muscle you can strengthen with
frequent use over time.
— o
—
Consumer spending is
68 percent of the US economy. Such spending is driven by marketers
who persuade us that we need what they offer. They do this by
connecting our sense of personal success and significance to what we
own, using our 24/7 media-driven culture to sell us their goods and
services.
— o
—
Did you see the big
news? Scientists recently completed a massive study of genetic “bar
codes” and were shocked to discover that all human beings are
descended from two people. They could have saved time and money by
just reading Chapter 1 of Genesis.
***
QUOTES YOU CAN USE
There’s a difference
between being alone and being lonely.
Life is a gift, and
it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give
something back by becoming more.” Tony Robbins
Joy is not about the
GOOD things, but the GOD things in our life. John Zeller
Our greatest
superlatives do not describe the power of God. Add one to another,
multiple them, and add them together and multiply again, and go on
doing so. And still you have not succeeded in describing it. Martyn
Lloyd Jones
A
guy goes into a fancy lounge wearing a shirt open at the collar, but
the bouncer tells him he needs a necktie to get in.
The
guy doesn’t
have a necktie handy, so goes out to his car and gets his jumper
cables. He ties these around his neck, manages to fashion a fairly
acceptable looking knot, and lets the ends dangle free.
He
goes back to the lounge. The
bouncer looks him up & down and then says, “Well,
OK, I guess you can come in – just
don’t
start anything.”
The
communion service is a familiar service. 1 Corinthians 11 was written
because Paul saw that its use in Corinth –
in the church –
was being abused.
Is it possible that it is too
familiar? What warnings and encouragements will we find for us and
our church in this passage? PRAYER
#1THEY WERE TOGETHER, BUT
NOT ALL TOGETHER (vs.
17-22)
*
V. 17 sets the tone:
“I do not praise you”
– and Paul is talking about
the Lord’s Supper! And
he closes in v. 22 with “I
do not praise you.”!
*
Note the use of these negative
words: “divisions”
(v. 18); “factions”
(v. 19)
*
What was the problem?
The people of the church at
Corinth were more concerned about their position in the church than
they were about their position in Christ
Note
v. 21 “ahead
of others”. Apparently
there was a fellowship meal surrounding their enjoying the Lord’s
table. And who got what,
and how much, and who sat where, was more important than who was
there.
And
who are those at the meal?
Illus.:
Pastor Ray Stedman, in
commenting on Psalm 107, said that God has placed in every heart two
needs. He
calls this the fruit of “city
seeking”:
“Then
they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them
from their distress. He led them by a straight way to a city where
they could settle” (Psalm 107:6-7)…
“A
city is always characterized by two qualities: excitement and
security…
We
are told how they find satisfaction: “Then
they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them
from their distress. He led them by a straight way to a city where
they could settle” (Psalm
107:6-7). Some of you have had this experience. You too were
restless; you were uncertain, wandering, hungry, and thirsty for
life, but you could never find it. You tried everything. Finally,
when you reached the bottom, you cried to the Lord in your trouble.
When you did, He heard you. Not suddenly or instantaneously, but
gradually, He began to set you free. He began to lead you “by
a straight way.” God
delivers those in this condition by leading them in a straight way.
They have been wandering circuitously, deviously; now they start
going straight. That is the way described in the Scripture. It is a
straight way, right through the middle of life. God leads them until
they find a city to dwell in, until they reach the place of
excitement and security.”
*
So… when we come to the
communion table, are we conscious that we are together and all
together – one
body?
Maybe
the oneness of the body should be our prayer!
#2
THEY WERE THINKING, BUT
NOT ABOUT JESUS (vs.
23-26)
How
do we know that? Paul
reminded them of the words of the Lord Jesus
at
the Last Supper: “in
remembrance of Me” was
a call to partake of the elements of the Lord’s
Table with a focus on the One Who only deserves our focus.
It
was possible then NOT to be focused on Him!
*
What were they focused on?
The intent of v. 26 is that
they have an eternal focus, and more than likely their focus was on
today only
Who
is our focus on today – Jesus
only, or on things and stuff?
#3
THEY WERE WAITING, BUT
NOT FOR ONE ANOTHER (vs.
27-34)
*
There are 3 important words
here.
Word
#1 is “together”
(vs. 17,18,20,33,34)
Word
#2 is “another”
(vs. 21, 33)
Word
#3 is “wait”
(v. 33)
*
These words imply oneness and
caring. Even
at the Lord’s
Table, there is to be a oneness and not simply a routine.
CONCLUSION
Illustration.:
Back in the fall of 1998, my
wife and I took several old storm windows down to a shop in Norwich
where the owner offered for me to drop them off.
After we unloaded the car, I
walked around and held open the passenger door for my wife while she
situated herself in the car. Unknown
to me, the store owner had observed all this.
She said, “you’ve
been married for a long time, haven’t
you?”. “25
years July 6”. The
truth was, I used to open all doors for her when we first started
courting some 26 years earlier. But
after the honeymoon, the routine fizzled out.
Sometime before our 25th, I
said to myself, “I’m
going to surprise her and on our 25th anniversary vacation I’m
going to start holding doors open for her.”
What did that do?
Well, it DID make me look
good. But
it also encouraged our oneness as husband and wife.
What
is Paul encouraging us to do during the communion?
Hold the door!
Hold the plate for one
another! That
will cause us to see oneness and not just ourselves!
And take these ten cheeses to the commanding officer. Find out how your brothers are getting along and bring back something to show that you saw them and that they are well. —Samuel 17:18
The
acorns are falling and the rats are crawling. They have taken
residence in our garage attic and found a way to get down to the main
floor, where they have raised havoc on some bags of wild bird seed.
In
need of a way to evict them, I went online and ordered three rat
traps and after baiting them with cheese retired for the night to let
them do their work. Each morning I go into the garage to view the
night’s catch. I keep trapping and they keep coming.
Life
is like that. There are traps everywhere and often baited
attractively, but when you take the bait, the trap snaps faster than
you can run away.
Satan
is the greatest trapper of all. Our path of life is strewn with his
good-looking traps. John Bevere’s book The Bait of Satan has sold
nearly a million copies. His bait is often very tempting, but what
looks good on the outside can crush you on the inside.
Have
you ever fallen into a trap laid by Satan? The truth is that all of
us have at some point fallen victim to the devil’s schemes, so how
can we better protect ourselves? How can we recognize the temptations
and deceit of Satan, so that we can be prepared to ward off his
advances and stand courageous and faithful with God?
Satan
constantly tries to catch us. But he is not always like a hunter who
kills the animals he catches. What the Devil really wants to do when
he catches someone is to make that person do what he wants. A trapper
may use different snares, or traps, to catch an animal. He may start
a fire to get the animal out of its hiding place so that it becomes
easier to catch it. Or he may catch the animal by using a noose. He
may also use a trap that he has hidden. The animal touches it and is
crushed. Satan also uses traps to catch God’s servants. If we do not
want to get caught, we must be alert and pay attention to the warning
signs that help us to know where Satan’s traps are.
The
best place is to start with the Word. If you are daily in the Word,
you are far less likely to fall into the snares of Satan’s traps. The
Word not only assures us of Jesus’ constant presence in the lives of
His followers, but it gives us practical advice as well. Avoid
situations and people that lead to sin. Certain people, places, and
situations make sinning easy. Get help.
You
don’t need to fight your temptations alone.
***
SOMETIMES TRUE
STORIES
Rider University in New Jersey recently
asked students what fast-food restaurant they would like to see on
campus. Once it became clear that Chick-fil-A was their choice, the
school’s leaders excluded this option, citing concerns over the
company’s alleged attitudes toward the LGBTQ community.
BIG
NEWS!
Did
you see the big news? Scientists recently completed a massive study
of genetic “bar codes” and were shocked to discover that
all human beings are descended from two people. They could have saved
time and money by just reading Chapter 1 of Genesis.
Rubber Duckie
***
QUOTES YOU CAN USE
We need to count her blessed as the Mother of our incarnate Lord. But let’s be careful not to put her on a pedestal that neither she, nor Jesus would approve of. —John Piper
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.'” – Matthew 22:37-40 NIV
Finally,
this chapter aims to persuade you that there is almost nothing more
important we can do for our young than convince them that production
is more satisfying than consumption. Indeed, a hallmark of virtuous
adulthood is learning to find freedom in your work, rather than
freedom from your work, even when work hurts.
Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life. Rev. 2:10
Recently at my
check-up, my dentist told me I needed a crown, so I made an
appointment. He ground away most of my teeth and then I was amazed at
the next step. He put a small camera in my mouth which showed on the
computer monitor as he built a 3d color picture and then he proceeded
to “build” a crown image on the computer.
The next step
fascinated me as he placed a small block of porcelain in a small
machine which in full view physically built the crown in six minutes.
Then it had to bake thirty minutes while I sipped on some coffee and
read my email. Then the new crown was ready to install and cement in
place. Then I was done.
Same day service for
a crown. That is almost instantaneous. How can you beat that? Well
Jesus can as we accept Him and instantaneously receive the crown of
life.
Jesus references
this crown when he tells the Church in Smyrna to “not be afraid
of what you are about to suffer…Be faithful even to the point of
death, and I will give you the crown of life.”
Eternal life is a
free gift to everyone and anyone who believes in Jesus for it. You do
not have to work your way to eternal life. Eternal life cannot be
earned or kept by good works. The Crown of Life, however, is a reward
for special acts of service and perseverance under trial.
The Crown of Life is
a special reward for a special act of service and dedication to the
King. So if you are experiencing severe temptation, trials, or
persecution, be encouraged and persevere through them.
Just as a runner
perseveres through the difficulties of the race so that he reaches
the finish line and receives the reward, Jesus wants to put the Crown
of Life upon your head when you reach the finish line after
persevering through pain, trials, and persecution.
By offering this
Crown, Jesus encourages us to stay strong, keep the course, and
remain faithful, no matter what trials we face.
Keep your eyes on
Jesus and serve him until you finish the race of earthly life.
***
SOMETIMES TRUE
STORIES
The Unchurched Next
Door
1. 10% Highly
Receptive to the Gospel
2. 27% Receptive to
the Gospel
3. 36% Neutral to
the Gospel
4. 21% Resistant to
the Gospel
5. 5% Hostile to
the Gospel
According to the A.
C. Nielsen Company, the most esteemed media research group in the
world, the typical American logs more than five hours in front of the
TV every single day. In case you’re not a fan of math, I’ll do the
calculating for you: That’s thirty-five hours a week, or
seventy-seven days a year of uninterrupted idiot box watching. If
Average Andy manages to keep up that prolific couch potato pace until
he is eighty, he will have spent more than thirteen years of his life
glued to the tube.
According to a Barna
study, 64 percent of Americans think pro athletes have more influence
in society than pastors.
Americans spend $100
billion on sports each year.
In 1965 less than 10
percent of college students said they “never” attend any
religious services, compared to nearly 30 percent today. The Pew
Research Center’s Michael Lipka reported that about 35 percent of
adult millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) identify as atheist,
agnostic, or “nothing in particular.” Far more Millennials
say they have no religious affiliation compared with those who
identify as evangelical Protestants (21%), Catholics (16%) or
mainline Protestants (11%)
Working!
***
QUOTES YOU CAN USE
He who is not
contented with what he has, would not be contented with what he would
like to have. —Socrates
Our God Is Able To
Do Far More Abundantly Beyond All That We Ask
Bring your most
daring petition, bring your most impossible requests, add others to
them; let the whole church join together in their wildest desires and
demands. There is no danger of exceeding the limits, His power is
beyond all that we can ever ask. Martyn Lloyd Jones
God in His
sovereignty has chosen to accomplish His mission through His church
as they give, pray, love, serve, and go.
Some people should
use a glue stick rather than a chapstick.
I haven’t lost my
mind. Half of it wandered off and the other half is out looking for
it.
It is not good to
eat much honey: so for men to search their own glory is not glory.
Proverbs 25:27
The latter 20th
century and on into the 21st has been marked by increased consumption
and a society that turns wants into needs. Being subconsciously
insulated from necessity and transforming more wants into needs
hasn’t made us happier. And it certainly hasn’t made us stronger. We
have instead a generation drifting into adulthood that has been
reared with an entitled and false sense of both how much material
comfort we need, and how easily it should come to them.
Credit cards, home
equity loans and the like together with aggressive advertising that
convinces you that you must have whatever they are hawking. The
result has been an absolute disaster. A stunning 30 percent of
American adults today are not creditworthy.
As a youngster, I
toured the Smithsonian and saw the Hope Diamond, worth $350 million.
I learned that it had an historical curse, which brought misfortune
and tragedy to persons who owned it or wore it. It brought anything,
but happiness.
A focus on acquiring
“things” will never yield enough products to produce
happiness. It invariably ends in grief and disappointment.
Consumerism undermines our faith.
A consumption
economy is at complete odds with God. No matter the amount of money,
the amount of food, the amount of sex, the amount of entertainment, a
consumer in a consumption economy will never be satisfied. God knows
it is man’s nature that when material things are in abundant that
people will turn away from Him.
Consumption is not
necessarily bad. After all we need to consume basics in order to
live. We need a house, but not a mansion. We need a car, but not a
Rolls Royce. We assign value to ourselves and others based on the
goods we purchase. One’s identity is now constructed by the clothes
we wear, the vehicle we drive, and the music on our iPod. In short,
we are what we consume.
Our identity should
be on our spiritual focus….. on Jesus or what’s in our garage. Too
many have switched from Lord to label and focus on self-glory and
identity.
Where are you?
Choose to be happy!
SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES
Results of a recent
survey indicate that 51% of senior citizens take at least five
different prescription drugs on a regular basis! In addition people
take over the counter medications for aches, pains, headaches,
digestive issues among others.
— o
—
Was George
Washington a failure?
As Rick Newman
points out in his book, Rebounders, the key to success is not a lack
of failure but our response to it. Examples:
• George
Washington “lost more battles than he won during the
Revolutionary War.”
• Norman Vincent
Peale’s wife rescued the manuscript of The Power of Positive Thinking
from the trash after it had been rejected repeatedly by New York
publishers; it became an all-time bestseller.
• A 1914 fire
destroyed Thomas Edison’s manufacturing operations, but the
sixty-seven-year-old rebuilt and modernized factories that
revolutionized technology.
• A whole body of
scientific research has shown that overcoming setbacks can make
people stronger, smarter, and more durable.
• Those with
positive attitudes about aging are 50 percent less likely to develop
the disorder than less positive people
• Positive
thinking is a beneficial exercise. Positive thinking about negative
experiences is even more valuable.
— o
—
FACTS
Florida ranks No. 3
for the most student debt.
Only nine nations
have a higher reported abortion rate than the U.S.
The world’s
population is living longer and better than ever before. For
instance, each day on average:
• 295,000 people
gain access to electricity for the first time.
• 305,000 people
are able to access clean drinking water for the first time.
• 620,000 people
are able to get online for the first time.
• Only about 4
percent of children worldwide die by the age of five, down from 19
percent in 1960.
• Fewer than 10
percent of the world’s population live in extreme poverty, down from
more than 50 percent in the 1950s.
Never before has
such a large portion of humanity been literate, enjoyed a
middle-class cushion, lived such long lives . . . or been confident
their children would survive. Let’s hit pause on our fears and
frustrations and share a nanosecond of celebration at this backdrop
of progress.
***
QUOTES YOU CAN USE
Robots can’t take
your job away if you are retired.
Do something today
that your future self will thank you for.
Discipline is doing
what you don’t want to do. Ken Whitten
When you worship The
Lord with real passion, you will likely not be worried about where
you are going for lunch! Dwight Short
God reserves the
right to interrupt our world at will in order to accomplish His
predetermined will. Ken Whitten
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
Passwords drive me
crazy. I have various electronic devices with a myriad of
applications, each having different password requirements. It is hard
(and probably not wise) to have a universal password.
I get messages like,
“Sorry but your password must contain an upper case letter, a
number, a punctuation mark, a gang sign, an extinct animal and a
hieroglyph. Finally I found a solution. I changed my password to
“incorrect.” If I forget, I can write in anything and the
screen will say “your password is incorrect.”
Passwords are
important and often govern access to various places and things. They
also verify the authenticity of the holder. I had a close friend, now
deceased, who was a guard in combat during World War II. Penetration
by the enemy of the perimeter was always a concern. Often the enemy
would steal allied uniforms and try to sneak through. The guard would
request a secret password and if the intruder could not correctly
respond, the enemy was shot on sight.
Someone who had
parachuted behind enemy lines during the invasion of Normandy once
told me they were issued clickers and once on the ground if they saw
anyone, they would click and if the click was not countered with a
similar click they knew that the person was hostile and acted
accordingly.
God has a password
to get into heaven. His code is not some secret, obscure combination
of letters and numbers; rather it is as simple as believing and
confessing that Jesus is Lord and accepting that God raised him from
the dead. Any other would-be heavenly password will leave us locked
out. This password should be easy for us to put into our minds and
souls, but for some of us it is a hard concept to grasp. We might
want to be the lord of our own lives or think we can get into heaven
on our own merits.
Often I go places
where they have a Wi-Fi connection. To get in, I need the password,
but once I put the password in my device, the whole Internet is open
to me.
The same is true
with God’s password. When we believe and confess Jesus as Lord, the
gates of heaven are open to us. The benefit of knowing the code is
not only for heaven. It also benefits us in this life: realizing that
we are forgiven, having the assurance of God’s acceptance, and
enjoying freedom from guilt.
Do you know the
password?
***
SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES
Consider trying
these habits for success:
▪ Waking up
earlier. Adding an hour to your day by waking up an hour earlier can
make you more conscientious and optimistic.
▪ Eating a
healthy breakfast every day. This will give you the fuel your body
needs for energy and help you keep focused during the day.
▪ Have a task
that you are dreading on your to-do list? Getting it done first thing
in the morning will help improve your productivity by saving yourself
from stressing and agonizing over it all day.
▪ Exercising in
your free time. An active body leads to an active mind. Make time to
exercise whether it is in the morning, evening or on the weekends.
▪ Practicing an
attitude of gratitude. Be less focused on what you may be missing and
more focused on being in the present and enjoying the moment where
you are.
— o
—
By 2025 machines
could be working and performing 52% of office tasks – Time
— o
—
The 16th President
of our country wrote powerful lessons for leaders.
1) Don’t let fear
hold you back! Risk-taking is an essential element of success.
2) Realize that
there is life after failure. If you fail, pick yourself up and try,
try again.
3) Never write
yourself off!
Just look at
President Lincoln’s life.
— o
—
My First Computer
— o
—
The Barna group
released a study that indicates up to 80% of church-goers do not
participate in The Great Commission.
***
QUOTES YOU CAN USE
Don’t let too much
of yesterday eat up your time today.
Sixty might be the
new forty, but nine is the new midnight.
The Bible is the
only book whose author is always present when one reads it.
Never let anyone who
has done nothing tell you how to do anything.
These
three passages of Scripture make some of the most remarkable
statements ever penned or spoken. Seven hundred years before Christ’s
appearance upon earth the prophet Isaiah gave specific details
regarding the birth of Jesus. We have read both bookends—Isaiah’s
and Matthew’s—the prophecy and the fulfillment! These are not
chance happenings. These are the divine enactments of the Sovereign
God. The promises of God by written or spoken word are kept. To such
a faithful and true Father in Heaven we submit ourselves for time and
for eternity.
THE FACTS
The
two words given to the title of this message sound so much alike. In
truth they are very different. They are “incredible” and
“incredulous.” The word incredible suggests awesomeness, the
reverence one sees, hears or feels when witnessing what appears to
have been impossible take place in his very presence. The evidence is
so irrefutable; one can’t help but accept it as fact, as done,
accomplished. It is an overwhelming conviction of a happening beyond
comprehension. Its reality erupts in astonishment, in amazement. It
brings one into a state of wonder, an atmosphere of reverence. From
this we can see the all conquering love of God as we sing “Amazing
grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.”
The
word incredulous brings one to another conclusion. The Webster’s
dictionary defines this as the inability of a person to believe in
spite of the empirical evidence. A person exposed to the same stimuli
which stirs one to believe and he chooses rather to disbelieve. He
may say, “This defies reason.” “This disregards natural
law.” “This does not fit within my box.” “It rejects
reality.” “It is anti intellectual.” “It is mystical
and mythical.” “This nonsense must be debunked.”
One
can readily see these two words are in a collision course. The
conflict between these two comes to a climactic battle at the birth
of Jesus Christ.
The
prophesy in Isaiah that a virgin would conceive and bear a child
appeared to be so illogical, so biologically impossible that critics
would write it of as fiction, a fairy tale. It was incredulous. Yet,
the prophecy was fulfilled as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew and
its witnesses with utter astonishment said we have witnessed an
incredible miracle. The war was on.
Let
us draw an analogy:
Incredible
Incredulous
Bright
lights and angels to peasant shepherds
Ludicrous
yarn spun by dreaming shepherds
Baby
born to a virgin
Write
it off, impossible
King
born in a stable
Kings
are born in royal palaces
Rich
men from east travel from far with gifts following star
Herod
got out prophecy
to
direct them, cruel plan
to destroy
Wise
men warned in a dream,
took another way
Herod thwarted, made new plan, kill all babies
Joseph
warned by an angel.
Went to Egypt
Herod
thwarted again
Jesus,
wondrous healings: Crippled man healed and
Religious
leaders ask, who can forgive sins but God?
Man
blind from birth also healed.
Accused
of practicing medicine on the Sabbath.
Casts
out demons
Accused
of being in league with Beelzebub
“No
man ever spoke like
this man.”
Angry
defiance from religious leaders, and feared loss of authority.
Wisdom
Confusion
Jesus
said, “Peace be still.”Winds
and water obeyed Him.
Who
is commanding nature to obey?
Jesus
crucified
Mission
accomplished
Jesus
rose again
Evil
defeated
There
are any more comparisons for which you could make illustrations.
Among
the titles given to Jesus in Isaiah, chapter nine, we find the first
appellation; “Wonderful.” Some insist on linking this to the
second, “Counselor.” In reality He is the “Wonderful
Counselor.” However, His ability to elicit wonder stands
sufficiently in its own right. Here, again He is so incredible at
every level He becomes the object and the source out of which
“wonder” emanates.
Let
us look at it. People wondered at His birth. They wondered at His
life. They wondered at His miracles. They wondered at His words, His
works, His Wisdom. They wondered at His death and at His
resurrection. And they will wonder at His return. He indeed is
“Wonderful.” Again, this is the incredible, incomparable
Christ. With Him, there is none to compare. It totally baffles the
incredulity of Christ’s antagonists.
Conclusion:
What
will it be for you, incredible or incredulous? Will you stand in awe
and reverence, or stand in rejection and irrecoverable loss? Let us
in light of the miracle of the Christmas season believe and live!
A
message delivered by Almon M. Bartholomew, during his long ministry
in New York State.
When I was a
child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like
a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 1 Cor
13:11
The word
“adolescence,” derived from the Latin verb meaning “to
grow up,” likely began to be widely used in the fifteenth
century, and was meant to suggest the nearing of full maturity—not
only biologically, but now also emotionally, financially, and in
terms of character.”
In 1965 less than 10
percent of college students said they “never” attend any
religious services, compared to nearly 30 percent today. The Pew
Research Center’s Michael Lipka reported that about 35 percent of
adult millennials (born between 1981 and 1996) identify as atheist,
agnostic, or “nothing in particular.” “Far more
Millennials say they have no religious affiliation.
Where have we gone
wrong? There is definitely a trend and it is going the wrong way,
decade by decade. It’s not only in spiritual matters, but more and
more young people want to eat their dessert first.
Socrates said: “He
who is not content with what he has, would not be content with what
he would like to have.”
There are few more
things more important we can do for our young than convince them that
production is more satisfying than consumption. Indeed, a hallmark of
virtuous adulthood is learning to find freedom in your work, rather
than freedom from your work, even when your work hurts.
But more important
than work, is spiritual development. We should spend more time being
an example to young people in their spiritual development. We need to
be an example to be holy, not a synonym for goody-goody time, but
rather time set apart for sacred use.
As adults, we are
called to lead children through maturing to spiritual maturity, but
this calling goes farther than children. Our call is to all, for
everyone is in some stage of spiritual adolescence, including
ourselves.
We should all strive
to grow in our spiritual maturity and lead by example for others to
follow, both young and old.
***
SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES
How Adam got Eve
Nothing like a good
Bible story to make your day. Adam was hanging around the garden of
Eden feeling very lonely. So, God asked him, “What’s wrong with
you?” Adam said he didn’t have anyone to talk to.
God said that He was
going to make Adam a companion and that it would be a woman. He said,
“This pretty lady will gather food for you, she will cook for
you, and when you discover clothing, she will wash it for you. “She
will always agree with every decision you make and she will not nag
you, and will always be the first to admit she was wrong when you’ve
had a disagreement. “She will praise you!
“She will bear
your children, and never ask you to get up in the middle of the night
to take care of them. “She will NEVER have a headache and will
freely give you love and passion whenever you need it.”
Adam asked God,
“What will a woman like this cost?” God replied, “An
arm and a leg.” Then Adam asked, “What can I get for just a
rib?”
And, of course the
rest is history.
Evidently, Mac supports windows now.
***
QUOTES YOU CAN USE
The 16th President
of our country wrote powerful lessons for leaders.
1) Don’t let fear
hold you back! Risk-taking is an essential element of success.
2) Realize that
there is life after failure. If you fail, pick yourself up and try,
try again.
3) Never write
yourself off!
Just look at
President Lincoln’s life.
— o
—
It’s awful when I am
singing a song and the artist gets all the words wrong.
— o
—
I haven’t lost my
mind. Half just wandered and the other half went looking for it.
“Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew22:34-40
The first month of the year is the month of resolutions, most broken by the second month of the year. What are your resolutions? Maybe they are things like losing weight, getting in shape, reading a book a week, etc. How many, if any, of your resolutions deal with spiritual matters, like daily quiet time and Bible reading, discipling fellow believers, leading one lost person to Christ each month, etc.?
Perhaps you are thinking of honoring God with your generosity, but feel that your financial position lacks the ability to give much. Giving is important and a tithe is a tithe whether you make a million dollars a year or try to live on a minimum wage.
But there is more than money involved. The word “Lord” is the most common word in the Bible. Will it be the most common thought inyour mind as you live out the coming year?
We are admonished to keep our eyes fixed on Him. Hebrews 12:2 “Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from beginning to end. He did not give up because of the cross! On the contrary, because of the joy that was waiting for him, he thought nothing of the disgrace of dying on the cross, and he is now seated at the right side of God’s throne.”
What will you give as you keep your focus on Him in this new year? Let me suggest the L.I.F.E acrostic.
LABOR – God gives us a body to be used for Him. You may not be able to give a lot financially, but you can give your labor, in missions,constructions, walking your neighborhood and a lot more.
2. INFLUENCE – God gives us power and position and I refer not to just important people. You might exert your influence on the person in the cubicle next to you at work.
3. FINANCE – Share your financial resources. Got gives some much, some little but all enough to give.
4. EXPERTISE – Each of can do something well…. very well. What is your gift….. administrative, music, second language, etc.?
Take your life’s talent, recourses…… and give it all to Christ this coming year. I’m not a poker player, but I understand that when a player builds of a big war chest and feels he has a good hand, he pushes his entire resources and shoves them to the center of the table and says “I’m all in.”
How about you? Are you ready and willing to push all you have into the center of your life and say to God: “I’m all in?
***
SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES
Consider trying these habits for success:
• Waking up earlier. Adding an hour to your day by waking up an hour earlier can make you more conscientious and optimistic.
• Eating a healthy breakfast every day. This will give you the fuel your body needs for energy and help you keep focused during the day.
• Have a task that you are dreading on your to-do list? Getting it done first thing in the morning will help improve your productivity by saving yourself from stressing and agonizing over it all day.
• Exercising in your free time. An active body leads to an active mind. Make time to exercise whether it is in the morning, evening or on the weekends.
• Practicing an attitude of gratitude. Be less focused on what you may be missing and more focused on being in the present and enjoying the moment where you are.
• Taking time to reflect on your day, every day. Keep a journal of your thoughts, successes, failures and the lessons you have learned.Review your journal each weekend.
• Giving back to your community. Volunteer for causes and organizations you feel strongly about, and especially help those who are less fortunate than you are.
—
o —
The Barna group released a study that indicates up to 80% of church goers do not participate in The Great Commission.
—
o —
***
QUOTES YOU CAN USE
Don’t let too much of yesterday eat up your time today.
Sixty might be the new forty, but nine is the new midnight.
The Bible is the only book whose author is always present when one read sit.
Never let anyone who has done nothing tell you how to do anything.
God reserves the right to interrupt our world at will in order to accomplish His predetermined will. Ken Whitten
A patient went to the Doctor and asked him to check his leg.
“Something’swrong. Just put your ear up to my thigh, you’ll hear it!”
The doctor cautiously places his ear to the man’s thigh only to hear, “Giveme $10! I’m desperate! I need $10!”
“I’ve never seen or heard anything like this before! How long has this been going on?”the doctor asked.
“That’s nothing,
Doc. Put your ear to my knee.”
The doctor put his ear to the man’s knee and heard it say, “Please! I really need$5! Just $5! Please! I’m desperate!”
“Sir, I really don’t know what to tell you. I’ve never seen anything like this.”The doctor was truly dumbfounded.
“Wait, Doc, that’s not all of it. There’s more. Just put your ear down on my ankle,”the man urged him.
The doctor did as the man said and was amazed to hear his ankle plead, “Please, I just need $20! Please lend me $20, please! I am really desperate!”
“I have no idea what to tell you,” the doctor said. “There’s nothing about it in any of my books,” he said as he frantically searched all his medical reference books. “However… I can make a well-educated guess.
Based on life and all my previous experiences, I can tell you with some certainty, that your leg seems to be broke in three places.
INTRODUCTION
Last Wednesday, quarterback Tom Brady of the (cough cough) New England Patriots was asked to comment on his 19 year career. His words were carefully chosen and interesting:
“I’ve been able to be in a career for 19 years that I love,” Brady said. “And I wake up every day excited to go to work. And I wake up every day fulfilled with what I’m doing. I don’t think there’s any greater gift in my life than to have that. Along with that has come a lot of other very cool opportunities, but in my heart and soul, I love playing the sport of football. And it’s brought me so much joy in my life.”
Then he went on to say, “It tests you in so many ways. I’ve been dealing with it fora long time. There’s anxiousness and nerves, and there’s joy and happiness, there’s disappointment and frustration. The emotions run the gamut. But if you can stay and build your mental toughness, it has just been incredibly rewarding. And I’m a very, very lucky man.”
This MOST LIKELY will be the last sermon that I ever preach as a pastor; it may be the last sermon that I EVER preach. And if it is, I hope I can apply what Mr. Brady did: I’ve been able to be in a career – a calling if you will – for 30 years that I love – and I wake up every day excited to go to work.
But if it really IS my last sermon, I couldn’t find a better text to preach from than the one before us – perhaps the last words given by the Apostle Paul to the church in Corinth.
The church at Corinth had a good history. It had a great foundation, much like First Baptist Earlville. Its people loved the Lord Jesus as Savior and Lord. They were encouraged by many servants of the Lord over its history to stay true to the foundation they enjoyed in Christ. And through its many trials – both without and within – it was challenged to remember its roots, its firm foundation, and to build upon the foundation of the Rock – even the Lord.
With that background, let’s look at what Paul said to them – and in turn,what I am privileged to say to y’all this morning. PRAYER
Paul’s message revolves around 3 key themes:
1. BE GROWING: match on the outside God’s operation inside! (v. 11)
Paul begins his farewell to the people in Corinth by reminding them that their whole being is like a car. Huh? Well, let me illustrate: a friend shared with me the story of a phone call he received from his adult grand-daughter. It seems that her new car had blown its engine. My friend, who is a retired life-long mechanic, lovingly asked her, “how often did you check the oil?”. To which his grand-daughter replied,“check what?”. I hope that illustration makes sense to you. If we who own vehicles don’t regularly check the engine oil, or listen carefully to noises that just don’t sound right, it shouldn’t surprise us when one day we are besides the road, 20 degrees below zero, 40 feet of snow, and going nowhere. Oh, and the battery of our phone is dead, too. Hmm.
All that to say this: the church is like a well-cared for car engine. Paul says to“aim for perfection” – that means to be mature! Pay attention to the details. So let me ask you: do you love the Lord Jesus as your Savior and Lord? IF SO, how is your walk with the Lord? Are you taking care of your spiritual engine? Are you in prayer? Are you reading the Bible in a still moment of your day? Yes, it is possible to have still moments in your day, if you seek them FIRST.
Paul says “listen to my appeal – be of one mind, live in peace.” The Message says, “Think in harmony. Be agreeable.” This is under the umbrella of “be growing”. What does it mean? Well, think of two neighbors, both of whom went to the same church. One day, one of the neighbors stopped coming to church. In fact, she started attending a church on the other side of the valley. The wise young pastor went to her and said, “hey – you are missed at our church. How come you aren’t coming?” Do you know what she said? She said that her neighbor across the street thinks her kids are better than my kids. That is what she told me. So rather than bother her and confront her, I am going elsewhere.” The wise young pastor went to the first neighbor and said, “hey, isn’t it something that Mrs. Jones and her family no longer come to church – in fact, they’re going to the church on the other side of the valley.” And do you know what that first neighbor replied to him? She said, “I have NO IDEA why she stopped coming.”
Paul said, “think in harmony. Be agreeable.” That means that in order to be a growing church – unlike the situation with Mrs. Jones and her neighbor – differences should be current. They should be settled as soon as possible, in order for the Lord’s growing hand to be uponHis church.
And note that it is the God of love and peace that is overseeing His church. He just doesn’t leave His people alone to build His church. Jesus said, “I WILL BUILD MY CHURCH – and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.”
But if the church presumes that it will always be a mature people, then, well, one day you’ll start hearing the noises, smell the smoke, and the engine will be dead. Oh, the church will still be open, it will be doing all the things it usually does, but it will not have any life. It will be going through the motions. The joy will be gone. It will be a dead church.
Be growing.
2. BE REMINDED: that saints are everywhere! (vs. 12-13)
Paul says, “greet one another with a holy kiss.” OK. Let’s go on to the next point. I can see it now. When I ever am invited back, Carl the organist, now age 75 or so, will tell me, “we listened to what you said in your closing message. Look and see!” And I’ll walk into the auditorium and see a wide Jumbotron screen over the pulpit. And sometime during the service the words “Kiss Cam” will appear, and the TV camera will zero in on couples – or even non-couples – to see if they will kiss. I can see it now.
It is interesting how other translations word this command of Paul. The New Living Translation says, “Greet each other with a sacred kiss.” But I think The Message gives Paul’s intent: “Greet one another with a holy embrace.” There are some that may forget the word “holy” and remember only the word “kiss”.
Perhaps I should leave that alone.
OR perhaps Paul intended that action to be closely connected with the next line: “all the saints send their greetings.” What does that mean?
ILLUSTRATION: Have you ever gone on vacation and visited another church in another state? What did you find? You tried to compare how they do things with how we do things. And then? You came to the overwhelming realization that the people there are just like us! In fact, they were quite interested to hear what church is like back home! Why? Because God has wisely planted churches and people just like us all over the world! Why? Because He wants us to see people as He sees them!
So – the “holy embrace” is to be first of all “holy”, and not necessarily a wet smooch. It may be even a handshake or a squeeze of the shoulder to let you know – hey, we are one in Christ. There are saints everywhere!
Be reminded.
3. BE AWED: the Trinity sees you! (v. 14)
Finally, Paul ends his farewell greeting with a benediction. This should keep the church in Corinth in awe of Who God is and what He is eternally doing on their behalf. The Son? He displays grace – God’s kindness at His expense! The cross is always before Him, and He wants His grace to be always before His children. The Father? He displays love. The Bible says that He has loved us with an everlasting love. That means that the church should first of all look at each other and then at the mission field the Good Lord has given her through the eyes of His love. And the Spirit? The Holy Spirit loves fellowship. When the church doors are open, He is there. Why, wherever the church is, He is there. He just loves to be with those Who love the Lord Jesus.Fellowship.
Be awed. May we never lose that sense of awe of the Lord’s presence in our lives and in our church.
CONCLUSION
“Goodbye, Farewell& Amen” – the title of the 11th season and the 16th episode of “MASH” – still the most widely watched episode in the history of television. For me, Season 30, Episode 52. Maybe not the most widely watched sermon in the history of Christianity.
But before I’m done this morning, there are 3 things I want you to remember:
FIRST, there are 900 people (or so) in the Village of Earlville – plus those in the surrounding areas. And there are only 2 churches in Earlville to meet the eternal needs of those people. That task is always before us. We’ve done well these past years. Don’t forget that God’s heart is for those 900 people, just as He showed each of us His heart for us at Calvary.
SECOND, our Verse for 2018, from Psalm 71:18, centers on the next generation. Your task, my task is never done. It is ever with a vision that the NEXT generation loves the Lord Jesus and walks with Him with the same privileges and graces that each of us have enjoyed.
Finally, THIRD,do you remember the contest in my early days here? We were to come upwith a theme, a catch phrase, a motto if you will, that best represents God’s heart and the personality of His heart at work in our fellowship. “Inviting and Accepting.” That is a foundational theme: we invite people to come just as they are to the Cross, because that is how the Lord Jesus invited each of us. And we accept people as they are – why? Because, as Paul says elsewhere,“such were some of you -But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”
And OUR work here may have ended in the pulpit, but it has not ended in prayer. The prophet Samuel said that was his mission for God’s people, Israel. Please remember this: somewhere in this world, especially on Sunday morning around 7:30 am, by God’s grace there will be someone who will be praying for the First Baptist Church and Society of Earlville – and for each of the people that the Lord has brought through our doors in the past 10 plus years.
Who will join us in this eternal mission?
Close in prayer!
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