Chardon church of Christ

It’s all about Jesus

It’s all about Jesus
Acts 1:1-3

INTRO: Good morning. What I would like to do this morning is start a walk with you through the Book of Acts. If the Lord is willing we will continue this walk throughout the quarter. I selected Acts because it speaks so much about the beginning of the church. I’m sure we all realize that this will take a number of lessons. We have possibly all read through Acts more then once and probably heard many sermons taken from this wonderful book. There is much to learn here and in a very real sense what we are going to see in looking at the book of Acts are things which are relevant for us today as a small congregation.

I’m going to begin though, by reading Proverbs 4:13 – “Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go; keep her, for she is your life.”

In April of 2011, a line of deadly tornadoes ripped across the state of Alabama, leaving some 250 people dead in its wake. Near Wellington, Alabama, the Hardy family realized the storm was coming too late to find a permanent shelter. They considered trying to take shelter in a metal clubhouse, but it had already been turned on its side by the strong winds. So in desperation, they took shelter in a small stand of trees. They tied a rope around the children and huddled around them in the trees as the storm passed. A family member said that while they had been scratched by flying dirt and debris, none suffered any serious injuries.

I want you to imagine how tightly you would cling to the rope in such a situation. Knowing that your life or the life of your child might depend on your grip would give you all the motivation you needed to hang on with every ounce of power you could muster!

Although there are no warning sirens or news alerts, each of us is living in the path of destructive storms. There are temptations and destructive philosophies abounding around us, and if we do not have a secure place of protection, we will be destroyed.
Because the Word of God is so readily available to us, we often take it for granted rather than treasuring it as the precious resource it is. When you view the Bible as a lifeline designed to keep you safe through the storms of life, you begin to take it more seriously. One of the great teaching books in the bible to equip us to face these storms is the Book of Acts.

We’re going to begin by reading Acts 1:1-3 – “The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, 3 to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.”[NKJV]

I. Most Biblical scholars will agree that the Book of Acts was likely written by Luke.
Luke begins by saying, “In my former Book” as the NIV puts it. In other words, he’s going to get our minds focused back to his gospel account of Jesus Christ.

A. Who is Luke? Luke is a doctor or a physician as some translations have it. We know this because Paul tells us.

1. After writing to the church at Colossae, Paul when he closes his letter to them, tells us in Colossians 4:14 – “Luke the beloved physician and Demas greet you.”
2. When we read Luke’s gospel account we can see that he had a very special interest in sick people and their diseases. It is Luke who records Jesus’ healing of Simon’s mother-in-law who had a high fever in Luke 4:38-39. It is also Luke who records Jesus’ healing of the man who was covered with leprosy in Luke 5:12. It is Luke who records Jesus’ healing of the man with the shriveled right hand in Luke 6:6.
3. The list could go on and on but the point is that Luke took a special interest in the health of people because he was a physician.

B. We also know that Luke was a great companion of Paul as Paul tells us in Philemon 24 and 2 Timothy 4:9-12 where Paul tells Timothy; “Be diligent to come to me quickly; for Demas has forsaken me, having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica, Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry. And Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus.” Luke is the author of the Book of Acts. He was a doctor and worked very closely with the apostle Paul.

1. Do you remember in Acts 16 after Paul received a vision from God about a man in Macedonia who wanted Paul to go over and help? The Bible says in Acts 16:10 – “10 Now after he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the gospel to them.” The ‘we’ and the ‘us’ in that verse are referring to Luke and Paul.
2. I don’t want to quote all the scriptures in the Book of Acts which refer to Luke and Paul because I want us to take a look at someone else.

II. When reading any letter we not only need to understand who wrote it but we also should observe to whom it was written, and in Acts 1:1 we find it is written to someone named Theophilus.

A. Who is Theophilus? His name means ‘one who loves God’ but when Luke writes his gospel, Luke addresses him in Luke 1:3 as ‘most excellent Theophilus’.

1. I found this interesting because when we look at other people in the Bible with the title "most excellent," or in some cases translated as “most noble”, they are usually people who are a part of the Roman government.
2. Luke addresses the Roman governor Felix this way in Acts 24:3. When the apostle Paul was standing in front of Festus, giving his testimony, Paul addresses Festus and calls him ‘most excellent Festus’ in Acts 26:25.
3. Since Luke addresses Theophilus as ‘Most excellent’ it suggests that he has a position of high ranking of some sort.

B. I don’t know about you but I still love receiving mail in my mail box. Well letters anyway, bills not so much. When I look at a letter I can tell who it is addressed to and who it is from, but it’s not until I actually read the letter that I find out what it’s about. So far we know it was Luke who wrote this letter and he wrote it to man named Theophilus but we also need to ask ourselves why it was written.

III. Luke begins his Letter by writing in Acts 1:1 – “The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,”. The beloved physician, as Paul describes him, seems to have thought of Acts as a continuation of his account of the works and words of Jesus Christ.

A. We live in a society today where many people think that the ‘church’ is a place you go to on Sunday mornings to worship God.

1. Paul reminds us in Colossians 1:24 that the church is the body of Christ. We’re all a part of the body of Christ which is the ‘church’. When Saul of Tarsus was going around persecuting the ‘church’, Jesus asked him in Acts 9:4 - "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" In a very real sense then, the works of the church could be described as the works of Christ.
2. The point is this, Luke wrote the letter of Acts because it gives his readers an overview of the workings of Jesus for the thirty years following His resurrection. In other words the Book of Acts lets us see the fulfillment of Jesus’ coming in the first place.

B. In Luke 19 Jesus tells Zacchaeus (zah-KEE-us) the very reason why He came to earth. Jesus said in Luke 19:10 – "For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost". We discover as we go through this letter of Luke’s, a detailed and pictured account of that happening. Let me tell you about two guys who were out walking their dogs one day and one says to the other, “Look at that forest over there.” His friend said, “What forest? I can’t see anything but trees!”

1. We can’t read through the Book of Acts and not see Jesus saving people. We can’t miss seeing some people choosing to remain lost in their sins. On the Day of Pentecost for example we read in Acts 2:41 that Jesus saved 3000 souls from their sins. In Acts 2:47 we read about even more souls being saved by Jesus.
2. These figures also tell us that many more people decided to remain dead in their sins. We are not told how many but the language implies there were more souls who rejected Peter’s message and chose to remain in sin.
3. Another example is found in Acts 4:1-4 - “The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.” [para]
4. 5000 souls were added to the Lord’s church that day but how many chose to remain in their sins? We just don’t know.

C. The Book of Acts not only shows us many people choosing to reject the gospel and so remain in their sins, but the Book also shows us many people responding in humble obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ. What we see is a picture of Jesus seeking and saving the lost by the Holy Spirit’s working through the apostles.

IV. I wonder, do you notice anything significant about Acts 1:1? He says, “The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach.” Luke begins by telling us about the things which Jesus did first, and then he mentions the things that Jesus said. It is significant to me that he would mention actions first, and then words.

A. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 2:21-22 – “For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps: "Who committed no sin, nor was guile found in His mouth'';” Unlike those of us who sin, Jesus' actions were consistent with His preaching. Not only were they consistent with His preaching they underlined His teachings. In other words, Jesus preached what He practiced. His actions and His words were completed on the day He ascended into the heavens to be seated on the right hand of the Father. What Luke is doing here following the resurrection of Jesus Christ, is setting the stage for the rest of the Book of Acts.

1. Many people have computers today. Anyone who has ever used a spell checker on a computer or smart phone has seen some of the insane recommendations a spell checker will make for seemingly common words that, for some reason, were not included in the checker's dictionary.
2. Let me give an example. A Lutheran Bishop, James Rave, was writing a column focusing on the need to lift up the name of Jesus in the marketplace. When he had finished typing the words into his word processor, he ran a spell check. The program stopped at the word "Jesus" with the comment, "Does not exist." This prompted a later column in which the bishop reminded his readers "Jesus does not exist in anybody's vocabulary, including a spell-checker's, until you intentionally insert it."

B. We cannot truly understand the Book of Acts until we understand just exactly who Jesus Christ is. Many people do not believe that Jesus Christ existed. Even more importantly some people, who do believe He existed, don’t truly understand just exactly who He is.

1. Jesus Christ was God in the flesh. He was there in the beginning of creation. Remember in Genesis 1 after God created everything in the universe? He created everything and said, “It was good.” He said in Genesis 1:26 - "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."[para] Jesus Christ was there in the beginning.
2. If we fast forward a few thousand years we will see that He was also present among us.

C. In John 1:1-4 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.” The same God who created the heavens and the earth also walked among the men He created, on the earth He created. John says the Word was God and all things were made through him.

1. When we look at John 1:14, John says that, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Jesus was God in the flesh.
2. When Luke refers to our Lord Jesus Christ, he’s referring to the same Lord Jesus Christ who was there at the very start of all things. 74 times the name Jesus is found throughout the Book of Acts. 24 times the name Christ is mentioned throughout the Book of Acts. 102 times the name Lord in reference to Jesus Christ is mentioned throughout the Book of Acts.
3. I don’t often look at frequency of occurrence but I find this something to consider. If our Lord Jesus Christ is Luke’s favorite topic, then we should consider the question, why.

V. If we know that Jesus was there in the beginning and we know He became human and walked among us, we also need to understand that He is going to be the One who will meet us when we die. Hebrews 9:27 – “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment.”[para]

A. Paul said concerning Jesus in Philippians 2:9-11 - “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”[NKJV]

1. There is a time coming when everyone on this planet past and present, every demon in hell is going to acknowledge that Jesus Christ was there in the beginning and Jesus Christ was God in the flesh, who walked among us.
2. There is something else that every human being and demon in hell is going to do. All are going to say 4 little words. All are going to confess that “Jesus Christ is Lord”. It’s not a question of ‘if’ it’s a question of ‘when.’

B. In Acts 1 when everyone was mesmerized with Jesus going back to heaven, two men stood by them in white apparel and said in Acts 1:11 - "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." There is a promise that Jesus Christ is coming back.

C. When Paul was speaking with the philosophers in Athens in Acts 17. He references their altar “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD”. Paul says to them in Acts 17:29-31 - "Therefore since we are God's offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by man's design and skill. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead."

1. A time has been set when Jesus will return and He will judge us, everyone... past and present. Folks, there is something else; you don’t want to wait until judgment day to confess Him as Lord. You need to confess Him as Lord of your life before the judgment. You also need to know that calling Him Lord doesn’t mean anything unless that confession affects your life.
2. Who’s your lord? Is it money? Is it your husband or wife? Maybe it’s your job! I mean who or what has control over your life?

VI. Paul says in Galatians 5:16-21 - “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

A. When you confess Jesus Christ as Lord of your life, you’re confessing that Jesus Christ has first place in your life. You’re confessing that He is in control of your life.

B. We need to show the world that He is in control of our lives. How do we show the world that He is in control?

1. Following on in Galatians 5:22-26 - “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other”.
2. If Jesus Christ hasn’t got complete control of your life, then the parts which are not under His control you need to eliminate and give Jesus total control.

C. Just like the apostles, we rely on the Spirit to help us live by the Spirit. It’s by the power of that same Spirit that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. Listen to how Paul begins his letter to the Lord’s church in Rome. Romans 1:1-4 - “Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God—the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.”

D. Luke also tells us that Jesus gave His disciples instructions through the Holy Spirit. Again in Acts 1:1-2 - “In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.”

1. The apostles were the ones who received those instructions from the Christ. Why the apostles? It’s certainly not because they were more intelligent than anyone else. It wasn’t because they were stronger in the faith or better in debate than anyone else or not even because they had seen Him alive after His death and burial. A lot of people saw Jesus alive after His resurrection.
2. Paul tells us that in 1 Corinthians 15:1-8 - “Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born”.
3. There were hundreds of witnesses who saw Jesus after His resurrection. The reason Jesus chose these men was because they had spent a lot of time with Jesus while His work was being done here on earth. What was Jesus doing with them during their time together? He was teaching them the truth concerning His kingdom.
4. In Acts 1:3 - “After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.” [para] For forty days, the resurrected King taught His chosen apostles important truths concerning the kingdom of God. In other words He was teaching them about the church.

E. When Jesus is speaking to His disciples before His death, He says to them in John 16:12-13 - "I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come”. Jesus spoke to His apostles through the promised Holy Spirit.

CONCLUSION:
A man named Anton Radevsky created a series of pop up books, one of which has famous buildings inside which pop up when you open the pages. He has a pop up of the famous Tashmahal and Roman coliseums etc. and it is just amazing seeing these things pop up. When I was younger I used to love pop-up books which told a story itself. You would turn one page and find a huge mountain with birds flying over it. You could turn another page and see dinosaurs roaming around some remote island.

The Book of Acts reminds me of that in a way. Every page you turn to, Jesus Christ just pops-up and hits you right between the eyes. In the truest sense, we can honestly see in the Book of Acts, the acts of Jesus Christ, as seen in the working of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the apostles.

You see folks, the Book of Acts really is all about Jesus.
Will you say ‘Yes’ to Jesus today and call Him ‘Lord’ of your life?
Will you be baptized into Christ for the forgiveness of your sins like those we read about in the Book of Acts did?
You see when you do these things you will not only receive the forgiveness of your sins, but you will also receive what Peter tells us in Acts 2:38 "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
You cannot live by the Spirit until you possess the Spirit.
God bless and thank you for taking the time to grow with me in our understanding of God’s Word.

Invitation: ???

Reference Sermon: Mike Glover

 

Are We Willing To Get Out Of The Boat?

Are We Willing To Get Out Of The Boat?  
Matthew 14: 22 – 33

Once there was a tourist who was taking a tour of biblical sites, when he came to a beach on the Sea of Galilee, he saw a boat and a sign advertising, “FREE BOAT RIDE TO THE EXACT PLACE WHERE JESUS AND PETER WALKED ON WATER!!!”

He boarded the boat and enjoyed the ride to the middle of the lake where the boat captain stopped the boat and announced that this was the spot where they had walked on the water.
After spending a few minutes at that spot, the tourist said to the boat captain, “Ok, I’ve seen enough, I’m ready to back to shore.”

The boat captain pointing to the sign, said, “The boat ride to the exact place where Jesus and Peter walked on the water was free, but the ride back to shore is not free, it will cost you $50 for the ride back to shore.”
The tourist, shocked by the charge, exclaimed, “No wonder Peter got out and walked!”

Today we are going to examine this moment in Peter’s life when he walked on the water.
We all know that he didn’t walk on the water because the boat captain was going to charge him too much for the trip back to shore.
But why did he walk on the water? And, how did he walk on the water?
And most importantly, what did he learn from the experience and what can we learn from it?

Interestingly enough, Matthew’s is the only Gospel that tells the story of Peter walking on the water.
The Gospels of Mark and John both tell the story of Jesus walking on the water, but neither of them mention Peter’s stroll.
All of the Gospels record what happened right before this incident.
Let’s give a little bit of background for the story.
Jesus had compassion on the crowds and healed their sick and fed them – the Bible tells us there were 5000 men, not counting women and children, so the crowd may have been 10 to 15 thousand strong.

Amazed by all that Jesus had done and was doing, the crowd wanted to make him their king.
They wanted Jesus to be their great political hero.
They believed that the Messiah would come and do what Moses had done, bring them bread from heaven and free them from bondage.

But Jesus knew better and had better plans.
Let’s pick up the story in our text for this morning’s lesson Matthew 14: 22 – 33
Starting in verse 22 we read
22 Immediately Jesus [a]made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. 23 And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there.

Here we see Jesus spending time in prayer.
Jesus loved to pray and Jesus needed to pray – and somehow we think we can get by without it!
So the disciples did what Jesus had told them to do – they got in a boat and began to cross the lake, but then things took a turn for the worse.

The Bible tells us in 24 thru 25
When evening came, he was there alone, 24 But the boat was now [b]in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.
25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea.

The Sea of Galilee was notorious for how quickly the storms could come and go.
But the storm that the disciples found themselves in would not subside.
The disciples had been struggling against the wind and the rain many exhausting hours and were still stuck in the middle of the lake, drenched, weary, chilled to the bone, and wondering if they would make it to shore alive.

Before we move on in the story, let’s camp here for a moment and consider a few important truths about the storms in our lives.
Let’s start with this question: Were the disciples “in the will of God, or out of the will of God” when they encountered this storm?

Did the storm take the disciples by surprise? Absolutely! (They didn’t have a weather app)
Did the storm take Jesus by surprise? Absolutely Not.
So, why did Jesus tell them to get in a boat and cross the lake when He knew a storm was coming?

Do you think there were some lessons they needed to learn that could only be learned in the midst of a storm?
Sometimes the storms we face are the result of our disobedience and God’s correction and discipline.
Other times, the storms we face come not because we have been disobedient or are out of God’s will, but because we have been obedient and we are in God’s will.

Another thing to keep in mind about the storms we face have to do with God’s knowledge.
While Jesus was in prayer on the mountain, do you think He was aware of what the disciples were experiencing in the storm?
I believe Jesus knew and could see exactly where they were and what they were going through.

But,If Jesus knew, then why didn’t He come to their rescue sooner?
I trust that Jesus came to their rescue at precisely the very best time and not a moment before.
Even though we can’t always see God in the midst of our storms, we can trust that God sees us and that God has a plan for our rescue.

Let’s turn our attention back to the story.
Let’s see what happened when Jesus showed up.
Verses 25 – 27 of our text tell us :
25 Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. 26 And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.
27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”
Put yourself in the boat with the disciples, experiencing what they were experiencing.
How do you think you would have responded when you saw a figure walking on the water in the midst of a storm in the middle of the lake and in the middle of the night?
Do you think you might cry out in fear saying, “It’s a ghost!”?
Obviously, the disciples were wrong in their assessment, but it wasn’t a bad guess.
Had any of them ever seen a person walk on water, whether the water was calm or stormy? I doubt it.

I doubt that any one of us, had we been there, would have said, “What’s the matter with you guys, it’s not a ghost, it’s none other than Jesus walking on the water.”
Jesus then immediately said to them, “Take heart, it is I. Do not be afraid.”
The phrase, “Do not fear,” in various combinations, occurs in the Bible at least 64 times.

And the words are always delivered by God or God’s representative to people who are facing hard times or are about to be asked to do something beyond their abilities.
Would you have felt better once you knew it was Jesus who was miraculously walking on the water toward you?
I would have felt much better – I would have immediately thought, “Praise God, Jesus is here to rescue us!  We are going to live! What a relief!  Thank you, Lord!”
The very last thing I would have been thinking is what Peter must have been thinking.

When Peter realized it was Jesus, he immediately saw an incredible opportunity.
Verses 28 and 29 of our text tell us :
28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to 29 So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.

When Peter said, “Lord, if it is you” the Greek could also be translated, “Lord, since it is you.”
There was no doubt in Peter’s mind who it was that was walking on the water.
Peter was declaring, “Since it is You, Lord, then give me permission to come to you on the water. Speak the Word, Lord, and I’ll do what You’re doing.”

Did you notice that none of the other disciples said, “Yeah, Jesus, if it is you, then I want to walk on water with you and Peter?”
Amazingly, Jesus agreed to Peter’s request and uttered the single command, “Come,” and so, Peter stepped out of the boat and walked on the water.
In that moment, Peter experienced the suspending of all the laws of physics which state the impossibility of a human being walking on the water – because of the rules of weight and displacement – and stuff like that.

And so for a moment or two, there were two people, Jesus and Peter, who were walking on the water!
Peter got to do the amazing thing that Jesus was doing.
And as far as we know, there has never been anyone else who ever walked on the water – unless they knew where the rocks and stumps were.

Over the years, some people have criticized Peter and reacted negatively to what Peter did.
Some have said that Peter was conceited and was trying to be a show off – “Hey look at me, Mom, no hands!”
Others have criticized Peter saying he was impulsive and headstrong and foolish for even wanting to walk on water.
But it is important for us to notice that there is nothing in the text that even remotely suggests that Peter was wrong for wanting to walk on the water.

And on this occasion, Peter was not being impulsive, reckless or disrespectful.
Had Peter just hopped out of the boat without asking for permission, then we might conclude he had been impulsive, reckless and rude, and even foolish.
But Peter asked for permission and then waited for permission to be granted.

If Jesus had said, “No,” then I’m sure Peter would have stayed in the boat.
But Jesus didn’t say, “No,” rather, Jesus said, “Come on.”
At that moment, the smartest thing Peter could do was get out of the boat.
Once Jesus commanded that Peter come, then he had better obey, and he did obey.

And so, Peter got out of the boat - how can anyone criticize him for that?
In some respects, I wish the story ended right there...Peter walked on the water, period!
But the story doesn’t end there – we all know what happened next.
The Bible says in verse of our text: 30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”
Peter was fully walking on the water...walking away from the boat...walking toward Jesus.
Everything was going great, then came the “but” – “But when he saw the wind, he was afraid.”

Everything went just fine until Peter took his focus off Jesus, and began to focus on the storm.
How long did it take for Peter to sink when he took his eyes off Jesus? Only a second!
Keep in mind that the storm never stopped raging while Peter walked on the water.
The wind was still blowing and the waves were tossing the boat about and the rain was coming down in sheets.

Many old time ministers define faith as “concentration on Jesus.”
That is a great definition – how easy is it for us to be distracted by life and the storms and challenges of life, and when we do our faith can waver.
But when, through faith, we concentrate on Jesus and focus on Him, then we can have peace and power, even when the storm rages around us.

Just because we focus on Christ does not mean that the wind and waves are going to stop.
Peter began to sink into the water, but when it happened, he immediately cried out for Jesus to help him.
Do you think Peter was a swimmer?
I’m sure Peter was a pretty good swimmer, he had spent his life around or on the water, but isn’t it interesting that he didn’t attempt to swim.
His first thought wasn’t, “I can handle this, or do it on my own,” rather his first thought was to pray and ask for help.

Peter prayed one of the shortest prayers in the Bible, “Lord, save me.”
Sometimes there isn’t time for a long prayer – like when you are about to drown.
Prayers don’t need to be long or detailed – they just need to be sincere and specific.

No sooner than the words were spoken, Jesus’ help arrived.
Verses 31 – 33 of our text
31 And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
33 Then those who were in the boat [f]came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”
Jesus didn’t rebuke Peter because he wanted to walk on the water, but He did rebuke him for his lack of faith.
Peter had the faith to get out of the boat, but then didn’t have the faith to sustain him.

There’s a difference between short faith and long faith, or shallow faith and deep faith.
But in spite of Peter’s lack of faith, Jesus was willing to help him.
While Jesus continued to stand on the water, He took hold of Peter and pulled him back up on top of the water and together they walked over and got into the boat.

Jesus used this teachable moment with Peter and the other disciples.
And the moment they were back in the boat the wind and rain subsided and those in the boat worshiped Jesus.
Those who had been in the boat had watched the whole scene unfold, and we can only imagine how they watched with their jaws dropped and their eyes as big as saucers.
They had never seen anything like this before, and they knew that Jesus was like no other – He truly was the Son of God.

As we bring this sermon to a close, I want to focus our attention on two lessons to put into practice.
The first lesson is: To Walk on Water, You Must Get Out of the Boat
This is a simple and obvious lesson, but one we often overlook – You will never walk on water as long as you stay in the boat.

A person can’t be in the boat and out of the boat at the same time – a choice must be made.
It was Helen Keller who said, “Life is either a daring adventure, or it is nothing at all.”
Those words would ring true coming from anyone, but they are especially meaningful coming from Helen Keller.
Born blind and deaf, she somehow found a way out of her darkness into the world around her.
Her story is one of the most inspiring of the 20th century.

Let’s apply her statement to our spiritual walk with God – [Spiritual] “life is either a daring adventure, or it is nothing at all.”
To walk with God is to walk by faith – and to walk by faith requires risk and stepping into the unknown.

When we look at the men and women of faith in the Bible, we see that faith required them to be risk-takers who weren’t afraid to lay it all on the line for God.
Think of the steps of faith that were required by God’s faithful ones:
By faith, Abraham stepped on the journey to Canaan, and much later lifted the knife to sacrifice Isaac.

By faith, Moses stood before Pharoah, and Esther stood unannounced before the king.

By faith, David accepted the challenge from Goliath the giant.

By faith, Daniel refused to defile himself with the king’s food.
None of those folks would have been able to be used by God if they had not by faith stepped out of the boat, so to speak.
We must give credit to Peter for being willing to do what no one else was willing to do.

Today’s story was not about Bartholomew walking on water, because he stayed in the boat
It was not the story of Matthew walking on the water, because Matthew stayed in the boat.
It was not the story of John, or James walking on the water, they stayed in the boat.
As long as we stay in the boat, we will never sink, but we will also never walk on the water.

What aspect of the Christian life have you lacked the faith to be able to step out of the boat and try?
If we are never willing to take a chance and step out of the boat, then we will never walk on water and discover what living by faith is all about.

The second lesson is: To Continue to Walk on Water, You Must Stay Connected to the Lord
Once we allow faith to cause us to step out of the boat, we must allow faith to keep us connected to the Lord.
We can’t walk on water by our own wisdom or power, rather we can only do so by God’s wisdom and power.

The same is true with the Christian life, we cannot continue to do God’s will without God’s wisdom and power.
The second we take our eyes off of Jesus and begin to focus on the world around us, or on our own thinking and strength within us, we will sink.

The only way to keep our eyes on Jesus and to remain connected to the Lord is through a day by day walk with God in Scripture, prayer, fellowship and worship.
A good way to illustrate this is to consider why so many small planes crash compared to so many big ones.
The reason isn’t bad equipment, rather it is inexperienced or undisciplined pilots.
Inexperienced and undisciplined pilots refuse to trust in and obey their instruments.
When they fail to trust in and obey their instruments, then they are in trouble.
They may think the altitude of the plane is increasing, even though their instruments say otherwise.
They may believe the plane is actually turning (banking), when the instruments say it’s not.

A pilot explained, “You wouldn’t have nearly as many small planes crash if those pilots blindly and faithfully believed their instrument panel rather than accepting information that is coming to them through their senses.”

Think of all the Christians who have crashed because they stopped trusting the Lord.
We wouldn’t have nearly as many crashes spiritually if we stopped accepting information from our senses and from the wind and the waves of circumstances and from the world.

If we simply ignored all other input except the input from our instrument panel – The Word of God and the Spirit of God, then we will safely make it through the storms and challenges of life and ministry and be able to do things that otherwise seem impossible.

So, let’s live the adventure.
Let’s step out of the boat, obeying the command to walk by faith.
Let’s not play it safe like the disciples who stayed in the boat, but let’s be like Peter who took a risk and walked on water and 2000 years later we are still talking about it.

But unlike Peter, we don’t have to sink, if we will keep walking by faith, keeping our eyes on the Lord.
I pray that we will be great risk-takers for the kingdom of God.
I pray that God will help us shake ourselves loose from the security of staying in the boat.
And I pray that God will help us continue to walk on the waters of faith because we trust in God’s power and wisdom to uphold us.

Sermon Contributor
David Owens

How Can We Know The Way?

How Can We Know the Way
John 14: 1-6

OPEN: Back in 1950s & 60s, Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra played for NY Yankees and became close friends. One day, Yogi Berra invited Mickey Mantle to his apartment, but Mantle... got lost.
He stopped at a pay phone and called Yogi and said, “I'm trying to find your apartment, where is it?”
Yogi said, “Where are you now?”
Mantle replied, “I'm at the corner of 5th and Main.”
Yogi got excited and said, “Well, that’s GREAT...YOU ARE ALMOST HERE! you keep coming in this direction” and then... he HUNG UP.

Now, how helpful were those directions? Well, not very!
But why not? Why weren’t they helpful?
Well - because Mickey Mantle still didn’t KNOW THE WAY.
And until he knew the way he was still going to be lost.

The text for this morning’s lesson is John 14: 1 – 6
What I find interesting about this story in John, is that I think Jesus set this conversation up. I think he primed the pump so that Thomas would ask Him: “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” (John 14:5)

Because THAT’S the question... that Jesus wanted to answer: “How, can we know the way?” Until you know the answer to that question... you’re always going to be lost.
So today’s title is “HOW CAN WE KNOW THE WAY?”

James Thurber once said: “All men should strive to learn before they die what they are running from, and to, and why.”
What a powerful point.
Until you know WHY you’re here and
WHERE you’re going... you’ll always be lost.
so Thomas will ask the most important question
“How can we know the way?”
Now the conversation actually began much earlier when Jesus said these words: “Let not your hearts be troubled...” John 14:1

ILLUS: Have you ever been on a trip, and gotten lost? When you were lost... did you get troubled?

There is a story told of a young boy, around the age of eight, who lived in Alaska with his parents. His dad was the Boy Scout leader of the area. The troop of the young boy decided to go mountain climbing up a two mile high mountain called Bald Eagle.

The boy loved to climb and made a competition with the other boys to see who could climb the quickest to the top.
The boy went further and further up, losing sight of the troop and his father, but did not slow down because did not want the other boys to catch him. As he climbed he learned it was easier to climb at a diagonal. Spiraling up, he finally reached the summit. It was lonely and cold as the wind blew across the hard rock surface of the mountain.

Time passed as he waited for the troop. Fear began to take hold of his mind. "What if I’m on the wrong mountain? Maybe I crossed over to another mountain and I’m lost!"
Two hikers seemed to appear from nowhere and asked the boy if he was okay. "Yeah," he said, trying to muster courage in his voice. "My Boy Scout troop is coming up."

The men left and the young boy was again alone. With nowhere to sit securely, as time passed the fear and doubt began to creep in again, "What if a bear comes up here?" The boy thought of descending to find his father but was unsure the way as he had spiraled up to reach the top.

Looking down from the peak, he saw a small farm with a pond in the valley below. He decided to venture there.
He came to an old dry mud road and followed until he stopped at a fork. "Which way?" He thought. He took the left. Finally, the road opened to the farm. He ran to the cottage and peered through the screen door to find a family eating at a table.
A woman came out and asked about the situation. She pointed to the mountain and gave the boy binoculars. "Look for your father up there."
The boy watched intensely for any sign of life at the top of the mountain. Nothing. Were they there?
Suddenly, the boy saw possible movement ....
"Dad!" The boy cried out in tears. "I’m down here!"

Though the boy could not hear a response he recognized the outline of his own father. The tiny figure quickly began to move down the mountainside. And, After what seemed like forever, the father ran from the forest and with tears, embraced his young son, glad that he had found his lost son.

And that is how many people look at their lives. They feel lost, they feel uncertain, and... they are TROUBLED.
It’s the uncertainty of life that drives us nuts. For example, take our present crisis over this virus.

ILLUS: I recently read an article that said this: “As the present PANDEMIC continues to spread, more countries and states order lockdowns, and the prospective slope of financial recovery steepens by the day. Many are facing tremendous uncertainty. Questions swirl in our heads.

What if I -- or someone I love -- gets the virus?
Am I still going to have a job tomorrow?
Will I EVER be able to retire now?
What if I lose the house?
Will life ever be the same?
Everything in our lives can be stripped away in a moment...
by disease, economic collapse, and most inevitably by death.

But I want to remind you that money and health never were a sure thing”
And that’s what Jesus said. He said nothing on this earth is a sure thing. “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal,
BUT, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21

Let me repeat: NOTHING on this earth is a sure thing... and that’s what drives us nuts! If we just knew which WAY to go; if we just knew ... what TRUTH to trust; if we just could be assured that LIFE would turn out alright - then, maybe, we might be able to hold on.

And Jesus said: if you’re looking for the WAY to go... that’s me.
If you’re looking for TRUTH you can trust... that’s me.
If you’re looking for assurance LIFE will turn out all right... that’s me. You Trust in God? Trust also in me.
I am the way, the truth and the life.

But, what is it about Jesus that makes Him the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE?
There’s a bumper sticker that reads: “Don’t Follow Me...I’m Lost!” In the religious world, there are lots of folks out there who say “Follow me, I know where I’m going!”

You can’t take Jesus out of our faith and still have Christianity. Everything hinges on HIM. That’s why Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life. NO ONE comes unto the Father except through me.”

Paul put it this way “... NO ONE can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.” 1 Corinthians 3:11

EVERYTHING HINGES ON JESUS! Without Jesus, we’ve got nothing!
But, why should make any difference to us. What is it about Jesus being the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE that would help me deal with my Doubts, Distress and Discouragement?

Well, let’s take it one step at a time

1st - JESUS IS THE WAY. I hate getting lost. It happens to me wayyyy too often. That’s why I love GPS so much.

ILLUS: I read the true story of a couple who’d gotten lost on a backroad in Ireland. They spotted a farmer leading his cow to pasture and they stopped him.
"Excuse me. Could you direct us to Mohill? We're lost.

"And the man smiled at them, and said “Ah, you're not lost at all. For y'see, you've found me. And I know the way.”
When you’ve found Jesus, you’re not lost anymore... FOR HE IS THE WAY!

You see, there are a lot of people who are afraid that their lives will end up at a dead end. They’ve made the wrong choices, they’ve gone down the wrong roads of life, and when it’s all said and done... they suspect that their lives are pretty empty.
But, you don’t have to worry about that with Jesus.
Once you turn your life over to Him, He fixes all that.

In fact, Ephesians 2:10 says “We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works that He prepared in advance for us to do.” When Jesus re-creates our lives, He gives us things to do (good works He prepared in advance for us).

And when that happens, we have a promise from
1 Corinthians 15:58 “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that IN THE LORD your labor is NOT IN VAIN.”

Our promise is, that if we labor for Jesus, our labor is NOT in vain. Jesus will take our efforts for Him and make them count for something. It doesn’t matter if you’ve made wrong choices in your life; it doesn’t matter if you’ve gone down the wrong road.

When Jesus is THE WAY for you, you’ll arrive at a good destination. Because Jesus is the way!

2ndly - JESUS IS THE TRUTH
ILLUS: In my utility room I have a tape measure. It’s just like 1000s of other tape measures in the US.
I use it to do measurements around the house and it tells me the truth about how long an inch and a foot and a yard is.
But my tape measure is not “the truth.” It merely tells me truth. The “truth” of that accurate measurement is found in Washington D.C. in a building called the National Institute of Standards and Technology. In that building they store perfect samples or “prototypes” of weights and measurements.

For example, they have a “Meter Standard.” It’s a reinforced bar of platinum alloyed with exactly 10% iridium. When they want to know the exact measurement of a “meter” they cool this bar down to 0 degrees Celsius at a sea level of 45 degrees latitude and that gives them the exact measurement of a meter.

Our measurements of Inches and Feet and Yards... are based on that prototype. So, when you use that “truth” as the basis of measurement, you don’t have to worry if your tape measure is accurate. That platinum bar IS THE TRUTH, and it is the measure of TRUTH.

In the same way, Jesus is THE TRUTH. He is the reality against which everything else in our world is measured.
For example – do you know how valuable you are?

All you have to do is look at John 3:16 “For God so loved the world (YOU) that He gave His only begotten Son...” You were so valuable to God, that Jesus came to die on the cross just for you.

That truth tells us all we need to know about how much God cares for us; and about God’s love and mercy,
and about how we can be forgiven of things that embarrass us and cause us to be ashamed. And that truth is more important than anything else this world can offer you. Because Jesus is the truth!!!!

LASTLY, JESUS IS THE LIFE. Do you know what the GOSPEL is? The Greek word we translate as “Gospel” literally means “good news”!
And do you know what God’s “good news” – His Gospel - is?

Paul wrote: “Now I would remind you, brothers, of the GOSPEL I preached to you... For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that CHRIST DIED for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that HE WAS BURIED, that he was RAISED ON THE THIRD DAY in accordance with the Scriptures...” 1 Corinthians 15:1 & 3-4

The GOOD NEWS is that Jesus died for our sins; He was buried; and that He rose from the dead! It’s that simple. And it’s through that gospel that we have LIFE in Jesus Christ. That’s why Baptism is the last thing sinners do before they become Christians.

I say the “last thing” because before baptism sinners must “believe” that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God; they must “repent” of their sins and determine not to live like that anymore;
they must “confess” that Jesus is now their master and owner.

When they’ve made those decisions, they then allow themselves to be buried in a watery grave of baptism.
Baptism is where we DIE TO OUR SINS, and we are BURIED (with Christ) in a watery grave; and then we RISE (with Him) to walk in newness of LIFE.

That’s what Romans 6:3-4 says “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his DEATH (you died)? We were therefore BURIED with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was RAISED from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

To be saved, we copy what Jesus did to bring us LIFE!
Because it is in Jesus – our way, truth and life – that we lay hold of what is truly life.

I want to close with a powerful statement by Thomas à Kempis: “Without the Way there is no going;
without the Truth there is no knowing;
without the Life there is no living.”

At this time we will sing the song of invitation

sermon contributor
Jeff Strite

The Reality of Jesus

The Reality of Jesus 

Luke 21:1-12

Let me start out with a riddle ~~

A man lives on the 10th floor of a building. Every day he takes the elevator down to the ground floor in order to leave the building. When he returns home he takes the elevator to the 6th floor and walks up the stairs to reach his apartment on the tenth floor. He does this everyday, unless it’s raining. If it rains, he rides the elevator all the way to the 10th floor. Why does he do this? (the reason the man would only go the 6th floor on his return home, was because that was the highest button he could reach on the elevator control panel. He was a short man. On days that it rained, he had his umbrella with him, so he could use the umbrella to punch the button that indicated his floor.)

OR, A man rode into town on Friday. He stayed for three nights and then left on Friday. How is that possible? (The man’s horse was called Friday.)

Mr. Black asks for tea and gets $5,000. Then he asks for eyes, but Mrs. White can’t give him any. Who is Mr. Black and what is Mr. Black doing? (Mr. Black is a contestant on the Wheel of Fortune.)

Did you ever play those kind of mind games. Some of you will sit and contemplate possibilities for hours in order to figure them out, others will simply wonder who thought this up. It is called “Lateral Thinking.”

Let’s try one more. On Friday night, a man dies. He’s buried that same night. On Sunday morning, His friends arrive at the grave, only to discover His body is gone. What happened?

One of the problems of Jesus’ resurrection, is that some people try to make sense out of everything that happened. They try to understand exactly how Jesus could die and then come back to life again.

Does it make sense that a man can be dead for 3 days and come back to life? No, it doesn’t make any sense.

But, let me ask you, how much of life makes sense? Look at the headlines over the past months and how our “regular DAILY ROUTINES” have dramatically CHANGED.

Do you wonder, where is God in all of this? What’s His will? What do we, who claim to confront death with a different heart, a Christ-centered heart, think and more importantly, what is it we do?

What do we make of it all?

Lots of questions, and sometimes, not a lot of answers.

Yet, there is one answer I do have for you. It is the reality of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

All over the world people are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus, alive forevermore!

This is something we do EVERY Sunday as we gather around the Lord's Table. Every time we take the bread & drink the cup, we proclaim, “I know, I know that Redeemer Lives, I know I know Eternal Life he gives.”

So we serve a risen Savior, & we look forward to that day when we shall stand with Him in a glorious heavenly home which He has prepared for all who have loved & served Him.

We treasure the words of the Apostle Paul who wrote, "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. "Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day ... and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for His appearing." (2 Timothy 4:7-8)

You know, as much as I love life, I too, long for the day when we shall see Him, & be with Him, & with all those people of God who have gone on before.

In preparing this sermon, as I remembered some of the people & events of the past, for some reason my thoughts went back to a time when my family was on vacation in Disneyworld.

I can also remember thinking, "Wouldn't it be nice if time could stand still - if we could stay exactly as we are & remain as happy as we are right now?"

But, of course, that didn't happen. In fact, it would be useless even to wish for that, because we can't stop the inevitable.

The chief priests & Pharisees found that out. After they had crucified Jesus they came to Pilate, & Matthew 27:63-66 tells us, 'Sir' they said, 'We remember that while He was still alive that deceiver said, 'After 3 days I will rise again.' So give the order for the tomb to be made secure until the third day.

'Otherwise, his disciples may come & steal the body & tell the people that He has been raised from the dead. This last deception will be worse than the first.'

'Take a guard,’ Pilate answered, ‘Go, make the tomb as secure as you know how.’ So they went & made the tomb secure by putting a seal on the stone & posting the guard.

I don't know if you see the humor in that, but I think God did. Can't you just see the hosts of heaven looking down, watching the priests & Pharisees issuing orders, & those soldiers grunting & straining to roll the stone into place, putting the seal of Rome on it, & then standing guard to make sure that nothing happened?

It’s Friday
Jesus is praying
Peter’s a sleeping
Judas is betraying
But Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
Pilate’s struggling
The council is conspiring
The crowd is vilifying
They don’t even know
That Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
The disciples are running
Like sheep without a shepherd
Mary’s crying
Peter is denying
But they don’t know
That Sunday’s a comin’

It’s Friday
The Romans beat my Jesus
They robe him in scarlet
They crown him with thorns
But they don’t know
That Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
See Jesus walking to Calvary
His blood dripping
His body stumbling
And his spirit’s burdened
But you see, it’s only Friday
Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
The world’s winning
People are sinning
And evil’s grinning

It’s Friday
The soldiers nail my Savior’s hands
To the cross
They nail my Savior’s feet
To the cross
And then they raise him up
Next to criminals

It’s Friday
But let me tell you something
Sunday’s comin’

It’s Friday
The earth trembles
The sky grows dark
My King yields his spirit

It’s Friday
Jesus is buried
A soldier stands guard
And a rock is rolled into place

But it’s Friday
It is only Friday
Sunday is a comin’!

Can you imagine the God who put the sun into space being thwarted by a mere stone in front of a tomb? Can you imagine the God who created the power of the atom being stopped by a few Roman soldiers armed with swords & spears?

Matthew 28:2-4 says, "There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven &, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone & sat on it.

“His appearance was like lightning, & his clothes were white as snow. The guards were so afraid of him that they shook & became like dead men."

What a scene! God spoke, & instantly an angel descends, the earth shakes, the stone rolls away, & the soldiers are paralyzed with fear.

The stone was only rolled away so that those coming could see in not for Jesus to get out. He was no longer in there anyway.

You see, the chief priest & Pharisees were trying to seal up the Son of God. But there was no way that they could succeed in doing that.

But sometimes it almost seems as if we, too, are trying to seal up Jesus. We put Him in a little corner of our life & say, "Lord, you're welcome to stay, but please don't try to change the way I think or act or speak. Just stay in your corner & everything will be fine."

PROP. But we dare not forget that this life is a preparation for eternity - an eternity in which we will be among the saved or the lost forever.

THE RESURRECTION PROCLAIMS THE POWER OF GOD

The message of this Sunday is that soldiers & seals & stones can never stop the plan of God. God marches on & His plan will be accomplished. We believe that because the tomb is empty & because Jesus Christ is alive.

I wasn't there. I didn't see what happened. But I believe in the resurrection with all my heart.

ILL. I wasn't there when the Germans surrendered in WW 2 either. But I believe we won & I have two good reasons for believing that.

First of all, through the years I have seen & heard the testimony of those who were there. They fought the battles. They won the victory, & they passed the good news on. But I also believe because I realize that if we had not won that war our world would be greatly different today. We would not be a free country. Our nation would be vastly different if Germany had won.

I wasn't there when Jesus rose from the dead. But I believe it with all my heart, & I have two good reasons for believing that He arose.

First of all, I believe in the resurrection because eyewitnesses have told us that it is true.

In 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 the Apostle Paul wrote, “For what I received I passed on to you... that Christ died for our sins ..., that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day ..., & that He appeared to Peter & then to the Twelve.

“After that He appeared to more than 500 of the brothers at the same time. . . Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles, & last of all He appeared to me also....”

I believe it because the Apostle John wrote in 1 John 1:1-2, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim. . .”

In other words, the apostle John is saying, "I want to tell you what we saw, what we felt, what we experienced. I want to tell you about Jesus."

SUM: I believe that Jesus rose from the dead because reliable people who saw what happened passed it on.

But maybe more important than that, I believe it because our world is greatly different because Jesus is alive.

In 1 Corinthians 15:14 Paul wrote, "If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.”

ILL. Did you ever see the cartoon of two Roman soldiers standing by the empty tomb? The stone was rolled away & one soldier was looking very worried because they had failed in their responsibility. But the other one shrugged & said, "Don't worry about it. A hundred years from now, no one will remember."

But a hundred years went by & people still remembered. And now, some 2,000 years later, God's people still gather & remember. And if the Lord tarries another 2,000 years, God's people will still be meeting to remember, because Jesus is alive!

And in the lives of those who belong to Him, sin & death have been conquered & the victory has been won. Our world is different because Jesus is alive!

THE RESURRECTION CHANGES THE WAY WE LOOK AT LIFE & DEATH

The resurrection also changes the way we look at life & death. When God talks about death in the Scripture He uses different words than we normally use.

Jesus talked about death as being like a wedding.

ILL. I've been to a lot of weddings & so have many of you. We have seen beautiful brides coming down the aisle. In fact, in all my years of performing wedding ceremonies I have never seen an ugly bride.

Jesus told us that the church is like a bride waiting for the coming of the bridegroom & that glorious moment when she will be with Him for ever & ever.

He also tells us that death is like sitting down to a banquet with God. God has invited us to His banquet. It will be a time of joy & happiness & fellowship. Jesus also says, "Death is like going home."

At the end of a busy day it is wonderful to be able to say, "I’m going home." It is wonderful to be able to go home & relax, to feel the love & warmth of home, & to know that you have a share in all that happens there.

Death is also like a graduation.

ILL. I recall my graduation from Kent State University many years ago. It was a hot May afternoon & I remember walking up on the stage & receiving my diploma from the president. I remember that, "He shook my hand & looked into my eyes & said, 'Now go out and teach the world.'"

"I will never forget that, & I remember walking off the stage, clutching my diploma & thinking, 'This really represents a lot of papers that were written & a lot of tests that were taken. Years & years of study were represented in this one little piece of paper.'"

"I looked at my diploma & just kept looking at it. 'There in the center of it was my name. I graduated. I did it!' Then I turned to the person next to me & said, “WOW ... we DID IT!”

"He opened up his folder & it was empty. I asked, 'Where is your diploma?' He said, 'Well, I’m not really graduating today. I am just going through the motions. I haven't handed in all my papers, or taken all my tests.

'The school is giving me a few extra weeks. Then, if I have all my papers in, & if I have passed all my tests, I will receive a diploma. But today I’m not really graduating.'"

This caused me to think to himself, "We studied together, we spent time together, & one graduates & the other one doesn't."

You see, some people graduate & some do not. Some homes are peaceful, while others are not. Some marriages succeed, but others do not. Some banquets are occasions of joy, but some are not. Even at Calvary while Jesus was hanging on the cross ... one thief was saved and the other was not.

In the same way, while the cross is a blessing for those who come & accept Jesus’ sacrifice, it is a curse for those who turn away & never acknowledge Who is there.

The empty tomb is the greatest source of joy for those who know Jesus and follow his example. But it is also the greatest source of judgment & condemnation for those who do not follow Him.

No, you can't stop God. Not with stones in front of tombs or soldiers. You can't stop what God is doing in our world because God will be victorious & you will either be on His winning side or you won't.

That is the message today. God is preparing us for something much better.

Just as He prepares a tiny little fetus inside the womb of a mother. Just as He knits together bones & flesh ? just as He makes eyes to see & ears to hear & a mouth to speak ? preparing that little body to be born into a new world, He's preparing us for a new world - a better world, a greater world.

INVITATION: So we offer His invitation, realizing that maybe there is someone here who has never been baptized . We plead with you not to let this moment escape - not to let this moment pass by.

If you are without Jesus in your life, then please call one of us and let us know of your need.

We can pray for you, study with you, and/or arrange for baptism for the remission of your sins and then to arise to walk in the newness of life. God's invitation is offered to you.

At this time let us sing our song of INVITATION!

That's All I Want

That’s All I Want
Psalms 23 ; Philippians 4: 11 – 12

For those of us who grew up in the country... we probably knew of someone who raised sheep. One large rancher of sheep once said that there are three levels of stupidity in this world. There’s dumb. There’s dumber. And then there’s sheep. He then said that if someone says that sheep are as dumb as a brick, they are actually insulting the brick!

Jesus often refers to people – to us – as sheep.
In John 21, Jesus tells Simon Peter to feed His sheep.
In Matthew chapter 9, it says that when Jesus saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd.
When Jesus compares us to sheep, He’s not exactly giving us a compliment. He’s saying that we are helpless, we are foolish, we are stubborn, we are disagreeable. We need constant supervision. Because a sheep without a shepherd cannot take care of itself.
Sheep without a shepherd will die.

God comes near to us by revealing Himself to us, but we must look for the Lord. Hebrews 11:6 says that we should "sincerely try to find Him."
Jeremiah 29:13 states that "when you search for the LORD with all your heart, you will find Him."
It is our sin that has alienated us from God... and so it is necessary, therefore, that we turn from our sin and look back to God for salvation.
We need to stop looking to the world for answers and turn back to GOD for understanding and guidance.

James 4:8 promises that if we come near to God He will come near to us. Let us draw near to God and live.
For nearly 30 centuries the 23rd Psalm has been one of the best known & most beloved passages in the Bible.

A Sunday school teacher who asked her group of children if any of them could quote the entire 23rd Psalm. A little 4½-year-old girl raised her hand. A bit skeptical, the teacher asked if she could really quote the entire psalm.
The little girl nodded her head, came to the front of the room, curtsied, & said: "The Lord is my shepherd, & that’s all I want." She then curtsied again & sat down.
So, the title of our lesson this morning is THAT’s ALL I WANT!

Like the little girl, we may not be able to quote it completely, but we do treasure it, & often read it in times of stress or sorrow... because it speaks to the heart.

An old time minister once stated that "This Psalm has flown like a bird up & down the earth, singing the sweetest song ever heard. It has charmed more griefs to rest than all the philosophers of the world.
"It will go on singing to your children, & to my children, & to their children till the end of time. And when its work is done, it will fly back to the bosom of God, fold its wings & sing on forever in the happy chorus of those it had helped to bring there." Wow!

There are only about 115 words in this well-known Psalm. Yet these 115 words reach to the very depths of our being & sustain us in hours of difficulty & trial like we are currently experiencing. You may feel like my grandsons who just the other day stated to me that this current reality is like a weird dream and they are waiting to wake up from it at any time.

I would like us to look at this psalm this morning to see 3 great reasons to be thankful to God.
The Psalm begins with these familiar words, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be in want."
When someone says, "I shall not be in want," we need to sit up & take notice because this is an age of discontentment and concern.
Yesterday I saw a quote that read... “Stay individually apart and move closer to God” and currently the motto of the nation is
#IN THIS TOGETHER!

Listen to the Apostle Paul from Philippians 4 verses 11 – 13 ,
11Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, to be content.
12I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.
13I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

How can we experience contentment in spite of our surroundings? A good place to begin is not by complaining about what we don't have, but by always being thankful for what we do have.
There should be a spirit of thankfulness in us that brands us as belonging to Him.

So with the 23rd Psalm in mind, notice 3 great reasons to be thankful.

I. IN THIS LIFE THE GOOD SHEPHERD GIVES US ALL WE NEED
The first one is this: "We can be thankful because in this life the Good Shepherd gives us all we need."

One overriding principle of the 23rd Psalm is that sheep can't make it without a shepherd. And the only reason that David could say, "I shall not be in want," is because David could first say, "The Lord is my Shepherd."

B. Now let's look at what David says the Good Shepherd does for his sheep.

Vs. 2 tells us that "He makes me lie down in green pastures." The good shepherd leads his sheep to a lush pasture where they have plenty to eat & their stomachs are soon full.
Here is a picture of sheep so completely satisfied that there isn't the least desire for anything more. They are so content they lie down in green pastures.

The Lord has provided us with plenty, also. There are few of us who ever go hungry. In fact, we have so much to eat that dieting is a constant discipline or, maybe more accurately, a constant discussion.

But did you notice the wording? David said, "He makes me lie down." Sheep sometimes have to be forced to lie down.
I have read that in order for sheep to lie down 4 things are required:
1. First of all, they have to be full. Hungry sheep stay on their feet searching for another mouthful of food.
2. Secondly, they must be unafraid. They will not lie down if they're fearful. The least suspicion of wolves or bears & they stand ready to flee.
3. Thirdly, they must be content. If flies or fleas are bothering them they will not lie down. They must be comfortable before they will lie down.
4. Finally, sheep will not lie down unless there is harmony in the flock. If there is friction over the butting order among them, then they simply cannot relax & lie down.

There are times that God also makes us lie down. We rush about, trying to meet this engagement & fulfill that obligation. And in our hurry & scurry we tend to miss the things that are most important.
So once in a while God has to say, "You need to lie down," by allowing an illness, or heartbreak, to make us stop & reevaluate our priorities.

C. David then says, "He leads me beside quiet waters." (vs. 2) Sheep are frightened by swiftly moving water. They're poor swimmers, & get bogged down with their heavy wool just as we would if we tried to swim wearing wool overcoats.
So when the shepherd comes to a flowing stream, a good shepherd builds a dam & makes a quiet little pool where his sheep can drink from still waters.

David said the same thing in the 32nd Psalm, "Surely when the mighty waters rise, they will not reach me. You are my hiding place, you will protect me from trouble & surround me with songs of deliverance" (Psalms 32:6-7).
We must remember this promise of “quiet waters” is for those who are following where He is leading.

D. Back in the 23rd Psalm David goes on to say, "He restores my soul." (vs. 3) A lost sheep cannot find its way home, so the shepherd has to restore the sheep that have strayed away or it is lost forever.

There is a story told of a little boy who worked in his parent's carpentry shop in Jerusalem. The boy begrudges his job which is to assist in building crosses. The parents insist that he help because Rome has given them a contract for construction of crosses.
One day the boy is weeping. "What is wrong?" his parents ask. He tells them that he went to the market place & there he saw Jesus of Nazareth, & Jesus was carrying MY cross! The soldiers took Jesus to Golgotha & nailed Him to MY cross."

The parents insist, "Oh no, son, that wasn't our cross. Other people in Jerusalem build crosses. That wasn't our cross."
"Oh yes, it was! When you weren't looking, I carved my name on the cross that we were making. When Jesus was carrying His cross, He stumbled right beside me, & I looked, & my name was on His cross!"

And as we reflect on the scenes of Calvary we can also see our name written on that cross. BECAUSE, Jesus died in our place. He went to the cross to restore our souls.
That is why the Apostle Peter wrote in 1 Peter 2 verses 24 & 25,
"He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, so that we might die to sins & live for righteousness; by His wounds you have been healed.
“For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd & Overseer of your souls"

E. David continues on in Psalm 23:3, "He guides me in paths of righteousness for His name's sake."
The Bible clearly teaches that there are 2 paths we can take. One leads to destruction, & Satan tries to lead us along that path. It is such a broad & smooth road. It often seems like the logical way to go.

The other is the path of righteousness that leads to the glory that God is preparing for us. Sometimes this way is narrow & difficult & filled with obstacles. But the good Shepherd knows which way His sheep are to go, & He leads them on that path of righteousness.

SUM. So here is something for us to be thankful for. Thank God that in this life He provides us with everything we really need!

II. IN THE FACE OF DEATH THE GOOD SHEPHERD PROTECTS US FROM EVIL
Secondly, David says, "Be thankful, because in the face of death the Good Shepherd protects us from evil."
A. Listen to David as he says, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil." (Psalm 23:4) The fear of death can really disturb us.

Hebrews 2:15 speaks of people who "all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death."
The Bible clearly states that death is Satan's weapon, the last enemy to be defeated. But David said, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil." Why? Because "You are with me."

ILL. A 1st grader stood in front of his classroom to tell about "What I want to be when I grow up." He said, "I'm going to be a lion tamer & have lots of fierce lions. I'll walk into the cage & they will roar."
He paused for a moment thinking through what he had just said, & then added, "But of course, I'll have my mommy with me."

I'm convinced that when death roars its worst at us, we need not fear, for our Savior is with us. Whether we brush the edge of the valley of death or actually walk through it, He promises, "I'll be there with you."

B. In fact, David goes on to say, "Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies." (Psalm 23:5)

Not only is that a promise of peace & protection while we are alive, it is also a promise that at the moment Satan is doing his worst to you in death, God is preparing a welcoming feast for you in Heaven! What a picture of victory & joy!

SUM. So when you pause to think about what to be thankful for, thank God that in the face of death the Good Shepherd promises protection from evil.

III. AT THE JUDGMENT, THE GOOD SHEPHERD PROMISES ETERNAL LIFE
A. Finally, listen to this, "You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness & love will follow me all the days of my life, & I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever." (Psalm 23:5-6)
What a picture! When we stand before God on Judgment Day, His mercy will be there. If God gave us justice, we'd be punished for our disobedience. But because of Jesus we have confidence in His mercy.

ILL. There is a touching story about a famous actor who was the guest of honor at a prestigious social gathering. During the evening he received many requests to recite favorite excerpts from a variety of literary masterpieces. Which he gladly did.
Then an old preacher who happened to be among the guests asked the actor to recite the 23rd Psalm. The actor agreed to do so on the condition that the old preacher would recite it also.

The actor began his oration of the famous Psalm, & it was everything you could expect from such a polished performer.
The phrases were elegant, his voice rose & fell to give each thought it's proper dramatic emphasis. And when he finished, the crowd broke into a lengthy applause.

Then, as had been requested, the old preacher rose. His voice was rough & broken from many years of preaching, & his enunciation was anything but polished. But when he finished there was not a dry eye in the room.
Later, when someone asked the actor what made the difference, he replied, "I know the psalm, but he knows the Shepherd."

CONCL. This morning, if the Lord is not your Shepherd, then I want you to know that He has come looking for lost sheep today.
And if you can't find your way home, He'll lead you back & He'll redeem you from all your sins. He'll put you on the path of righteousness. He'll cause your cup to overflow, & goodness & mercy will follow you all the days of your life.

And one day... maybe not too far away I think, we will "dwell in the house of the Lord forever."
Are you ready for that?

If you're not ready, then I urge you to contact one of the church members so we can pray with you and/or baptize you for the remission of your sins. I pray that we look for the LORD before it is too late.. and that we call on him now, while he is near. — Isaiah 55:6

Sermon Contributor
Jeff Strite

I'm Doing Fine

I’m Doing Fine
Luke 22: 31 – 34

In light of how we are living daily as our “current reality” due to the world wide statistics related to the Coronavirus and how those statistics have affected our daily routines.
I am sure there a number of people who ask, “How are you feeling?” And most of the time we answer, “I’m feeling fine.” In fact, I sometimes say, “I’m feeling great!”
Forgetting our aches & pains, we as Christians try rejoicing with the happy poet who looked at the beautiful flowers & listened to the singing birds, & then ended his poem with the words, “All is right with the world.”
But wait a minute, all is not right with the world. With all the confusion about the coronavirus, & the political turmoil going on in our nation, how can any of us say, “All is right with the world”?

ILL. I may have told you this story a few years ago, but it fits so well with this message that I’m going to tell it again. You see, I’m afraid that too many of us tend to be like the fellow who showed up for a court hearing about an accident in which he had been involved.
His arm was in a cast, there were bandages all over him, & the exposed parts of his body were clearly bruised & scratched.
Looking rather surprised, the judge asked about his injuries. He replied, "Judge, I'm not doing very well. I have cuts & stitches all over me, & I'm feeling awful."
The judge said, "I don't understand. The accident report filed by the Officer says that at the time of the accident you told him you were just fine."
"Well Judge, I know that is what I said, but let me explain. I was driving my pickup & pulling a trailer.
In the back of the pickup was my old dog Shep,
& my mule was in the trailer.
All of a sudden an 18 wheeler sideswiped me, knocking me off the road."
"My pickup & trailer rolled over & over, & we ended up at the bottom of a big embankment. The next thing I remember, a police officer was picking his way through the wreckage. I saw him stop & examine my mule, then he pulled out his pistol & shot my mule between the eyes."
"Next, he got to where Shep was lying, & after examining him, he shot old Shep, too. Then he walked over to me & asked, "How are you?" And I said, "I'm doing just fine."
We may think that is a ridiculous story, & it is, & we may understand why someone says, “I’m doing fine” even while experiencing physical aches & pains.

But when it comes to our spiritual life, most of us would probably assume we’re “doing fine,” when in reality we’re not doing so well. We’re finding it difficult to follow in the footsteps of Jesus.
Our text for this morning is found in Luke 22: 31 – 34
31 And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat:
32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.
33 And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.
34 And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.

What if we had a test that could measure the level of our commitment to Christ, & of our discipleship?
Well, John 13: 31 – 38 gives us some characteristics to live by.
when we begin in vs. 31 of John 13, Jesus begins to talk about what it means to be His disciple. And he mentions 3 characteristics of what it takes to follow Him.

I. A DESIRE TO GLORIFY GOD
A. First of all, Jesus tells them that a mark of discipleship is a desire to glorify God. Listen to vs. 31: "After Judas had left, Jesus said, ‘Now is the Son of Man glorified & God is glorified in Him.’"
Jesus is saying, "I’m going to be glorified," & it is evident that He is talking about His own crucifixion. But how can any glory come out of that? How can glory come out of the Son of God hanging on an old rugged, bloody cross? How can glory come out of suffering & death?
There is just one way. On the cross Jesus defeated Satan. On the cross He became the sacrifice to redeem us from all the sins that separate us from God. On the cross He built a bridge between man & God so that we could be together again.

B. "I am going to be glorified," He said. "But there is more. God will also be glorified through Me." What a strange statement! How could God be glorified through Jesus Christ? Well again, the answer is found in the cross.
On the cross Jesus reveals once again what God is really like. On the cross we see the love & mercy of God, the grace & justice of God. On the cross we see the righteousness, the holiness, & the power of God. It is all displayed there, & Jesus willingly gave Himself upon the cross so that we may see all that.
Jesus is telling us, "Whenever we show the world the love & mercy & grace of God in our lives, then God is being glorified through us."
We need to Live in a Way That Glorifies God
For us older ones of the congregation you may remember that Dan Blocker played the character, Hoss, on the TV series Bonanza. When he died unexpectedly in real life, the character Hoss died also. The producers knew they could not replace him. The story was that woman was caught in a flood. Hoss held her above the water with one hand and held a branch with the other to keep them from being washed away. He drowned in the flood, but he never let go. He died, but she lived.
Fans mourned for the fictional character, and many they agreed it was a fitting way for Hoss to die.
What is the soil of your heart like? Is it growing and producing fruit for the Kingdom of Heaven – are you using your life for eternity?

1. Quote: “I will not waste my life! I will finish my course and finish it well. I will display the Gospel of the grace of God in all I do. I will run my race to the end.” - Paul”
2. “God created me—and you—to live with a single, all-embracing, all-transforming passion—namely, a passion to glorify God by enjoying and displaying his supreme excellence in all the spheres of life.”
3. “You get one pass at life. That’s all. Only one. And the lasting measure of that life is Jesus Christ.”
APPL. So how are we doing? Are we busy trying to glorify ourselves, or are we trying to glorify God? That is the first test.

II. AN UNFAILING LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER
The 2nd mark of discipleship is found in vs. 34. Jesus said, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
God's Word says that the world will know we are Christians by our love, not by the amount of money we have given, or by our knowledge of God’s Word. Christ wants His followers to be known for their love, by how they minister to one another.
Maybe it's helping people in your life know about God & His Son... and the importance of reading and following the Bible.
Or, maybe it's in comforting someone who is hurting from the loss of a loved one,
or helping those who are struggling with our current situation!
Let's get back to the place where people can truly say about us, "Behold those Christians, how they care for and love one another!"

III. AN UNSWERVING LOYALTY TO JESUS
So the 1st mark of discipleship is a desire to glorify God, & the 2nd mark is an unfailing love for one another. The 3rd one is an unswerving loyalty to Jesus.
Look with me at vs's 36-38: "Simon Peter asked Him, ‘Lord, where are you going?’ Jesus replied, ‘Where I am going, you cannot follow now, but you will follow later.’ Peter asked, ‘Why can't I follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.’
"Then Jesus answered, ‘Will you really lay down your life for me? I tell you the truth, before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times!’"

A. How loyal are we? Do we have an steadfast loyalty to Jesus?
You see, there is a difference between proclaiming your loyalty & practicing it. Peter was always proclaiming his loyalty, but not always willing to practice it. And I think we’re very much like he was.
"You're going to die, Lord?" he asks.
"Well, if you die, I'll die with you."
It is easy to say, "I would die for the Lord."
But when they are getting out the nails to drive through your hands & feet, it's a whole different situation.
"Are you really willing to die for Me, Peter? Let me show you how loyal you are. Before morning comes, you will deny Me not once, but 3 different times."
"Going to be loyal to Me?" the Lord asks. "Okay, Peter, watch & pray with Me,” as they’re entering the Garden of Gethsemane. “I'm going to go a little further into the Garden to pray. Watch & pray." But Peter, along with the rest of the apostles, quickly fell fast asleep.
"Going to be loyal to Me, Peter? Then how close will you follow Me?" Luke tells us that when the soldiers arrested Jesus & took Him out of the Garden of Gethsemane that Peter followed at a distance.
Well, I’m not surprised. I have a feeling that if I had been there I would have been exactly like Peter. And maybe you, too.
He followed at a distance. And when you follow Jesus at a distance you usually end up in the wrong crowd. That is exactly what happened to Peter. He ended up that night in the High Priest's courtyard just outside where Jesus was being put on trial.

Now, the Apostle John was in the courtroom with Jesus, but Peter was out in the courtyard with all those who had a part in arresting Jesus. One of them asked him, "You're one of the Nazarene's followers, aren't you?" "Not me," Peter said.
SUM. Three times he was asked. And three times he denied even knowing Jesus. Peter found out that it was a lot easier to proclaim his loyalty than to practice it!

ILL. A mother wrote, “My 3-yr-old was on my heels everywhere I went. And whenever I stopped to do something & then turned back around, I’d almost trip over him. Time & again I patiently suggested fun activities to keep him occupied.
"But he simply smiled an innocent smile & said, ‘Oh that's all right, Mommy. I'd rather be in here with you.’ Then he continued to bounce happily along behind me. After stepping on his toes for the fifth time, I began to lose patience.
"When I asked him why he was acting this way, he looked up with sweet green eyes & said, ‘Well, Mommy, my Sunday school teacher told me to walk in Jesus' footsteps. But I can't see Him, so I'm walking in yours.’"
CONCL. This morning, are you walking in the footsteps of Jesus? Is your life - is my life, one that brings glory to God? Is your life one that is filled with love for the family of God, for His people? Is your life one of unswerving loyalty to Jesus?
It doesn't make any difference how many crosses we may wear, how many bumper stickers we have on our car. What really matters is our commitment to follow Jesus. Yet, like Peter, all too often we fall short in this.
Do you remember what happened that night? After the third time that Peter denied Jesus the rooster crowed, just as Jesus said it would. I suppose when that rooster crowed, suddenly Peter realized exactly what he had done.
He had so boldly proclaimed, “I’ll die with you.” But when he was confronted with danger he denied Jesus again & again. Then he ran out of the courtyard & wept.
Sometimes I’m afraid that’s the way we react, too. We have fallen short. We’ve not always been what we ought to be - & we realize it. We’ve been so bold & so open in some ways. Then suddenly we see ourselves as we really are.
In fact, the Bible says, “All have sinned & fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) There are none perfect, no, not one – with the exception of Jesus.
But you see, we know a lot more about Peter than just that. We know that he became a leader of the church as it began in Jerusalem & spread throughout the world. We hear a great deal more about Peter & his life - & about Paul, too.
Paul? Yes, the great persecutor of Christians who became one of the greatest Christians of all time. Why? Well, because Jesus gave Paul a second chance, too.
And how Jesus treated Peter & Paul He now offers to treat us. Just because you fell short doesn't mean that He has stopped loving you. That's the whole idea behind the cross. We can start all over & begin anew.
Are you willing to start again? That is what Jesus is asking. And it’s my decision to make - & it's your decision, too.

INVITATION - So He invites & He waits. "Do you want to be My disciple? Here are the marks. Are you willing to display them so that the world can know that you are My disciple?" I pray this morning that you will decide for Jesus. If you have a desire to be baptized or for the prayers of the congregation you can contact us at (440)667-8626 or (440)729-3039.

Sermon Contributor
Melvin Newland

The Tiny Voice

The Tiny Voice
1 Kings 19: 1 - 8

Ever since there’s been a Post Office, it seems that children have written letters to God. Here are just a few of them:
One girl: “Thank you for the baby brother, but what I prayed for was a puppy.”
Nan observed: “I bet it is very hard for you to love everybody in the whole world. There are only four people in our family and I can never do it.”
Norma asked “Did you mean for giraffes to look like that or was it an accident?”
Mickey said: Dear God, if you watch in church on Sunday, I will show you my new shoes.”
Another child: “I read that Thomas Edison made light. But in Sunday School they said you did it. I bet he stole your idea.” Sincerely, Donna
Larry “Dear God, Maybe Cain and Abel would not kill each other so much if they had their own rooms. It works with my brother.”
And my favorite: “Dear God, I think about you sometimes even when I’m not praying”
When children write letters like that, they reveal what we call a “child-like” faith. They may not understand the things - about life – that goes on around them, but they never doubt that God is there and that He cares for them. But as we get older ... things change. Life can disappoint us, dreams get damaged. We experience pain and loss and rejection. And People... hurt us. When things like that happen, we tend to lose the innocence and trust we had as children. That’s why Peter wrote to adult Christians: “Cast all your anxieties upon Him because He cares for you.” I Peter 5:7
You see, as Christians we need to focus on the faith we had as children because – God hasn’t changed. He’s still the same God we knew as children, and He still cares for us.
Today we’re introduced to a man who was one of great men of faith in Bible: He performed miracles; brought the dead back to life; ascended into heaven in a fiery chariot; and to this day Jews speak of him with reverence as the most prominent prophet of the Old Testament era. But... he was also a man who struggled with this idea that God cared for him.
Just days before, Elijah had preached one of the greatest sermons of his life. He had confronted 400 prophets of Baal on the Mt. Carmel and exposed them as the false prophets they were. And because of Elijah’s faith and obedience, God sent fire down from heaven to consume the sacrifice Elijah had placed on the altar. Then a few hours later God sent a downpour of rain on a land that hadn’t had rain for 3 years because God had brought judgment on the land of Israel and upon the evil King and Queen who ruled it.
Those were exciting days for Elijah. But not everybody was pleased by what Elijah did that day. One of the people who was upset was the Queen... Jezebel. She was furious! Elijah had embarrassed her and, of course, he had also killed her favorite hand-picked pagan priests. So, she was out for blood – Elijah’s blood. And she sends Elijah a message that essentially said - by that time tomorrow he’d be dead. And everybody knows, Jezebel’s good for that because she’s killed off a lot of prophets of God before this.
So Elijah runs away - he runs away like a dog with its tail between its legs. He runs and he runs and he runs until he’s so exhausted that he just collapses under a broom tree. And he just lies there, so embarrassed by his cowardice that he wants to die.
Elijah... this great man of faith - this man of miracles and great deeds - lost his childlike faith that God cared for him.
Now, in the book of James we’re told that “Elijah was a man just like us.” (James 5:17) He was just like you. And he was just like me. Now, granted, he did things you and I could only dream of doing (the miracles, raising the dead, etc.), but he was still governed by the same kinds of passions and emotions as we are. And that’s something God wants us to remember. You see, God could have just told us the cool stuff in Elijah’s life – the miracles, the battles he waged, and the prayers God answered... but no. God also saw fit to include the story of this great man becoming so afraid that he ran for his life. But one of the reasons God included this part of Elijah’s story in the Bible is because we need to realize that God cared for him just like He cares for us.
Notice what God does first for Elijah: “And (Elijah) lay down and slept under a broom tree. And behold, an angel touched him and said to him, ‘Arise and eat.’ And he looked, and behold, there was at his head a cake baked on hot stones and a jar of water. And he ate and drank and lay down again. And the angel of the LORD came again a second time and touched him and said, ‘Arise and eat, for the journey is too great for you.’”
Think about this. Elijah has lost his faith and he’s very verbal about the idea that he doesn’t think God cares anymore and that God hasn’t lived up to His part of the bargain. Some might think that God would be upset with that and tell Elijah “What’s wrong with you? Where’s your faith? Get up on your feet and act like a man!!”
Is that what God did? No! Instead, God sends an angel to make sure he has food and drink... and then he lets Elijah sleep. Then the angel returns a 2nd time to feed him. What’s going on here? Why would God just step back... and do nothing? Why didn’t God try to reason with Elijah and give him a lesson in faith? Why just let him sleep? Well, God did that because that’s what Elijah needed. There’s times we don’t need answers; times we don’t need theology; times when explanations are worse than worthless. Sometimes what we need is to just to back off. We need to rest.
ILLUS: As I looked at this passage it seemed like Elijah ran because he’d panicked... so I did an internet search about panic and this is what I found: “Panic attacks are periods of extreme fear that cause physical symptoms such as a racing heart rate, sweating, or trembling. Panic attacks are often also accompanied by a feeling of an impending threat of harm or even death.”
How do you deal with panic? Well, according to the Mayo Clinic, one of the ways to deal is: “Make sleep a priority.”
Another source said that “Not getting enough sleep (is amongst the things that) can trigger or worsen anxiety.”
So God gave Elijah what he needed: time to rest, time to sleep. Why? Because God cared for Elijah
But sleep wasn’t going to be enough. Sleep alone was not going to take care of the fundamental problem that caused Elijah’s anxiety. Elijah desperately needed to know that God cared for him. Now that may seem odd for Elijah - this great man of faith and miracles – to have this crisis of faith. But we need to remember that he was a man just like us. Yes, he’d experienced God’s power and influence, but in the face of a very real threat... Elijah had forgotten all that God had done for him in the past, and now he was frozen in faithlessness that threated to destroy him. And what was causing this crisis of faith for Elijah were two lies. And these 2 lies had convinced him that God didn’t care anymore for him.
The 1st lie was this – God NEEDS me! Elijah had come to believe that he was indispensable to God.
In our text today God asks Elijah "What are you doing here, Elijah?" And Elijah replied "I have been very jealous for the LORD, the God of hosts. For the people of Israel have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword, and I, even I only, am left, and they seek my life, to take it away.” I Kings 19:10
What was Elijah saying? He was saying “I’m the only one who stands in the gap! I’m important!! If something happens to me - well God, you’re going to be in trouble!!!! Essentially Elijah was telling God that he was indispensable!!!!
ILLUS: It kind of reminds me of the story of a preacher was teaching a children’s Sunday School class. He was teaching them about the 23rd Psalm and he’d spent a lot of time talking about sheep. What they were like, how they ate, how they interacted with the shepherd and so on. Then he pointed out that the kids in the class who were Christians were kind of like the “sheep of the flock.” Then he asked, "If you are the sheep then who is the shepherd?" Now, in that church, they referred to preachers as “Pastors” – which is another word for shepherd, and so he was expecting the kids to say that HE was the shepherd of the flock. But apparently he’d failed to set the question up properly, and one little boy answered his question: “Jesus Is The Shepherd.” Now that shocked the preacher (because it was true) and he was so flustered, he almost couldn’t help himself. He blurted out “Well then, who am I?” And the little boy said “Well, I guess you must be a sheepdog.”
You see, Elijah had come to the conclusion that he was an important man. God needed him!!! God didn’t have anybody else to rely on. But God set him straight: “I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.” I Kings 19:18
In other words – “Elijah, you’re not the one left, and I do have a backup plan. I’m the shepherd... you’re my sheepdog.” But Elijah had forgotten that. He’d forgotten who God was, and he’d forgotten who HE was.
And when WE forget that God is the shepherd and we’re the sheepdog, we can tend to get depressed, because we will begin to believe that everything depends upon us (in our lives/families/jobs/church). We forget to trust God and believe success is totally dependent upon our efforts.
And when things don’t go right...we can be overwhelmed because our faith has centered on ourselves. And when our focus is centered on us... we’ll be disappointed. We can’t do it all by ourselves and any effort based on that concept is doomed to lead us to anxiety, depression and even panic.
So, that was the first lie... that God needed Elijah. Any one of us can fall into the same trap. We just need to remember that God doesn’t need you or me to get things. He just allows us to come along for the ride so we can sense the thrill of His power in our lives.
But Elijah had bought into a 2nd lie that was just as bad. This 2nd lie is actually summed up in a popular saying. I’ll quote the first half and you complete it: “God helps those who (help themselves).” Now don’t ever quote that as if it were true – it’s not. It’s totally false, it’s unbiblical. God doesn’t help those who help themselves, He helps those who obey Him and follow Him.
But, in that false teaching (that God helps those who help themselves) is the deceptive implication that “If I do my part GOD HAS TO do His.” It’s kind of like an unwritten contract - I did my thing... now God owes me. But IF God doesn’t do what I want Him to do, when I want to do it, it’s obvious - that He doesn’t care, or doesn’t have the power to do so to protect me.
That’s what’s dogging Elijah’s thoughts here. He thought his victory against the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel had been the knockout blow for King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a boxing match, but every once in a while an inexperienced boxer can throw his best punch and drop his opponent to the mat... only to see the other boxer leap back to his feet and come back like he’d never been touched. That’s what had happened to Elijah. He’d thrown his best Sunday punch thinking this would end the conflict for all time... but apparently someone forgot to the Jezebel. Jezebel comes back at him with a serious threat.
She’s a scary woman and she’d put a number of God’s prophets to death, and now she’s threatened him. As a result, Elijah began to doubt God’s power.
So, God says “HEY Elijah ... let me show you something” and “The LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.” I Kings 19:11-12
God’s saying two things here: First God was saying “Not only am I big enough to tear this mountain apart I’m big enough to take out Jezebel anytime I please. It’s just that your calendar and my calendar aren’t on same page. I can and I will take care of Jezebel when I’m ready... I’m just not ready yet. But when God is ready, you wouldn’t want to be on His bad side. Even Thomas Jefferson, not a particularly religious man, noted “I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, and that His justice cannot sleep forever.”
So, there was this massive wind, and an earthquake and fire followed by... the sound of a low whisper.” What’s that all about? Well... too often people view God as a harsh and unsympathetic to their needs. They see Him as swift, powerful and merciless in judgement, like what was symbolized by the wind, earthquake and fire. But notice, God wasn’t in those things. God WAS in the whisper. The whisper was God’s way of saying: I understand, and I care, and I will take care of you.

CLOSE: That whisper sort of reminds of the story of an incident back in 2003. There was a 13-year-old girl named Natalie Gilbert who was scheduled to perform the National Anthem at NBA basketball game. She had a beautiful voice and had sung the anthem at numerous other public events in the past... but as she began to sing the familiar words of The Star-Spangled Banner -- she froze. The words wouldn’t come.
So, she stood silent, shocked and facing the humiliation of being in front of a live TV audience not able to sing the familiar song.
Just then, the coach of the Portland Trail Blazers (Maurice Cheeks) walked up beside her. He put his arm around her shoulders and began to whisper the words into her ear. When that didn’t completely help, he began to sing along with her and used his right hand to invite the watching fans join her in the song. As one early morning news show noted: “A little girl, an off-key coach, and 20,000 people finished it together.”
What happened that night was a coach caring so much for a scared little girl, that he whispered the words she needed to hear in her ear. He later commented: "I just didn't want her to be out there all alone"
One last thing: we have something Elijah did not. We have the same still voice whispering in our ear from a God who cares deeply for us... but Elijah couldn’t look upon God. We can. When God took on flesh and died on the cross for us, and rose from the grave in victory, we can now look upon the face of Jesus and know He cared for us. As Hebrews 12:2 declares “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”
INVITATION

How Do You Want To Be Remembered?

How Do You Want to Be Remembered?

2 Timothy 4: 6 – 8

It was January, 2003, & the Ohio State Buckeyes were playing the #1 ranked Miami Hurricanes for the NCAA National College football championship. The Buckeyes were considered "underdogs" because Miami had a 34-game winning streak - meaning that they had defeated every team they had played in nearly 3 full years!

Just before they left the locker room, Jim Tressel, head coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes, gathered his team for one final talk. And he closed his pep talk by asking them just one question, “How do you want to be remembered?”

That pep talk must have worked, because when the game was over, the Buckeyes had pulled off one of the greatest upsets in recent memory, defeating Miami, ending their 34-game winning streak, & winning a national championship!

Now let me ask you: “How do you want to be remembered?” What do you hope people will say about you after you are gone? How will people who knew you best summarize your 60 or 70 or 80 years of living?

ILL. Ray Pritchard tells about visiting his brother Andy, who lives in Florence, ALABAMA. While there, Andy wanted to show him an old graveyard out in the county.

They drove along a remote county road & finally stopped near the ruins of a pre-Civil war plantation. Ray says, "We got out & walked into the woods for about a quarter of a mile. There we found the cemetery for the plantation.

"We climbed over a low wall & began inspecting the gravestones, most of them about 150 years old or older. Many of the markers contained phrases like, “Loving father,” “Beloved mother,” “Darling son,” “Rest in Peace,” “Asleep in Jesus,” & so on.

"Eventually we came to the grave of the man who had owned the plantation for many years. Under his name there was the date of his birth & the date of his death. Then there was a five-word statement that summed up his whole life: “A man of unquestioned integrity." Just five words. Nothing more, nothing less.

Suppose it was your tombstone. What words would your friends choose? How do you want to be remembered?

Here is Paul’s answer to that question. Writing from a Roman jail, with the certain knowledge that he would soon be dead, he looked back at his journey with Christ, & then he looked forward to what would happen after he died.

Here is what he wrote: (2 Timothy 4:6-8). “For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, & the time has come for my departure. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

"Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day - and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

In order to die well, you have to finish well. Our text tells us how that happens.

ILL. Finishing well doesn’t happen by accident. Most serious marathon runners would recognize the name John “The Penguin” Bingham. He is both a runner & someone who knows how to motivate others to run.

What is his secret? Well, he wrote, “As I stand at the starting line, I know that somewhere out there is a finish line."

"Somewhere out there is a finish line" for all of us. Most of us probably think the finish line is a few years down the road.

All I know is that the finish line of life is “out there” somewhere. And it may come sooner for me than I expect.

But whether sooner or later, it is bound to come because Hebrews 9:27 says, “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.”

I have an appointment with death. That’s one appointment I won’t miss & can’t postpone.

As Paul approached his own death, he drew some conclusions about his own life & what would happen next. Based on his words, I would like us to consider three questions.

I.  WHAT KIND OF DEPARTURE WILL YOU HAVE?

The first question is, "What kind of departure will you have?" In our scripture text that I read earlier, Paul looks death in the face & says, "I'm ready." "I am already being poured out like a drink offering."

1. A drink offering was a type of sacrifice. Both Old Testament Jews & their pagan counterparts were familiar with drink offerings.

A worshiper would approach the altar of hot coals with a goblet of wine. As a prayer or special vow was spoken the wine would be poured on the coals. The wine instantly evaporated giving off a cloud of smoke & a sweet rich fragrance.

The Romans often ended a meal or banquet with such an offering. It marked the time to move on, & pouring out that last goblet symbolized giving all you have to God. That is how Paul viewed his coming death.

It is as if he was saying: "The day is ended; it is time to go; & my life must be poured out as a sacrifice to God." His executioners might think they were taking his life. But Paul viewed his death as an offering he was giving to God.

He knew his death was close at hand. He was on death row in Rome, & he would never be set free.

It was Paul’s way of saying, “Don’t weep for me, Timothy. Know this: When I die, I will die smiling." Paul had already given everything to Jesus. The only thing left to give was his life - & that he was gladly giving.

1. Paul then wrote "the time has come for my departure." This word “departure” has 4 word pictures behind it.
2. For example, it was a term sailors used for casting off the lines that tied a ship to the dock, & setting sail.
3. It was also a military term. When soldiers broke camp & moved on, this was the word that was used to describe the taking down & folding up of their tents.
4. It was also used in the court system. When a prisoner was set free, this word was the one used to describe that release.
5. Finally, it was a word used to describe the action involved at the end of the day when a farmer removed the plow & took the heavy yoke off the neck of his ox so that it might enter its shelter & rest.

Was Paul afraid to die? Not at all. He viewed his death as simply being set free & going home to be with his Lord. Now how about you? Do you have that same confidence about your own death?

II.  WHAT KIND OF LEGACY WILL YOU LEAVE?

A 2nd question is: "What kind of legacy will you leave?"

ILL. Jeff Van Wyk wrote: "I visited the home of Elvis Presley in Graceland, TN. After so many years since his death, I was amazed at the crowds of people that still take the tour & listen to his life’s story.

The story will never change, because he has lived his life & what he achieved, whether good or bad, will be told over & over again.

What will your legacy be? What story will be told about your life after you have died? If your answer is "I don't know" you still have the opportunity to change that. It is your decision, & you need to make it now.

1. In vs. 7, Paul looks at his past & says, in effect, “My life hasn't been easy, but it has been worth it all.”

Then he uses three … word pictures from the athletic world.

1. The first one is: "I have fought the good fight." Life can be a battle. Think of the words used to describe some of the events in Paul's life - "trouble, distress, tribulation, trials, & hardships."

But now the struggle is almost over. Soon Paul's Commander-in-Chief will grant him an Honorable Discharge from the battles of life. By God’s grace Paul had fought well, & his battle would soon be over.

2. Next, Paul writes: "I have finished the race." You see, life - the Christian life especially - is a marathon, not a sprint. Winning, in this case, means not giving up. Finishing is victory. It is not about how fast we go or how many we pass along the way, but do we finish well?

Paul could look back & say, “It wasn’t easy, it was often hard, & sometimes I wondered if I would make it, but now I can see that Jesus led me all the way."

3. Thirdly, Paul declared: "I have kept the faith." This simply means he refused to compromise the truth. When other people fell away, Paul preached the Word. When the world was against him, Paul paid no attention.

When it would have been easy to edit his message to save his own life, Paul proclaimed the whole counsel of God.

He didn't back down, he didn't compromise, & he would not preach what people wanted to hear. He kept the faith!

In our text Paul speaks of the present. He looks death in the face & says, “I’m ready.” He looks back at a lifetime of struggles & knows it was worth it. Finally, he looks at the future & says, “I can’t wait.”

III. WHAT REWARD IS IN STORE FOR YOU?

My final question this morning is: "What reward is in store for you?" In Vs. 8 he wrote: “Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day - and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

Did you hear that - "The crown of righteousness"? In the ancient Olympic games, a winner received a laurel wreath - not a gold medal. The wreath had little value in & of itself. It’s worth came from the occasion & who presented it.

Paul will receive his crown directly from Jesus, his Savior & Lord.

The glory of Heaven is not that there are gates of pearl & a golden street. It is the presence of the Lord. Jesus said, “I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." (John 14:3)

For one who loves Jesus the presence of God is the ultimate reward.

ILL. In one of his books, A.M. Hunter relates the story of a dying man who asked his Christian doctor to tell him something about the place to which he was going.

As the doctor considered a reply, he heard a scratching at the door, & suddenly he had his answer. "Do you hear that?" he asked his patient. "It’s my dog. I left him downstairs,

but he has grown impatient, & he has come up & hears my voice. He has no notion what is inside this door, but he knows that I am here."

"Now then, isn’t it the same with you? Even though you don’t know or understand everything that’s on the other side, you do know WHO is there. And that makes all the difference.”

Now I'm going to read vs. 8 once again, & I especially want you to notice the last part. “Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day - and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.”

”All" is a big word! And there’s room in it for you, & for me, too!

ILL. As a golfer, Paul Azinger was at the top of his game. In 1987 he was named the PGA player of the year. Six years later he won the coveted PGA champion-ship. At the age of 33 he had a remarkable ten tournament victories to his credit. But the very next year Azinger was diagnosed with cancer.

He wrote of his experience: "A feeling of fear came over me. I could die from cancer. Then another reality hit me. I’m going to die anyway, whether from cancer or something else. It’s just a question of when. Golf suddenly became meaningless to me. All I wanted to do was live."

As Azinger faced the possibility of his own death, he remembered something that a minister had said. "Zinger, we’re not in the land of the living going to the land of the dying. We’re in the land of the dying trying to get to the land of the living."

Well, Azinger beat the cancer. He recovered from chemotherapy & returned to the PGA tour, & now at 59 is an honored veteran of the golf world. But the minister’s words impacted his perspective.

Azinger wrote, "I’ve made a lot of money since I’ve been on the tour. I’ve won a lot of tournaments. But that happiness is always temporary.

"The only way I have ever found true contentment is in my personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I’m not saying that nothing ever bothers me, & I don’t have problems, but now I’ve found the answer - the answer to the six-foot hole."

So, the word of the Lord today is: Keep on fighting, keep on running, keep on believing, for the best of all is yet to come. It won’t be long, just a little while & the Lord Himself will return, or we'll go to meet Him, & all our struggles will be over.

This battle won’t last forever, this long road will come to an end, & this old world full of “dangers, toils & snares” won’t last much longer. Hold on to your faith. Keep believing & stay strong. Put on the whole armor of God. And never give up. There’s a finish line out there, & it’s closer today than ever before.

INVITATION

What If Jesus Had Never Come?

What If Jesus Had Never Come?  
1 John 5: 11 – 12 & Colossians 1: 15 – 16

Years ago, there was a very wealthy man who shared a passion for art with his son. Together they traveled around the world, adding only the finest art treasures to their collection. Priceless works by Picasso, Van Gogh, Monet & many others adorned the walls of the family estate.
The widowed father looked on with satisfaction as his only child became an experienced art collector. But the day came when war engulfed the nation, & the young man left to serve his country. After only a few months, his father received a telegram that his beloved son had been killed while carrying a fellow soldier to safety.
One morning a knock came at the door of the old man’s home, & when he opened it, he was greeted by a soldier with a large package. The soldier introduced himself by saying, “I was a friend of your son. I was the one he was rescuing when he died. May I come in for a few moments? I have something to show you.”
“I’m an artist,” said the soldier, “& I want to give you this.” As the old man unwrapped the package, it revealed a portrait of his son.
Though the art critics would never consider it a masterpiece, the painting did feature his son's face in striking detail, & seemed to capture his personality. And because of that it became more precious to the old man than any of the others in his collection.
A few years later the old man became ill & passed away. The art world was in anticipation! According to his will, all of his art works would be auctioned. The day arrived, & art collectors gathered to bid on some of the world’s most spectacular paintings.
The auction began with a painting that was not on any art collector’s wish list. It was the painting of the man’s son. The auctioneer asked for an opening bid. The room was silent. “Who will open the bidding with $100?” he asked. Time passed with not a sound from those who came to buy.
From the back of the room someone called out, “Who cares about that painting? It’s just a portrait of his son. Let’s get on to the important paintings.” There were other voices which echoed in agreement. But the auctioneer replied, “No, we have to sell this one first. Now, who will take the son?”
Finally, the old gardener of the estate said, “I knew the boy, & I’d like to have it, but I can only bid $50.” “I have a bid for $50,” called the auctioneer. “Will anyone go higher?” After a long silence, the auctioneer said, “Going once. Going twice. Gone.” The gavel fell.
Cheers filled the room & someone was heard to say, “Now we can get on with the auction!” But the auctioneer looked at the audience & announced that the auction was over.
Stunned disbelief quieted the room. Then someone demanded, “What do you mean it’s over? We didn’t come here for a picture of the old guy’s son. What about all the other paintings? There are millions of dollars worth of art here! What’s going on?”
The auctioneer replied, “It’s very simple. According to his will, the father stipulated that whoever gets the son gets it all.”
In essence, this story reminds us of God’s greatest gift – Jesus, His Son. And the message that this story proclaims is still true - whoever has the Son gets it all. Well, listen to what the Bible says:
“God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” (1 John 5:11-12)
Yes, if we have God’s Son, Jesus, we have life – eternal life! But this evening I want to say that through Jesus God has given us even more - so much more!

I. The Life of Jesus LEADS US TO KNOW WHAT GOD IS LIKE

A. First of all, The Life of Jesus gave us a living picture of who God is. Christ’s coming put a face on God so that we can know what God is like.
The Bible says, “He (Jesus) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created: things in heaven & on earth, visible & invisible...” (Colossians 1:15-16)
God came to earth wrapped in a human body. God came to live among us so that we might know what He is truly like. He came to teach us. He came to die for us that we might be forgiven.
He rose from the dead to help us know that we too will be raised. He ascended to the Father to intercede for us. He promised to return so that eternal hope would burn in our hearts. He opened the doors of heaven.

B. Imagine what the world would be like if God, as Jesus, had never come to earth. We would not have the music that speaks of the love of God and our praise to God.
Harvard & Yale & many other colleges would not exist, because they were started as Christian institutions of higher learning.
Most of our hospitals would not exist, because they were begun by people who had hearts full of compassion for those who were ill, due to their personal experience with Jesus Christ & being transformed by His love.
Our way of dating historical events would be completely different, since all of history is divided into the things which occurred before Christ came & the things which occurred after Christ came.
We would have only a partial Bible, & we would have no hope. There would be no churches.

C. Without Jesus, Mary Magdalene would have died in her sin. Matthew, the tax collector, would still have been considered a traitor by his countrymen. Peter, James & John would have done nothing more with their lives than fish for a living.
The people who needed healing during that time would still have been broken in body & spirit. The lame would still have been lame; the blind would have remained in darkness; the deaf would have lived in silence.

D. We would never have heard the words: “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14:27)
Or, “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.” (John 15:11) And “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10)
This is why we sing about Emmanuel - “God with us”. He was with us over 2000 years ago, & He is with us now. We have a God who cared enough to come. As far as I know, No other religion in the world can make that claim.
He showed us what God was like. His nature is love. He was a friend of sinners. He showed love & compassion to the outcasts of the world. He healed the sick & raised the dead.
He taught us not to use the values of this world to determine our worth, for He said, “The last will be first, and the first will be last.” (Matthew 20:16)
ILL. Some of you have seen “The Antique Road Show” on television. Often people who have paid a few dollars for an item at a garage sale come asking for an evaluation of its worth.
Then we see the look of shock & joyful surprise when they learn the item is worth much, much more than they paid.
When I see that happen, I think of how God takes people who are not seen as valuable by the world & places a very high value on them, because that is the kind of God He is.
The outcasts of society seemed to be His specialty. The sinful & sick, the poor & weak were the people He pulled out of the trash & transformed into a treasure.
SUM. And because Christ showed us what God was like, we want to be like Him.

II. CHRIST REVEALS THAT OUR SINS CAN BE FORGIVEN
Secondly, Christ reveals that our sins can be forgiven.

A. Think for a moment of the worst thing you have ever done. And then think of what it would be like if Jesus had not come. We would have no relief from guilt. It would always be hanging over our heads.
But since Jesus came, we know the freedom that forgiveness brings. We can forgive ourselves & others because we have experienced the forgiveness that Jesus Christ came to give us.

B. But if Jesus had never come, we would have only commandments to follow, & we would never hear these great words of the New Testament:
“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.” (John 3:16-17)
We would be missing a Savior. There would be no talk of reconciliation with God, only laws to be obeyed. “Grace” would not be a word in our vocabulary.
We would talk about “justice,” & people “getting what they deserve,” rather than finding mercy & forgiveness with God.
If Jesus had not come, the woman caught in adultery would never have heard the words: “Neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.” (John 8:11)

C. But it is about more than just forgiveness, it is also about transformation. Christ came not only to cleanse us, but to change our hearts & our lives.
The Bible says, “And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord . . .” (2 Corinthians 3:18)
It is God’s desire that we are being transformed into His character, His likeness, more & more with each passing day. His Holy Spirit is working in us to reproduce His image in us.

III. CHRIST GIVES US THE HOPE OF HEAVEN
All of this is for one grand purpose, which leads to the third & final point - Christ gives us the hope of heaven.

A. Heaven was made possible by Jesus. Think what the world would be like if there was no hope of heaven. What would you say at the funeral of a loved one if Jesus had not come?
The Bible says, “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.” (1 Corinthians 15:19)
There would be no hope of hearing the words: “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matthew 25:21)
There would be no hope of a resurrection. There would be no eternal life. Nothing to anticipate - except the closing of the casket & the coldness of the grave.

B. But because Jesus came, all that has changed. We live in joyful anticipation of what is yet to come.
Christ has given us the gift of heaven. At this point it is still wrapped. But the package has our name on it. And we wait longingly for the day when we will enjoy the gift of heaven in all its unwrapped wonder, & when we will hear the words:
“Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God.
"He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:3-4)
ILL. About 100 years ago, someone published a remarkable story entitled “If Christ Had Not Come.” The story told of a minister falling asleep in his study and dreaming of a world into which Jesus had never come.
He walked outside & saw no church building.
When he came back into the house & sat down in his library, he realized that every book about our Savior had disappeared.
Then the doorbell rang & a messenger asked him to visit a friend’s dying mother. When he entered their home, he saw his friend sitting & weeping, & he said to him, “I have something here that will comfort you.”
He opened his Bible to look for a familiar passage from the Gospel of John, but was shocked to see that his Bible ended with the book of Malachi.
There were no Gospels & no promises of salvation, hope, or the resurrection. All he could do was bow his head & weep with his friend in bitter despair.
Two days later he stood beside her coffin & conducted her funeral service, but there was no message of comfort, no words of a glorious Resurrection, no promise of a home awaiting her in heaven. There were only the words: “ashes to ashes & dust to dust”, & one long, sad, eternal goodbye.
Finally he realized, in his dream, that Christ had never come, & he burst into tears, weeping bitterly.
Then suddenly he awoke, & a shout of joy & praise burst from his lips as he heard the following words being sung:
"I’d rather have Jesus than Silver or Gold, I’d rather be His than have riches untold...
I’d rather have Jesus than have houses or lands, I’d rather be lead by His nail-pierced hands...
Than to be the king of a vast domain, or be held in sin’s dread sway...
I’d rather have Jesus than anything, this world affords today!
Yes, because Jesus came, we can know what God is like. We can experience the forgiveness of our sins & the transformation of our hearts & lives. And we can have the hope & confidence of eternal life & a heavenly home. What better gifts could we ever imagine than that which God has given?
INVITATION

Based on a sermon given by
Melvin Newland

When Things Go Wrong

When Things Go Wrong
Genesis 37: 1 – 28

Years ago there was a TV show called “The Honeymooners”. Jackie Gleason was its star, & Art Carney played his best friend & neighbor, Ed Norton.
Ed was a happy-go-lucky, but fairly slow thinking, worker in the sewer systems of the city. And Ed once summed up his “philosophy of life” with these words:
“When the tides of life turn against you, & the current upsets your boat, Don’t waste tears on what might have been, just lie on your back & float.”
This morning I want to talk about someone who repeatedly saw the tides of life turn against him - whose boat was upset more than once - someone whose difficulties would have crippled the faith of a weaker person.
But he didn’t sink - & he didn’t even float. He rose above the waves of adversity. He overcame his difficulties because his “philosophy of life” was nobler & wiser than Ed Norton’s. Who was he? His name was Joseph.
In some ways it is rather amazing that Joseph, the son of Jacob, ever amounted to anything. His father, Jacob, with 2 wives & 2 concubines fathered 12 sons & an unknown number of daughters. Joseph had 10 older half-brothers & one full brother younger than he.
His mother, Rachel, who was Jacob’s favorite wife, had died a few years before, giving birth to his younger brother, Benjamin.
Because Joseph was Rachel’s first child, & had been born in Jacob’s old age, it was obvious to his 10 older half-brothers that Joseph was “Daddy’s favorite”.
And this favoritism became painfully obvious in their eyes when Jacob gave Joseph a very fancy coat of many colors.
We sometimes talk about sibling rivalry & dysfunctional families. Well, it is clear here that his half-brothers were absolutely hostile to Joseph. Genesis 37:4 reports, "And his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers. So they hated him & could not speak to him on friendly terms."
Joseph had another problem. Not only was he his father's favorite son, but he appears to be a rather naïve 17-year-old teenager – naive in not realizing how much his half-brothers hated him.
Consider two dreams Joseph had. In Genesis 37:7-8 he told his half-brothers, "We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose & stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine & bowed down to it."
“His brothers said to him, ‘Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?’ And they hated him all the more because of his dream & what he had said.
Then in vs. 9 he told them, "I had another dream, & this time the sun & moon & 11 stars were bowing down to me." By this time the hostility was so evident that even his father Jacob felt that it was necessary to rebuke Joseph.
Now, if you have studied the life of Joseph, you know those dreams were prophetic. The dreams came from God, & they showed what God planned to do in Joseph’s life. But the fact that Joseph thought his brothers would be excited about these dreams shows us just how sheltered & naïve Joseph really was.
The rest of this story is a familiar one. The older brothers were tending their father's flocks some distance away from home & Jacob had not heard anything from them. So Jacob sent Joseph to see about them. And, of course, Joseph wore his fancy coat for the trip.
I wonder how you would have felt if you were one of Joseph's brothers & saw him wearing that coat? Well, when they saw him coming, that coat of many colors was like a red flag waving in their faces. So they plotted against Joseph.
Most of them wanted to kill him. But Reuben, the oldest brother, suggested that instead of killing him that they throw him into a deep reservoir & just leave him there to die. That way they wouldn’t be guilty of shedding his blood. Vs. 22 says that “Reuben said this to rescue him from them, and take him back to his father.”
So when Joseph got to their camp they seized him, stripped off his coat, & threw him into a reservoir. But then, as they were eating, they saw a slave caravan passing by on its way to Egypt.
Judah, another brother, had a bright idea. "Let's sell him to these people. We'll save ourselves from the guilt of murder, & we'll even make a little money on the side." So vs. 28 tells us that they “pulled Joseph up out of the cistern & sold him for twenty shekels of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt."
Wow! How quickly things can go wrong. One moment, Joseph was the pampered son of a prosperous farmer & herdsman with bright hopes of a happy future. The next moment, he was a slave. "They took Joseph into Egypt."
APPL. One reason we remember Joseph is the fact that his story is so relevant today. We have all experienced things going wrong in school, at work, in marriage, in our health, & in our hopes.
Joseph lost his fancy coat, his pampered position, & his freedom. So when things go wrong, Joseph is a good example to consider.

I. WHEN THINGS GO WRONG WE MAY OR MAY NOT BE RESPONSIBLE
One thing we learn from Joseph is that when things go wrong, we may or may not be responsible. Sometimes we are, sometimes we aren't. In one way Joseph was, & in another way he wasn't.
The cause of his trouble was the hatred of his brothers. That hatred was fanned by two flames.
One was his lack of sensitivity to the feelings of his older brothers. The other was the unmistakable & unconcealed favoritism of his father.
And you can make out a good case for the fact that the first trouble was caused by the second. If Jacob had shown more sense in dealing equally with all his children, as every father should, Joseph would never have supposed that he was anything more than the little brother of the big boys.
APPL. But, be that as it may, the story suggests that when things go wrong we may or may not be responsible.

A. Sometimes we are. Whenever our difficulty arises from a condition which is the consequence of our own choices, we are responsible.
A girl falls in love. She romanticizes her sweetheart. She ignores or downplays his faults. We say that "love is blind," but it is often a self-induced blindness in which she convinces herself that he will change after they are married.
He proposes & she supposes that life with him will be blissful. So, they are married.
Gradually, or sometimes suddenly, the romance fades, & she finds that life is not like what she thought it would be. He is not about to change, & things go wrong. But say what you like, in a very real sense she is responsible. It was she, & no one else, who said "Yes."
That is why God gives guidelines about friendship & marriage. He wants to help us make right choices. And we ignore them to our own dismay.

B. But sometimes we are not responsible.
ILL. We work hard & save for our old age & inflation cuts our savings in half. We study hard & earn a degree & get a good job. Promotions come & the future looks bright. But then the economy changes, & our job is gone, & we find ourselves having to start all over again.
Jeremiah 31:19 says, "The fathers eat sour grapes, & the children's teeth are set on edge.”
Maybe you have heard this interesting statement, "He met misfortune like a man... he blamed it on his wife."
Our human tendency is to evade responsibility, but it is true that sometimes, when things go wrong, we are not responsible.

II. WHEN THINGS GO WRONG WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE RESULT
So, when things go wrong, we may or may not be responsible for the cause, but we are responsible for the result, & the result often depends upon how we meet the situation.

A. I wish we knew what went on in Joseph's mind as he was being taken as a slave down into Egypt. He could have reacted bitterly toward God.
He could have said, "So this is the way you run things. What have I done to deserve this? I was trying to do what my father told me to do. I was out looking for my brothers & report back home. I was doing my duty, & this is the result."
"God, I'm through with you. I've always tried to follow your rules & do what is right, but look at what it has gotten me. From now on I’m going to do what I want!"
SUM. When things go wrong, many people take that attitude. They blame God & quit. They go their own way, & God no longer has any place in their lives.

B. But there are others who say, "I may not be responsible when things go wrong, but I am responsible for what I do about it." So, they meet the situation, not with bitterness or cowardice, but with courage & determination.
That is what Joseph did. And even as a slave, he soon received honors & responsibilities. Then Potiphar's wife tried to entice Joseph to sin. But what did Joseph do? He steadfastly refused to defile himself & sin against God.
Again, things went wrong. Because he did the right thing, he was lied about by his temptress, arrested, & imprisoned. While doing what was right the first time he had been sold into slavery, & now he has been put into prison! Why should he remain faithful to God?
Can you hear him talking to himself in prison? "I may or may not be responsible for what has happened, but I am responsible for what I do about it."
He refused to become bitter & blame God. Instead, he met his trials with courage & a determination to keep doing what was right. So finally, when the time came, he was ready to fulfill the role in history that God had prepared for him.

III. THE RESULT CAN BE BETTER THAN WE EVER DREAMED POSSIBLE

A. There is a third thing that we can learn from Joseph. First, when things go wrong we may or may not be responsible. But second, we are responsible for what we do about it.

B. Third, with God's help the result can be better than we ever dreamed possible.
For example, Joseph's predicament turned into a tremendous personal blessing. He ultimately became Prime Minister of Egypt & his rise to power was directly related to his so-called "bad luck."
Had he never been sold into slavery, he would never have met Potiphar.
Had he never met Potiphar, he would never have been put in prison.
Had he never been put in prison, he would never have met Pharaoh's baker.
Had he never met Pharaoh’s baker, he would never have been asked to interpret Pharaoh’s dreams.
Had he never interpreted Pharaoh’s dreams, he would never have been made Prime Minister of Egypt..

C. You see, sometimes success is nothing but failure turned inside out, & no one needs to be defeated because out of every situation he/she can emerge a better person if he/she has the will to do it.
ILL. Someone said, "If life gives you a lemon, then make lemonade!"
An oyster takes a grain of sand which irritates it, & so the oyster tries to get rid of it. When it cannot, it takes that grain of sand & makes a pearl.
Thomas Edison, when he was a boy, received a blow on his ear which made him deaf. But he said later that his deafness kept out distractions & helped him concentrate, & that ability to concentrate was largely responsible for his success in his experiments.
ILL. In one of George MacDonald's books he tells of a woman who experienced sudden sorrow. "I wish I'd never been made," she complains bitterly. To which her friend quietly replies, "My dear, you're not made yet! You're only being made - & this is part of the Maker's process."
APPL. What happens to us is never the most important thing. The most important thing is how we react. Joseph teaches us that even the worst difficulties can produce great results.

D. But the story doesn’t end with Joseph's becoming Prime Minister. Because he was elevated to that high position, he was able to save not only the people of Egypt, but also his brothers, their families, & his elderly father, too.
The famine in Palestine drove his family to Egypt in search of food. And Joseph, through his influence, provided homes & land for them in Egypt.
APPL. When things go wrong, we often have a chance to help not only ourselves but to render a service to others, too.
ILL. A man was in an automobile accident & his eyes were injured. The surgeon told him that he could save one eye, but the other eye would have to be removed & a glass eye inserted. It was a terrible moment for him. But finally he smiled & said, "All right, but if you have to put in a glass eye, please put a twinkle in it."
Do you know people like that? See what life did to them, & what they have done with life. They have taken the lemon, & made lemonade!

IV. WHEN THINGS GO WRONG GOD IS ALWAYS STANDING BY TO HELP
When something goes wrong we may or may not be responsible for the cause, but we are responsible for the result. Meeting the situation with determination & courage, the result can be good.
But, most importantly, our courage & determination can feed on the assurance that God is our friend & is always standing by to help.
Do you remember that dramatic scene in the last chapter of Genesis? Joseph had brought his family to live in Egypt. The brothers who sold him into slavery were now completely in his power.
Finally, their father Jacob dies, & after his death, the brothers are very afraid. Fearing the worst, they throw themselves down before Joseph & beg his forgiveness.
Joseph answers, "Do not be afraid... You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." (Genesis 50:20)
What an example Joseph sets for us today! To believe when things go wrong, that it is not God's doing, but man's misdoing.
To believe when things go wrong, that there is a loving God who really desires the best for us.
To believe when things go wrong, & despite what others do, that God can bring good out of the evil that has been done.
To believe when things go wrong, that God still loves us & has a purpose He wants to accomplish with our life.
INVITATION

Based on a sermon given by
Melvin Newland