MARCH 4, 2007 AM
“POSSESSING PEACE IN A TROUBLED WORLD”
SCRIPTURE
READING: ISAIAH 26:1-9
SCRIPTURE TEXT: Isaiah 26:3-4 (KJV)
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on
thee: because he trusteth in thee.
Trust ye in the
LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is
everlasting strength:
INTRO:
We are living in a troubled world.
-
Wars
-
Terrorist
-
Government in transition
-
Economical instability
-
Natural disasters
-
Sickness & diseases
-
Civil violence
-
Moral bankruptcy
Where do we find true peace amidst all this?
There are those who claim that as Christians we are exempt
from all these sort of things.
John
16:33 (KJV)
These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye
might have peace. In the world ye shall have
tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome
the world.
The Bible is filled with those who were faithful to God
and yet faced troubling times.
-
Job
-
David
-
Jeremiah
-
The disciples (storms and persecution)
-
Paul
The
storm clouds are gathering all around us, and we
better know how to posses peace in the midst of the
storm.
The foundation of our peace is found in who or what we put
our trust in.
I. TRUE PEACE IS ONLY FOUND WHEN WE PUT OUR TRUST IN THE
LORD (JEHOVAH).
NOTE: We must put our trust in the LORD, in His:
Proverbs
18:10 (KJV)
The
name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous
runneth into it, and is safe.
Psalms 124:8 (KJV) Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and
earth.
NOTE:
Jesus never promised to keep us from the storms of life, but He did
promise to keep us safe when we faced these storms.
A. PUTTING YOUR TRUST IN JESUS FOR SALVATION.
ILL:
God shape box
Acts 4:12 (KJV)
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none
other name under heaven given among men, whereby we
must be saved.
Romans
10:13 (KJV)
For
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall
be saved.
There are those who think they can find peace by putting
their trust in the religions of man.
Psalms 20:7-8 (KJV)
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we
will remember the name of the LORD our God. They
are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and
stand upright.
B. PUTTING OUR TRUST IN JESUS FOR DAILY PROTECTION.
NOTE: Trusting in God’s Power, Wisdom and Love
Psalms 56:1-4, 11 (KJV)
Be
merciful unto me, O God: for man would swallow me
up; he fighting daily oppresseth me.
Mine enemies would
daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight
against me, O thou most High.
What time I am
afraid, I will trust in thee.
In God I will
praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will
not fear what flesh can do unto me… In God have I
put my trust: I will not be afraid what man can do
unto me.
C.
PUTTING OUR TRUST IN GOD FOR OUR HEALTH.
NOTE:
Trusting in God’s Power, Wisdom and Love.
Are we trusting God to keep us in spite of our broken
health or are we demanding the He deliver us from
our sickness.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (KJV)
And
lest I should be exalted above measure through the
abundance of the revelations, there was given to me
a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to
buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure.
For this thing I besought the Lord thrice,
that it might depart from me.
And he said unto
me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength
is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore
will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the
power of Christ may rest upon me.
Therefore I take
pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in
necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for
Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong.
NOTE:
Are we willing to suffer physical discomfort for the cause of Christ.
ILL:
Joni Erickson-Tada
D.
PUTTING OUR TRUST IN GOD FOR OUR FINANCES.
NOTE:
Trusting in God’s Power, Wisdom and Love.
There are some of us that can trust God for anything
except when it comes to our finances.
Malachi 3:10-11 (KJV)
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that
there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now
herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not
open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a
blessing, that there shall not be room enough to
receive it. And I will rebuke the devourer for your
sakes, and he shall not destroy the fruits of your
ground; neither shall your vine cast her fruit
before the time in the field, saith the LORD of
hosts.
How do we rob God of His tithe?
-
We withhold the tithe deliberately
-
We use God’s portion for our own use, (credit
cards, bills, pleasure, etc)
-
We give the tithe to pet projects we want done
(this is a form of a lack of trusting God to
meet the need of the special project, its like
spending money on things of pleasure instead of
paying bills)
-
We lack faith that God will meet our need with
what is left over.
-
We give what we have left instead of giving to
God first.
(This is not the same as lacking faith but
rather by choice)
ILL:
Priming the pump.
NOTE:
God expects and deserves the first-fruit of our lives including our
finances.
God did not give us the worst angel in heaven to purchase
our salvation, He sent His only Son, the very best
He had.
When we put God first, everything else will fall into
place.
Philippians 4:19 (KJV)
But
my God shall supply all your need according to his
riches in glory by Christ Jesus.
CONCLUSION:
We will possess peace in every area of our lives that we put
our trust in God for.
MARCH 4, 2007 PM
“SOME OF THE SMALL THINGS GOD USED”
SCRIPTURE TEXT: Zech. 4:10
For who hath despised the day of small things?
for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in
the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are
the eyes of the Lord,
which run to and fro through the whole earth.
INTRO:
The Jews were returning from
Babylon but their were fewer in number than those
who stood against them.
How
often have you heard or maybe even said, “We’re
just a small church and we can’t do very much”?
Often times we judge our abilities or rather our
inabilities by our size.
It is easy to look around us and see the largeness
of the task and become discouraged.
Do you have a desire to do something for God but you
feel you are not good enough or do not have the
proper abilities or what you can do is not important
enough to matter.
There is an old saying; “It is not the size of the
dog in the fight but the size of the heart in the
dog.”
I want us to take heart and realized that God wants
to do great things in Onalaska and He wants to do
some of them through us.
I want to share with you some of the small things
and unlikely people God used to do great works for
Him.
v
Moses’ Rod
Exodus 14
v
Rahab
Joshua 2
v
Gideon
Judges 7-8
v
Jawbone in the hands of Samson
Judges 15:14-17
v
A young boy with a sling
I Samuel 17
v
Pot of oil
II Kings 4:2
v
A young girl slave
II Kings 5
v
6 Water pots of stone
John 2
v
A little boy’s lunch
John 6:9
Almost all of these things we could find in our
homes.
God uses every day things to work His work so that
He will receive the Glory not us.
1 Corinthians 1:26-29
For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not
many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not
many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the
foolish things of the world to confound the wise;
and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to
confound the things which are mighty; and base
things of the world, and things which are despised,
hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to
bring to naught things that are: that no flesh
should glory in his presence.
Little things are often far more important than we think.
“For the want of a nail, a shoe was lost,
For the want of the shoe, a horse was lost,
For the want of a horse, a rider was lost,
For the want of the rider, the message was
lost,
For the want of the message, a battle
was lost,
For the want of the battle, a war was
lost,
For the want of the war, a
kingdom was lost,
All was lost, for the want
of a nail.”
There is nothing great without God and there is nothing
small with God.
If we can’t do great things, we can do small things in
great ways.
Too many of us are not big enough to become small enough
to be use by God.
Jeremiah 32:27
Behold, I am the Lord,
the God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard
for me?
Mark 9:23
Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all
things are possible to him that believeth.
Mark 10:27
And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is
impossible, but not with God: for with God all
things are possible.
MARCH 11, 2007
“FOUR QUESTIONS WE NEED TO ASK GOD”
SCRIPTURE
READING: JOHN 12:20-28
SCRIPTURE TEXT: John 12:28 (KJV)
Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from
heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.
INTRO:
We need to refocus our view on what being a Christian is all about.
Jesus ultimate purpose for coming to earth was not to save
us, all though that is what He did, but it was to
bring glory and honor to God, Elohim.
Isaiah 42:8 (KJV)
I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give
to another, neither my praise to graven images.
Sin began when Satan sought to take God’s glory away from
Him and give to himself.
Isaiah 14:12-15 (KJV) How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the
morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which
didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in
thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt
my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also
upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of
the north: I will ascend above the heights of the
clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt
be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.
When Jesus died on the cross, was buried and rose again it
brought glory and honor to God because He defeated
Satan and took from him all his power and
authority.
There are two questions we must ask ourselves, the first
is: Is God the means or is He the end?
The second question we must ask ourselves;
How God is glorified in our lives; is it by God blessings
us or is it by our serving Him?
ILL:
Cat and Dog Theology.
A dog says,
“You pet me, you feed me, you shelter me, you love
me, you must be God.”
A cat says,
“You pet me, you feed me, you shelter me, you love
me, I must be God.”
In order for us to understand our responsibilities and
privileges we have in being a Christian, we must ask
these four questions.
Acts 22:8-10 (KJV) And I answered, Who art thou, Lord? And he said unto me,
I am Jesus of
Nazareth,
whom thou persecutest. And they that were with me
saw indeed the light, and were afraid; but they
heard not the voice of him that spake to me. And I
said, What shall I do, Lord? And the Lord said unto
me, Arise, and go into Damascus; and there it shall
be told thee of all things which are appointed for
thee to do.
1.
Who are you Lord?
The more we know who God is the better we can serve Him.
2.
What do you want me to do?
The
more we know who God is the more we will want to
serve Him.
Job 1:21 (KJV)
And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked
shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD
hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.
1.
What do you want to take away from me so I can have more of you?
(This can either be good or bad)
2.
What do you want to give me so that my life might glorify You?
(This can either be bad or good)
Are we willing to give up the good and accept the bad in
order that God might be glorified in our lives?
CONCLUSION: Are we here to absorb all the blessing from God we can, or
are we here to serve God and bring Him all the glory
we can?
1. WHO ARE YOU
LORD?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
2. WHAT DO YOU WANT
ME TO DO?
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. WHAT DO YOU WANT
TO TAKE AWAY FROM ME SO I
CAN HAVE MORE OF
YOU?
(This can either be good or bad)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
4.
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO GIVE TO ME SO THAT MY LIFE
MIGHT GLORIFY
YOU?
(This can either be bad or good)
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
March 25, 2007
“GOD IS WAITING FOR YOU, WILL YOU WAIT FOR HIM?”
SCRIPTURE
READING: ISAIAH 30:1-21
SCRIPTURE TEXT: Isaiah 30:18 (KJV)
And therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be gracious
unto you, and therefore will he be exalted, that he
may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a God of
judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him.
INTRO:
Woman married 23 years meets husband once a week.
When we reject God in anyway, we are in the act of
rebellion.
In this portion of Scripture, Judea had rejected God’s
help and sought the help of
Egypt instead.
Often times when we are faced with difficulties and
unpleasant situations we turn to the world for
advice and help instead of God.
Jeremiah 17:5-6 (KJV) Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in
man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart
departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the
heath in the desert, and shall not see when good
cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the
wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited.
Psalm 1:1 (KJV) Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the
ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor
sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
When we fail to seek God’s help or advice, we are
rejecting Him, and are in the spirit of rebellion.
I. WE, AS
JUDEA, ARE WITHOUT EXCUSE WHEN WE REJECT SEEKING GOD.
NOTE:
We will reject God when we fail to believe God.
A.
REASONS WE FAIL TO GO TO GOD IN TIMES OF TROUBLE.
-
We do not know God (Who He is and what He can
do)
-
We do not believe in what He has done in the
past
-
We do not believe His promises
NOTE:
We will lose faith when we try to reason things out with our own
understanding.
Sometimes God’s plan doesn’t make any sense.
ILL:
The
Battle of
Jericho.
Joshua 6
Sometimes God’s plan makes great sense.
ILL:
The
Battle of Ai. Joshua 7
B.
FOUR THINGS HAPPEN WHEN WE AS CHRISTIANS PUT OUR
TRUST IN THE WORLD.
NOTE:
We often claim to trust God but in reality we don’t.
ILL:
Tavern & Church
-
We live in uncertainty and confusion
-
We are a reproach to God
-
We fail to receive the help
C.
THE
LACK OF FAITH & TRUST WILL LEAD TO REBELLION.
Isaiah 30:8-11 (NLT)
Now
go and write down these words concerning
Egypt.
They will then stand until the end of time as a
witness to Israel's unbelief.
For these people are stubborn rebels who
refuse to pay any attention to the LORD's
instructions. They tell the prophets, "Shut up! We
don't want any more of your reports." They say,
"Don't tell us the truth. Tell us nice things. Tell
us lies. Forget
all this gloom. We have heard more than enough about
your `Holy One of Israel.' We are tired of listening
to what he has to say."
NOTE:
Rebellion does not come over night, it comes gradually.
-
Lack of faith turns to lack of trust
-
Lack of trust turns to false trust
-
False trust turns to rebellion
D.
REBELLION WILL BRING GOD’S JUDGMENT.
Isaiah 30:12-14 (NLT)
This is the reply of the Holy One of
Israel:
"Because you despise what I tell you and trust
instead in oppression and lies, calamity will come
upon you suddenly. It will be like a bulging wall
that bursts and falls. In an instant it will
collapse and come crashing down.
You will be smashed like a piece of
pottery—shattered so completely that there won't be
a piece left that is big enough to carry coals from
a fireplace or a little water from the well."
II. GOD INVITES US TO REST IN HIM.
Isaiah 30:15-17 (KJV)
For
thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; “In
returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness
and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye
would not. But ye
said, ‘No; for we will flee upon horses;’ therefore
shall ye flee: and, ‘We will ride upon the swift;’
therefore shall they that pursue you be swift. One
thousand shall flee at the rebuke of one; at the
rebuke of five shall ye flee: till ye be left as a
beacon upon the top of a mountain, and as an ensign
on an hill.”
NOTE:
God offers us rest and peace but too often we rebel and seek it in the
things of this world.
God will allow us to put our trust in the arm of flesh
until we come to the end of our rope.
A. HE IS WAITING FOR US TO TURN TO HIM.
Isaiah 30:18-21 (KJV)
And
therefore will the LORD wait, that he may be
gracious unto you, and therefore will he be exalted,
that he may have mercy upon you: for the LORD is a
God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for
him.
-
He longs to be gracious to us if only we will
let Him.
19.
For the people shall dwell in
Zion at Jerusalem: thou shalt weep no more: he will
be very gracious unto thee at the voice of thy cry;
when he shall hear it, he will answer thee.
-
He will use whatever means necessary to draw us
to Him.
20.
And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the
water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be
removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall
see thy teachers:
-
If we will trust in God, He will guide us into
the most glorious life possible.
21. And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way,
walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and
when ye turn to the left.
CONCLUSION:
The choice is ours; will we continue to trust in the arm of
flesh, the things of this world, or will we put wait
on God and God alone.
Isaiah 40:27-31 (NLT)
O
Israel, how can you say the LORD does not see your
troubles? How can you say God refuses to hear your
case? Have you
never heard or understood? Don't you know that the
LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the
earth? He never grows faint or weary. No one can
measure the depths of his understanding. He gives
power to those who are tired and worn out; he offers
strength to the weak. Even
youths will become exhausted, and young men will
give up. But those
who wait on the LORD will find new strength. They
will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run
and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint.
