Introduction:

How many of you are breathing right now? How many of you have breath?

I got an idea, how about we try to hold our breath until the end of the sermon. No one wants to try that. I think I can go about thirty seconds without breath and that is about the same amount of time I can go without talking or eating. Breathing is very important in life. Actually, one could argue “to live is to breathe.”

Everyone let’s take a deep breath. Let’s do it together. Let’s breathe in and now let’s breathe out.

You all have breath and Psalm 150 tells us that means we can praise God.

Let’s read Psalm 150.

Psalm 150

¹ Praise the Lord.

Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
² Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.
³ Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
⁴ praise him with timbrel and dancing,
praise him with the strings and pipe,
⁵ praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.

⁶ Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord.

I am continuing a series titled: “You are the church.” Today I focus on Congregational praise.

Theme and challenge:

I want to challenge you to praise God with your breath. That is my theme and challenge.

According to Psalm 150 you are to praise the Lord.

1. In verse 1 we see the call (150:1)
   1. They are called to praise the Lord.
   2. Notice that the verb “to praise” is used 13 times in these six verses. It is used twice in each verse and 3 times in verse 1.
   3. I would say that praising the Lord is pretty important.
   4. This is the conclusion of the Psalms and it is all about praise. But this Psalm is not simply about praise, I believe it is more community driven.
   5. Praise the Lord “in His Sanctuary.” This is likely the Holy of Holies and in the temple. It is awesome that we are now the Temple of God. (1 Cor. 6:19) We can praise the Lord anywhere.

1. In verse 2 we see the cause (150:2)

Chorus: Awesome God

1. Why do we praise God?
2. We praise God for His acts of power.
3. We praise God for His greatness.
4. When we praise God we are loving God. God loves us (John 3:16; 1 John 4:19), we are loving God back.

• In verses 3-5 we see the celebration (150:3-5)

Shout to the Lord

1. This is a celebration.
2. When we have a birthday party, do you do that alone?
3. Can you celebrate on your own? I don’t think so. No, you invite a group of people and you celebrate.
4. Worship, praising God, is something that we do as a community.
5. Look down at verses 3-5. We can’t do this on our own, can we?
6. We have instruments.
7. This is a loud worship service.
8. Take your finger and stick it up in the air and now point it at yourself and say, “I am the church.”
9. You are the church and you are here to praise God.
10. We are celebrating how awesome God is. We are loving God.

In verse 6 we see the culmination (150:6)

Be the Center (verse 1 and chorus)

1. Do you have breath?
2. Try it again, let’s take a deep breath.
3. Now, let’s praise the Lord with our breath.
4. Everyone let’s say, “I love you Lord.”

1. Some Applications and I am applying these to myself as well. They are in this first person.
   1. Do I take praising God seriously?
   2. How do I view the hymns and songs in a worship service?
      1. Am I singing them to God?
      2. Am I singing them like I mean them and like I actually care?
      3. What is going on in my head? Am I just going through the motions.
      4. What about prayer? Am I echoing the prayer to God?

Conclusion:

Research in the field of bioacoustics has revealed that every day we are surrounded by millions of ultrasonic songs. Did you know, for instance, that the electron shell of the carbon atom produces the same harmonic scale as the Gregorian chant? Or that whale songs can travel thousands of miles underwater? Or that meadowlarks have a range of three hundred notes? Supersensitive sound instruments have discovered that even earthworms make faint staccato sounds! Arnold Summerfield, the German physicist and pianist, observed that a single hydrogen atom, which emits one hundred frequencies, is more musical than a grand piano, which only emits eighty-eight frequencies.

Science writer Lewis Thomas summed it up it this way: “If we had better hearing, and could discern the [singing] of sea birds, the rhythmic [drumming] of schools of mollusks, or even the distant harmonics of [flies] hanging over meadows in the sun, the combined sound might lift us off our feet.”[1]

All of creation is worshipping God. When we come together to worship, are we praising God?

You are the church, please come and praise God as a body of Christ.

Jesus said in John 4:23:

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

Let’s praise Him now.

Prayer

Do you know Christ?

Luke 9:23

God created us to be with him. (Genesis 1-2)

Our sin separated us from God. (Genesis 3)

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Gen 4-Mal 4)

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)

Everyone who trusts in him alone has eternal life. (John – Jude)

Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever. (Revelation 22:5)

[1] Adapted from Mark Batterson, All In (Zondervan, 2013), pp. 118-119

When Mercedes was born we had to feed her all the time. Seriously, we had to feed her and feed her and feed her and change her and change her and change her. Now, we don’t have to do either. I mean, she can feed herself and she is fully potty trained. It is great. I will say, it is great when they start talking, but when we are trying to order at the drive thru and she is in the back saying, “I want a milk shake!” I wish she couldn’t talk. But the point is that she is growing up. I remember when she was starting to hold her own bottle. She didn’t know how to tip the bottle back so she would tip her whole body back and fall backwards. I remember the first time we fed her a type of baby food, I think it was bananas, she did not let us take the spoon out of her mouth. She loved it so much that she just wanted to suck on the spoon. But she was used to a bottle and a bottle you don’t take out of your mouth to get more. Mercedes had to grow out of these things. You know how many times I hear her say that she does not like a certain type of food? That does not mean it is not important.

In like manner, we as Christians must grow. We must learn to feed ourselves. We must learn how to eat solid food. Sometimes this is difficult. Sometimes we choke on the solid food. Sometimes we don’t like it, but we must take it in. We may not like vegetables, but that does not mean we do not need them. You need them. I need them. We may only like the sugary items, but you cannot only have sugars. You need meats. We need protein. In the Christian life sugar is the feel good messages that may not take a lot of thinking or struggling. But the meat contains the deep messages and content that we may struggle through. The deep things of the Christian life may not be just content. The deep things of the Christian life may be, “Where is God when life hurts?” You don’t get into the depth if you don’t learn to feed yourself.

Today, I want to talk about feeding yourself.

Theme:

You are the Church, being fed and feeding yourself.

You are all the church if you have believed in and committed to Christ. As part of the church I am to feed you, but you are also to feed yourself.

1. My main point of application is to learn to feed yourself and grow as a result. Let’s read Hebrews 5:11-14:

Hebrews 5:11-14:

We have much to say about this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to understand. ¹² In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!  ¹³ Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. ¹⁴ But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.^{x [1]}

14. Starting in chapter 4:14 the writer transitioned to write about the High Priest. Prior to 4:14 the writer was warning the Hebrew people not to fall away. The writer gave the example of the Hebrew people in Numbers 14. This was the situation when Moses sent spies to see the land of Canaan. All but two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, were scared of the people in the land. Because of their lack of faith, God punished Israel by making them wander in the wilderness for 40 years. The writer was writing about Jesus as the great High Priest from 4:14 until now. In 5:6 the writer says that Jesus is the High Priest in the order of Melchizedek. The writer spends the next few verses (until 5:10) talking about Melchizedek. Melchizedek is found in Genesis 14. He was a priest-king. He was the king of Salem. Abram gave Melchizedek a tithe, being 10 percent of his spoils from the battle he had with the kings of the east who had taken his nephew Lot. Melchizedek was a priest who was not of the priestly line which would be the line of descent from Aaron or the Levites. Jesus is the great High Priest even though He is not from the line of Aaron or the Levites. Abram submitted to Melchizedek and Abram was prior to Moses and prior to Aaron so it should follow that Melchizedek is someone important.
15. That is how we get to here. But in this passage the writer says that he would like to give them more, but he can’t because they are stuck as babies. The content I just gave is straight from the Bible but we do have to follow it.
16. I have referenced Mercedes and could also reference Abigail about growing up. Abigail is learning to peddle her bike, learning to put her shoes on and so much more. But Mercedes is two years ahead of her. For some time now, Mercedes has wanted to run with me. I love running with my children, but they are getting too big. But we still go out and run several times a week. Well, a few years ago I weighed like twenty-thirty pounds less and I was a much faster runner. Mercedes also weighed less as she was just two years old. I was running the Alliance Rotary Castle run. Mercedes and I were running and we were moving. It was great. She was riding along just talking and singing. Then we started coming down Glamorgan or some street over there and I saw Tonya Penturf. I thought how cool it would be to pass Tonya when I am pushing a baby. Of course Tonya is much, much, much older than me so I should run faster. We passed her and then Mercedes threw her shoe. I then had to stop and pick up her shoe and Tonya passed me. Tonya finished ahead of me and Dave Penturf gave me $20 for letting his wife beat me. But when we run Mercedes will say, “Daddy, can I run with you?” I will say, “No, Mercedes you need to ride in the jogging stroller.” She will say how she can run so fast and even show me. She wants to run with me so bad. Someday, I believe that she will grow up and I hope I can run with her then. Mercedes has to grow up for this and we expect her to grow up. We expect her to grow stronger.
17. We want, we desire, we expect that children grow up and get stronger.

One of my favorite preachers says this:

I love babies. I think others ought to have as many as they wish. I think it’s a delightful, enjoyable experience to watch babies grow up and to become little people, little men and women, adolescents, and functioning persons. But you and I know that there are some things about little babies that are not very attractive. We humor them because they’re babies.

            Here’s a list of things: they are dependent and demanding. They are unable to feed themselves. They are unable to stay out of messes. They love to be the center of attention. They are driven by impulses such as hunger, pain, sleep. They’re irritated when they are dirty, even though they made the mess, and you’ve gotta clean it up. They have no manners, no control. They have little attention span, no concern for others, no abilities or skills.

            Now these are natural things that are part of babyhood. But when you see adults with those characteristics, something tragic has happened, something terribly unfunny. The Christian who is not interested in growing wants to be entertained. He wants a diet of milk when he cries for it. He wants his way. And he’s gonna get it, no matter how many he will have to disrupt to get it.

            You see, in order for a Christian to handle solid food, he has to have a growing, mature digestive system. He needs teeth. He needs to have an appetite that is cultivated over a period of time for deep things, for the solid things of God. Spiritual babies must grow up. Some of the most difficult people to live with in the church of Jesus Christ are those that have grown old in the Lord but haven’t grown up in Him.[2]

1. Sometimes we stay as babies.
2. On the other hand, sometimes we only eat once a week. We think it is enough to be fed spiritually only on Sunday, yet we wonder why we vomit the spiritual content. We wonder why we are nauseous the rest of the day. We wonder why we have spiritual Charlie horses. We wonder… I once heard that when people are starving and they start eating they get sick. For example, people who were prisoners of war and finally get out start eating. When they eat they get sick. This is because their body cannot handle it. In that case it is not their fault. But it is my fault if I willingly refuse to eat except on Sundays and then gorge myself, making myself sick.
3. Sometimes I like to run twice on one day of the week so that I can skip the next day. Sometimes I like to run extra long one day and skip the next day. However, sometimes my body cannot take that. My body is more equipped to handle 7 runs that are 6 miles than one run that is 42 miles. Or, actually, my body can handle 5 runs that are 6 miles and then 1 run that is 20 miles.
4. You cannot sacrifice spiritually as a Christian all week and catch up on Sunday.
5. Let me make a disclaimer. If you are a new Christian God will give you something on Sunday. The problem is that after you have been a believer a certain amount of time and you ignore the Spirit through the week, then I highly doubt God will give much on Sunday. This is because you have been desensitized to the Spirit. I know that is a strong statement, but it is our fallen human nature. We ignore something so long and then our minds get used to it. For example, I know there are things in your house that you don’t notice, this is because you no longer intentionally notice them. You don’t use that item.
6. True story: a church got a new piano, but people would not allow them to get rid of the old piano. It was donated by someone or something like that. So, it was no good, but the church could not move it out of the sanctuary without upsetting people. They didn’t use it but it had to stay in the sanctuary. Well, they moved that piano an inch or a few inches back every week. They had a large side aisle and they just gradually moved that piano back until it was gone and no one noticed. No one noticed because it gradually moved back. We do that spiritually, don’t we? We gradually push God out of our life.
7. So, here is the grand application. Learn to eat strong spiritual food. Spend time with Him through the week. Invest in your relationship with Jesus.

1. Let’s talk about feeding yourself.
   1. Try to read Scripture most days of the week.
   2. Try to read a chapter. Pray first for the Lord to guide you and speak to you and then read.
   3. As you read, make an application.
   4. Try to pray every time you think of something, but also have dedicated prayer times.
   5. Meet with another believe and pray and sharpen each other.
   6. Read some books to aid your spiritual growth. Just read a few pages at a time. I can recommend some:
   7. Dietrich Bonhoeffer: “The Cost of Discipleship”
   8. Rick Warren: “Purpose Driven Life”

Close:

I referenced Mercedes having to learn how to feed herself. That is true. Eventually she learned how to drink her own bottle and then she learned how to eat and drink and walk and talk and much more. Now she even rides a bike. But some day I expect her to grow up. Someday my prayer is that she can take care of herself, really. My prayer is that my children grow up to be responsible.

As Christians we need to grow so that we can be responsible spiritually. We need to be able to feed ourselves and then we can actually help feed other believers.

God created us to be with him. (Genesis 1-2)

Our sin separated us from God. (Genesis 3)

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Gen 4-Mal 4)

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)

Everyone who trusts in him alone has eternal life. (John – Jude)

Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever. (Revelation 22:5)

^x Isa 7:15

^[1] The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), Heb 5:11–14.

[2] Swindoll, Charles R. Read in Swindoll’s Ultimate Book of Illustrations & Quotes. Thomas Nelson. Nashville, TN 1998. Page 80.

Today is, once again, question and answer Sunday. Today is also Father’s Day. So, I am going to put the two together.

Question: “How long do we wait for the Lord?”

I want to talk about this while talking about fathers in the Old Testament and the New Testament. I ultimately cannot answer the “how long” part. This is situational. This also deals with a broader subject of knowing God’s will and how do we know what we are waiting on is something God wants us to wait on. These are specifics that I cannot answer for everybody. I would love to sit down and talk with you about God’s will and what you are waiting on.

A 10 year old girl sent a letter to God.  It read:  Dear God, when exactly will hell freeze over?  My dad said that’s about the time I’ll get my new pony.

I know that people are waiting on a spouse. They are waiting for God to bring the special someone to to them.

Others are waiting on a someone to come back to them. Maybe they have had a disagreement of some sort. Or, maybe their spouse has had an affair. Maybe their child or children have been the prodigal. Maybe their child or children have walked away from God and they are waiting for them to come back.

Others may be waiting on an answer. They are wondering why something has happened to them or has happened a certain way. They may be wondering why they have an illness or a family member has an illness. They are waiting and asking God for answers.

Some are waiting on a new job. They are sticking with their current job, but they hate it. They are sickened by their job. They want a new job and they keep asking God to give them the new job. They want God to help them understand why they are in this current job.

Others are waiting on something else. The question was “How long do I wait on God?” Let’s talk about Biblical examples of fathers waiting on God.

My title is:

Title: Father’s in waiting

I will give some insights on waiting on God.

1. Examples of Fathers waiting in the Bible
   1. I am limiting this to fathers because there are many people who are waiting for the Lord in the Bible. Isaiah 40 even says: but those who hope in the Lord
      will renew their strength.
      They will soar on wings like eagles;
      they will run and not grow weary,
      they will walk and not be faint.
   2. Psalm 40:1: I waited patiently for the Lord;
      he turned to me and heard my cry.
   3. I will summarize the following dads waiting and you can read about them later. The references are in my notes.
   4. Just think about Abraham. In Genesis 15:4 the elderly Abram is promises a son. Isaac was born years later in Genesis 21. In Genesis 21:6 it says that he was 100 years old when Isaac was born. We know that Abram was less than 86 years old when he was first given the promise of Isaac. Genesis 16:16 says that Abram was 86 when Hagar gave birth to Ishmael.
   5. Waiting is tough and I imagine Abram and Sarai had a difficult time waiting. They must have thought repeatedly about taking matters into their own hands until they actually did and Sarai gives Abram her maid to mother the child. But that child was not the child of promise. Abram was to wait on the Lord.
   6. Now, here is an important application: Abram was to wait, but God had given him special revelation on multiple occasions of God’s future for him.
   7. We better not get our own idea and claim we are waiting on the Lord. First, we must discern God’s will.
   8. In the New Testament there is another example of a father waiting on the Lord. There are at least two. One of them is Zacharias. We can read about him in Luke chapter 1. He was elderly and had not had any children. The angel visited him and he was told that he would not be able to talk until the baby was born (Luke 1:20). That must have been a long 9 months of waiting.
   9. Another example is Joseph the step father of our Lord Jesus. In Matthew chapter 1 he is going to divorce Mary, but then God communicates to Him. Then in Matthew chapter 2:13 Joseph is told to take the child, Jesus, to Egypt for safety. Then in 2:19 an angel communicates to Joseph to bring the child back to Israel.
   10. Joseph constantly waited, following the Lord’s instruction.
2. Recommendations on waiting for the Lord
   1. Remember the patience of God: 2 Peter 3:8: But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
   2. God is waiting, God is outside of time.
   3. Patience is a virtue: 1 Cor. 13:4: Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
   4. David says there are three things to do as you wait –
      1. Wait quietly— “I wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.” (Psalm 62:5 NLT)
      2. Wait patiently— “Be still in the presence of the Lord, and wait patiently for him to act.” (Psalm 37:7 NLT)
      3. Wait expectantly— “I wait expectantly, trusting God to help, for he has promised.” (Psalm 105:5 LB)[1]

When God Makes You Wait

In his book It Happens After Prayer, Pastor H. B. Charles Jr. provides the following helpful illustration of why God often makes us wait for the answer to our prayers.

One hot afternoon, a certain woman walked to her neighbor’s produce stand to buy grapes. The line was long. And each person seemed to get special attention. But she waited patiently. When she finally made it to the front of the line, the owner asked for her order. She asked for grapes. “Please excuse me for a minute,” was the answer. Then the owner walked away and disappeared behind a building. For some reason, this rubbed the woman the wrong way. Everyone in line before her was greeted warmly. They were given special attention. And, most importantly, they were served immediately. But she was forced to wait. And when she got to the front of the line, she was forced to wait some more. She was offended. She felt the owner took her regular business for granted. The longer she waited, the angrier she became.

Finally, the produce stand owner reappeared. And with a big smile, he presented her with the most beautiful grapes she had ever seen. He invited her to taste them. She had never tasted grapes so good. As she turned to leave with her delicious grapes, he stopped her. “Oh yeah, I’m sorry I kept you waiting,” said the farmer. “But I needed the time to get you my very best.”

How long have you been in line waiting on God to get to your request? How long have you been waiting in line for God to meet a need, solve a problem, or open a door? Whatever you do, don’t get out of line. And don’t stop praying. Wait on God.[2]

Do you know Christ?

Luke 9:23

God created us to be with him. (Genesis 1-2)

Our sin separated us from God. (Genesis 3)

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Gen 4-Mal 4)

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)

Everyone who trusts in him alone has eternal life. (John – Jude)

Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever. (Revelation 22:5)

Prayer

[1]These come from Rick Warren: http://rickwarren.org/devotional/english/wait-expectantly-for-god-to-answer

[2] H. B. Charles, It Happens After Prayer, (Moody Publishers, 2013) p. 37; submitted by David Finch, Elk Grove, California.

We have applications for both of us.

1. Let’s start by learning from Martha for church.
   1. Let’s notice first that Martha was caring.
   2. Let’s talk about caring as a church. Jeff is going to make a special announcement that connects to our church and how you can be caring.
   3. This is an application. You can all be caring as Martha was caring.
   4. I believe that we can learn from both Mary and Martha. Sometimes Martha gets a bad reputation and, after all, she is rebuked by Jesus. But I think there are some good qualities to learn from Martha. However, if you have these good qualities, don’t gloat in them, notice the things to improve on.
   5. Today’s focus is on the church gathering and my applications will be in accordance with that subject.
   6. Notice that Martha was welcoming. It says that she “opened” her home to him.
   7. She welcomed Him into her home.
   8. But we soon find out that though she welcomed Him into her home, she missed Him.
   9. àWe find out that she is very busy
   10. àWhat is it like to on the one hand be very welcoming, but on the other hand be so busy that we don’t notice people. On the one hand we say, “Come over.” But when they are over we serve them, but we really don’t fellowship with them.
   11. What does it mean to be welcoming?
   12. Greek word is a verb: To take under one’s care, as if placing the hands or arms under a person or thing, to receive hospitably and kindly.
   13. We see this word about four times in the New Testament.
   14. How welcoming are we?
   15. Being welcoming does not mean condoning sin or denying who we are. Truly, I know of a seminary of a major denomination that was going to cover their cross so that a speaker could come for a conference.
   16. When we are that welcoming we compromise truth and Jesus is not welcomed.
   17. Do you notice people when they are here?
   18. Do we all greet them?
   19. Do we all have conversation with them?
   20. In the next few verses we see that though she was opening her home to Jesus, once He came in she really did not pay attention to Him.
   21. Such is the case with some of us. We may welcome people into our church and we say come and visit, but we really do not talk to them or visit with them when they are here. We all love each other and we can tell that we do, but we ignore others. It may be because we are so busy. But in this passage we see that busyness is not an excuse.
   22. That is a message about noticing others, but what about Jesus?
   23. Could it be that we get so busy, even at church, that we miss Jesus? Could it be that our busyness through the week keeps us from Jesus on Sunday?
   24. We may be here, but are we here?
   25. In verse 41, in the Message, Jesus says that she is “fussing” about things.
       1. That is what I do I fuss and Mercedes shows my weaknesses. I get frustrated when things don’t work right. Then I see Mercedes throwing a fit when her shoes don’t go on right. I think “where does this come from?” It comes from me.
       2. I can get so busy and then frustrated and miss Jesus.

• On Sunday we are here to worship in community, but life makes us skip or miss out when we are here.

1. Don’t miss it, it does seem that Martha wants to be with Jesus. She is just busy. I get this because I am always thinking about details too. Let go, worship.

1. Learning from Mary for church
   1. It appears that Mary is one where we would think, “Teacher’s pet.” Mary is the student who when you are sitting in class and class is about over and you think “great, no homework!” But then Mary says, “Teacher you forgot to give us homework.” You are sitting thinking, “Noooooooo!”
   2. Mary was close to Jesus, look:
   3. We find out more about Mary in John 11:2: It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.^[1]
   4. Mary has a theme song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkdjfwMwfXw
   5. Slow down by Nichole Nordeman

Amazing Grace My Chains are Gone

1. Jesus rebukes Martha, but not Mary.
2. We love from Mary to focus on Jesus. We learn to be here now.

• What can we learn for Sunday mornings?
  1. How can you be here now?
  2. Maybe if you start out Sunday mornings earlier or maybe on Saturday night and pray you can ask the Lord to prepare your heart for worship.
  3. Maybe you need to cut something out, so no to something. Maybe you are too busy.
  4. Maybe you are too busy, even at church and you are missing Jesus.

Close:

One writes:

While I was serving in Paraguay, a Maka Indian named Rafael came to sit on my porch. I was eating and went out to see what he wanted. He responded, “Ham, henek met.” Again I asked what I could do for him, but the answer was the same. I understood what he was saying but not its significance: “I don’t want anything; I have just come near.”

I later shared the incident with a local veteran missionary. He explained that it was Rafael’s way of honoring me. He really didn’t want anything; he just wanted to sit on my porch. He found satisfaction and pleasure just being near me.

“What brings you here, my child?” the Lord asks.

“Ham, henek met.”

Doesn’t that reveal the heart of true worship?[2]

Do you know Christ?

Luke 9:23

God created us to be with him. (Genesis 1-2)

Our sin separated us from God. (Genesis 3)

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Gen 4-Mal 4)

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)

Everyone who trusts in him alone has eternal life. (John – Jude)

Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever. (Revelation 22:5)

^[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Jn 11:2.

[2] Stuart Sacks, Villanova, Pennsylvania

You are the church, good things happen when we come together:

What happens when we mix Vinegar and Baking soda? It fizzles up, it reacts. There is a reaction when the body of Christ comes together. The Holy Spirit is powerful when we come together.

An athlete must prepare. Actually, marathon runners prepare the night before and even days before.

How a runner eats the day before can ruin his or her run. What a runner does the day before can ruin his or her run. I love running marathons because I have an excuse to carb load the days prior to run. Seriously, all the books tell you to eat more carbs in the days prior to your marathon. There was actually someone training for a half marathon and she was struggling. She went to talk to her doctor and the doctor asked about her diet. She replied that she would eat about 1300 calories a day. The doctor told her that that is not enough. You have to eat more.

So, can how we live our lives on Saturday impact our Sunday? Can what we do on Sunday morning affect Sunday worship?

Do you believe people are saved in a worship service?

Do we believe that God can teach you something in a worship service? What is this about? Is this simply about making yourself feel good, then don’t read the Bible because there are some hardcore passages in there. Or, is this about God shaping you to be more like Him.

Do you believe you are here to express your love to God and worship Him as worthy?

You are the Church, Part one: Preparing for Sunday morning Congregational worship My theme today is that we must prepare for worship.

To begin, let’s read Mark 1:35:

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.

1. Jesus modeled prayer.
   35. We just read this in Mark 1:35.
   36. Even though Jesus had a lot going on He retreated for prayer.
   37. If you read the verses before this the whole city is gathering at the door where Jesus was so that they can be healed.
   38. Jesus was a busy man. He was very important. Yet, He retreated for prayer.
   39. He knew He needed time with the Father.
   40. I struggle with this. Honestly, let’s apply this together. My struggle is because many times I act like I can live the Christian life by my own power. I’ve talked about the Holy Spirit, right? So, why don’t I spend more time with God through the Spirit. It is like I do not believe in prayer. The Bible says The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working. (James 5:16) So, why do I not function like I believe that. How about you?
   41. I will tell you that in the last few months I have been convicted to pray through the church on Saturday and or Sunday. I walk through each room and pray as the Spirit leads me. I pray for the childcare children by name and most if not all of you by name. This is part of my preparation for Sunday morning worship.
2. Old Testament examples
   1. In Exodus 19 God instructs Moses to instruct the people to prepare themselves to encounter God. In verses 10-11: And the Lord said to Moses, “Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Have them wash their clothes ¹¹ and be ready by the third day, because on that day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.
   2. There was preparation to meet God.
   3. In Exodus 40 there are 34 verses of instructions for Moses building the Tabernacle.
   4. Today our Tabernacle is us. The Holy Spirit resides in us (1 Cor. 6:19), but when we come together we are the people of God.
   5. We must take this seriously and prepare.

• How do we prepare?
  1. I am very planned. But before children there were many times when Meagan and I had an idea and we just did it. We would think, “Let’s go out to eat,” and off we go. We would think, “Let’s go get a movie,” and off we go. That is just the way we could function then. Now, we have children. We must think more seriously about things.
  2. Likewise, as Christians we must take church seriously. We must take corporate worship reverently.
  3. Reflect: It is often hard to concentrate on God when the world and its cares try to take first place in our hearts. What gets in the way of your ability to focus on God and hear what He says?
  4. Spend time in prayer Saturday night and/or Sunday morning.
  5. Pray that God will open our hearts to hear Him.
     1. Pray for others that they will come to know Him as Lord and Savior.
     2. Pray for me and those that lead worship.
  6. Spend time in the Word. Read the passage that will be preached on.
  7. Perceive what Jesus has done for us through His sacrifice on the cross.
  8. Praise Jesus for our salvation and for the freedom to worship when and where we choose.
  9. Prepare to share what we have learned with the world, teaching others to follow Jesus step by step.

Close:

Do you believe that God will work through Sunday morning worship?

As Christian we must prepare for Sunday worship just as we prepare to build our house or do any other job.

Close regarding the church:

You are the church. Today we get to recognize graduates and celebrate as a church. Further, we prepare for church, we prepare for life.

 Sunday morning is preparing for life.

Today, we recognize graduates…

Let’s celebrate together

Do you know Christ?

Luke 9:23

God created us to be with him. (Genesis 1-2)

Our sin separated us from God. (Genesis 3)

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Gen 4-Mal 4)

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)

Everyone who trusts in him alone has eternal life. (John – Jude)

Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever. (Revelation 22:5)

Introduction:

You are not alone.

A few years ago when Mercedes was about two years old I was away on a continuing education trip and when I got back Mercedes had learned something new. She said, “One, two…” then Meagan said, “She is going to jump on you.” Mercedes said, “Three.” I had to catch her. Now, that is faith. Mercedes could not do that if she was alone. But she knew that I was there to catch her.

Do we live the Christian life knowing that we are not alone?

You see, one may think, “I can never overcome this addiction.” But you are forgetting, you are not alone. The Holy Spirit is with you.

You may think, “I can never get rid of alcohol.” But remember you are not alone, the Holy Spirit is with you.

You may think, “I can’t read the Bible, I don’t understand the Bible.” But remember the Holy Spirit is your teacher. (John 14:26; John 16:13; 1 Cor 2:14)

You may think, “I can’t be a witness, I don’t know enough. What if I don’t know the answer?” But you are not alone. (Luke 12:11-12)

You may think, “I can’t pray, I just can’t.” Or, you may think, “I am so sad, I don’t want to pray, I am mad at God.” But the Holy Spirit prays for you and with you. You are not alone. (Romans 8:26-27)

My theme today is that the Holy Spirit is still with us. The same Holy Spirit in the early church is in your life now. Live knowing that you are not alone.

The Holy Spirit is still active today. But how do you lean on the Holy Spirit? Understand that the Holy Spirit is not a force. This is not Star Wars. The Holy Spirit is referred to as a person.

The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit); One God manifested in 3 persons. The Holy Spirit is a person, not merely a force. He is intelligent (1 Cor 12:11), has a will (1 Cor 12:11), teaches (John 14:26), can be grieved (Eph. 4:30), and can be insulted (Hebrews 10:29). The Holy Spirit is God (Acts 5:3-4). (See also John 14:16-19, 23. Jesus says He is leaving , yet He will come to the Disciples with the Father.) The Son and the Father come into our hearts through the Holy Spirit. The degree of separateness and unity in the Trinity is a mystery. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit share Divinity (One God), yet are distinct in personality.

As Christians how is the Holy Spirit active in our lives?

1. Teacher of spiritual truths. (John 14:26; John 16:13; 1 Cor 2:14)

John 14:26: But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

1. The Holy Spirit is our teacher. Many times we don’t act like we have a supernatural teacher. We avoid the Bible, we avoid Theology, we avoid doctrine and I think this is because we diminish, or trivialize the Holy Spirit as a God with us.
2. Jesus said that He was leaving but He will send the Helper. (John chapters 14-17 (14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7))
3. I must always remember that as I preach the Holy Spirit is active in the congregation. Our church leaders must remember that the Holy Spirit is active in our congregation.
4. Do you realize how many times I have preached things and people talk to me and I am like, “that is an awesome Truth, I did not get that.”
5. Chuck Swindoll writes about preaching a sermon and after the sermon a man said, “My wife called you, didn’t she?” Swindoll said, “No.” He said, “Come on, I know she did, she called you.” Swindoll said, “I do not even know who you are, your wife did not call me.” The Holy Spirit was at work and sometimes His work comes out as conviction.
6. If you throw a rock at a pack of dogs the dog that bites is likely the dog that got hit by the rock. The Holy Spirit teaches. The Holy Spirit convicts.
1. Mouthpiece in witnessing to others. Luke 12:11-12: When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, ¹² for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”
   1.  This is hard for me.
   2. But I meet with a man and regularly we are at a restaurant and he will say, “We are going to pray for our food, can we pray for you?”
   3. You know I must remember that when I witness I am not alone. But I will never know that the Holy Spirit is with me if I do not lean on Him and depend on Him.
   4. Peter walked on water, right? He did. (Matthew 14:28ff) But this would not have happened if he did not trust Jesus to get out of the boat.
2. Helper in prayer. Romans 8:26-27: In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.²⁷ And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.
   1. My youth pastor lost his daughter to cancer and he said there were many days when he could not pray. But He knew that when I got on His knees and wept the Holy Spirit was interceding for Him.
   2. Understand that it is okay and quite good to be silent before God in prayer.
3. Purifier of our hearts. Acts 15:8-9: God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. ⁹ He did not discriminate between us and them,for he purified their hearts by faith.
   1. The Holy Spirit is at work transforming us.
   2. You are not alone.

Close:

I hate being alone. I do not do good being alone. Solitary confinement would mess me up. Thankfully, I am not and I never will be alone.

Are you alone?

Are we alone?

The Holy Spirit is at work within each of you. Then when we come together, the Holy Spirit is active in the whole church and that is powerful.

Do you know Christ?

Luke 9:23

God created us to be with him. (Genesis 1-2)

Our sin separated us from God. (Genesis 3)

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Gen 4-Mal 4)

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)

Everyone who trusts in him alone has eternal life. (John – Jude)

Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever. (Revelation 22:5)

Pentecost Is Like the Opening of the Aswan High Dam

John Piper provides the following helpful illustration of the Holy Spirit before and after Pentecost:

Picture a huge dam for hydroelectric power under construction, like the Aswan High Dam on the Nile, 375 feet high and 11,000 feet across. Egypt’s President Nasser announced the plan for construction in 1953. The dam was completed in 1970 and in 1971 there was a grand dedication ceremony and the 12 turbines with their ten billion kilowatt-hour capacity were unleashed with enough power to light every city in Egypt. During the long period of construction the Nile River wasn’t completely stopped. Even as the reservoir was filling, part of the river was allowed to flow past. The country folk downstream depended on it. They drank it, they washed in it, it watered their crops and turned their mill-wheels. They sailed on it in the moonlight and wrote songs about it. It was their life. But on the day when the reservoir poured through the turbines a power was unleashed that spread far beyond the few folk down river and brought possibilities they had only dreamed of.

Well, Pentecost is like the dedicatory opening of the Aswan High Dam. Before Pentecost the river of God’s Spirit blessed the people of Israel and was their very life. But after Pentecost the power of the Spirit spread out to light the whole world. None of the benefits enjoyed in the pre-Pentecostal days were taken away. But ten billion kilowatts were added to enable the church to take the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ to every tongue and tribe and nation.[1]

Today, we continue to focus on the Holy Spirt.

Why is the book of Acts called “Acts”?

It has been said that we could call the book of Acts the “Acts of the Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is totally active in the whole book of Acts.

Let’s look at several of the passages where the Holy Spirit is active in the book of Acts.

My theme today is the Holy Spirit and the early church.

Let’s look at a few passages. This is not exhaustive.

1. In Acts chapter two we have the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:1-4: When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.² Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
   1. The Holy Spirit comes upon the church in this passage.
   2. By the very end of the passage we have 3000 saved.
   3. This is an amazing passage. People are speaking in different tongues and Peter preaches. Moving on.
2. But Peter filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:8)
   1. In Acts 4:8 the passage specifically says that Peter is “filled” with the Spirit and he preaches once again.
   2. The Spirit works as Peter preaches.
   3. The Holy Spirit gives them great boldness.
   4. The Holy Spirit is powerful.
   5. Just think about the power in a dam. I read that illustration in the beginning. How many of you have been to the Hoover Dam? That is power. How many of you have been to Niagara Falls? That is power. The Holy Spirit gave boldness to the Apostles as they preached and and as they witnessed. In this case the Holy Spirit gave boldness to Peter.
   6. Remember Tim the Tool man? We need more power.
   7. [get a log ax and a chain saw out] I have this log to cut in half, should I use this ax or this chain saw?
   8. The Holy Spirit gives us power.

• Last week we looked at Prayer (Acts 4:25-31). In Acts 4:25-31 we see the Holy Spirit in their prayer life.

1. I will summarize the passage regarding Ananias and Saphira (Acts 5).
   1. In this passage they sell land and tell the Apostles he had given them all the money.
   2. This was a lie and the Holy Spirit reveals the lie to the Apostles.
2. In Acts 13:1-3 we see the Holy Spirit communicate God’s will. Acts 13:1-3: Now in the church at Antioch there were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon called Niger, Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen (who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch) and Saul. ² While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” ³ So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.
3. The last passage I want to share today is The Macedonian Call Acts 16:6: Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 

Close:

God does not change. (Hebrews 13:8)

The Holy Spirit was active in the early church and the Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit is active today.

How do we explain Muslims having dreams about a Savior dying on a cross?

How do we explain when people are saved simply reading the Bible?

How do we explain the following?

In Nik Ripkin’s book The Insanity of God, he tells the story of Aisha, a 24-year-old Christian widow and convert from Islam. She was so outgoing in her witness to Christ in the hostile environment of her Islamic town that the authorities arrested her and put her in the dark, unfinished cellar of the police station.

At the point when she felt she could take no more and was about to scream, instead, to her surprise, out of her mouth came a heart-song of praise to Christ. As she sang, she could tell the movement upstairs ceased. They were listening.

That night the police chief came down and said he was taking her home on one condition: You must come to my house in three days. Then he said,

I don’t understand. You are not afraid of anything. My wife and daughters and all the women in my family are afraid of everything. But you are not afraid of anything. … I want you to come to my house so you can tell everyone why you are not afraid. And I want you to sing that song.

The Holy Spirit is with us. We’ll talk more about Him next week.

Do you know Christ?

Luke 9:23

God created us to be with him. (Genesis 1-2)

Our sin separated us from God. (Genesis 3)

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Gen 4-Mal 4)

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)

Everyone who trusts in him alone has eternal life. (John – Jude)

Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever. (Revelation 22:5)

[1] John Piper, “Was the Holy Spirit not on Earth before Pentecost,” Gospel Coalition Blogs (5-24-15); submitted by Van Morris, Mt. Washington, Kentucky

Introduction:

This is once again a question and answer Sunday.

We received many questions and we hope to use a few of them for Christian Connections. As always if you would like to talk with me about a question please contact me. However, we also answer questions at the Wednesday night small group.

Today we will talk about:

How Does the Holy Spirit Work in Our Lives Today? Does Prayer and Forgiveness wipe the slate clean? Why Should we pray? What is the Purpose of Prayer, Does God answer prayer and how does He Choose to Answer? How do we keep prayer from being a Genie in a Bottle?

Francis Chan in Forgotten God:

You might think that calling the Holy Spirit the “forgotten God” is a bit extreme. Maybe you agree that the church has focused too much attention elsewhere but feel it is an exaggeration to say we have forgotten about the Spirit. I don’t think so. From my perspective, the Holy Spirit is tragically neglected and, for all practical purposes, forgotten. While no evangelical would deny His existence, I’m willing to bet there are millions of churchgoers across America who cannot confidently say they have experienced His presence or action in their lives over the past year. And many of them do not believe they can. The benchmark of success in church services has become more about attendance than the movement of the Holy Spirit. The “entertainment” model of church was largely adopted in the 1980s and ’90s, and while it alleviated some of our boredom for a couple of hours a week, it filled our churches with self-focused consumers rather than self-sacrificing servants attuned to the Holy Spirit.

If I were Satan and my ultimate goal was to thwart God’s kingdom and purposes, one of my main strategies would be to get churchgoers to ignore the Holy Spirit. The degree to which this has happened (and I would argue that it is a prolific disease in the body of Christ) is directly connected to the dissatisfaction most of us feel with and in the church. We understand something very important is missing. The feeling is so strong that some have run away from the church and God’s Word completely.

I believe that this missing something is actually a missing Someone—namely, the Holy Spirit. Without Him, people operate in their own strength and only accomplish human-size results.

Chan, Francis (2009-09-01). Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit (Kindle Locations 107-112). David C. Cook. Kindle Edition.

Forgotten God is a great book and I would commend it to anyone. But how is the Holy Spirit involved in our lives? I specifically wish to talk about the Holy Spirit in prayer. Let me first say that the Holy Spirit is too big of a subject for one Sunday, but we must understand that the Holy Spirit is with us every Sunday and every day of the week.

1. The Holy Spirit in our lives today: Key text Romans 12:1-2: Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
   1. In Acts, after Jesus has been resurrected and ascended to heaven, Peter addressed a crowd and declared, “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” (2:38).
   2. The Holy Spirit is our:
      1. Teacher of spiritual truths. (John 14:26; John 16:13; 1Cor 2:14)
      2. Mouthpiece in witnessing to others. (Luke 12:11-12)

• Helper in prayer. (Romans 8:26-27)

1. Power for victorious living. (Acts 1:8; John 1:12)
2. Purifier of our hearts. (Acts 15:8-9)[1]

4. The Holy Spirit transformed the Apostles. After Acts chapter two Peter who was denying Christ now preaches. So, then we get to Acts 4.

Clip from Aladdin with the song when the Gennie is found.

1. How is the Holy Spirit active in our prayer life? Acts 4 has the Holy Spirit in prayer:
   1. Allow me to read Acts 4:23-31:

²³ On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. ²⁴ When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. ²⁵ You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:

“‘Why do the nations rage
    and the peoples plot in vain?
²⁶ The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the Lord
and against his anointed one.’

²⁷ Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. ²⁸ They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.²⁹ Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. ³⁰ Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

³¹ After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.

1. Now, allow me to review what is going on in this passage: At the beginning of Acts chapter 3, Peter and John are going to the Temple at the time of prayer. A lame beggar was there and asked for money. Peter said, “Silver or gold I don’t have but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” The man is healed. This attracted a lot of attention and Peter preached a sermon. Peter’s message reached about 5000 people with the Gospel, but this aggravated the Jewish authorities and Peter and John were thrown in prison for the night. The next day Peter and John spoke before the Jewish leadership and Peter again preached the Gospel (4:8 says that Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit). Eventually they had Peter and John released.
2. Now, following their release from prison, they come back to meet with their own people. They didn’t go to take a shower first. They didn’t go to catch up on business, emails, Facebook or other things. They went straight back to join their people.
3. They shared about the chief priests. The Chief Priests were a small group of priest within the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin would be the Jewish Supreme Court. The Sanhedrin would be composed of 70 people plus the High priest.[2] The chief Priests are composed of former high priest and members of influential priestly families.
4. Notice in verse 24: When “they,” which I am thinking is the rest of the disciples” heard this meaning what God had done. They went straight to prayer.
5. We must always apply the Scripture to our lives. Let’s apply this narrative for a moment. Do we do the same? They could have gone to rest, but no, they went to prayer. Their prayer includes allusions to Old Testament prayers.

Let’s look at this Spirit-Filled Prayer

1. They start their prayer acknowledging who God is in relation to who we are. We should do the same. God created everything that we see and feel. God created the stars in the sky.
2. Verse 24 starts their prayer as “Sovereign Lord.” This means that God is in control. This means “absolute ruler.” Actually the Greek word translated here is where we get the English word “despot.”[3] God is the absolute ruler and they acknowledged that as they began their prayer.
3. Let me also insert here that they were praying in unity. The Scripture says that they “raised their voices together in prayer…” This doesn’t mean they all prayed at the same time, but that they were praying in unity.
4. Too often I believe that our churches are hindered because of our divisions. Our prayers are hindered because of our divisions. Hence, I am going to say that our divisions hinder the Spirit’s work in our prayer life. In a few verses we will see that this group of Christians experienced the Holy Spirit. I think we are missing the Holy Spirit because of our division[4].
5. Another statement about division, I strongly believe that the devil starts and fosters our division in order to take our focus off of evangelism. I strongly believe that reaching the lost will heal our division. We will realize that the things we are divided over are not as important as sharing the Gospel with those who don’t even know the Lord. What we need to see here is that their prayer was in unity and God blessed them with a special baptism of the Holy Spirit.
6. They prayed for boldness and an expansion of the Gospel. They ask that God allows them to preach God’s Word with great boldness.
7. Verse 30 is a prayer for miracles.
8. Verse 31 is a confirmation of their Spirit filled prayer.
9. The place is shaken.
10. They also speak the Word of God boldly. That is the answer to their prayer.

• Let’s make some applications and sum up.
  1. I am trying to answer several questions today while talking about the Holy Spirit. I want to do this as best as I can.
  2. First, how does God answer prayer? How does God choose which to answer and which not to answer? Jesus said in John 14:13-14: And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. ¹⁴ You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.
  3. We misunderstand “name” today. “Name” means “after my manner.” When we are asking Jesus for something by His name this means that we are praying by His will and not our own.
  4. So, I would say that Jesus chooses to answer prayers based off of His will. We see in that passage in Acts that the prayer is answered. But the prayer is heavily Gospel oriented.
  5. Next, God knows all, but He desires a relationship with us. When we pray we are humbly coming to Him recognizing we cannot do this on our own. Part of the purpose of prayer is our relationship with God. Another purpose is humility. (Phil. 4:6-9)
  6. How do we keep prayer from being a “Gennie in a bottle”? We must let the Scriptures inform our prayer life. Think about our prayers, are we praying for our own interest or God’s interest? It is okay to pray for our healing or our job, but is the end result God’s interests? If I am healthier, I can better take care of my family. Read the Bible and pray the passages, the narratives for yourselves and others. Surrender to God’s will.
  7. The Holy Spirit is always active in prayer, but I believe He is most active when our prayers are filled with Scripture and we pray as a body of Christ, whether in small groups or large groups.
  8. There was one question which has to do with prayer which I still want to address. Does praying and asking for forgiveness wipe the slate clean? In a way that when we pray and ask for forgiveness we are set free from the eternal consequence of our sins. We still may have temporal consequence, such as jail. We still did sin. However, God sees us as righteous by seeing Christ’s righteousness. We have imputed Christ’s righteousness. (Romans 3:23-34; 6:23)

We are New Testament Christians living in an increasingly secular world. Because of this we must go to the Word of God to be filled up with the Holy Spirit. Now, Christians are filled with the Spirit when we receive Christ as Savior and Lord; however, I believe as we grow in Christ we can experience special times of being filled with the Spirit. We should pray for this every day. I think this will mostly happen in small prayer circles and we need these as Christians. I think this will mostly also happen when our prayers are in the manner expressed in this passage. We must pray with worship acknowledging God as sovereign. We must pray in petition with our basic need, but also we must pray for the greater good submitting to God’s sovereign will. This prayer is for the building up of the church and it is spirit filled. Verse 31 says that they were filled with the Spirit.

Christ followers, let’s do the same. Whether or not you are a preacher, go forth and preach God’s Word including the Gospel. Do this with boldness. Pray in groups of Christians, pray in this manner and experience the Holy Spirit and get ready. Lastly, set aside diversity and instead embrace unity for the cause of the Gospel. Then, you ought to really be ready for the Holy Spirit’s work. We need the type of prayer illustrated in this passage. I certainly do. We need, I need, Spirit-filled prayer meetings in our churches.

Go and be Spirit-filled Christ followers, living as post resurrection Christians.

Listen as I read the words to a newer worship song:

Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble

Did you feel the mountains tremble?
Did you hear the oceans roar?
When the people rose to sing of
Jesus Christ the risen one

Did you feel the people tremble?
Did you hear the singers roar?
When the lost began to sing of
Jesus Christ the risen one

And we can see that God you’re moving
A mighty river through the nations
And young and old will turn to Jesus
Fling wide your heavenly gates
Prepare the way of the risen Lord

Open up the doors and let the music play
Let the streets resound with singing
Songs that bring your hope
Songs that bring your joy
Dancers who dance upon injustice

Did you feel the darkness tremble?
When all the saints join in one song
And all the streams flow as one river
To wash away our brokeness

And here we see that God you’re moving
A time of Jubilee is coming
When young and old return to Jesus
Fling wide your heavenly gates
Prepare the way of the risen Lord

Written by Martin Smith ©1995 Curious? Music UK

Let’s pray.

God created us to be with him. (Genesis 1-2)

Our sin separated us from God. (Genesis 3)

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Gen 4-Mal 4)

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)

Everyone who trusts in him alone has eternal life. (John – Jude)

Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever. (Revelation 22:5)

Pray

[1] Discipleship Training by Dr. Charles Lake. Level 1 week 5

[2] Arnold, Clinton E. Acts. Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary.

Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2007. Page 32

[3] Witherington III 201

[4] We may be able to take 1 Peter 3:7 which references our relationship with our spouse as hindering our prayer life to also mean if we are divided as a church it hinders our prayer life. Psalm 66:18 talks about cherished sin hindering our prayers.

The sermon was supposed to be on Revelation, but the more I thought about it, I do not know that I wanted to focus on God’s Wrath and plagues on Mother’s Day. It is in the Word and it is important. Further, I know that some of us have faced the wrath of our mother’s, but let’s focus on mom’s. What’s in a name:

“Gladiator”: Power of Jesus’ Name

Set in A.D. 180, Gladiator tells the story of General Maximus Decimus Meridius (played by Russell Crowe), who was about to be given reigning authority in Rome by the aging emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Before this could take place, however, the emperor’s son, Commodus, killed his father in order to establish himself on the throne. He then ordered the murder of Maximus and his family. Maximus escaped, and the movie follows him as he is sold into slavery, becomes a nameless gladiator, and finally seeks justice against wicked Emperor Commodus.

The turning point comes late in the movie. After Maximus wins a great battle in the Coliseum, Emperor Commodus decides to meet this unknown gladiator face to face. The crowd watches as the emperor in full pomp strides with his soldiers onto the sands of the Coliseum.

The emperor asks the simple question: “What is your name?”

Maximus, streaked with blood and dirt from the battle, takes off his helmet and says: “My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, commander of the Armies of the North, general of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius, father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next.”

The crowd erupts with a deafening roar, while the emperor visibly shakes under the weight of the true identity of a man he thought was a mere slave. The emperor flees the Coliseum, only to face defeat and death later at the hands of Maximus.

Elapsed time: 01:29:09 to 01:33:08 (DVD scene 16).

Content: Gladiator is rated R for violence.[1]

Okay, that clip does not come from a chick flik, instead an action movie, but it does make my point. The name. At the name of Jesus every knee will bow (Phil. 2:5-11). That is the most important thought on a name. But mothers have always had such an impact on a child’s life. Mother’s have always had such an impact on an adult’s life.

My theme: Listen to your mother’s teaching.

Let’s read Proverbs 1:8:

Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction
and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.

1. Let’s begin by talking about the influence of mothers.
   1. This passage was written in a day when women were not or seemed to not have the value of men in a society. The society was certainly more male dominated; it was a patriarchy. And though I am for men stepping up on society, that is not to be at the expense of mothers and women.
   2. As I talk about mothers today, understand that I am not only meaning the biological mothers. God has used many maternal influences who were not the actual mothers.
   3. But in this passage, Proverbs 1:8, mothers are included right alongside the father. It seems as if they are really listed as equals. It seems as though as we could read through Proverbs we see the mothers teaching expressed.
   4. Actually, if we turn to 1 Kings 2:19 we see the influence of the mother: When Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, the king stood up to meet her, bowed down to her and sat down on his throne. He had a throne brought for the king’s mother, and she sat down at his right hand.
   5. The mother was very involved in the life of ancient Israel. The mother had a throne and the mighty king Solomon bowed to her.
   6. That is wonderful.
   7. Just think about the influence of your mother, maybe your grandmother.
   8. From a very early age I noticed my girls using the term, “Mamma.” They still do, they call Meagan, “Mamma.” I don’t know where it came from, I don’t know how it started, but it is the cutest thing to hear Abigail say, “Mama.” It is not “Mommy,” “Mom,” or “Mother,” but “Momma.”
   9. They also want their mother more than anything. There are many times when I pick up Abigail and I am carrying her to bed and she is saying, “I want “Momma” to carry me.” Or, I go in her room to get her up in the morning and she is saying, “I want Mamma.”
   10. A few years ago, Mercedes was almost two and a half and Abigail was just born and I was taking Mercedes with me to a fish store. Wouldn’t you know as we got out of Alliance, heading towards Canton, she began to cry wanting, “Momma.”
   11. God has created mothers for a very important reason and very important importance.
2. Listen to your mother.
   1. This passage is about listening to your mother.
   2. Exodus 20:12: Honor your father and mother.
   3. But I think there is another important thought here.
   4. Teaching and instruction begin at home.
   5. John Piper writes: Verse 7: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.” In other words if we ask, what’s the basis and beginning and integrating theme of the father’s instruction and the mother’s teaching—what is it that runs through all their daily modeling and counseling and explaining and correcting and disciplining that give unity and meaning to it all—the answer is “the fear of the Lord.”
   6. The family isn’t just a place where children learn to hold spoons and walk on two feet and say” please” and tie shoes and read and look both ways and cut grass and put on makeup and drive a car. The family is where all of this and more begins in God, is guided by God’s Word, and is shown to be for the glory of God. The fear of God—the reverencing of God, the standing in awe of God, the trusting of God—is what family’s are for.
   7. The family is God’s idea. The family is a school. And the unifying theme in the curriculum of this school is God.[2]
   8. As I think about this I notice that many times it is the mother who teaches the fear of the Lord, it is the mother who encourages Bible reading and prayer.
   9. I believe there are so many things we learn from our mothers that we really may not even think of.
   10. I remember learning how to spell certain words from mom.
   11. Interesting thing is that as we look at Proverbs, wisdom is personified as a woman.
   12. All too often, it is the mother who is there for the children, more even than the father.
   13. So, we are to listen to our mother’s instruction.

• So, what’s in a name?
  1. What is in the name: “mom,” “mother,” “mamma”?
  2. I believe that is the most powerful name on the earth.
  3. If we see who shapes societies more than any other person, I believe it is the mothers.

Paul says in 2 Timothy 1:5, I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois, and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well.

Then in 3:14–15 Paul says, You, however, continue in the things you have learned and become convinced of, knowing from whom you have learned them [that is, your mother Eunice and through her from your grandmother Lois]; and that from childhood you have known the holy scriptures [because your mother taught them to you] which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Now that’s a remarkable testimony. Timothy’s father was a Greek (Acts 16:3). He probably didn’t know the Scriptures. So Paul celebrates the great heritage that Timothy has through his mother and his grandmother. They did what his father could not or would not do. They filled him with the Scriptures, and the Scriptures brought him eventually to faith in Christ, and faith in Christ brought him salvation.

Timothy will live forever and ever because his mother and his grandmother were faithful to Proverbs 1:8.

So, for all of us, respect our mothers, listen to our mothers, honor our mothers, the name “mother” is powerful.

God created us to be with him. (Genesis 1-2)

Our sin separated us from God. (Genesis 3)

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Gen 4-Mal 4)

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)

Everyone who trusts in him alone has eternal life. (John – Jude)

Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever. (Revelation 22:5)

[1] Gladiator (Dreamworks, 2000), rated R, written by David Franzoni, directed by Ridley Scott; submitted by Bill White, Paramount,

[2] http://www.desiringgod.org/messages/do-not-forsake-your-mothers-teaching

Introduction:

I have a confession to make. I like to follow the political process. I know, I know this year the process has been quite frustrating. We had around a myriad of republican candidate running and then we had the democratic candidates and by the end we had a myriad times a myriad of candidates running. But there is something interesting to me about it. But isn’t it funny how we expect one of these candidates to be “worthy”? I mean, think with me, is anyone really worthy to be the President of the United States? Is anyone really worthy to execute the duties of that office? Is anyone worthy to send men and women into battle? I am not saying don’t vote, definitely vote, I am simply saying that maybe the most worthy person is the person that recognized that he really is not worthy and no one else is either.

I would go further and say that I am not worthy to preach or serve as a pastor. I am not going to tell you of some secret sin, for that is not one to confess. I will simply tell you how can someone be worthy to preach the Bible? How can someone be worthy to handle the Word of God? How can someone be worthy to lead God’s people? No one is worthy. No one.

Let’s read Revelation 5:1-14 and my theme is that only Jesus is worthy.

Application: Humbly, Lean on Jesus. Be encouraged that there is someone Who will make things right.

Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. ² And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” ³ But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. ⁴ I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. ⁵ Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

⁶ Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits^[a] of God sent out into all the earth. ⁷ He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. ⁸ And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. ⁹ And they sang a new song, saying:

“You are worthy to take the scroll
    and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
    and with your blood you purchased for God
    persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
¹⁰ You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
    and they will reign^[b] on the earth.”

¹¹ Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. ¹² In a loud voice they were saying:

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
    to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
    and honor and glory and praise!”

¹³ Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
    be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”

¹⁴ The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

1. We see that no one is worthy, or so it appears (Rev. 5:1-4).
   1. Have you ever ben in a situation when it seemed like there was no one, really no one who could help?
   2. Think about it. We think, or at least I do, that there are always options. We have cell phones, we have access to all kinds of information.
   3. I watched a movie based on a true story about people climbing Mount Everest when some amazing storms hit. Really, we know Mount Everest we really cannot get help to you.
   4. We always can get help in most places, but in today’s world there are still places when there is no help.
   5. But even when we think we have help everywhere is it the help we really need?
   6. We need to fix creation. We need to get rid of sin. We need to get rid of murder, violence, stealing, unfaithfulness, poverty, gangs, government oppression, the Browns [okay that last one was a joke].
   7. We need help!
   8. They needed help in John’s day as well. The government was persecuting Christians, they were dying torturous deaths. Fallen Babylon was reigning and fallen Babylon meant that it was the fallen system.
   9. Now, we see these scrolls and we see in verse one that the scroll is written on on both sides. Usually a scroll was only written on on one side because it needed to be rolled up.
   10. This scrolls being written on on both sides is saying that it is complete.
   11. It has seven seals which is a number of completion.
   12. John weeps (verse 4) because he thinks no one is worthy.
   13. Again, he is overwhelmed seeing this vision of Heaven and then for a moment thinks that no one can help.
   14. How would you feel?
2. Jesus is worthy, stop weeping (Revelation 5:5).
   1. It is like the elder is saying “Calm down!”
   2. The elders represent us. (likely)

• The Lamb, Jesus, is described (Rev. 5:6-7).
  1. There is all types of Jewish imagery here.
  2. Horns represent power.
  3. A Lion represents power
  4. Notice the description:
  5. Seven horns
  6. Seven eyes. They eyes are defined these eyes are the seven spirits of God which are sent out to the whole earth.
  7. This is all because of the cross.
  8. Verse 5 had said that Jesus has conquered.
  9. In the Greek: “The ‘Root of David is conquering’ to open the scroll.”
  10. The conquering allowed Jesus to open the scroll. The conquering is the cross.
  11. This is all about the cross.

1. Jesus takes the scroll and is worshipped (Rev. 5:8-14)
   4. Verses 8-14 are similar to chapter 4.
   5. The four living creatures and the 24 elders are constantly bowing down.
   6. They are singing a new song.
   7. Verse 9 is about why Jesus is worthy:
      1. He was slain
      2. Purchased for God with His blood people from every nation to be a Kingdom and priests. Rev. 1:6)

• There is the emphasis on the cross and Jesus’ sacrifice. There is the emphasis on Him making us worthy to be priests, but how are

1. So we get to verse 11 and there are myriads and myriads and thousands upon thousands of angels. A myriad is 10,000, so we have 10,000 times 10,000 times 1000 times 1000 angels with the 4 beasts and the 24 elders worshipping.
2. This would be a loud worship service.
3. We see what they say and then as they say it the elders are constantly falling down to worship.

Close:

Who is Worthy? Jesus. Jesus is the only One who is worthy. The only way that one is worthy to preach the Bible is to lean on Jesus for help, recognizing unworthiness. The only One who is worthy is Jesus.

Philippians 2:5-11:

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

⁶ Who, being in very nature^[a] God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷ rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature^[b] of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

With that, let’s move into communion, recognizing Jesus’ worthiness.

Let’s pray.

God created us to be with him. (Genesis 1-2)

Our sin separated us from God. (Genesis 3)

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Gen 4-Mal 4)

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again. (Matthew – Luke)

Everyone who trusts in him alone has eternal life. (John – Jude)

Life that’s eternal means we will be with Jesus forever. (Revelation 22:5)