Sunday, December 31, 2006

Adventure Calls - Hebrews 11:8-10

Title: Adventure Calls
Date: Dec 31, 2006
Location: RSGM
Text: Hebrews 11:8-10

Introduction

- Michael Perham - 14 years old - youngest solo voyage 3,500 miles across the Atlantic - left Gibraltar Nov 18, arrives Antigua Jan 2
- we are all on a journey too
- Abraham left Ur in southern Iraq in response to God's call, to travel to the Promised Land
- we are on a similar journey
- we are leaving not the Rock of Gibraltar or the ancient city of Ur - instead we are leaving our old way of life to find our own promised land

1. God Prepares Us For Our Journey

- Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you . . ."
- God knew us when we were born, he was also there when we went astray
- He knew Paul while he was persecuting the church
- God uses the things we went through, for a good purpose - he knows our uniqueness
- each person has a unique journey, we don't all sail the same route
- but God does prepare us for the day we commence our journey

2. God is There When We Start

- John 6:44 "No one can come to me except the Father who sent me draws him"
- He provided Jesus even before we existed
- He calls us to him, through life's circumstances
- He is the one who plants that thought, that we need something more than ourselves

3. God Stays With Us on Our Journey

- Hebrews 13:5 "I will never leave you nor forsake you"
- Mike Perham's dad stayed with him all the way, sailing just 2 miles behind him
- God is always there with us
- He won't let anything too big for us, overwhelm us (1 Corinthians 10:13)
- He encourages us, and sends us the Comforter (John 14:16)
- He communicates with us, just like Mike Perham and his dad

4. God Prepares For Our Arrival

- John 14:1-3 ". . . I go to prepare a place for you"
- God is getting our destination ready for our arrival
- there will be a huge party when Jesus returns and he invites us to sit at his table for a wedding banquet
- when we have finished our journey here on earth, he has a place ready for us in heaven, and a responsible task for us when he returns to this earth
- coming to Jesus means that we have all this available to us

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Jesus Our Baptizer - Matt 3:11, Acts 1:5, 8

Title: Jesus Our Baptizer
Date: Dec 17, 2006
Location: RSGM
Text: Matthew 3:11, Acts 1:5, 8

Introduction

- this is the third week of Advent
- first week - Jesus Our King
- second week - Jesus Our Healer
- third week, today - Jesus Our Baptizer

1. Jesus Came To Heal Our Relationship With God

- man was created with a need for closeness with God
- through choosing to sin, man chose to live his own life, in isolation
- there was a break in that relationship
- Jesus came to restore the relationship man had previously had with God
- Jesus was baptized as an example for us
- when he was baptized, the Holy Spirit anointed him for his task, the mission upon which he had been sent

2. Jesus Showed Us How

- Jesus did nothing of himself
- he was in constant relationship with the Father
- he did things as the Father showed him
- for 3-1/2 years he showed the disciples how a person filled with the Holy Spirit, lives in relationship with God, and conducts his life
- he was an example to us

3. Jesus Made It Possible

- having shown how to live in relationship, he now makes it possible
- died on the cross so our debt could be satisfied and our old way forgiven
- he was resurrected so we would not have a dead Savior but one who is alive and living in us
- Father Son and Holy Spirit came to dwell in us
- Revelation 21:3 "The tabernacle of God came to dwell with man"
- while there is a future fulfillment of this, it has already happened for those who have accepted God into their heart
- now our relationship with God has been restored

4. Jesus Gave Us A Mission

- the purpose for that relationship was the mission God gave us
- Adam's mission was to exercise God's dominion over the earth
- we too have been given a mission
- just as the Father sent Jesus to minister healing and reconciliation, Jesus sent us to continue that mission
- John 20:21 "As the Father sent me, I send you"
- just as Jesus had to be anointed for his task, we too need the empowerment of the Holy Spirit
- the reason the discoiples were told to wait in Jerusalem was to wait for the promise
- Acts 1:8 ". . . but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you . . ."
- In Acts 2 we read how the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost
- Peter who denied Christ 3 times, preaches his first powerful sermon
- the Gospel is preached throughout the world

Conclusion

- This is the result of Jesus coming as our Baptizer
- Matthew 3:11 ". . . He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire"

Friday, December 8, 2006

Seed Grows Gradually - Mark 4:26-29

Title: Seed grows gradually
Date: December 8, 2006
Text: Mark 4:26-29

Introduction

- this was written in an agrarian society
- people today think that milk is manufactured in factories, and that bread comes off an assembly line
- in Jesus' day he was speaking to people who were close to the land
- he tells a parable here about seed that is planted and grows and is harvested
- this parable is relevant to all of us because we all want to grow in our spiritual life

1. The seed is the word that was planted in our hearts - v.14

- Mark 4:14 - the sower sows the word
- there comes a day for each of us when our heart is opened to our need for God
- a spiritual emptiness in our soul that can only be filled by Jesus coming into our life
- the word has to be planted
- this places a big responsibility on Christians - go out into all the world and make disciples
- John 6:44 - "No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him"
- God prepares the ground and makes people receptive to the gospel
- but we have to go out and give our testimony
- he says to the disciples, follow me and I will make you fishers of men
- 1 Corinthians 3:6 - Paul planted, Apollos watered, God made it to grow
- we all have our role in kingdom work

2. We cannot see what God is doing in a person's heart - v.27

- v.27 - "and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how"
- once the word has been preached or a testimony has been given, the seed has been planted
- just as we can's see initially that anything has happened to the seed, we also don't know what effect the word has had in someone's mind
- but a seed has been planted and the Holy Spirit is now busy with the person, doing a work inside them
- whatever we do for the kingdom is not our work, but the work of God through us
- this is why God seeks humble people to be his witnesses

3. Then we see the blade come up

- this is like when a person comes to Jesus
- we see the seed has had effect
- a new shoot has come
- it is tender and can easily be trampled or choked by weeds
- then the ear develops, we see people develop in the kingdom
- some go great guns, others progress steadily
- others become very fruitful
- then comes a day when the corn kernels are fat and ripe, and ready for harvesting
- that is the day when jesus calls us home, our task is complete

Conclusion

- recognize that our Christian walk is a journey
- a seed is planted and God works in us to bring it to the birth
- a shoot appears, and others see that we have accepted Jesus
- the shoot grows up, becomes a stalk, and produces ears where the kernels grow
- then comes the time of harvest, when Jesus returns