NOTE FROM TODD: You need to know we value adventures around here-it’s built into our mission and why we sent our youth into the wilderness in June-to get them out of their comfort zones with God-this is our definition of adventure-but here’s the catch-there are 2 kinds of adventures in life-the kind you want to go on and the kind you don’t.
Ed our preacher today went on one he didn’t want. Today he’s going to tell us about it. And like the true fix it man he is-he will give us tools to help us get thru it if we ever find ourselves on a similar adventure. This is the manuscript of his sermon to view the service CLICK HERE
I pondered sermon titles for today like: What’s in your music?, What’s in your heart?, but I landed on Hope: A Message for All. Hope. A word Sara wanted for 2023. On August 5th, 2023, my lovely, loving wife Sara of 40 years went home to be with her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. She wished for a year of “hope”.
Hope that neither her or I would have any more surgeries, nor spend time in hospitals but this did not happen!!! She also hoped to take a 40 year celebration cruise with me, hoped to spend more time with our growing family and grandchildren. Hoped for so many other things. We both did. However, that was not the kind of year we were going to have.
As I’ve struggled and learned over this past year, she did receive the final reward. Hope came in Jesus Christ and eternity. She has helped me to see clearer the hope we all have in Him, Jesus Christ.
These are some of the ways that I’ve been able to move forward. Music is one of these at the top of my list. Scripture is very much a part of what is in the lyrics, as well as daily readings from my Oswald Chambers devotion Bible, Streams in the Desert by L. B. Cowman, Begin Again by Max Lucado - Thank you Velma (Hold the book up), and Seasons of Sorrow by Tim Challies. One thing is for sure, I know who I am in Christ. I know what He has done for me. Where would I be without Him?
Did you catch any of the lyrics of the songs that were played this morning? They have very significant meaning to me. If you missed some, that is ok, I’d like to read this one for you, “More to this Life” by Steven Curtis Chapman. I sang this song many years ago, but it really grabbed me in a real, new way. Here it goes:
Today I watched in silence as people passed me by
And I strained to see if there was something hidden in their eyes
But they all looked at me as if to say, Life just goes on
The old familiar story told in different ways
Make the most of your own journey from the cradle to the grave
Dream your dreams tomorrow because today, Life must go on
But there's more to this life living than dying
More than just trying to make it through the day
More to this life, more than these eyes alone can see
And there's more than this life alone can be
Tonight he lies in silence staring into space
And looks for ways to make tomorrow better than today
But in the morning light it looks the same, Life just goes on
He takes care of his family, he takes care of his work
And every Sunday morning he takes his place at the church
Somehow he still feels a need to search, Life just goes on
But there's more to this life than living and dying,
More than just trying to make it through the day
More to this life, more than these eyes alone can see
And there' s more than this life alone can be.
So where do we start to find every part
Of what makes this life complete
If we turn our eyes to Jesus we'll find
Life's true beginning is there at the cross where He died
He died to bring us more to this life living - than dying
More than just trying to make it through the day
More to this life, more than these eyes alone can see
And there's more than this life living than dying
More than just trying to make it through the day
(Pause)
Believe that there is more to this life. In Genesis 42, how do you think Joseph felt when he was in the pit with his brothers looking down on him. We should try to see a bit more through the eyes of Joseph. Today in our pit, whatever it is, you name it, you name your pit. Look to God. Look full in His face.
Don’t limit yourself to what you see or what is visible. Look beyond, look beyond the pit. Do you think in that hour, Joseph saw Egypt? See the unseen. I think God had something he was working on with Joseph in those hours, maybe years beyond that hole.
Remember too, that after some very good years with Potiphar, Joseph landed back in a cell. God wasn’t done with Joseph yet, before putting him in Pharoh’s hand. Maybe God just needed to draw Joseph closer to himself for a while longer. Joseph had done no wrong before landing in prison, but there was so much more yet for Joseph.
I have said this before. Would you rather spend 40 years in the wilderness like Moses? Or a few short days in a belly of whale like Jonah? I think maybe we often spend too many years groveling or complaining in our pit. How bad it is in this pit?
Or maybe what I could have or should have done differently. You might spend more time asking God what next or yes Lord what is it that you want, or Lead on Good Shephard. I know for a fact that this is easier stated than lived. So, try listening more, try being still more, try just listening for the whispers of God. Don’t listen only for what is audible or be controlled by logic. God is not a God of our logic.
There is more to this life, than what meets the eye. Do bad things really happen to us? God uses struggles to toughen our spiritual skin. When we see death, do we see disaster? When Jesus sees death, he sees deliverance. It’s not an end, it’s a beginning. Again, did I say this was easy? No, I did not. It is easy however to be distracted by everything else. I’ve learned more about living by faith and not by sight. Trust faith not feelings. For living by faith does not come naturally.
Philippians 3:13 & 14, this is my favorite passage. “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” There is no future in the past.
You can’t change yesterday. You can do something about tomorrow. Put God’s plan into action. Don’t measure the size of your mountain. Talk to the one who can move it. When your mountain won’t move, draw closer to Jesus. Draw close to God. Let him carry you. Just give it all to him. He holds the whole universe in his hands. Be sure to listen to his whispers.
Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God.” Do you believe that you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit?
Ephesians 1:13 & 14, “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, having believe you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. Who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of His glory.
Romans 5:5, “The love of God, has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.” The Spirit comes to intercede over our weaknesses. I have felt the closeness of the Holy Spirit with great comfort. On my recent trip home from Little Eden, it seemed as though the Holy Spirit was sitting in my passenger seat. It was a long trip home, and I was concerned about falling asleep on my way home, but I never experienced fatigue. Several times I had to look over at the passenger seat as if expecting to see someone sitting next to me.
James 1:2-4 (The Message), “Consider it a sheer gift friends when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well developed, not deficient in any way.”
Hope! Isaiah 40:31, “Those who wait on the Lord, shall renew their strength.”
Psalms 23:3, “ He restores my soul.”
Matthew 28:20, “I am with you always to the very end of the age.”
Philippians 4:6, “Do not be anxious about anything but in every situation by prayer and petition with Thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
Hebrews 13:8, “God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”
1 John 4:16, “God is love.” To abide in Christ’s love is to make his love your home.
Proverbs 3:5, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.” These are all very familiar scriptures; they just seem to have a much deeper value now.
Read from Begin Again page 79 & 80.
I know God isn’t going to give us anything we can’t handle. I know that we are here for only a little while. I know that I can’t stay angry or upset, or confused, or continue to ask why. I know that there will be a reuniting in heaven, something that we should all find hope in.
I could have probably read a lot of lyrics from many songs that filled me. Songs I often woke up singing in the middle of the night. Instead, I’m going to say thank you KLove radio 90.9. I will just read the lyrics to one more song by Matthew West, “Don’t Stop Praying”.
What's your impossible? Your "I need a miracle"
What's got you barely hanging by a single thread?
What looks so hopeless now? What weighs down your heart with doubt?
You beg for a breakthrough, but no sign of breakthrough yet
When you've cried, and you've cried 'til your tears run dry
The answer won't come, and you don't know why
And you wonder if you can bow your head even one more time
Don't stop praying, Don't stop calling on Jesus' name
Keep on pounding on Heaven's door And let your knees wear out the floor
Don't stop believing 'Cause mountains move with just a little faith
And your Father's heard every single word you're saying
So, don't stop praying
He's close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit
The Alpha and Omega knows how your story ends
When you've cried, and you've cried 'til your tears run dry
The answer won't come, and you don't know why
And you wonder if you can bow your head even one more time
Oh, do it one more time
And don't stop praying
Build your life on the promises of God. Your hope/faith will be unshakable. Romans 15:4, “The scriptures give us patience and encouragement so that we can have hope.” Hope God can help you and will help you. Sara’s word. “Hope”. There will never be a new car, new wife, new baby, new job, new other… you name it, that will give you the joy your heart desires or craves.
Break for Praise and Worship songs
BENEDICTION: Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Amen.
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