A grateful heart - Psalm 105:1

A grateful heart

November 20, 2011

Psalm 105:1

Introduction

• Gratitude is hard is unusual these days
• When I was in Bible college, I went on a trip through France, together with a friend, Bob.
• We did this trip on a 125cc Vespa which we had rented in London.
• Many things happened on this trip, which was really a formative experience for me
• The Vespa had mechanical problems, and a week later we had a “scooter wreck” I guess you would call it
• The repairs took about every penny we had, I even used the money dad had sent to buy an overcoat for the winter.
• We thought we had enough money to get us back to college, just. But we had to figure out every penny.
• Bob was driving and I would look over his shoulder to see the gas needle steadily getting towards the empty mark
• We stopped about 20 miles from the border, to use our last French coins to buy gas.
• The needle continued its progression toward the red mark on the dial
• We were praying that God would make the gas last
• The gas finally ran out on the top of a hill in Calais, the port where we would take the ferry back to England. I was able to push the scooter onto the ferry. We were saved, we thought.
• When we got to England, we used all our English money to fill the tank up, and then celebrated with a bar of chocolate and some fish and chips. No money left.
• As we drove on towards St Albans something was wrong.
• The gas guage was dropping alarmingly fast. Mile after mile, the needle dropped steadily towards the red zone, and then even further. We were praying as though our lives depended on it
• We were so glad when we finally turned into the College grounds around midnight! We had made it!
• The next morning I looked into the gas tank. It was bone dry!
• We were so grateful to God for taking care of us on this eventful trip!
• But we often experience God’s grace in our lives and neglect to thank him.
• Today we are taking a look at gratitude, especially in view of Thanksgiving this Thursday

Gratitude looks at what we have, not what we don’t have

• James 1:17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows
• Phil 4:8 – look at what we have, not at what we don’t have
• Be thankful for what we have received and God has granted us, not what he seems to have withheld from us, at least for the moment
• I remember one person who lost her child to cancer.
• Year after year she walked around grieving her loss, never seemingly able to move on
• Last night Dianne and I saw the movie Courageous, and the point was made to look at the years God has allowed us to enjoy our child’s presence, and the good times, rather than the things we will miss because they are no longer here
• This gives a different perspective
• Thanks and gratitude help us to move on

Gratitude comes from trusting God

• Mat 6:8 - Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him
• :33 _ needs not wants
• when we trust God to supply, we can be content with what he gives us
• we may wish that we could be somewhere else, but this is where God has placed us
• we may want a better job, but this is what God has supplied us
• If I am trusting God’s hand over my life, I can be content wherever I am
• Phil 4:10-13 - contented
• 1 Tim 6:6 - But godliness with contentment is great gain
• Look at what God has done, not what has not yet been done

Gratitude is expressed

• Psalm 105:1 - Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done.
• 1 Thes 5:18 Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus
• Our thanks needs to be expressed
• Gratitude is not just a warm bubbly feeling inside
• It is something that is expressed, to God, to the one who has benefited us, and to our associates
• Something that is bottled up is dead and stagnant and does not help anybody
• It is when we express gratitude that it makes a change in the way we see things
• When we express gratitude discontent cannot take hold
• When we express gratitude we touch others with God’s benefits on our behalf
• Gratitude is dead without expression
• James 2:18-20

Conclusion

• My granddaughter has been posting on Facebook, something she is grateful for, every day!
• I think this is so awesome!
• This doesn’t mean her life has been easy, on the contrary
• But she has chosen to be grateful
• That is what it comes down to
• Our circumstances do not dictate whether or not to be grateful.
• We choose to be grateful
• So let’s be thankful this Thanksgiving, and every day

We Will Remember Them! - Heb 11:39-40

We will remember them ..

November 13, 2011

Hebrews 11:39-40

Introduction

• Friday was Veteran’s Day
• On this day we remember those who defend our country both today and in the past. It includes those in law enforcement and our firemen
• How many of us have been in the military, in the past, or currently?
• On behalf of this congregation, I want to thank you for your selflessness in choosing to fight for our country and freedom
• Soldiers, sailors and airmen fought for our freedom
• They fought in the trenches of Belgium, they fought on the beaches or Normandy,
• They fought in Vietnam, In Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan
• They put their lives on the line in fighting crime, or in rescuing people from the rubble of the twin towers
• Wherever they fought, there is a character profile that goes along with being a veteran
• Today we are going to look at this character profile
• Because each of us is called to be a veteran

Qualities of a veteran

• Care about others
• Captain Joshua Byers, a West Point man born in South Carolina who died in Iraq. When this son of missionaries was given command of a 120-man combat unit, he wrote this to his parents: "I will give the men everything I have to give. I love them already, just because they’re mine. I pray, with all my heart, that I will be able to take every single one of them home safe when we finish our mission here."
• A veteran cares about others
• Veterans whom we remember did not do it out of a selfish desire for glory or honor
• They did it out of a desire to serve humanity
• When our soldiers go to far off lands to fight for the cause of freedom, there is something more important than self that motivates them
• Each of us has been called as a light in the darkness
• We have not been called for our own salvation
• We have not been called to bank brownie points in heaven
• We have been called to make a difference in a dark and hurting world
• A veteran is a person of faith
• Sergeant Major Michael Stack, who was laid to rest at Arlington, wore the uniform for 28 years and is remembered as a soldier’s soldier. The sergeant major must have been quite a guy. When he was a young platoon sergeant, the recruits gave him a nickname: No Slack Billy Jack Stack. By all accounts, he was the kind of man you want in charge of a tough situation. And by the account of his mother, he finished his goodbyes with these words: "Mom, I’m going because I believe in what I am doing. And if I don’t come back, we will meet in a better place."
• We have been called to be men and women of faith
• Without faith we just won’t cut it
• Faith is an essential ingredient of a veteran’s character
• We must believe in what we are doing
• This means it is not a 30- minute a day exercise in devotions
• No, it is the core of our beliefs, at the center of our being
• Heb 11:6
• It takes real living faith to be a Christian
• There will be obstacles and things in our way
• But the kingdom of heaven is stormed by men of violence, with fire in their bellies and a faith that surmounts every obstacles
• A veteran perseveres
• The veteran perseveres to the end
• The battle is not over until it is won
• Veterans kept fighting under terrible circumstances
• In WW1 – the battles in the trenches were horrible
• But the allies persevered until the war was won
• Christians too, can never surrender
• We are engaged in a war that will only be complete when the last enemy has been vanquished
• 1 Cor 15:50-56

Jesus our veteran

• Jesus went before us and fought every battle that we will ever fight
• Hebrews tells us that Jesus was made perfect through sufferings
• This does not mean he was imperfect before,
• But he was perfected and made complete by the suff3erings he experienced
• Jesus loved us more than we can imagine
• He gave up everything to fight to the death so that we might have freedom
• He believed in his cause so that he persisted in absolute and total obedience to his Commander in chief, the whole of his life
• He never once turned and fled from the enemy
• He stood and fought against terrible odds
• But he persevered to the end
• On the cross his last and final words were, "It is finished"
• He had completed the reason why he came here
• And death was swallowed up in victory the moment that Jesus triumphantly rose from the dead!

Conclusion

• Jesus came so that you and I could have freedom
• This is the message of the gospel
• Have you experienced the freedom that Jesus came to give you
• Do you appreciate that Jesus made freedom possible for you?
• you will have the opportunity to accept Jesus today, and experience the freedom from guilt and sin that he came to bring
• Before he came, you would have had to die in your sins
• But he came to give you a new beginning, a fresh start, free from guilt
• Will you surrender your life to Him, today?

Watch and Pray! - Mark 13

Watch and Pray!

November 6, 2011

Mark 13:1-37

Introduction

• I am sure we would all love to know what is going to happen tomorrow!
• If you know what is coming, you can take precautionary measures
• I remember one day when I was a teenager in Sydney Australia, the sky became an ominous yellow and became darker and darker
• I hurried home to safety, because something bad seemed about to happen
• Colonel Davenport was the Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives.
• One day in 1789, the sky of Hartford darkened ominously, and some of the representatives, glancing out the windows, feared the end was at hand. Quelling a clamor for immediate adjournment, Davenport rose and said, "The Day of Judgment is either approaching or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for adjournment. If it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. Therefore, I wish that candles be brought."
• Today we are going to take a peek at what Jesus tells us about the future, and focus on the underlying message he tells us to remember, and how to make preparat6ion for it

Disciples ask about the temple at Jerusalem

• Mark 13:1-4 What will be the sign?
• The disciples were there in real time
• They saw the magnificent temple built by King Herod 50 years before to appease the Jews during the Roman occupation
• It was awesome!
• It was built of enormous building blocks 50 feet wide, which were quarried from underneath Jerusalem near the northern entrance called the Damascus Gate
• The temple itself was 165 feet tall, as tall as a 16-story building
• It stood on the top of what previously was known as Mount Moriah, where Abraham was told to sacrifice his son Isaac
• But while they were sitting on the mount of Olives, overlooking the temple mount, the disciples asked what he meant by the destruction of the temple, and how would they know when this would happen?
• 40 years later, the Romans destroyed the Temple
• In response to their questions, Jesus tells them a summary of what the next couple of thousand years would be like
• And he gives us a warning, to watch and pray!

The future

• V5-8 Deceivers, wars, earthquakes, famines
• These things have been with us ever since the time Jesus uttered these words
• There have been people saying that they were Christ, and they are easy to spot as imposters
• But there have also been people saying Jesus was Christ, and used this as a vehicle for deception
• There have only been around 2 years of absolute peace in the world since 1900 and if you want to check it out take a look at Wikipedia which lists all recorded wars starting before 1000 ad
• As Jesus says, these are the beginning of birth pains
• What is the birth? It is the birth of Jesus’ rule as king over this whole planet!
• One of our Foursquare symbols is the crown which represents Jesus our Soon-Coming King
• Then Jesus continues
• V9-13 – there will be persecution of Christians
• Many will have to stand for their beliefs, under pain of death
• Hundreds of thousands of Christians have been martyred during the last 2000 years
• But more Christians were martyred during the last century than during the previous 1900 years
• It doesn’t make the headlines in the newspapers, but Christians die for their faith in many countries around the world
• V14-20 - Prophecy tells us there will be a future time of persecution which will be the worst ever in history
• V21-23 – We are reminded to be on our guard against deception, even if it is supported by miracles
• V24-26 – Then there will be miraculous signs in the skies above us – the sun will be darkened, the light from the moon will be extinguished, and there will be meteor showers.
• This is the time of Jesus’ return
• The elect, the Church, will be gathered together with him at the time of the rapture, and Jesus will return with power and great glory

The warning

• V28-37 – we don’t know when Jesus will return
• But we are told to be awake and on our guard not to be deceived
• V5 – watch out that no one deceives you
• V9 – You must be on your guard
• V23 – So be on your guard; I have told you everything ahead of time
• V33 – Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come
• V36 – If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. What I say to you, I say to everyone: Watch!
• For each of us, the future is uncertain
• We don’t know when we will see Jesus’ return
• Will we experience the things we have been talking about?
• We don’t know, because we may go home to be with Jesus tonight
• The focus is that we should be watchful and praying, and doing the task God has given us
• When we are doing our job, we have nothing to fear

Conclusion

• So be on the job
• I remember someone with whom I used to work while at college, who would literally lie down on the job
• I knew someone else who would take a nap in the waste paper bins at a printing press where I used to work
• Don’t be a Christian who gets tired and lays down on the job
• Be doing what Jesus tells us – occupy till I come