A message from the series “Daily Devotional Videos.” Reflecting on Psalm 57:1 Judy Mandl reminds us that God is our refuge in times of storm. But it’s what we do once the sun is shining again, that reveals a lot about our relationship with Him.
A message from the series “Daily Devotional Videos.” Pastor Andrew continues to lead us through the book of Philippians, today focusing on Philippians 2:5. What does it mean for us to “have the mind of Christ?” Pastor Andrew addresses that question, and in the process helps us to understand that it’s not as intimidating an idea as it might sound.
A message from the series “Upside Down.” Sermon Manuscript: Upside Down Message 2- Blessed Are Those Who MournSermon preached by Dr. Rick Mandl, Eagle Rock Baptist Churc, June 27 & 28, 2020Recorded in Los Angeles, CA.
Last week we began our Upside-Down series during which we are looking at the portions of scripture known as the Beatitudes, found at the start of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5. This sermon took place early in Jesus’ ministry. Let’s look at the context starting at Matthew 4 and verse 23. “Jesus traveled throughout the region of Galilee, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. News about him spread as far as Syria, and people soon began bringing to him all who were sick. And whatever their sickness or disease, or if they were demon possessed or epileptic or paralyzed—he healed them all. Large crowds followed him wherever he went—people from Galilee, the Ten Towns, Jerusalem, from all over Judea, and from east of the Jordan River. One day as he saw the crowds gathering, Jesus went up on the mountainside and sat down. His disciples gathered around him, and he began to teach them.” Jesus has been travelling around teaching about the good news about the kingdom of God, and healing all kinds of diseases and ailments. As you can imagine, this drew a lot of followers. After all, who wouldn’t want to follow someone who can heal you if you are sick, drive out demons when you are possessed, and who announces good news of God’s kingdom when you are being oppressed by the Roman government?
Wanting to address this crowd of followers, Jesus went up on a hill, sat down, and began to speak to them. And I think what He said must have come as a shock to His listeners. Let’s read these verses again: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Last week we looked at the first Beatitude… Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. We saw that to be poor in spirit means that we have an accurate understanding of our own spiritual poverty, and of the fact that we need the forgiveness that God offers. That’s the starting point. And then, having become His children, we endeavor to live a life that puts God’s Kingdom first. We saw that the place to start is to …
Give God the first part of your day
Give God the first part of your week
Give God the first part of your finances and
Give God the first part of your relationships
Today we are going to look at the second Beatitude, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Imagine the thoughts of the crowd, when they heard those words… “First He says we have to be poor in spirit to be blessed… Now He’s telling us we have to mourn? Neither of those things seem very “blessed.” Let’s have some more miracles, Jesus, that’s what we’ve come to see!” Blessed are they that mourn? This seems like the most paradoxical of the beatitudes. Is Jesus really saying … “Happy are the sad?” It makes no sense. So let’s dig a little deeper and consider
What is it we’re supposed to mourn?
We mourn our own sinfulness.
This second Beatitude flows naturally from the first. When we recognize our own spiritual poverty, mourning is the logical reaction. Theologian William Barclay explains it this way: “Blessed is the man who is moved to bitter sorrow at the realization of his own sin. The way to God is the way of the broken heart. Penitence is the first act of the Christian life, and penitence is sorrow.”
There is an episode in the life of King David which illustrates this. You remember David – the one who single-handedly stood up against the giant Goliath to defend the name and reputation of God. David, who was called “a man after God’s own heart.” Yet David was also a man who sinned greatly, and who mourned his own sin. 2 Samuel 11 and 12 tells us how it happened. David was hanging out in Jerusalem at a time when hi troops were off at war. One night he couldn’t sleep so he went out for a walk on the roof of his palace. Looking down, he saw a woman bathing, an unusually beautiful woman. Her name was Bathsheba. He had her brought to his house and he slept with her, knowing full well that she was married to one of his soldieres who was out at battle. The woman became pregnant and David came up with a plan to cover up what he had done. He called Bathsheba’s husband, Uriah, back to Jerusalem and after enquiring how the battle was going, he told Uriah to go home, wash up, and rest. David was counting on Uriah going home, and sleep with his wife, thereby explaining her pregnancy. However, the next morning, David found out that Uriah had not gone home. He had slept at the David’s palace entrance with the other palace guard. When David questioned him, Uriah said, “How could I go home and enjoy being with my wife, when my brothers in arms are in danger, sleeping out in an open field? “ So David tried again. He had Uriah stay another night, and this time he got him drunk and then sent him home. But, even in his drunken state, Uriah did not go home to his wife. He again slept with the palace guard.
In desperation, David tried another tactic, he sent Uriah back to battle with a note for the commanding general. He told the commander to put Uriah at the front of the battle line, and then withdraw the other troops from him so that Uriah would be killed. And that’s exactly what the commander did, and Uriah was indeed killed in the battle. After an acceptable time, David brought Bathsheba to his house, and took her as one of his wives. Bathsheba had a son, and I imagine David heaved a sigh of relief that his plan had worked, and his sin had not been discovered. He had covered it up, and successfully swept it under the rug. But you can’t hide things from God, no matter how elaborately you try. God sent his prophet, Nathan, to David. And to make a long story short, Nathan confronts David about his sin, and David repents. Listen to some of David’s words of grief over his sin: From Psalm 38 “My guilt overwhelms me – it is a burden too heavy to bear. My wounds fester and stink because of my foolish sins. I am bent over and racked with pain. All day long I walk around filled with grief. A raging fever burns within me, and my health is broken. I am exhausted and completely crushed. My groans come from an anguished heart.” And from Psalm 51 “Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just” (Psalm 51:2-4). When we are confronted with God’s holiness, and who He calls us to be as His children, and then we see our own sinfulness – we mourn.
Just like Isaiah did when he had a vision of God sitting on the throne in His temple. Isaiah 6:5: Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.” Just like the tax collector did when with downcast eyes, he beat his breast and said, “God, be merciful to me, the sinner.” Just like Paul did when confronted with his own propensity to do the very things he knew he shouldn’t and didn’t want to do. Romans 7:24: “Oh wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from this body of death?” We mourn over our own sinfulness. We also mourn over the brokenness of this world. When God created the world, it was good. Adam and Eve lived in perfect union with God and with one another. When sin entered the world, everything was affected: relationships with God, relationships with one another, the earth itself. When we look at the brokenness of the world, we should mourn. This is what the prophet Habakkuk was doing when he cried out to God: “How long, O Lord, must I call for help? But you do not listen! “Violence is everywhere!” I cry, but you do not come to save. Must I forever see these evil deeds? Why must I watch all this misery? Wherever I look, I see destruction and violence. I am surrounded by people who love to argue and fight. The law has become paralyzed, and there is no justice in the courts. The wicked far outnumber the righteous, so that justice has become perverted.”
Pastor Paul David Tripp makes this observation: “Mourning embraces the tragedy of the fall. Mourning acknowledges that the world is not the way God meant it to be. Mourning cries out for God’s redeeming, restoring hand. Mourning acknowledges the suffering of others. Mourning is about something bigger than the fact that life is hard. Mourning grieves what sin has done to the cosmos and longs for the Redeemer to come and make his broken world new again.” We mourn our own sinfulness. We mourn the brokenness of the world. We should also mourn the lostness of people around us. We see this when Jesus mourned over Jerusalem.
Luke 13:34 he said… “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me.” And again in Luke 19:41 “When (Jesus) approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it.” And in Matthew 9:36-38: “When (Jesus) saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.” Lost people were important to Jesus, so He spent time with them, and that caused the religious leaders to grumble. Luke 15 tells us that… Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them! (Luke 15:1-2) In response to this, Jesus told 3 parables… The parables of the Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin, and The Lost Son. In each of these parables He emphasizes the joy in heaven when one sinner repents, when one lost person is found.
The most poignant example of this is in the third parable, the one we often refer to as The Prodigal Son. Jesus paints the picture of a young man who asks for his inheritance from his father so he can leave home, he quickly squanders that inheritance, and finds himself at rock bottom. He comes to his senses and realizes that even the hired men in his father’s house are better off than he is, so he determines to go home and beg his father’s forgiveness, and ask to be taken back, not as a son, but as a hired man. Look at what happened as it’s described in Luke 15:20-24: “So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.’ “But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.”
Jesus mourned over the lost, over those destined to an eternity separated from God, and we should do the same.
We mourn over our own sin,
We mourn over the brokenness of the world,
We mourn over the lost, and, perhaps most obviously,
We Mourn Over Death. This doesn’t really need a lot of explanation. When people we love die, it is natural for us to mourn. This is what Jesus found when he came to the home of Mary and Martha after their brother Lazarus had died. John 11 tells us… “When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept.” Death causes us to mourn. It is the natural response to the loss of those we love.
Again Jesus says… “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Which begs the question… How will we be comforted? We are comforted by Our Relationship With God. He forgives our sins. When David confessed his sin to God, he experienced God’s forgiveness and he exclaimed, “Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered.” Later he would write, “The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. “For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him…” Paul also experienced this. In answer to his question, “Who will set me free from this body of death?” He proclaims, “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” He found comfort in his relationship with God.
The Bible plainly states that God will comfort us. Psalm 147:3 says… He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 34:18 tells us… The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed. In fact, Jesus Himself stated that God sent him to comfort those who mourn, when He quoted these words from Isaiah and he said they were speaking of Him. “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed. He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the Lord’s favor has come, and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies. To all who mourn in Israel, he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks that the Lord has planted for his own glory.”
When we mourn, we are comforted by a relationship with God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 says, “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.” God Himself, is the source of all comfort, but He sometimes uses other people to comfort us … In fact, these verses tell us that it is God’s plan that we comfort others. However, for that plan to work, we need to cooperate with God’s intentions. We need to be willing to comfort others.
Often, when we are mourning, the best person to comfort us is someone who has gone through something similar to what we are going through right then. That means two things need to happen, we need to be vulnerable enough to share what we are going through, and someone else needs to be vulnerable enough to share what they have gone through. But, even if we haven’t gone through the same experience as someone else, we can still be a comfort to them. We can pray. We can send a meal or pick up groceries. We can let them know that we care about them by phone, text, email, or sending a card. Romans 12:15 tells us to “Weep with those who weep.” God wants to use us to comfort those who are mourning. Let’s cooperate with His plan.
We are comforted by our relationship with God,
We are comforted by other people,
We can also find comfort by partnering in God’s work. We see an example of this in the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah worked as a cupbearer for King Artaxerxes. He was a Jewish man in a foreign country during the end of the Babylonian exile. One of his brothers, and some other men who had been in Jerusalem came to see Nehemiah, and Nehemiah asked them about things in his homeland. Listen to their answer: “They said to me, “Things are not going well for those who returned to the province of Judah. They are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem has been torn down, and the gates have been destroyed by fire.” Now look at Nehemiah’s response: “When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven.” During this time of mourning, fasting and praying, God gave Nehemiah a plan… And so when he had the opportunity, he asked the king for permission to take a leave of absence so that he could go and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. The king granted Nehemiah’s request, and he put his mourning into action. He led a group of men to rebuild the wall in 52 days in spite of ridicule and opposition.
Like Nehemiah, we can find comfort in partnering with God in His redemptive work. When we are grieved over homelessness – we can get involved in ministries that provide food and housing. When we mourn the loss of unborn children through abortion, we can support and get involved with groups that provide services to women who are facing decisions about an unplanned pregnancy, and we can come alongside under-resourced moms who choose to give birth. We should mourn the brokenness of families that causes the need for the foster care system, but we can also step into the brokenness by becoming a foster parent, or a CASA volunteer as some in our church family are doing. We can come alongside those who are fostering, or youths who are aging out of the system. We mourn racial discrimination, but we can also listen and learn from those around us whose experience has been different than ours. We can be intentional about developing relationships with people who don’t look like us. We can pray that God would give us an open mind, and an open door for difficult conversations. We can teach our children that no one should be treated differently based on the color of their skin. And we can work to see justice done.
We should mourn the effect that Covid-19 has had on our world, but we should also support our frontline workers in whatever ways we can. We should shop for our elderly neighbors or the single parents we know. We should find ways to encourage the sick and the lonely One of our members was hospitalized this week… Family isn’t allowed to visit… We can make encouragement cards… In addition to this, we should grieve over the eternal destiny of those who don’t know Jesus as their Savior, and that grief should motivate us to share the gospel, to invite people to church, and to support ministries that are reaching those people outside of our immediate circles.
Last May we heard a message from Jason Johnson who is a ministry leader in the area of foster care and adoption. He made this statement: God sees hard places and broken people, and moves towards them, not away. That’s what He’s always done. That’s the gospel. As followers of Jesus, we see the hard places and broken people, and we mourn them, but then we must join our Heavenly Father in moving toward those places and people. That’s the gospel. And the paradox is, it is in moving towards the brokenness, that we will also find comfort as we participate with God in His redemptive purposes.
Finally, We are comforted By the hope of eternity with God. Listen to what the Apostle Paul wrote to Christians living in a city called Thessalonica, about their grief over their loved ones who had died. “And now, dear brothers and sisters, we want you to know what will happen to the believers who have died so you will not grieve like people who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and was raised to life again, we also believe that when Jesus returns, God will bring back with him the believers who have died. We tell you this directly from the Lord: We who are still living when the Lord returns will not meet him ahead of those who have died. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the believers who have died will rise from their graves. Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. So encourage (other versions translate this – comfort) each other with these words.”
Notice there is no instruction in these verses not to grieve or not to mourn, instead there is the encouragement that we can grieve with hope. We can mourn with the hope of an eternity spent with God. We can mourn with the hope of being reunited with loved ones. We can mourn with the confidence that one day (God) will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever” (Revelation 21:4). The ultimate comfort for followers of Jesus, is an eternity spent with Him. An eternity with the promise of no more mourning. That’s the good news of the kingdom that Jesus was talking about in the Sermon on the Mount. But I would be remiss if I didn’t remind you that this eternity without mourning is promised to those who have placed their trust in Jesus’ death and resurrection on our behalf. Those who have not trusted Jesus, are destined for a different eternity – an eternity separated from God. An eternity with no comfort. So let’s take that as a call to action, a call to share the good news. Let’s tell those around us that there is a God who loves them, a God who wants to have a relationship with them, a God who gives hope and comfort here today, and who will wipe out all mourning for eternity. Let’s pray.
Recorded in Los Angeles, CA.
A message from the series “Upside Down.” Sermon Manuscript: Upside Down Message 1- Blessed Are The Poor In Spirit
Sermon preached by Dr. Rick Mandl, Eagle Rock Baptist Church, June 20 & 21, 2020 Recorded in Los Angeles, CA.
Hey church family. This weekend we’re beginning a new teaching series called “Upside Down.” And in preparing for this series, I spent some time pondering and I was thinking that… People listened to him for his wisdom. Yet he said some things that seemed paradoxical. He would challenge you with his words; He would cause you to mull them over in order to make sense of them, His way of thinking was not an ordinary way of thinking. He hasn’t been with us, walking the earth, sharing in our mortality, for awhile now, yet somehow people still remember the things he said. The one I’m talking about of course, is Yogi Berra.
Yogi would amaze people by saying things like: “I usually take a two-hour nap from one to four.” Things like, “Always go to other people’s funerals otherwise, they won’t come to yours.” Things like, “Never answer an anonymous letter.” Things like, “Ninety percent of this game, is half mental.” And then there were other things he said, that were kind of beyond our understanding. He was once asked what he thought about a popular restaurant, and he said, “Nobody goes there anymore. It’s too crowded.” He also said, “If you can’t imitate him, don’t copy him.” He said, “You can observe a lot by just watching.” And I’m sure I could go on and on, quoting yogisms to you, but that doesn’t seem profitable, because as Yogi once said, “I really didn’t say everything I said.”
There was another man who people loved to listen to for wisdom. He also said things that seemed puzzling to those who heard him. The difference is the words of Jesus not only mystified people. They changed the lives of those who took them to heart. And it’s his words that we’re going to be looking at over the coming weeks as we look at beginning section of his S.O.M. and look at the beatitudes.
Today looking at the first on the list of eight, and also looking at THE HIGH COST OF FOLLOWING JESUS. Maybe you’ve never thought about the fact that there’s a cost to following Jesus. And yet he himself said, “If anyone would come after me, (here is what is what it will cost) he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23). Today in the 21st century when we sometimes invite people to follow Jesus and we tone down that message. We say, “You’ve got a pretty good life right now. Why not make it better by adding Jesus to what you’ve already got going on?” Even though salvation is free, in the sense that Jesus paid it all so that you don’t have to do anything to earn what he accomplished for us at the cross. The reality remains that there is … a cost to following Jesus.
And again, today a lot of people are confused by what it means to “FOLLOW” him. (TWITTER PICTURE) Yet what it means to “Follow” Jesus is what we’re going to be talking about in this series. On your message notes, at the top you’ll see the two verses that begin Matthew chapter 5. They tell us that, “Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them, saying…” (Matthew 5:1-2). What follows are 8 statements we refer to as the Beatitudes. These are going to be our focus for the coming weeks. Each of the 8 statements begins with the same two words… “Blessed are.” These are God’s roadmap for the blessed life. Let’s begin by reading them.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth” (Mt. 5:3-6).
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (Matthew 5:6-7).
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God” (Matthew 5:8-9).
“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me” (Matthew 5:10-11).
“Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:12).
You read these verses and you realize that God wants to bless your life. But the question for you and me is “Am I living the kind of life that God can bless?” Today we’re looking at the first of the eight statements, it’s our memory verse found in Matthew 5:3. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. ” Matthew 5:3
WHEN YOU THINK OF A PERSON WHO IS “BLESSED”, WHAT DO YOU THINK OF? If you’re like most people you probably think about those people in his world that we would consider “fortunate” or “happy” – – because that is what the word blessed means – – fortunate or happy. HAPPINESS is something that is very important to most people. In fact so important that the authors of our own country’s Declaration of Independence wrote that its pursuit was one of three God-given rights. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. Those words as I said come from the Declaration of Independence – – but there is a PROBLEM with them. And the problem is that you won’t find anywhere in the Bible that God has granted us the unalienable right to pursue happiness. God’s primary interest is in our HOLINESS, not our HAPPINESS.
Happiness or BLESSEDNESS is something that he tells us can be ours as we’ll see today and in the weeks to come — but it’s not something that we are told to pursue as an end in itself – as an inalienable right but rather we’re told that it comes as a by-product of being the kind of people that God intends for us to be. But having said that think for a moment about the question… “What would it take to make you happy? I think it’s a fair question because a report came out this week showing the results of a poll conducted last month that found that folks in the U.S. are more unhappy today than they’ve been in nearly 50 years. So, if it’s true that misery loves company, and you’re miserable, just know that you’ve got a lot of company. Another survey asked 52,000 AMERICANS the question that I just asked you, “What would it take to make you happy? And here are their top answers in the order listed…
At the top of the list…
Friends or Social Life
Job
Being in Love
Recognition & Success
Sex
Personal Growth
Good Financial Situation
Having a House or Apartment
Being attractive & beautiful
Health & Physical Condition
The City I live in
My Religion
Recreation and Exercise
Being A Parent
Marriage
And last – My Partner’s Happiness —
Now maybe you could add an answer or two of your own but as you sort through that list what you’ll find that AS DIFFERENT AS THOSE ANSWERS MAY BE, they ALL HAVE SOMETHING IN COMMON and that is that they all focus on something EXTERNAL instead of INTERNAL. The popular idea of happiness is having the right CIRCUMSTANCES. It’s what you might call “WHEN AND THEN” thinking… When I GET OUT OF SCHOOL then I’ll be happy. When I GET A JOB… When I GET MARRIED… When I HAVE CHILDREN or When THE KIDS LEAVE HOME… According to conventional wisdom if you’re not happy what you need to do is change your circumstances – – then you’ll be happy.
God says that what you need to do is change your heart. He says that happiness comes from the inside out… “God’s path to happiness is having the right HEART” I think that those who were listening as our Lord preached this Sermon on the Mount were surprised when he began by saying… “Blessed are the poor in spirit.” You would think that if you are going to talk about the “fortunate” people which is sort of what this word “Blessed” means… it doesn’t seem likely that it would be followed by “Poor in Spirit.” You would expect to hear him say, “HOW BLESSED ARE THE RICH… HOW FORTUNATE ARE THE TALENTED… HOW GLAD THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE POWERFUL — OUGHT TO BE… BLESSED ARE THE CHARISMATIC – THOSE PEOPLE WHO HAVE THE TYPES OF PERSONALITIES WHO ATTRACT AND CAN PROVIDE LEADERSHIP…” Yet Jesus starts his message by saying, “BLESSED ARE THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE SPIRITUALLY IMPOVERISHED.” And then he goes on and says, “BLESSED AS WELL ARE THOSE PEOPLE WHO MOURN.” He says, “HOW FORTUNATE IT IS, WHEN MEN PERSECUTE YOU FOR THE CAUSE OF CHRIST.” I’m sure it didn’t take his hearers very long to realize that Jesus had SWITCHED THE PRICE TAGS. He was turning conventional wisdom on its ear and introducing them to something that was altogether new. Something that was upside down.
In this Sermon on the Mount our Lord was … demonstrating the KIND of RIGHTEOUSNESS that is necessary to enter God’s kingdom. As you study this Sermon if you were to try and identify a key verse that points to its theme I would suggest that verse would be Matthew 5:20 which says, “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20). What does it mean to be “POOR IN SPIRIT”?
It begins with an awareness of your own SPIRITUAL BANKRUPTCY. And that awareness doesn’t occur when you compare yourself to the people around you. I mean let’s be honest… sometimes when we compare ourselves to the people around us, we can come out feeling pretty good about ourselves. But… When you see yourself in comparison to GOD’S HOLINESS it’s an altogether different result. Jesus illustrated this through a Parable. Luke 18:9-14, The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector. There we read these words…
“To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector” (Luke 18:9-10). “The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men – robbers, evildoers, adulterers – or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get” (Luke 18:11-12).“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13). Jesus concluded the parable by telling us, “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God” (Luke 18:14). That’s another way of saying that he was blessed because he was poor in spirit.
So, let me ask you… Which attitude do you have? Is your attitude more like that of the Pharisee or is it more like that of the Tax Collector? We’d all like to answer, “Of course the Tax Collector.” But let’s be honest. Isn’t there maybe just a little bit of the Pharisee in all of us. We can feel like, even though we’re not perfect, at least we’re a little bit better than that guy over there… And realizing that… we feel like God is pretty fortunate to have us on his team. Jesus warns us against that attitude. He says, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners” (Mark 2:17). In other words – the only people who will ever come to get what Jesus has to give are very sick people, people who know that they are spiritually, morally – crippled, powerless, bankrupt, unclean, and unworthy.
How do you come to that point? How do you become one of those people that Jesus calls blessed? It happens through practicing what you might call “First Place Living.” A key verse in this Sermon on the Mount is Matthew 6:33. It says, “Your heavenly Father already knows perfectly well what you need and he will give it to you.” We read the verse and we like to stop there… “Your heavenly Father already knows perfectly well what you need and he will give it to you.” But it goes on and it says… “if you give him first place in your life and live as he wants you to” (Matthew 6:33).
As we begin this study of these beatitudes I want us to look at Four Commitments Of ‘First-Place Living.’ And I’d encourage you to just do a little bit of self-evaluation. A personal inventory when it comes to these four, and see if maybe there’s one or more that you ought to work on. I will give God the first part of my DAY. Giving God the first part of your day… Some people call it their “daily devotion.” Some call it “The first 15.” Just do two things during the first 15 minutes of each day… Read a passage from the Bible. Talk to God in prayer. In Psalm 5, the psalmist said… “In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation” (Psalm 5:3). Jesus said, “Anyone who listens to my teaching and obeys me is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock” (Matthew 7:24). I think it’s a pretty safe bet that you won’t obey what Jesus said, if you don’t know what Jesus said. Give God the first 15 minutes of your day.
The great heavyweight champion. Joe Frazier said this about the importance of TRAINING at the beginning of each day… “If you cheated on your practice in the dark of the morning, you will get found out under the bright lights of competition.” The First Commitment of First Place living is to give God the first part of your day. The Second Commitment for First Place living. I will give God the first part of my WEEK. This is doing what you’re doing right now. It’s participating in the weekend worship service. The late Billy Graham said this… He said, “Christians who are not actively involved in the life of a local church remind me of what happens when a burning coal is removed from the fire. Once the coal is removed from the bed of glowing coals it gradually cools and its flame dies.” Some of you watching know what he’s talking about. Maybe you’ve been away from church for a long time. Maybe once you were on fire, but being away from that family of faith, your fire has begun to get dimmer and dimmer. Weekend worship is the time when we come together and challenge one another. The writer to the Hebrews said… “You should not stay away from the church meetings, as some are doing, but you should meet together and encourage each other” (Hebrews 10:25). For a lot of years we did that in-person. It’s safer now to do it online. But regardless of how we gather together, we need to remember that there’s no such thing as a Lone-Ranger Christian. God’s plan from the very beginning has been for us to worship together.
Let me give you a challenge today. Maybe you’re joining us here online today because you were curious, maybe you haven’t been part of a church service in a long time, if ever before Maybe you’re here today just because someone invited to watch or invited you to watch with them. Maybe as you’re watching today and you participate in worship occasionally. You’re definitely not a regular worshiper, but you tune in every now and then. Here’s my challenge… Make it a commitment to engage in weekend worship each week. You can start by just committing to be here for this Upside Down series. Hear the teaching from the Beatitudes each weekend, and see if you don’t grow, see if you’re not encouraged, see if God doesn’t use that to strengthen your faith.
First-place living means I Give God the first part of my day… Give God the first part of my week… And then third… I will give God the first part of my FINANCES. And oh my – – – this is the one that makes us uncomfortable but the reality is that there’s no way to talk about FIRST-PLACE living without talking about this one. A little further on in this Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said it this way… “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19-21). Jesus said there is this invisible but extremely powerful connection between our money and our heart. Jesus said that God cannot be first-place in your life, if he’s not first place in every area of your life including this area. Jesus says that what I do with my money reveals more than anything else where my heart, where my priority really is. If I don’t manage my money according to God’s principles, then God isn’t my top priority – PERIOD.
How do I make sure that God is first in my finances? The answer from his word is something called “The Tithe” Who knows what a tithe is? The tithe simply means that you return to God the first 10% of what he has blessed you with. God says when we “tithe” that puts him in first place. Deut. 14:23 says, “The purpose of tithing is to teach you always to (WHAT?) put God first in your lives” (Deuteronomy 14:23). That’s the purpose. What does that mean? Why did tithing teach you to put God first? Because a “tithe” which means 10% – – – Wasn’t just any 10%, it was the first 10%… And at the time when the tithe was first introduced, the people were living in an “agrarian” society. They made their living from agriculture. From farming. And for a farmer to bring the first tenth of his harvest and offer it to God was a statement of faith, because he had to trust that there was going to be more to come. He was doing the opposite of what we like to do, which is pay all our bills first, and then give to God from the left-overs…
So I’ve got a challenge for you during this series… The challenge is, “Put God first.” Whatever you’re going to give to God, give to Him first. Why? Because the way we manage our money has a big impact on our spiritual life. Four commitments to first place living… Give God the first part of my day. Give God the first part of my week. Give God the first part of my finances. And then fourth, I will give God the first part of my RELATIONSHIPS. Someone came to Jesus and asked him… “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:36-40). Love God, love people. Regarding the latter… loving people… All people divide into one of two groups… Those who are following Jesus, and those who aren’t… at least not yet. And we’re to be in relationship with both.
For those who don’t know Him, you’re to be building relationship. 1 Peter 3:15 says, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15). Among those who do know Him, we grow as we invest in relationships with one another. In the book of Acts we read about the very first followers of Jesus, that, “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42).
For you and me to be all that God wants us to be, we need to be intentional about investing in two relationships. Our relationship with God and our relationship with others. Others both inside out and outside the family of God. Again, Jesus said the greatest commandment was… “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?’ Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Matthew 22:36-40). We can’t claim that we’re obeying the first, if we’re not obeying the second. God’s Word tells us that if we don’t love our brother whom we have seen – we can’t claim to love an invisible God whom we have not seen.
This past Friday was JUNETEENTH. And if you don’t know the story behind that day, you need to learn it. JUNETEENTH has been called our nation’s second independence day and for good reason. On June 19th, 1865 Union Army Major General Gordon Granger sailed into Galveston Texas and realized that 250,000 black people in Texas were still living in slavery. Even though President Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation had been signed two years and a half years earlier, on January 1st, 1863. The lack of Union soldiers in the Confederate state of Texas meant the proclamation was not enforced until Granger arrived. When he announced the news there was SHOCK, there was JUBILATION, and the black people in Galveston began a holiday they called JUNETEENTH. The next year, freed slaves celebrated the anniversary with prayer services, church gatherings, speeches, readings, picnics, and rodeos. Today every state in our union except Hawaii, North Dakota, and South Dakota currently recognizes Juneteenth as a state holiday or as a day of observance.
Juneteenth should not only be a secular holiday—it should be a spiritual holiday as well. As an evangelical Christian, I am committed to a doctrine we call the “sanctity of life”— The belief that life is sacred from conception to natural death. We often invoke this doctrine with regard to abortion, the tragic killing of unborn children. In recent years, it has also been applied to the escalating practice of euthanasia. I believe it also applies to the sin of racism. Jesus loved and served people across every prejudicial line of his day: He loved Gentiles, Samaritans, Romans, women, lepers, children, and tax collectors and other “sinners”. Now he calls us to emulate his inclusive love. Would you pray for me and for our church that we would living out what Jesus told us was the greatest commandment… Let’s pray together.
Recorded in Los Angeles, CA.
A message from the series “Anxious For Nothing.” Sermon Manuscript: Anxious For Nothing Message 4- The Perspective Of Praise
Sermon preached by Dr. Rick Mand, Eagle Rock Baptist Church, June 13 & 14, 2020Recorded in Los Angeles, CA.
Hey church family, it’s good to be with you as we come together for worship today. My name is Rick, I’m one of the pastors here and over the last few weeks we’ve been in a sermon series called Anxious for nothing. This phrase is taken from Philippians 4:4-7 which is the key passage we’ve been looking at and what it says is… “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:4-7).
As we wrap up this series we are going to look at the importance of thinking about, what you think about. Philippians 4:7 ends with the promise that when we are anxious for nothing, but instead pray about everything, the result of that is going to be that… the peace of God will guard our hearts and minds. Our minds are important to God. Luke 10:27 tells us that… We are to love God with all of our minds. Romans 12 tells us that… A renewed mind leads to transformation. Colossians 3 tells us that we are to… Set our minds on things above, not earthly things Philippians 2 tells us to… have the same mindset as Christ. And also that we’re to be… working together with one mind and purpose. –
So, if our minds are important to God… Then we need to be careful what we put into them. Have you ever heard the saying, “You are what you eat?” That’s true in a lot of areas, not the least of which is our mind. And that’s why we need to think about what we feed it, particularly when it comes to the area of being anxious. Because as we’ve seen during series, anxiety is the number one health issue among women… It’s the number two issue for men, second only to drugs and alcohol. It might actually be the number one health issue for men, we just have a harder time admitting it.
We all get anxious. The latest statistics say that 40 million adult Americans admit to struggling with anxiety. We spend more than 48 billion dollars a year treating anxiety. If you have teenagers, you know that, that demographic is seeing the sharpest rise in anxiety. A recent survey looked at the top problems that teenagers see among their peers. Bullying, Drug Addiction, Alcohol and Poverty were not at the top of the list… But 70% identified anxiety and depression as the number one problem they see among teenagers. But we know it’s not a problem limited to teenagers. Our entire society, every age group, every demographic struggles with anxiety. And there are a lot of reasons… I believe a lot of it has to do with what we allow into our mind. Which is why we need to Think About What We Think About.
We can’t control every thought that comes into our minds, but we can control what we allow to stay there. Thoughts can be like a stray cat, if you feed them they will keep coming around. So, what should we avoid feeding? I think there are at least three areas where a big “Don’t feed the animals” sign should be posted.
The first thing we shouldn’t feed our mind is fear. We shouldn’t feed our minds fear… In fact think of it this way… Don’t feed fear, feed faith. If you’ve been with us throughout this series, you know that I’ve said that there is a relationship between… Fear & Anxiety. There’s a relationship… These two things are cousins, but not twins. What I mean by that is… Fear sees a threat and reacts. Anxiety imagines a threat and can’t move. Fear in and of itself, is not necessarily a bad thing. It can keep us from trouble. For example, when our girls were little, a healthy fear of their mom probably helped motivate them to make wise decisions. They weren’t really afraid of me because I’m just a big teddy bear. Their mom however, that was another story. The fear of getting a ticket and having our insurance rates go up might cause us to watch our speed on the freeway. The fear of bankruptcy might keep us from going too far into debt. The fear of losing our job might motivate us to be conscientious employees. The fear of being killed might make me think twice before playing chicken with an oncoming train. The fear of breaking my neck might help me stay on the bunny slopes, rather than the triple black diamond run if I’m a beginning skier. The fear of being eaten alive might keep me from trying to play with a tiger at the zoo. We want children to develop a healthy fear of adults they do not know or who may not be safe. Fear is a God-given emotion which can help us stay out of danger.
However, fear can also be paralyzing if it grows into a phobia, and if you are dealing with a phobia, you may need to pursue getting professional help to deal with it. When I say, “Don’t feed fear… The type of fear I’m talking about is not the kind that keeps you safe… I’m talking about the kind of fear that makes you anxious, the kind of fear that keeps you up at night. It is based in our imaginations, more than in our actual circumstances. It is the fear that is fed by what might happen, by all of the what-ifs that steal into our thoughts and rob us of our peace. When this is the type of fear we are dealing with, we should not feed it.
Let me give you a couple of examples… If you are anxious about your teenager driving – you should not read every article you can find about car accidents involving teenage drivers. If you are worried about getting cancer because one of your parents had cancer – you should not do constant google searches for cancer symptoms. If you find it difficult to get to sleep because you are worried someone will break into your house – don’t spend your evenings watching crime shows. So if we shouldn’t feed this type of fear, what should we feed? We should feed faith. Faith in the God who created us, and who loved us enough to send His Son to die for us. Look at these words of David from Psalm 56:3 “When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You.” Don’t feed your fear. Feed your faith by looking at the ways that God has worked to protect His people in the past. Fill your mind with the stories of Gideon, David and Goliath, and Moses crossing the Red Sea. Read how God used Esther… Rescued Daniel from the lions… And provided for Ruth.
Remind yourself that these people didn’t know what God was going to do… They didn’t know that they would be protected and provided for. Do you remember when Esther was planning to go before the king to plead for the lives of her people? She undoubtedly was afraid, and she didn’t know what the outcome was going to be. She said, “…though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.” She went, knowing full well, that the result of going to see the king when you had not been summoned, was most likely death. But what did she do before she went? She fed her faith.
Look at the first part of that verse. Esther prepared for her visit to the king by saying… “Go and gather together all the Jews of Susa and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. My maids and I will do the same. And then, though it is against the law, I will go in to see the king. If I must die, I must die.” In the Bible, fasting and praying often go hand in hand. Those three days of fasting, were three days of feeding Esther’s faith. Those three days of fasting – knowing that others were fasting with her – were feeding her faith, not her fear, and so she was able to face, approaching the king even though she didn’t know what the outcome would be. Let the example of men and women from the scripture encourage and inspire you in your walk with God. When it comes to “Thinking about what you think about… Don’t feed your fear, feed your faith. And then secondly…
Don’t feed bitterness, feed forgiveness. Take a look at Hebrews 12:14-15. Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many. Don’t let bitterness take root, and don’t let it grow up, instead make every effort to be at peace. When we let bitterness take root… When we feed bitterness… We are failing to recognize and act on the grace God has extended to us, by failing to extend that grace to others. When bitterness takes root, when we feed it so that it grows, it has consequences which aren’t good and can be far reaching. Part of the reason for this is that bitterness doesn’t travel alone. It travels in a pack. Ephesians 4:31 names the other members of the gang. “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.” When we don’t deal with bitterness, it grows into rage and anger. If we don’t deal with the anger it grows into fighting. We begin to speak badly of the person we are bitter toward – that’s SLANDER. If that goes unchecked, we can begin to think about doing harm or at least wishing harm to the other person – that’s MALICE.
We see this played out in the life of the twin brothers, Jacob and Esau. We find their story in Genesis chapters 25-27. Jacob and Esau were twin boys born to Isaac and Rebekah… You may remember that Isaac was the son of Abraham and Sarah. Esau was the older twin, and as such, he was entitled to a larger portion of the inheritance when his father died. But one day, when Esau came in from the field, where he had been hunting, he was famished. His brother Jacob had made some stew, and Esau asked him for some. Jacob said he would give him a bowl of stew in exchange for his brother’s birthright. Esau decided that since he was famished, and felt like he was going to die of hunger, his birthright was of no use to him, so he agreed to give it to Jacob for a bowl of stew. ALSO, as the older twin, Esau was entitled to his father’s blessing.
One day, when his father, Isaac was old, and unable to see very well. He called his son Esau to his side and asked him to go out and hunt some wild game, and then prepare a savory dish of it for his father, so that Isaac could eat and then bless Esau. Esau went out to do what his father asked. Esau’s mother, Rebekah, heard what Isaac had said to Esau. But Rebekah was partial to Jacob, and she wanted him to get the blessing. So she instructed Jacob to kill a goat and bring it to her. She prepared a savory dish from the goat meat and told Jacob to take it to his father and pretend to be his brother Esau. Rebekah even went so far as to dress Jacob in Esau’s robe, and to put some of the goat skin on the exposed parts of Jacob’s skin because his brother Esau was hairy, and Jacob wasn’t. Jacob took the dish to Isaac, and at first, Isaac was suspicious, he asked Jacob who he was and Jacob said, “I am Esau.” Isaac was still suspicious, and asked Jacob to come closer, he smelled his clothes and felt his arms. He said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” So Isaac ate and then gave Jacob the blessing that was due to Esau.
Let’s read what happened next: “As soon as Isaac had finished blessing Jacob, and almost before Jacob had left his father, Esau returned from his hunt. Esau prepared a delicious meal and brought it to his father. Then he said, “Sit up, my father, and eat my wild game so you can give me your blessing.” “But Isaac asked him, “Who are you?” Esau replied, “It’s your son, your firstborn son, Esau.” Isaac began to tremble uncontrollably and said, “Then who just served me wild game? I have already eaten it, and I blessed him just before you came. And yes, that blessing must stand!” “When Esau heard his father’s words, he let out a loud and bitter cry. “Oh my father, what about me? Bless me, too!” he begged. But Isaac said, “Your brother was here, and he tricked me. He has taken away your blessing.” We read the result in verse 41. Esau held a grudge against Jacob because of the blessing his father had given him. He said to himself, “The days of mourning for my father are near; then I will kill my brother Jacob.” Esau’s bitterness grew into anger which grew into malice. Jacob had to flee for his life, and it would be years before the brothers would meet again. When we are hurt, it is natural to feel anger and we have to process those feelings? So how do we know if we start to feed bitterness.
Here are 3 quick tests:
Am I keeping the incident on instant replay and Rehashing it over and over in my mind? If you are, you’re feeding bitterness.
Am I keeping a list? If I am saying to myself, “And they did this yesterday, and this last week, and this last month, and this last year, and on and on and on and on… then I am feeding bitterness.
Am I trying to recruit others to my side? If I am telling others about how I have been wronged… If I become defensive when they don’t agree with me, and thrilled when they jump on the bandwagon, then I am feeding bitterness.
So what do I do instead? Feed forgiveness. Ephesians 4:32 says… “Be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32). The root of bitterness, can only be dug out of the soil of our heart, by forgiveness. Just as we have received forgiveness from God, so we are to extend forgiveness to others. Look at Psalm 103 verse 10. “God does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities” (Psalm 103:10). God has not dealt with us according to our sins or rewarded us according to our iniquities. Forgiveness is not earned or deserved. It is an act of Mercy toward those who have harmed us. Forgiveness does not mean that trust is restored or that the relationship goes right back to being what it was before. Sin has consequences in how it affects relationships. But lack of forgiveness ultimately harms us.
The root of bitterness is a poison root and it spreads. It affects our outlook on life. It affects our other relationships. It can even affect our ability to experience God’s forgiveness in our own lives. The way that we feed forgiveness is to regularly remind ourselves of how much God has forgiven us. We don’t deserve salvation. We don’t deserve a relationship with Christ. We don’t deserve the ability to come to God in prayer. All these things are possible only because God has forgiven us through Christ. That forgiveness did not come easily or cheaply, it was paid for by the blood of Jesus on the cross. We need to remind ourselves of this. We need to never take for granted what our own forgiveness cost God. As we think about what we’re thinking about, what we are allowing our minds to dwell on, we need to feed faith, not fear, we need to not to feed bitterness, but rather to feed forgiveness.
Finally, as we think about what we think about, we need to feed hope rather than feeding despair. We live in a time where many people are feeling hopeless, where many people are feeling despair. Our world has been turned upside down by Covid-19, and we are regularly reminded that life may never go back to the way that it was. Many of us have been separated from our loved ones and from our support systems. We have also been surrounded by images of man’s inhumanity to man, of the brokenness of this world and its systems, of the inequalities that exist and the discrimination that takes place against people solely because of the color of their skin. This is not a new issue, and because of that it can seem like an impossible problem to solve. It can seem like there is no hope.
That’s not true! Yet often we feed despair by immersing ourselves in media whether it is mainstream news media, or social media. We read about statistics and death rates and incidences of brutality. We focus exclusively on bad news, and we withdraw from the company of those who try to encourage us, or who attempt to lift us up. At times we even refused to be comforted. There are real problems in the world, and it is not helpful to stick our heads in the sand and pretend they don’t exist. But rather than feed despair, we need to be intentional about feeding hope. I’m NOT talking about just taking a happy view of life. I’m NOT talking about the power of positive thinking. I’m talking about the hope that comes from a relationship with the Creator and sustainer of the universe, through his son Jesus Christ.
Recently in our video devotions we looked at the most stark example in the Bible of feeding hope rather than despair. It comes from the life of the prophet Jeremiah, as he records his own feelings in Lamentations chapter 3. Jeremiah was God’s messenger to the people of Israel who were under the oppressive rule of the Babylonians. The situation was desperate, and we get a glimpse of that desperation as we read Jeremiah’s words. “I am the man who has seen affliction by the rod of the Lord’s wrath. He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light; indeed, he has turned his hand against me again and again, all day long. He has made my skin and my flesh grow old and has broken my bones.” “He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship. He has made me dwell in darkness like those long dead. He has walled me in so I cannot escape; he has weighed me down with chains. Even when I call out or cry for help, he shuts out my prayer.” Can you feel Jeremiah’s despair?
He finishes his lament with these words… My soul has been rejected from peace; I have forgotten happiness. So I say, “My strength has perished and so has my hope from the Lord” (Lamentations 3:17-18). Jeremiah says, “My hope is gone.” And if that is where you find yourself today, I encourage you to do what Jeremiah did. He made a choice… He made a choice to focus on who God is. He made a choice to hold on to what he knew to be true. His CIRCUMSTANCES did not change, but his FOCUS did. Listen to his words: This I recall to my mind, Therefore I have hope. What was it that he recalled? What was it that he chose to think about? What he chose to think about was the character of God. The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “Therefore I have hope in Him.” We feed hope when, like Jeremiah, we focus on the character of God.
We also feed hope when we focus on eternity. Listen to this quote by pastor Tim Keller: How you experience your present, is completely shaped by what you believe your ultimate future to be. Let me read that to you again… How you experience your present, is completely shaped by what you believe your ultimate future to be. That is a profound truth which we see clearly illustrated in the life of the Apostle Paul. Look at what he wrote to the church at Corinth. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
In order to truly understand this passage, we need to remember what Paul’s light and momentary troubles were. Here are some of the things he wrote describing his circumstances in 1 Corinthians 4… To this present hour we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; where we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate; we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things.” In 2 Corinthians 7 he told us… “For even when we came into Macedonia our flesh had no rest, but we were afflicted on every side: conflicts without, fears within” (2 Corinthians 7:5). In 2 Corinthians 11 he writes… “Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. 28 Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches.”
I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound like “light and momentary troubles” to me! Yet in the midst of all this, Paul was not despairing, because he focused on the eternal. His present was shaped by what he believed his eternal future to be. This can be true of us as well. We can experience our present circumstances with hope, when we are confident that our future is secure in Christ. We can experience our present circumstances, even difficult ones, with joy when we know that we will spend eternity with God. We can experience our present circumstances with perseverance when we are able to trust that what we are going through has a purpose, and that, in the span of eternity, this is only a very short portion of our life. If you are a follower of Jesus, I would encourage you to feed hope by focusing on the character of God, and by looking at life through the perspective of your eternal destiny.
If you are not a follower of Jesus, if you do not have an eternity with God through which to filter your present circumstances. I urge you to make today the day that you put your trust in what Jesus did for you on the cross. The Bible says: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16 ). Believing in Jesus gives us eternal life. It allows us to feed faith, forgiveness, and hope. You can come to Jesus today by simply talking to God and saying, “I don’t pretend to understand it all, but I want to respond to what I do what I do understand… I believe Jesus Christ is God, and that he left heaven and came to earth, and died a cross, to what I could not do for myself… To settle my the debt I owed to God, so I could be forgiven. He paid a debt he didn’t owe… So I could receive a gift, I don’t deserve… And I want to accept that gift today. You pray that prayer, and God will meet you right where you are, and lead you forward on an adventure of faith.
The key passage we’ve been looking at over the last few weeks has been Philippians 4:4-7, but I want to finish out today’s message by looking at the next verse. “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things” (Philippians 4:8). Fill your mind with these things. Meditate on these things. If you and I want to walk a better direction, then we need to download a new playlist – get some true, noble, right, pure, lovely, stuff in here. If you can influence thinking you can influence behavior, Scripture says as a person thinks in their heart, so they are. What makes you and me the way we are is the way we think. True change always begins in our mind. I’m not talking about the power of positive thinking, but I what I am talking about is that negative thoughts cannot lead to a positive life. If you put batteries upside down in a flashlight, no lights are coming on. And the people who really shine are the people who consistently fill their minds with good things.
I encourage you to memorize Philippians 4:8. Write it on an index card and attach it to your television. Use it as a screensaver on your computer or your phone. Think about what you think about… Be careful what you feed your mind… NASCAR drivers are very careful what kind of fuel they put in their high-performance racecars. PILOTS are pretty selective about what kind of fuel goes into their jets. ATHLETES are very disciplined about what type of fuel goes into their bodies. CHOOSY Moms choose Jif… Okay, maybe that one not so much, but my point is many of us forget that same principle when it comes to our minds. God cares about our mind. He cares about what we think about. And if He cares about it, we should too.
Do you want to live – anxious for nothing??? Filter what you think about through the truth of God’s Word. Filter what you feed your mind through the criteria found in Philippians 4:8. What we put in our mind affects how we live and affects how we see the world. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to bring to our attention those things that we need to stop feeding on so we can have minds and lives that are pleasing to our heavenly father. Would you pray with me… Father thank you for reminding us that even though we can’t control every thought that comes into our mind, we can control what we allow to stay there. Help us focus on those things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable – excellent and worthy of praise – toward the end that we’d be growing more and more to look like the one we came to worship. We ask it In Jesus Name– Amen
Recorded in Los Angeles, CA.
A message from the series “Anxious For Nothing.” Sermon Manuscript: Anxious For Nothing Msg 3 The Perspective Of PraiseSermon preached by Dr. Rick Mandl, Eagle Rock Baptist Church, June 6 & 7, 2020 Recorded in Los Angeles, CA.
Hey church family. Great to be with you for worship as we continue the series we’ve been in called “Anxious For Nothing.” I want to mention at the outset that anxiety is a very complicated subject, and so as we deal with it, we’re going to approach it holistically, recognizing that it can be PHYSIOLOGICAL. It can be EMOTIONAL. It can be SITUATIONAL. I personally believe that in addition to these different factors, there’s always a spiritual element to it as well. And for that reason, that’s the perspective from which I want to address it today. We’re been letting one portion of scripture drive us throughout this series. It’s found in Philippians chapter four, verses 4 through 7 and this is what it says, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:4-7).
If you don’t know the background against which those words were written, that background makes the words all the more remarkable. This letter to the Philippians was written by the Apostle Paul while he was sitting in prison in a Roman jail cell, where he would sit for four years. It had been Paul’s goal, as an evangelist to travel to Rome to preach the gospel. And the reason he wanted to travel to Rome was that Rome was a strategically important city at that time within the Roman empire. There was so much commerce, and so much influence coming out of Rome, that Paul believed that if he could reach the leaders in Rome with the gospel, then he would be able to also influence a big portion of the world well beyond Rome. So his dream was go to Rome to preach the gospel. The problem is, he did get to Rome, but not as a preacher. Instead, he got there as a prisoner. And yet his perspective made all the difference, when it came to how he looked at the things that had happened to him. Paul had adopted, what you can call… The Perspective of Praise.
Before we move into that. Let me just begin by asking the question… What Does Perspective Mean? I’m sure that there are a lot of ways that you can define that word, but a simple, short definition that I’ve given you on your notes is that Perspective is… How You See Something. Would you agree that it’s very possible for different people to look at the same situation and see it in very different ways? We have an example of that this weekend, right here on our church campus with the decision that we’ve made to reopen for one public worship service, on Sundays at 11:00AM. Let me just share with you A Few Of The Perspectives that different folks have on whether or not this is the right time for churches to reopen… One perspective is you can’t open the church building yet. It’s a huge health risk! You are wrong if you do. Another perspective is we need to open the church building! I need to be there and see everyone! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? Another perspective shared by someone who really enjoys watching our livestream is don’t ever open the building again! Home is so much better! nother perspective, shared by someone who really takes to heart the recommendations of the CDC is my family is going to stay home for a while before coming back. Sorry, can’t be there. And then of course there is the perspective of the state, county, and city authorities all of whom have combined to tell us… Here are the 25 things you need to do if you want to meet in your building again. And of course, we know there are many for whom this pandemic has hit very close to home, and they will tell you “My wife, husband, dad, grandparent, uncle, sister, brother, niece, just passed away from COVID-19.” And certainly, last but not least is the perspective of those who will tell you that… “It’s all a big hoax! A conspiracy! A media frenzy! Read this article! Check Out This link! There’s No Reason to be afraid!”
So who’s right? Clearly each person feels as though they are. If they didn’t think that their perspective was the right one, then they’d adopt one of the other perspectives. Today as we talk about the perspective of praise, I want to share with you. Four Truths That As Followers Of Jesus Christ Ought To Frame Our Perspective. This is Temporary. This is not to minimize the present suffering that we might be experiencing, or that we might see being experienced by others in the world around us. But as heinous as those evils may be… They are temporary. The Bible says it this way… “What we suffer now (as awful as it may be) is nothing compared to the glory (that God) will reveal to us later” (Romans 8:18). Again, the unspeakable evils in the world around us… They are awful, they are horrendous… They are EVIL But they are also, temporary.
A second truth… The world is Broken. We were reminded of that truth again through the powerful images we’ve all seen on television during these past couple of weeks. Read Genesis 3 to see how it all began, and you’ll see that it’s as though a sin bomb exploded back in the garden of Eden, and today we’re dealing with the fallout from that explosion. And just to make sure that none of us are deceived… The Biblical perspective is that as time goes on, things here on earth will not get better… Believe it or not they will get worse. Men will be lovers of self, rather than lovers of God and move from bad to worse. The Bible tells us that the whole creation right now is groaning and longing for the day when the curse will be reversed. Again, understand that that reality of living in a broken world shouldn’t stop us from doing everything we can to be ministers of healing and reconciliation and hope and try and make this a better world for those around us. Just realize that our hope is not in the fact that, short of the return of Jesus Christ, this world will somehow be miraculously transformed and all our problems will be done away with. The Bible never promises that. We live in a broken world Filled with suffering. The choice that we’re given is, do we want to walk through that suffering with God, or without him.
This is temporary… The world is broken… But… Healing is Promised The promise is that one day all suffering is going to be eliminated, and that God will restore a new heaven and a new earth. But what we need to realize is that until that day… God is Working. God is at work at all times, working things together for our good and His glory. These are the truths that ought to frame our perspective. We can’t control the circumstances in the world around us, but we do have some control over our perspective… We have some control over the way we see those circumstances.
And speaking of the way that we see things, I want to share with you an interesting story – – a true story that I recently came across. In 2016 the Wall Street Journal ran a story about a mountain bike company that was facing a problem. This company made high-end mountain bikes. Their sales were great. But the problem was that when they shipped their bikes to their online customers the bikes were continually being damaged in shipping. 25% of their bikes arrived to their customers “Damaged in Shipping.” It doesn’t matter if you’ve got a great product… It doesn’t matter if you are able to market that product… It doesn’t matter if you’ve got customers who are willing to pay the price you’re asking for that product… If you can’t deliver that product without it arriving damaged, you’re going to be facing a big problem.
The folk at the company put their heads together to work toward a solution They tried to come up with new packaging materials. They tried new delivery services. They tried new delivery personnel. But all those solutions would have added too much to their expenses. And then one member of their team came up with a solution that involved “thinking outside the box.” That team member suggested, “What if… “What if we changed the way that delivery people look at our bikes?” The other team members weren’t tracking with him, and so they said “What are you talking about?” He said, “Well, think about it” “Our bikes come in a box that is the same size and weight as a big screen t.v. box” “So why don’t we print a picture of a big screen t.v. on our boxes and see what happens.” He said, “We won’t change anything that’s inside the box” “The only thing we’ll change is the way that people look at our box.” Delivery people will look at the box and instead of thinking “This is a mountain bike, just throw it in the back of the truck” They’ll think “This is a big screen t.v., we better handle it carefully.” “Let’s give it a try and see what happens.”
Do you know what happened? Shipping damages fell by 80%. Again, remember, they didn’t change anything inside the box. The only thing they changed was the way that people looked at the box. And I think that’s a great illustration of the power of perspective.
Sometimes we think we need to change our circumstances… We need to change what’s inside the box, to be happy. But the truth is you can’t always change your circumstances. But you can change your perspective. You can change how you look at those circumstances. Paul’s circumstances when he wrote this letter to the church at Philippi had him in chains… literally. And if ever there is a time when it’s hard to see things clearly, it’s when your circumstances seem to have you in chains. And yet from his prison cell, Paul wrote… “Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. He said, I want you to know that me being here in prison… Me being here in chains has actually worked out for good. How? Well remember, Paul wanted to come to Rome as an evangelist, and share the gospel to masses of people but that didn’t happen. That ship had sailed. He came instead as a prisoner. He could have figured, if this is what following God has gotten me, then I’m through, I’m throwing in the towel. This is not the “abundant life” that I signed up for. He didn’t do that. He looked for opportunities to share, even within his confinement.
The guards that Paul was chained to were members fo what was known as “The Praetorian Guard.” They were the elite troops of the Roman empire. Personally chosen by Caesar they were his body guards. These guards were among the highest paid people in the Roman Empire. When they retired after 12 years of service they were awarded positions as leaders in Rome. There wasn’t a more strategic group that Paul could witness to if he hoped to reach the Roman Empire. So God put Paul in Rome…. He let Nero foot the bill… And he arranged it so that a future leader of Rome was chained to Paul in four-hour shifts – 24 hours a day. Who do you think was the real prisoner? In two years, with four hour shifts, Paul would have had opportunity to witness to 4,380 guards. Those guards would have watched Paul write the New Testament. They would have heard him pray without ceasing. These guards would have had access to Emperor Nero, and Philippians 4:22 tells us that the result was that even some of Nero’s own family became believers. Why? Because of Paul’s confinement here in prison.
It’s what you might call a chain reaction. Paul realized, “I’m in prison, but God’s Word isn’t.” God’s Word isn’t chained. It’s still going forth. And unbelievers are hearing the good news for the first time, and believers are being encouraged to become bolder in sharing their faith… Take a look at verses 13 & 14. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear” (Philippians 1:13-14). Paul’s perspective enabled him to praise God and rejoice in a situation where most of us wouldn’t have found anything for which we could praise God.
Also, when we read these words, we need to remember that this wasn’t the first time that Paul had found himself in chains. There was another time, in Acts 16, and who knows how many other times, when Paul found himself in chains. In the incident recorded in Acts 16 Paul and his co-laborer Silas were on their way to a prayer meeting when we’re told that… “The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully” (Acts 16:22-23).
Now remember, Paul and Silas were doing everything right. They were walking with God in obedience and faith. And yet, they were beaten and thrown into prison. I want you just, for a moment, to try to visualize this. They’re in prison, maybe broken nose, perhaps, maybe a couple of broken ribs. So you know what they decided to do? Well, things were really bad. Life wasn’t fair. So they figured that they might as well have a worship night. That’s what they did. It’d be kind of the equivalent of you finding out that someone you love has cancer, so you say, hey, let’s just get together and worship God. Or hey, I just discovered my kid’s on drugs. Let’s get together and worship God. That’s kinda what it’s like. How did they do that?
It’s a matter of perspective. Their circumstances were horrendous But God hadn’t changed. He was still worthy of their adoration and praise. “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them” (Acts 16:25). You look at that and you wonder, how was this even possible? How could they, when they’ve been beaten, falsely charged, and thrown into prison worship God? We’re not told how it played out. Maybe Paul leaned over to Silas, said, “Well, there’s a lot of bad here, but you know what? We’re not dead! “And If we’re not dead, we’re not done!”
Maybe you’ve got a lot of bad in your life right now. Can you at least say “I’m not dead, and if I’m not dead, I’m not done.” You can look at things from a different perspective and what they did is they said, “Let’s just go ahead and worship God.” And that’s what they did “About midnight, Paul and Silas were praying “and singing hymns to God, “and all the other prisoners were listening to them.”
Now, something that I do not want you to miss here, so please notice this… They were praying and they were singing hymns while they were bound up in prison. In other words, God had not delivered them from prison. There was no miracle. They weren’t praising God at this moment for the WHAT, they were just praising Him for the WHO. This was praise before the provision. This was praise for the character and the nature and the goodness of God. It wasn’t praise for what they had seen, because they hadn’t seen anything. It was just praise for who God is.
Now… Spoiler alert. Spoiler alert, if you don’t know what happens, I’m gonna tell you the end of the story. And we’ll circle back to it in just a minute. But I need you to understand the context for what’s happening here in Acts 16. In a little bit, in the middle of their praise, God is gonna show up in the middle of their praise. He’s gonna shake the cell with an earthquake. The doors are gonna swing open and their chains are gonna fall off. Why do I tell you that now? Because you need to know what God did when Paul was in prison in Philippi. And you need to know what he DID NOT DO when Paul was in prison in Rome. Could God send an earthquake, cause the chains to fall off and make the prison doors to swing open to release Paul from his confinement? Yes he could! And he did when Paul was a prisoner in Philippi. But he didn’t do it when Paul was in prison in Rome AND knowing what God had done… BUT what God did not do when Paul was in prison in Rome… That makes Paul’s words all the more powerful when he tells us… “Rejoice in the Lord always.” Because Paul knew, while he wrote these words from Rome, that God had the necessary power to deliver him from the exact same problem, he had delivered him from before. Paul knew, God could deliver him from prison, but God did not and Paul still offered Him praise. That brings clarity to the idea of “Rejoice in the Lord, always.”
What do you and I need to be able to do what Paul did from his chains? Let me give you three things. First, we need… . People To Lean On. It is tough to find yourself in a situation where you feel like you’re circumstances have got you in chains. One of the worst things you can do at a time like that is to withdraw… To cut yourself off from your friends… Sometimes we get the idea that because the Apostle Paul was a strong leader, that means he was a loner… That he didn’t need people. That’s not true. Read the letters he wrote and you’ll see him writing to others and saying things like… “I thank God every time I remember you… “I pray for you… He wrote to people in Philippi which was 800 miles away from where he was in Rome and he said… “I long to be with you” If you’re going through a tough time right now, you need PEOPLE TO LEAN ON. Paul began this letter from Rome to the church at Philippi with the words… “Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus.” Paul had the chains. Timothy stayed by his side while he was in prison. As a prisoner, Paul was allowed to have visitors come and go, and Timothy was one who was there often. Rewind to the time before Rome, when Paul was in prison in Philippi, singing hymns at midnight… He wasn’t alone. Silas was there with him.
A second thing you need if you want to be able to praise God, when your circumstances have you feeling like you’re in chains, at midnight, is you need… A PERSPECTIVE TO LIVE FROM. Again, a perspective. How you see things. Paul had a perspective that saw an opportunity in every obstacle. He realized that he wasn’t dead, so he wasn’t done. He focused on the freedom that he had instead of on the circumstances that had him chained.
If you read Acts 28, it gives us more insight to what was going on during this time that Paul was a prisoner in Rome. It tells us for example that Paul’s confinement wasn’t always in a prison cell. We’re told that, “Paul was allowed to live by himself, with a soldier to guard him” (Acts 28:16). Verses 30 & 31 of that chapter tell us that… “For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!” (Acts 28:30-31). Paul had limitations, but within those he still had areas of freedom and that was what he focused on.
He had PEOPLE TO LEAN ON, He had a PERSPECTIVE TO LIVE BY. He also had… Power To Live By. One crisis after another after another can wear you out. Paul had two things that gave him strength throughout his four years in prison in Rome and he tells us what those were in Philippians 1:19-20, “I know that through your prayers and God’s provision of the Spirit of Jesus Christ what has happened to me will turn out for my deliverance. I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed…” Paul says, I’ve got two things that give me strength and keep me going through my four years of imprisonment. And those two things are… The prayers of other people; The help of God’s spirit. He said that because of those two things… I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed…” The prayers of God’s people. The power of His spirit. These things that were the source of Paul’s eager expectation and hope are available to you and me, through a relationship with God through His Son Jesus Christ.
You know there was a ripple effect from that miracle that happened while Paul and Silas were singing hymns and praising God from their chains at midnight. And that was that another life was transformed… And that was the life of their jailer. Take a look at the rest of that story… About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. “But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are ALL here!” Notice, not just the two of them. Not just Paul and Silas. But apparently all of the other prisoners as well. Why? Why didn’t the others flee immediately? I don’t know. Maybe there’s some thing about an earthquake that God sends in response to a worship service at midnight, that just freezes people in their tracks. Whatever the reason, they were all there. And then we’re told that… The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” And they did, and they were. You read on and you find out that this jailer takes Paul and Silas to his home, cares for their wounds, and he and his family are baptized.
Suffering is going to happen – that’s the reality – because we all live in a broken world. The challenge is what are we going to do with it? We can get frustrated by it… Or we can look for ways in which God will work through it… The lessons that I hope we can take from this story is that you and I need to learn to sing praises at midnight… Our midnight… In prison… our prison… the one we may feel like we’re in right now… Because when we do… It’s then that we’ll be able to do what Paul calls us to do… To rejoice in the Lord always… Let’s ask him to help us to do that as we turn to him in prayer. Would you pray with me…
Recorded in Los Angeles, CA.
A message from the series “Anxious For Nothing.” Sermon Manuscript: Anxious For Nothing Message 2- Praying Through The PainSermon preached by Dr. Rick Mandl, Eagle Rock Baptist Church, May 30 & 31, 2020Recorded in Los Angeles, CA.
I want to say welcome to each one of you, wherever you are and however you may be watching. It’s great to be with you as we gather together for worship. I don’t know if you’ve been following the news over this past week, as it relates to churches reopening in California. But on that subject, I’ve got some good news for you, and that good news is… We never closed. Even though the current pandemic required us, for safety sake, for a little while, to put our public gatherings on hold, the church never stopped being the church. We continued to gather-together, except we did it online rather than in person. We continued to care for one another. To pray for one another. To encourage one another. We continued to reach out to the community around us. To feed the hungry. To support missionaries who are taking the good news to those that we, ourselves aren’t able to reach. But over the past weeks, churches in other parts of our country, and now in California, have begun to reopen and meet in person for worship services. And people are understandably asking “How does this effect us?”
Again, as you know up until now there have been six opportunities for you to connect with us for worship each week. We have been live-streaming services out to you 6 times each week. . . Sat. 5:30, Sunday at 9:00, 11:00, 1:00, 6:00, Wednesday at 7:00PM. That is not going to change. We will still livestream six services every week. What is going to change, is that beginning next Sunday, June 7… Instead of six ways to connect with us each week, we’re offering a seventh. We will have one live gathering here on our property, Sunday mornings at 11:00AM.
What will this gathering be like? It will just like the gatherings we’ve always had, only different. Sunday June 7th 11:00AM Worship In Person. Let me share with you some of the differences. One difference is . . . RSVP service. What that means is we want you to let us know if you’re planning to attend. Multiple ways to do that (Connection Card, Email, Text). If you fall within any of the demographics particularly vulnerable to COVID-19, we encourage you to continue worshipping along with us online through our regular streaming services. But if you are planning on being with us, because we have a maximum occupancy of 100 people we’re asking you to let us know how many will be worshipping with you. And we’ll ask you to check-in when you arrive, so that we can make sure we observe that 100 worshiper max. Erock Kids & Student Ministry will not be meeting at this time as we’re encouraging families to worship together. The family room will not be open as it is not conducive to safe social distancing. This will be a No touch service. No offering buckets will be passed. Instead, you can give online or utilize the giving boxes in the back of the auditorium. Service of snacks and refreshments has been suspended at this time. Use Common Sense. Stay at home if you or someone in your home is sick or is experiencing coughing, shortness of breath, or fever (100 F or 37.8 C). Take your temperature before attending and be assured that all of our staff and volunteers will be doing the same.
Maintain Social Distancing. In the parking lot that will mean utilizing every other parking space. In the patio and worship center we’ll make that really obvious, by marking things off. We’ll be making use of one entrance to the WC through the patio. And asking you to refrain from hugs, kisses, high-fives or handshakes. Someone asked, can we do elbow bumps? The answer is, as long as you can do it without getting closer than six feet to one another, then by all means, go for it. We’re asking you to sanitize your hands prior to entering the worship center and to… One last thing. . . This is a Masks Required Service. We’re asking that you wear a mask at all times while on campus. No one over the age of 2 will be admitted into the worship center without a mask. If you are unable to wear a mask, we ask that you continue to worship online until that recommendation has been lifted.
For us this is not a political thing, this is a human-kindness thing. This is a love your neighbor thing. This is a lay down your rights for the other person thing. And to give you a couple of verses of scripture on this, I’d point you to 1 Corinthians 10:23-24 and it says this. . . . “You say, ‘I am allowed to do anything’— (The answer to that is) but not everything is good for you. You say, “I am allowed to do anything’— (The answer to that is) but not everything is beneficial. Don’t be concerned for your own good but for the good of others” (1 Corinthians 10:23-24). And so for that reason we’re making the 11:00AM service beginning next Sunday . . . Masks Required Service.
There is conflicting information as to how much good wearing a mask does, when it comes to protection from this virus. But I can guarantee you one thing. And that is, whether or not it protects you, it will protect others. If not from the virus, then from what we’re talking about today which is . . . ANXIETY. If you don’t believe me, just walk into a store and watch what happens as soon as someone begins to cough. If you’ve seen it, you know what happens. The people around them will scatter in all directions. And it’s that ANXIETY that we’re talking about today as we continue the series we’ve been in called “Anxious for Nothing.”
It was good to hear from a number of you this week about how you have already applied the lessons we looked at last week, and I was impressed by those of you who are memorizing our anchor passage for this series that comes from Philippians 4:4-7, “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Anxiety is a very real and growing problem for a lot of us in our society. The Washington Post ran a news brief with this information this past Wednesday, “A third of Americans are showing signs of clinical anxiety or depression, the most definitive and alarming sign yet of the psychological toll exacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Let me ask you to pause for just a moment and let that information sink in . . . A third of Americans . . . One out of every three of us, are showing signs of clinical anxiety or depression. And in case you’re wondering, that is a huge jump from what those numbers were before the pandemic.
Some of that is directly anxiety is related to the pandemic, some of it is related to financial issues due to job loss or business closures, some of it is related to working from home, or having children at home doing online instruction. But many in our society also face anxiety due to things that have nothing to do with Coronavirus. They face anxiety because of systemic issues of poverty, injustice, and racism. We’ve seen another example of that this past week. We live in a broken world, and as believers we are called both to pray, and to work for justice and reconciliation. Let’s pray together right now. Father, your word tells us that what you require of us is to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with our God. We confess that we often fall short of those requirements. Forgive us for those times we have turned a blind eye to injustice. Forgive us for those times we have failed to extend mercy. Forgive us for those times when we have felt, thought, or acted as if we are superior to others. Help us to be men and women who work toward reconciliation. We pray for the family and friends of George Floyd. We pray that you would bring comfort to them and to their community. We pray for our brothers and sisters who live in fear because of the color of their skin, or their country of origin. We pray for healing in our land. Help us to be your hands and feet in that process. Father, we long for that day when your kingdom will come in its fullness, and there will no longer be hatred, or death, or sorrow, or pain. Until then, may we be people whose lives are characterized by love for you, love for our neighbors, love for those who are different than we are, love for the least of these, and love for our enemies so that the world will know that we are your children. In Jesus’ Name, Amen
I know that some of us have come to church today in pain. Some of us wrestle with Physical pain. Some with Emotional pain. Some with Spiritual pain. Some with Relational pain. We wake up in pain, We go through our day in pain, And we go to bed at night in pain. So what do we do about it? Today I want us to look at three individuals in the Bible who were in pain, and see what we can learn from their example.
First, when we are in pain we should go to the Lord. 1 Samuel chapter 1 gives us the account of a woman named Hannah who did just that. Hannah was married to a man named Elkanah. Elkanah had two wives, Hannah and Peninah, but Hannah was his favorite. Peninah had children but Hannah had been unable to conceive. This caused her a great deal of distress and anguish, especially because her husbands other wife, Peninah, would repeatedly taunt her about it. One day, when Elkanah had taken his family to offer a sacrifice at the house of the Lord, and Peninah was provoking and berating Hannah, Hannah broke down. She was so distressed she couldn’t eat. Her husband, compassionate fellow that he was, tried to console her by saying, “Am I not better to you than ten sons?” In other words, “You have me, what more could you possibly need or want?” That sounds like something I might say!
Hannah went to the temple, and prayed in the presence of Eli the priest. Let’s read what happened in 1 Samuel 1. “In her deep anguish Hannah prayed to the Lord, weeping bitterly. And she made a vow, saying, ‘Lord Almighty, if you will only look on your servant’s misery and remember me, and not forget your servant but give her a son, then I will give him to the Lord for all the days of his life, and no razor will ever be used on his head.’ As she kept on praying to the Lord, Eli (the priest) observed her mouth. Hannah was praying in her heart, and her lips were moving but her voice was not heard. Eli thought she was drunk and said to her, ‘How long are you going to stay drunk? Put away your wine.’ 15 “Not so, my lord,” Hannah replied, “I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I have not been drinking wine or beer; I was pouring out my soul to the Lord. Do not take your servant for a wicked woman; I have been praying here out of my great anguish and grief.”
According to Hannah, she was in misery, deeply troubled, in anguish and grief, and so she poured out her soul to the Lord. And that is exactly what we should do when we are in pain. James 5:13 says, “Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray.” Sometimes when we are in pain, we have a tendency to pull away from God, but it’s at times like that, that we need to do exactly the opposite. We need to draw near, just as the writer of the book of Hebrews encourages us to do. “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” Hebrews 4:16.
Hannah is an example of someone who took her pain to God. She poured out her heart to Him. We should do the same. I would encourage you to read the rest of Hannah’s story this week. It is found in 1 Samuel 1 & 2. When we are in pain we should go to the Lord. We should also go to the Lord recognizing that His purposes are higher than ours. Recognizing that His purposes are higher than ours. Nowhere is this seen more clearly than when Jesus prayed right before going to the cross. Let’s read the account in Matthew 26. Beginning at verse 36 we read, “Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, ‘Sit here while I go over there and pray.’ He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled. Then he said to them, ‘My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.'” Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.’ Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. ‘Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?’ he asked Peter. ‘Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ He went away a second time and prayed, ‘My Father, if it is not possible for this cup to be taken away unless I drink it, may your will be done.’ When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. So he left them and went away once more and prayed the third time, saying the same thing.”
Here we see Jesus in the garden just before His arrest, which would lead to His crucifixion. He describes Himself as “overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” He knows what is coming. He knows the pain that is going to be involved. And He pleads with His Father, “If there’s any other way, take this cup of suffering away from me.” Three times He prayed the same prayer, and three times He ended with “Your will be done.” Jesus realized that God may have a higher purpose for our pain. In Jesus’ case, that purpose was our salvation. We see this same principle, of God’s higher purpose, illustrated in the life of the man born blind whose story is recorded in John 9. Jesus, and His disciples were walking along and they passed a man who had been born blind. The disciples asked Jesus, “Why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” Jesus answered them and said. “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” … “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him.” In other words, God has purposes that are higher than ours.
We see this same truth in Isaiah 55:8-9, where God speaking through the prophet says. . . “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” You see, God operates on a different value system than we do: We value comfort – God values character. We value protection – God values holiness. We value understanding – God values trust. We value ease – God values His glory. And all these things which God values, are most often developed through pain.
Paul wrote about this in Romans chapter 5 – he said . . . We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. Jay and Katharine Wolf have learned first-hand the power of hope in dealing with pain. Let’s watch a little bit of their story. (video here)
The Wolfs have made it their purpose, to share God’s message of hope, through their ministry Hope Heals. They have said, not our will, but yours be done, And in His will, God has used them to minister to thousands of people. Recognizing that God’s purposes are higher than ours, Katherine has said, “This chair is my privilege because this chair has become my platform.” When we are in pain. . . We should go to God remembering that His purposes are higher than ours. We should also be confident that His grace is sufficient for our pain.
The Apostle Paul discovered this. Listen to his testimony from 2 Corinthians 12 in the Message Paraphrase, “Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn’t get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan’s angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn’t think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, My grace is enough; it’s all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness. Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size—abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become.”
We don’t know what the cause of Paul’s pain and suffering was, although scholars have speculated about a number of possibilities. I don’t think it really is all that important, in fact, I think it’s better that we don’t know so that we can apply this principle broadly to our lives rather than feeling that it only applies to a specific and limited circumstance. The principle that God revealed to Paul was that God’s grace was sufficient for Him and it is enough to help us deal with whatever pain we are facing. The grace of salvation – which guarantees us an eternity free from pain. The grace of His Word – which reveals His character and His promises. The grace of His comfort – which allows us to comfort others. The grace of His presence – which assures us we are never alone. The grace of His people – which gives us encouragement and practical help.
If you are in pain today… Go to God, pour out your soul like Hannah. Go to God recognizing that His purposes are often higher than ours – like Jesus, have a “Thy will be done” attitude. Go to God confident that His grace is enough – and if you don’t have that confidence, ask God to give it to you, ask Him to make you aware of the grace He has surrounded you with. God loves you. He is with you. He knows your pain and He says, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Let’s come to Him right now.
Recorded in Los Angeles, CA.
A message from the series “Anxious For Nothing.” Sermon Manuscript: Anxious For Nothing Message 1- When You’ve Had EnoughSermon preached by Dr. Rick Mandl, Eagle Rock Baptist Church, May 23 & 24, 2020 Recorded in Los Angeles, CA.
Wherever you are and however you may be watching, I want to welcome you as we come together to open God’s Word. As Pastor Andrew mentioned, this weekend we’re beginning a new message series. The title of this series is “Anxious For Nothing”. And the title of this particular message, part one is When You’ve Had Enough. I don’t know if any of you’ve had enough, but for those of you who have, this message series is for you.
Right at the outset I want to make sure to give credit where credit is due for the inspiration for this series… Max Lucado has written a Book. John MacArthur Book. Craig Groeschel Sermon Series. And the material contained within these resources was too good to ignore, so during this series I plan on borrowing heavily from them as well as from others.
In Max Lucado’s book, I like the distinction that he draws between anxiety and fear. Lucado writes . . . “Anxiety and fear are cousins but not twins. Fear sees a threat. Anxiety imagines one.” I like that distinction . . . In one sense it’s human nature to be thinking about, and to be concerned about what happens next. Anxiety comes with life, but I hope what we’ll see throughout this series is that Anxiety doesn’t have to dominate our lives. If you don’t struggle with anxiety yourself, changes are you know someone who does.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, anxiety disorders are reaching epidemic proportions. In any given year, 50 million Americans will feel the effects of a panic attack, phobias, or other anxiety disorders. Anxiety disorders in the United States are the “number one mental health problem among women, and second only to alcohol and drug abuse among men.” Stress related illnesses are costing our country $300 billion a year. Psychologists report that the average high schooler today, has the same level of anxiety, as the average psychiatric patient back in the 50’s. The United States is now the most anxious nation in the world. Can you say with me “We’re number one!” If Anxiety was an Olympics event, the U.S. would consistently win the gold. For MANY, anxiety is an occasional experience. For OTHERS it’s a constant companion. For SOME it can become totally debilitating, to the point where they find it difficult to function, and are almost paralyzed by their anxiety. Like this . . . [Big Bang Theory Clip].
Whether or not your anxiety rises to that level, I think you’d agree that there are plenty of things for us to be anxious about right now . . . In prepping for this weekend’s message, I googled the term “Coronavirus Anxiety” and I found 370 million results. I won’t share them all with you, but here’s one I particularly appreciated. . . 10 Sneaky Ways Your Coronavirus Anxiety Is Coming Out. Here’s their list. . .
You’re feeling more tired than usual- Even if you’re not doing much during the day
You aren’t sleeping well- Even if you’re tired all the time and you want to sleep, it doesn’t matter
You startle easily- We all get startled from time to time, but if you’re more jumpy than usual it may be because your body and brain are on high alert because of heightened anxiety.
You’re channeling lots of energy into hobbies- Are you baking banana bread like we’re on the precipice of a banana famine? Excessive enthusiasm, or extreme productivity, might be the way in which your anxiety is presenting.
Number 5, and this is on the flipside of number 4 . . .
You don’t have much interest in anything- COVID anxiety can appear as apathy, and the reason is because routines that have given us structure and a sense of purpose, are now disrupted or gone entirely.
Intense loneliness- Not surprising because physical distancing can lead to social isolation
Reactivation of other mental health conditions- Coronavirus-related anxiety might undermine the progress that you made on other mental health conditions.
You’re getting more headaches or other physical illnesses- The people who study this stuff say that these things can be a kind of a “check-engine” light to let you know you’re experiencing major anxiety
You get angry- When some important aspect of your life is in danger ― like your health or the health of loved ones ― and you don’t have a lot of control over the outcome, it is not unusual to become angry”
And finally, number 10 . . . What was number 10? Oh yeah,
You keep forgetting things- Whether you find yourself on this list or not,
This is a message series for those of you that are worried. Or maybe battling with some type of anxiety. And these days, that’s just about all of us. What we’re gonna do over the next four weeks is we’re going to start in Philippians chapter 4, and I’m gonna take a small portion of that text, and highlight it, and use other portions of scripture to support the big truth. These four verses from Philippians 4, will be our MEMORY VERSES throughout this series. We’ll come back to them each week. What I want us to do right now is read them, give you the context in which they were written, and then pray that God would use it to calm our hearts. Before I read it, let me give you just a little bit of background…
In coming to this passage, what we need to know is that the one who wrote these words, the Apostle Paul is a prisoner in Rome. More than anything else, Paul had wanted to come to Rome to preach the gospel. Yet as he writes these words, he has come to Rome, in chains. He is locked away, 24 hours a day, chained to a Roman guard. He was in a situation where he certainly could have become anxious. He did not know how his situation would end. He did not know whether he would live or die. And it was under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that he wrote these words. Philippians chapter 4, beginning at verse 4. Paul writes . . . “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all.” And here is the part I would challenge you to remember this week… “The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything…” Another version says “be anxious for nothing.” “But in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” And here’s the promise… “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” That is an awesome promise because it’s not only the “peace that comes FROM God, but the peace OF God” The same peace that characterizes heaven, can be exported and experienced within our hearts. Let’s pray together…
Father we pray that we could experience those words in our hearts. That your peace would be experienced by all of us, and that as we cast our cares upon you, we would be reminded of the truth that you care for us and you’re with us.In Jesus’ Name.
We read those words “Be anxious for nothing” and we wonder, is that even possible? In this time in which we’re living . . . With so much uncertainty, how is it even possible to be anxious for nothing. Today I want us to look at an Old Testament prophet – a man who, I believe in may ways is a lot like us. In fact, if you doubt that . . . Take a look at what James writes about him in James 5:17. There we find these words… “Elijah was as human as we are,” Elijah was a man who loved God. He was a man who had seen the faithfulness, the power, the provision of God. And yet he was a man who still struggled massively with anxiety. I’m going to share with you a snapshot of an incident in his life, but before I do, I want to give you a little bit of background.
Prior to the episode that we’re looking at, Elijah had confronted a very evil king named King Ahab, Elijah had called King Ahab out on his sin, And Elijah had prophesied a drought that would strike King Ahab’s kingdom. The result of this was that the king came after the prophet Elijah with all the forces of his army, and he told Elijah that he was going to kill him. For three years, Elijah was on the run. He was hiding out, And yet through it all God was faithful. Just before the portion of scripture that we come to here, Elijah had stood up against 850 false prophets and defeated them. This victory on the part of Elijah, enraged King Ahab’s wife Jezebel, and she resolved to do what her husband the King, had not been able to do. She vowed to hunt down Elijah and kill him. Elijah took her threat seriously, and he ran. He ran for his life. And that’s where we pick up his story. I’m going to read for you, 1 Kings 19:3-4. And as I read these verses, I want you to listen and see if you can spot four mistakes that led Elijah to the point where he felt as if he’d had enough.
1 Kings 19, beginning at verse 3 . . . “Elijah was afraid and ran for his life. When he came to Beersheba in Judah, he left his servant there, while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. ‘I have had enough, Lord,’ he said. ‘Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.’” 1 Kings 19:3-4
Prior to this point, Elijah had been strong. As I mentioned, strong enough to stand up against 850 false prophets and defeat them. And yet now, he’s at the point where… He’s Had Enough. Why? As I mentioned, he’s been on the run. In fact he had literally . . . Run himself into the ground And when…
We RUN OURSELVES into the GROUND- It’s going to take a toll.
Our text says Elijah had run from Mt. Carmel to Beersheba, which was a distance of about 100 miles. He had run about as far as it was humanly possible to run. He had run the equivalent of four marathons. He was exhausted. That was mistake number one. . . Running himself into the ground. And often anxiety can strike us when we’re exhausted.
His second mistake . . . And a lot of us do the same thing…
We SHUT PEOPLE OUT
At the point of exhaustion, when he really could have used somebody to lean on, he made the decision to go it alone. He left his servant, He said to his trusted friend, “I don’t need you anymore,” And he struck off on his own. Big mistake. If you’ve been around our church for any length of time, you know that one of our core values here is COMMUNITY. We believe that we’re better together. And that’s one of the reasons why we’re always talking about LIFE GROUPS.
You heard Pastor Andrew mention that earlier. This is a picture of the group that I’m in . . . For those of you who are newer to our community Life Groups are Small groups that get together during the week. During the time in between the weekends we meet and We study together We pray for one another. Right now, we’re doing it via Zoom, but we’re still doing it. And the reason is, that we know we’re better together. We learn better together. We’ve got some really smart people in our group, but none of us is as smart as all of us. And so We learn better together. We pray better together. And particularly during this stay at home time which has been so tough for so many. We need each other. This is exactly the time that you don’t want to try and go it alone. And yet, that was what Elijah did. At his time of greatest stress, and exhaustion, he made the mistake of trying to go it solo. He shut people out.
A third mistake he made . . . He chose to . . .
We FOCUS on the NEGATIVE
And we do this as well. He said . . . ‘I have had enough, Lord,’ He said. ‘Take my life; He said , I am no better than my ancestors.’” He descended into a cycle where all he could see was the negative, and he exaggerated what he saw. You read on further in this chapter and we’re told about a conversation that God had with Elijah. And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”////
Because Elijah had run himself into the ground… Because he had shut other people out… He felt like he was all alone. He felt as though he was the only one left who hadn’t bowed down to the false God Baal. And God had to correct him and tell him that the reality is that he wasn’t all alone. There were at least 7,000 others who hadn’t bowed down. Elijah ran himself into the ground. He shut people out. He focused on the negative. And maybe most tragically . . . He ….
We FORGET GOD
Which is crazy because . . . Every step of the way through Elijah’s life. Every moment of time, God was present, God was faithful, God’s power was visible, God’s provision was real, and even though God had been faithful. . . Elijah did what so many of us do, He was facing his problems while forgetting his God. What was God’s Remedy? You see it in the verses that follow. . .
REST your BODY- Relax. Take care of your physical needs. That’s the first thing you do when you’re overwhelmed with anxiety.
Verse 5 tells us . . . Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the Lord came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.
It’s interesting that when Elijah started having a pity party and started contemplating suicide and started saying, “God, I just want to die!” God didn’t scold Elijah. He did not give him a sermon which would have only added to his guilt. God’s remedy – Step one was rest. It was simply eat, sleep, eat sleep. Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is go to bed. It’s amazing how a good night’s rest will do wonders for your attitude. Weariness and fatigue promotes depression, and getting in shape is an excellent preventative to overwhelming anxiety. You will be a lot stronger emotionally, if you’re physically strong. Relax. Rest your body. And then next . . .
RELEASE your FRUSTRATIONS- Tell God how you feel.
In that conversation that God had with Elijah, God asked him what he was doing there, and he allowed Elijah to unload, to get it all off his chest. And Elijah did just that. He told God how he was afraid, and resentful, and angry and lonely, and worried. You know what’s interesting? It’s interesting that throughout that conversation God never said, “I did not know that.” God is not shocked when you complain to Him. He knows exactly how you feel even before you tell Him. What He wants you to do is get it off your chest. To cast our cares on Him. God says Rest your body. Release your frustrations. He allowed Elijah to go on and on until Elijah ran out of words.
God did the same thing with David in the Psalms. I wonder, have you ever read those Psalms where David is angry at everybody? Places where he says, “God, I don’t like it! Kill all my enemies. Bash their babies. Knock their teeth out!” You look at that and you think, “Why is this in the Bible?” It’s in the Bible because it’s real. Every single emotion known to man is contained in the book of Psalms. It’s a very honest book. In many of the Psalms, David is just unloading on God. They’re there in the Bible, to let you know it’s ok for you to do that. God’s not going to walk out on you. He wants you to unload so you can be healed emotionally. Rest your body. Release your frustrations. And then third . . .
REFOCUS on GOD- You need to do that. Get your eyes off the problem, Get your eyes onto God. Get a fresh awareness of His power, His presence. If you look at the world, you’ll be distressed; If you look within, you’ll be depressed; If you look at Christ, you’ll be at rest.
Take a look at verse 11 . . . “The Lord said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.” And it was in the gentle whisper that God spoke.
You look at this story and you wonder . . . “What’s the point of all this? Why is God demonstrating all His power like this to Elijah when he’s had enough?” God’s reminding Elijah, that God is still in control. He’s reminding him, that he has the power to handle any situation. He’s reminding Elijah, that he is God and Elijah is not. The purpose of this whole Earth, Wind and Fire eclectic light show is because . . . When you refocus on God’s power, it’s then that your problems become a whole lot smaller. But there’s one more step you Elijah needed on his path to healing, and that was to . . .
RESUME SERVING- You need to do that to get the focus off of yourself.
Notice, God gave Elijah a new assignment. In verses 15-16 we read these words . . . The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, And anoint Elisha son of Shaphat, from Abel Meholah, to succeed you as prophet. God told Elijah, “I want you to get back involved in ministry and do the things that prophets are supposed to do.” One of these three guys — Elisha — would become his best friend. Every anxious person needs a close friend. From this point on, Elijah would minister with a buddy, not by himself. He wouldn’t be the Lone Ranger. Elisha, would become his protege. Why is it important for anxious people to get back into some kind of service and ministry? Because it’s important to get your eyes off yourself.
When you’re anxious you tend to become very introspective. All you see are your problems, and your needs. All you see are your hurts. And how tired you are. God says, “Elijah, it’s time to get your eyes off Elijah. You need to get yourself out there, helping other people, serving again. The quickest way out of anxiety is to get your eyes off yourself and get involved in giving your life away to help others. When you only look at yourself, you’re just going to get down and down. Jesus said it like this, “You lose your life to find it.” The more you give out the more God gives to you.
Elijah thought God was through with him. He had, had enough. He’s one of the two guys in the Bible that said, “God, kill me!” He was that depressed. But God was not through with Elijah. Not by any sense of the word. Some of you can identify with this. You feel like you’ve had enough. You need to know that God’s not through with you. He’s got a plan for your life.
My guess that is that some of you can really relate to Elijah right now. There may be some mornings you don’t want to get out of bed. You’re emotionally tired, and physically tired. Maybe even sick and tired of being sick and tired.” Maybe you feel like Elijah: “Life isn’t worth living. I want to quit. I want to quit my job. I want to quit my marriage. I want to quit school.” To those of you, I’ve got some good news. In the first place, God knows exactly how you feel. He really does. And number two, He cares. He cares about how you feel. You’re not alone. God wants to work in your life. He’s not finished with your life. You will come through this.
First, you open your life up to Jesus Christ. You develop a relationship with Christ. He loves you. He wants you to know Him. He made you for a purpose. He has a plan for your life. Say, “Jesus, come into my life and give me the power to do these four things: To rest my body, To release my frustrations, To refocus on God, To resume serving others and find a place of ministry where I can give out.” You do that, and he’ll take care of the rest. . . Let’s pray together . . .
Recorded in Los Angeles, CA.
A message from the series “Where is God?.” Sermon Manuscript: Where Is God Message 7- Where Is God When I’m Distracted?Sermon preached by Dr. Rick Mandl, Eagle Rock Baptist Church, May 16 & 17, 2020Recorded in Los Angeles, CA.
I want to welcome you, wherever you are and however you may be watching. If you’re watching us on our YouTube channel, or on Facebook Live, or through our website, let me encourage you to make use of that chat box to let us know who you are, and where you’re watching from. Also, let me take a moment to encourage you to go ahead and download the message notes. . . Those notes look like what you see on your screen. Those notes will they’ll help you to follow along with the verses we’ll be covering as we continue the series we’ve been in called “Where Is God.”
Today looking at “Where is God When I’m Distracted.” And this is a problem for a lot of people, because today in this always connected, always on, digital age in which we’re living, it’s really easy to get distracted, and if we’re not careful it can even become dangerous… [Video Clip]
And ironically, do you know how she warned them? By TEXT! We are a distracted culture. . .
In Luke 10 we find the story of someone who was suffering from distraction. I want us to look at an incident from her life to help us answer the question, “Where is God when I am Distracted?” In Luke 10 beginning at verse 38 we find these words. . . As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”
This story, even though it’s only 5 verses long, is packed with a lot of truth. Mary and Martha were sisters. They also had a brother, Lazarus, whom Jesus will raise from the dead not too long after this event. From that story in John 11 we learn that Lazarus was a beloved friend of Jesus, so it is likely that Jesus often frequented this home. It is also likely that Jesus wasn’t alone on this visit described in Luke 10. He probably had some, if not all of his disciples with Him, and they were probably all hungry! Martha we’re told was “distracted by all the preparations that had to be made.”
A lot of us are like Martha. We’re distracted by a lot of things. And not all of the things that distract us, would be described as bad things. The thing that Martha was doing in this story was a good thing. She was serving Jesus. I believe the real problem for Martha was that her distraction with the preparations, led to her being spiritually distracted. How can we tell if we are spiritually distracted? One way is to see if our lives manifest any of the signs we see in Martha.
The first sign we are spiritually distracted is we call God’s character into question. We question God’s character. Look at what Martha says to Jesus, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone?” This seems to be a common question among God’s children. Remember the account in Mark 4 when the disciples were out in a boat taking Jesus from one place to another. Jesus was sound asleep, and a big storm came upon them. The disciples were filled with fear and cried out to Jesus. They said,“Don’t you care if we drown?” God, don’t you care? This seems to be what the prophet Isaiah was addressing with the people of Israel in Isaiah chapter 40. The International Children’s Bible makes this very clear. People of Jacob, why do you complain? People of Israel, why do you say, “The Lord does not see what happens to me. He does not care if I am treated fairly”? Again and again, the Bible clearly teaches that God is love. That He is compassionate, and that He does care for us. But when we are spiritually distracted, it becomes easy for us to feel like God doesn’t care about us, or that he has forgotten about us, and to call His character into question.
A second sign that we are suffering from spiritual distraction is we’re worried and UPSET about many things. This was Martha. Using our sanctified imaginations we can picture her checking and rechecking the food to make sure it was going to be delicious, and arranging the table perfectly so that it would be pleasing to Jesus. We can see her bustling about, pouring drinks, wiping up a spill, and getting more and more agitated that she was working alone. She was “worried.” She was upset. When we’re “worried and upset” about many things, we are probably spiritually distracted.
Now let me be clear. I’m not talking about normal concern over things that are difficult or dangerous. If I’m waiting for the results of a biopsy, it is natural for me to be concerned. If I lose my job, and I’m not sure how I’m going to pay my rent or my mortgage, concern is an understandable response. But Spiritual distraction is indicated when we worry about things we can’t do anything about. Remember Jesus’ question to the crowd in Matthew 6:27, “Who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?”
Another indicator of Spiritual distraction is when we are rehearse our worries over and over, and we being to feed off of them. We’re like a cow chewing its cud. We regurgitate our concerns and chew on them over and over. For example, IF we are waiting for the results of a biopsy, it is natural to be concerned; however, Googling all of our symptoms to try to diagnose what type of cancer we may have, will feed rather than alleviate our concern. This can be a challenge for some of us during the pandemic that we’re all going through. It is understandable to be concerned, but watching hour after hour of news reports, or constantly scrolling our news feed for the latest story is not likely to be helpful. It will probably cause us to be more worried and upset.
The third sign we are spiritually distracted is when we fall into the comparison trap. This is where Martha found herself. She was hustling and bustling, trying to get everything done when she suddenly notices her sister Mary, sitting by Jesus and listening to Him. We can almost hear her saying to herself. “Why am I the one always doing all the work?” “How come I never get to sit down and watch her work?” “No one is even noticing or appreciating everything I’m doing.” Until she finally can’t stand it any more and she says to Jesus, “Don’t you care that I’m working my fingers to the bone and Mary isn’t doing anything? Tell her to help me!”
When we find ourselves comparing ourselves, and our difficulties to others, we are probably spiritually distracted. When the questions rolling around in our mind are things like… “How come I’m the only one that can never catch a break? Why do these things always happen to me?” “Why does he have a perfect wife and perfect kids, while I’m stuck with this mess?” “It’s not fair that life is so easy for her.” …we are spiritually distracted.
So where is God in the midst of all this? Where is God when I’m distracted? In the case of Mary and Martha, the truth we have been coming back to again and again every week couldn’t be more obvious. The answer is . . .
1.God is with us.Mary and Martha were in the same house. Jesus was equally present to both of them. Mary experienced the blessing of Jesus’ presence, while Martha did not. The issue wasn’t proximity, the issue was focus. Mary was focused on Jesus. Martha was focused on the distractions. The same thing happens to us today. Two people come to a church service. The Bible tells us that where two or three are gathered in the name of Jesus, He is in their midst. So we believe God was present with those two people when they came to that church service. One person comes away having encountered God, the other person leaves thinking, “That was a waste of time.” Why is that? How do you explain the difference?
Usually it’s because the first person came expecting to encounter God. They were anticipating that encounter, and they found what they were looking for. While the second perhaps came looking for a “valuable” experience, so they filtered everything through that expectation. If they liked the songs they sang – it was a good experience. If they didn’t like the songs – it was bad. If the room was a comfortable temperature – it was good. If the room was too hot or too cold – it was bad. If the preacher was entertaining and ended on time – it was good. If the preacher was dry or went too long – it was bad. If the message was uplifting or addressed a sin they don’t struggle with – it was good. If the message was convicting or hit too close to home – it was bad.
The promise of the Bible is that God is with us. Experiencing His presence may partly depend on whether or not we are looking for Him. Listen to His promise from Jeremiah 29:13, “If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.” The writer of the book of Hebrews expands on this: “It’s impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). God was with Mary, and He was with Martha. One experienced the blessing of His presence; The other did not. The Bible promises that God is with us. I want to challenge you this week, to be on the lookout for Him. Don’t miss out on the blessing of His presence because you are focused on so many other things. Where is God when we’re distracted? He is with us.
Also, He is calling us to cast our cares on Him. Martha did the right thing in coming to Jesus. She might have had the wrong attitude, but she did the right thing. 1 Peter 5:7 tell us, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” Martha came to Jesus asking, “Don’t you care?” God comes to us saying, I care – give me all your worries. Jesus echoed this thought in Matthew 11:28, “Are you weary, carrying a heavy burden? Then come to me. I will refresh your life, for I am your oasis” (Matthew 11:28 TPT). I love that picture of Jesus being our oasis. Do you feel like you’ve been walking in the desert? Do you feel like no one cares about you? Come to Jesus. He is your oasis.
I recently read this explanation for h ow we cast our cares on Jesus. The secret can be found in the word “cast.” First . . . Commit your burden to the Lord. Give it over to Him who cares even more than you do, and who has the power to do what you cannot. Second. . . Ask for His help in prayer. Philippians 4:6 tells us, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.”
Third. . . Search the scriptures. Within them you’ll find that God has a promise to correspond to every one of your needs.
And then fourth . . . Trust Him. He has told us He cares for us, and has demonstrated that by Jesus’ death and resurrection. Will you take Him at His word?
God is with us. He is calling us to cast our cares on Him. And . . . He is inviting us to invest in the one thing that is better. Look at what Jesus said to Martha in response to her complaint. Luke 10:41-42, “You are worried and upset about many things… but few things are needed—or indeed only one.” What is the one thing? It is our relationship with Christ. That ought to be our primary focus. This is not a story about two different personality types… The contemplative and the doer, one good, one bad. And the point of this account is not that serving is bad – It’s not saying don’t serve, just sit. The point of this account is that nothing should distract us from our relationship with Jesus – not even serving Him.
The passage we looked at earlier, where Jesus asked, “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” Ends with this admonition: “Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33). Seek first – it’s a matter of priority and a matter of focus. Martha was worried and upset about many things, Mary was focused on Jesus. Back in the good old days, when we used to be able to have our whole family over for a meal, you would often find most of us hanging out in the kitchen where the meal was being prepared. I was there to be the taste tester, but most of the family was there to talk to one another. That’s where the conversation and the laughter was. The focus was on being together.
My wife, great theologian that she is, is convinced that Martha could have solved her problem if she had just invited Jesus into the kitchen where she was doing the preparation. She could have said, “Jesus, I’d love to hear what you are saying, but I know you are all hungry, and I’m trying to get dinner on the table. Would you mind coming in here so I can participate too?” My wife is convinced that Jesus would have happily moved the party to the kitchen, and probably would have helped cut up the veggies.
Jesus invites us to invest in the one thing – our relationship with Him. We do that by including Him in all the activities of our life rather than by keeping Him in the “spiritual” compartment of our life. He doesn’t want our lives to be compartmentalized. He wants to be integrated into all of our activities. Working, playing, parenting, learning, shopping – think about how Jesus can be part of all of those activities. When we do that, these things stop being a distraction to our spiritual life, and instead are venues where our faith can be worked out. We see Martha two more times in scripture. The first takes place a few months after this when her brother Lazarus has died. Let’s look at her encounter with Jesus.
Read John 11:20-28. We’re told . . . “When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.” Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.” “Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?” “Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.” “Then she returned to Mary. She called Mary aside from the mourners and told her, “The Teacher is here and wants to see you.”
In this passage we see a depth of spiritual understanding in Martha. She recognizes that Jesus is the healer. She proclaims that God will give Jesus whatever He asks for. She understands that there will be a resurrection on the last day, and she confesses that she believes Jesus is the Christ – the Messiah. Then she goes to Mary, and tells her that Jesus wants to see her. Gone is the frustration, Gone is the distraction. It seems her focus has been adjusted, and her priorities are in order. The last time we see Martha is in John 12, just about a week before Jesus is crucified. Listen to what John writes about Martha: “Six days before the Passover celebration began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus—the man he had raised from the dead. A dinner was prepared in Jesus’ honor. Martha served…” (John 12:1-2). This last time that we see Martha, she is once again serving. But this time she wasn’t worried and upset. I believe she had found a way to keep the one thing “the most important thing.” My prayer is that we would learn that lesson as well. Let’s pray.
Father, the psalmist writes, “Teach me Your way, O Lord; I will walk in Your truth; Give me an undivided heart.” That is our prayer today. Give us undivided hearts. Help us not to be distracted and upset by many things. Help us to cast our cares on you. Remind us to invite you into the kitchen, and the workplace, and the car, and the grocery store. Help us to rejoice in Your presence with us, and help us to keep the one thing, our relationship with you, as our top priority. Then, empowered by your Holy Spirit, allow us the privilege of serving You, Your church, and the world you died to save. In Jesus’ Name.
Recorded in Los Angeles, CA.
A message from the series “Where is God?.” Sermon Manuscript: Where Is God Message 6- Where Is God In My Home? (Mother’s Day Message)Sermon preached by Dr. Rick & Judy Mandl , Eagle Rock Baptist Church, May 9 & 10, 2020Recorded in Los Angeles, CA.
In any year, Mother’s Day is a day met with a variety of emotions. It can be a happy day for those who get to spend it with their mothers, or moms with their children with whom they have good relationships. It can be a bittersweet day for those who remember with full hearts other Mother’s Days spent with those who are no longer with us. It can be a day filled with longing for those who desire to be a mom but have not had that opportunity. It can be a painful day for those who have miscarried, or lost a child, or lost their mother. It can be a day filled with regret for those who are estranged from their mother or their child. This year, it seems even more complicated as traditional gatherings are replaced by zoom meetings and FaceTime conversations, and families are separated from those they love, especially their most senior members. I don’t know your emotions as you come to worship today, but I know the One who does. Let’s go to Him in prayer. [PRAY]
Today as we continue our “Where Is God?” series because it’s Mother’s Day weekend, we are going to consider the question “Where is God in my family?” Like most of the other questions in this series, the first answer is going to sound somewhat familiar.
He is with you (no matter what your home/family looks like) and He wants to make you part of a bigger family
And what I mean by that is he wants to invite you into an eternal home with Him. Over the past few weeks we’ve hit the first part of this point pretty hard, because it is so important. Where is God? He is with you in any, and every circumstance in your life. Look at these verses from Isaiah 42:5-6, “God, the Lord, created the heavens and stretched them out. He created the earth and everything in it. He gives breath to everyone, life to everyone who walks the earth. And it is he who says, “I, the Lord, have called you to demonstrate my righteousness. I will take you by the hand and guard you…”
As followers of Jesus Christ, we have a God who takes us by the hand. That’s how closely He walks with us. He’s holding us by the hand. He’s holding us by the hand whether we are widowed, or married, or single. He’s present with us, whether we have a full-house, or an empty-nest. He is watching over us, without regard to whether our family of origin was happy, or dysfunctional, or non-existent. God is with you right now, He will be with you when you turn off your device and go about your day. He will be with you tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that. He’s with you when you are full of joy And He’s with you when you are weeping. He’s with you when you acknowledge His presence. And He’s with you when you feel abandoned.
He will never leave you. He wants you to rest in that fact. God is with us, and His presence is enough. But God, in His grace and mercy toward us, calls us into a relationship with others. Sometimes, that is a biological relationship, but beyond that, He calls us into a familial relationship with the other members of His forever family. This is what Paul tells us in Ephesians chapter 2 when he writes. . . “So you are no longer outsiders and strangers. You are citizens together with God’s people. You are also members of God’s family.” When you enter into a relationship with Jesus Christ, you become a child of God, and in the process you gain brothers and sisters all over the world. We need to cultivate those family relationships.
One of the high points of my week, is when we get together as a Life Group. Here’s a picture of our Life Group. This isn’t the entire group, but it is pretty close – 19 of 21. Life Group has been different these last past weeks, as we’ve been meeting via Zoom, instead of meeting in person. But there are actually some advantages. Maybe it’s because on those evenings when you might be running a little bit late in terms of all the things that you had to get done before Life Group… Getting the family fed, or the homework done. At those times it can be tempting to figure, “I’m already running late, I don’t want to drive to Life Group, because I’ll probably arrive half-way through the meeting. For some reason that’s not been a problem when we’ve been meeting online. We have folks dropping in and out at different times and we’re just so glad to have them there at all, regardless of when they arrive or when they have to leave. Also, meeting by Zoom allows us to connect with members of our group who are travelling – members who are out of state. One of the guys in our group, Carlos, has been joining us each week, for the past three weeks from Iowa. And it’s been great to reconnect with him. I appreciate everyone in our group.
Tracy Johnson is another member of our life group, and one thing I especially appreciate about Tracy is, when he addresses something to our Life Group, he often starts with, “Hey Family!” Tracy is constantly reminding us that we are brothers and sisters. We belong to each other. God is with us. He welcomes us into His forever family. And the eternal home He is preparing for us is beyond anything we could conceive of in our wildest imagination. It is a place where there is no sorrow, no sickness, no death, and no dysfunction. A place where we will live in harmony forever with other family members from all nations, and from all time. Listen to this description by the Apostle John of his vision of our eternal home from Revelation chapter 7.
John writes. . . “After this I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes and held palm branches in their hands. And they were shouting with a great roar, ‘Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!'” God is with you. If you are a follower of His, He has made you a member of His family, and He is preparing a forever home where we will live together with Him for all eternity.
The second answer to the question, “Where is God in my family?” is
He is giving me guidelines for healthy relationships.
Sometimes we are unhappy with our homes and our families. We feel like we’ve been dealt a bad hand, and we question where God is in all of it, when the reality is, we have disregarded His plan for how our family, and relationships in general should work. The Bible gives some pretty specific instructions about the family. It tells us that it should be based on a faithful marriage relationship between a man and a woman who love one another, mutually submit to one another, and who are willing to make sacrifices for one another. Marriage is God’s plan for the foundation of the family.
The Bible also tells us that parents are supposed to model for their children what it looks like to follow Jesus. Look at these verses from Deuteronomy 6, “And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today.” Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.
Notice what these verses are saying to the adults: YOU must love the Lord your God. YOU must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands. YOU must teach them to your children, over and over, throughout all the activities of the day. It starts with you, moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas, aunts and uncles. You love God, you follow Him, and you teach the next generation by words and example what it means to walk with God. The Bible tells children to obey their parents, and to honor their father and mother. It also tells parents not to exasperate their children, don’t be unpleasable. Train your children, but differentiate between what is merely childish behavior and what is disobedience or defiant behavior. Exercise grace, just as God exercises grace toward us.
The Bible also gives guidelines for healthy relationships in and beyond the nuclear family. They are contained in the “one anothers” of the scripture. Honor one another. Be devoted to one another. Look out for one another. Pray for one another. Encourage one another. Do good to one another. Don’t lie to one another. Be kind to one another. Be patient with one another. Be hospitable to one another. Bear one another’s burdens. Give preference to one another. Forgive one another. Love one another.
What would our relationships, our families, and our homes be like if we actually did those things? My guess is, as I read that list there were one or two things that jumped out to you. And you thought, “Man, if my spouse, child, parent, roommate, friend would only do that for me, everything would be so much better!” That was my first thought too! But that’s not God’s intention in giving us these commands. His intention is that we would look at them and say, “What area do I need to grow in so that my relationships will be what God wants them to be?” Do I need to be less self-absorbed, and instead look out for others? Do I need to be less critical and instead encourage others? Do I need to be more patient, instead of so quick tempered?
God gives us these instructions in His Word so that we will obey them, because in obeying them, we will honor Him, and have the most satisfying human relationships. But we need to do more than just listen to the Bible in a sermon on the weekend, or give it a quick read in the morning. We need to put it into action. Look at these words from James 1 in the Message version. “Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like. But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life!—even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, He says, that person . . . is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action.” When we act on God’s Word, we will find delight in the action.
I’d encourage you to look over that list of one anothers again. Take a few minutes to honestly evaluate which one or ones you struggle with most – if you struggle with all of them, just pick one or two – you’ve got to start somewhere. Remember, I said the ones you struggle with most – I didn’t ask you to point out which ones the people around you struggle with. Pick one or two and ask God to help you to grow in that area, and then look for opportunities to exercise those relationship muscles in the weeks ahead. As we follow God’s guidelines for relationships that honor Him, I believe we will experience His presence to a greater and greater degree in our homes. When we consider this particular “Where is God? Question, there’s an element to consider that is a little different than in some of the other questions, and that is the area of personal responsibility.
Where is God in my home?
He is challenging me, to make Him, the center of my home.
Let’s look at an example of this from Joshua 23 & 24. A few weeks ago we looked at an earlier incident in Joshua’s life when, as the relatively new leader of the people of Israel, he failed to seek God’s counsel and got the people entangled in a treaty they should not ever have entered into. Now, as Joshua’s life draws to an end, he calls all the people of Israel together to give them some final words. He reminds them of what God has done for them in giving them the land He had promised, and he instructs them to continue to follow God. Take a look at his words. . . “So be very careful to follow everything Moses wrote in the Book of Instruction. Do not deviate from it, turning either to the right or to the left” (Joshua 23:6). “Cling tightly to the Lord your God as you have done until now” (Joshua 23:8). “So be very careful to love the Lord your God” (Joshua 23:11).
Then Joshua reminded them again of how God has kept His promises to Israel. “Now behold, today I am going the way of all the earth, and you know in all your hearts and in all your souls that not one word of all the good words which the Lord your God spoke concerning you has failed: all have been fulfilled for you, not one of them has failed” (Joshua 23:14). And Joshua went on to say that just as all the good things God had promised had come to pass, the warnings God gave for failure to put Him first, and to obey His commands, would also come to pass. Joshua said there are positive consequences for clinging to God, loving Him, and obeying Him, and there would be negative consequences for disobeying God and for following the gods of the culture around them. He ended by issuing this challenge: “So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:14-15).
God has given us instructions for how to have a healthy personal life, a healthy home life, and healthy relationships. Listen to what God told Joshua at the beginning of his time as leader of Israel: “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” This is not a guarantee of material and financial success, it is a guarantee of success in God’s economy: bringing glory to Him, being a wise leader, laying up treasure for eternity, positive relationships.
And the bottom line in obeying God’s Word is: put God first. Love God most. Remember Jesus’ answer to the lawyer who asked Him what the greatest commandment was? “Jesus replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment” (Matthew 22:37-38). Love God, that’s the primary command – and the way we show our love for God is by obeying Him. If we do not obey Him, we will not reap the benefits that come from living the way He designed us to live.
And then Jesus said there’s. . . “A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” Love our neighbors as ourselves. Paul expanded on this commandment to love in Romans 13: “Owe nothing to anyone—except for your obligation to love one another. If you love your neighbor, you will fulfill the requirements of God’s law. For the commandments say, “You must not commit adultery. You must not murder. You must not steal. You must not covet.” These—and other such commandments—are summed up in this one commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law” (Romans 13:8-10).
Joshua challenged the people to decide: Who are you going to serve? Who are you going to love? Who are you going to follow? And God issues us a similar challenge today. If you want to know where God is in your home or where He is in your family, you also have to ask yourself – Where am I allowing Him to be? I’m not saying that God is weak and can only go where you let Him. God can go anywhere He wants, and He already is present everywhere. But God is a gentleman, and He generally waits for an invitation. Have you invited Him into your home and into your family life? Is He the center of your home, or is He an accessory to your life? Is pleasing God a priority, or is it a consideration only when it is convenient? Who are you going to serve? Who are you going to worship? The gods of this world: money, fame, power, self-interest. Or the one true God. God wants to be the center of your life, of your home, of your family, and of all your relationships. Choose today who you are going to serve.
As we close today I want to address those of you who might be listening to the message today and thinking, “But you don’t know my home. You don’t know my background. No one ever taught me to be a good husband, wife, mother, father, friend – you fill in the blank. I didn’t have good role models. My family is a mess, and I’m a product of my environment. If that’s you, there’s something God wants you to know. The generational cycle of dysfunction can stop with you. You may not be able to change your history, but God can change your future. . . And through you, your family’s future, and maybe even your extended community’s future. It’s not easy. It means being intentional about how you live and the choices you make. It means being aware when you are falling into destructive or unhealthy patterns of behavior. It means being willing to change course. It’s not easy, But with God’s help, it is possible. God is saying to you, let me be the boss of your life, and of your family. Surrender yourself to me. Put me first, and let me take care of the rest.
Where is God in your home? He’s with you. He’s showing you how to have the best relationships possible on this side of heaven. And He’s challenging you to put Him first. Let’s ask Him to help us do that today. Would you pray with me . . .
Recorded in Los Angeles, CA.
