Sunday, September 6, 2009

 

Announcements -- Bruno
Mt 11:28 -30  
Spiritually rest with Jesus
Felicia Richard's stepmom surgery on 9/11 for brain tumor
Thanks to all who helped with Nick & Felicia's wedding last Saturday

 

Dr. Tracy Espy
Psalms 103:2-3    on 9/26  10 - noon   Enjoy Being    a seminar from women's day -- sign up on website - the healing power of God for women

 

Communion Ronneil -- (Neil) Herron
Luke 23:32-39
Azania was in a car accident - the car was totaled
Without a car, he started worrying about finances - God, why now?    This is not a good time.
Jesus never complained, never said why. 
When tough times come, what is our first reaction?   Do we ask why?   or do we ask why not?    Jesus asked why not.
Why was he so confident?    He had complete trust in the Father. 
When we face challenges & hardships, let our hearts and actions show our complete trust in God

 

Corrie McClary
9/19   training for teen mentors and shepherds at the church office 10 am -- they are including the congregation in the lives of our youth
Baptisms:   Jade Simpson last Sunday;   Dustin on Thursday, with campus

 

Faith in Action

James 2:14-17   faith without action is dead
true faith is not acknowledging the need, it's putting faith in action
Going after meeting that need
Story:   Have you ever heard about the guy who walked a tight rope across Niagara Falls? Many people watched him do it. To them he asked, "Do you believe I can walk a tight rope across the Falls?" They all replied, "Yes." They had already seen him do it.

Then he pushed a wheel barrow on a tight rope across Niagara Falls. When he completed the feat, he asked the onlookers, "Do you believe I can walk a tight rope across the Falls pushing a wheel barrow?" To that they replied unanimously, "Yes." Because they saw him do that too.

Finally, a buddy of the tight rope walker climbs into the wheel barrow and the tight rope walker pushes him across the Falls. Wow, what a daring feat! When they finished, the tight rope walker asked the crowd, "Do you believe I can walk a tight rope across the Falls pushing a wheel barrow with a person in it?" To that they exclaimed, "Yes!" For they were now believers in this guy's awesome abilities.

Then he looked at the crowd and asked, "Who's next?"

There you have it... Belief vs. Faith...!

Mark 2:1-12   faith is not something we just talk about
imagine the scene, Jesus coming home, in Capernaum
there it is a custom to leave your door open in the morning and close it at night, anyone is welcome to come in during the day
It was hard to maneuver in Capernaum because the roads were so rough, lots of stairs.   It was hard for disabled people to get around. 
That's why the paralytic was being carried around.
You know the Rabbi can heal your friend, it's packed, there's no room.  Do you go home?   sit and wait for the crowd to disperse?    Give up and come back another day?   All the roofs were flat in  Capernaum, they would use the roofs to rest, pray, store things.   Common for stairs to be on the side of the house.  Elijah prayed on the roof.   Peter prayed on the roof (Acts 10), and lived there at times.   Those four men could have quit.   This is too hard, a lot of obstacles in their way. 
Custom -- needed to have respect for the rabbi and his teaching; needed a good 1st impression.
The 4 guys are digging through the roof - sticks and mud falling on the people. 
Jesus wasn't thinking:
"they're going to pay for the roof"
They cut in line.
The mat that was dropped could have injured someone.
His response was:
Your sins are forgiven"
because he saw their faith
Heb 11:1
What was it about those men that they were so determined to get their friend's soul saved and physical needs met
HOPE -- expecting something, sure of it, it's beyond this world
Abraham -- when God told him to sacrifice his son, he just got up and went.   Corrie thinks about his Chase.    Abraham went because of his hope that if he had to kill his son, God would raise him from the dead.
Being sure that God will do what he said he is going to do.
That is faith
We often don't have faith that God is even going to take care of our physical needs
Like the paralytic, we can be paralyzed spiritually
Some of us are just comfortable being among the crowd
Our desire is not to do anything possible to get close to Jesus
If you're visiting, studying -- what are you doing to get close to Jesus?
Do you have a heart like the four men to be close to Jesus?   
The Bible tells us to increase our faith

 

Three Qualities Jesus saw in the Four Men:
1)   Four men who cared
These guys didn't have any special need of their own, but their friend did, they were selfless.  They made an effort.   What they did was physically draining.
They won't care how much we help until they know how much we care.
Devotion with Eva and Chase ( his children)  About caring for their friends.   They have friends in the neighborhood who come over a lot.   They've started arguing about the toys and movies a lot.   Even though there are 100's to choose from.  
When people come to our house, we're going to care for them and serve them
You get to play with this stuff all the time
Are we still teaching our children that on a consistent basis?
Not to be served, but to serve
This church truly cares about people
Luke is here today -- he goes to the Unicorn school in Durham
We're family, doesn't mean you've left us because graduated or went somewhere else
We're going to see Luke four times a year
1st one -- going to the NC State fair in Triangle in October so they can encourage Luke
Grateful for Ilene Prince who made meals for weeks for Martha while she was ill
Grateful for all the years the church has contributed to special contribution
Grateful for Anthony & LaRae leading the Middle School ministry;  volunteers, so many other people helping
Who want to be sure our children are raised in the Lord
Grateful for Tif McLaughlin - she was the wedding coordinator - traveled from Mooresville to Myrtle Beach for a great wedding and she got paid nothing

 

2)  Four men who wanted to share Christ
they had no special needs; they believed Jesus had the power to heal their friend
Nothing would stop them from getting him healed
The apostles -- James, John, Peter -- hanging out with Jesus
Andrew stood in the background, but we was always bringing people to Jesus
John 6:89 boy with the fish
John 12: 22 the Greeks
Andrew brought Peter to Jesus
Peter stood up at Pentecost and preached the Gospel
3,000 were saved because Andrew shared his faith
That's faith with eternal impact
One of the greatest compliments that we can ever receive is that we are men and women who brought people to Christ
What do you want to be known for?    Have a lasting impact in God's kingdom

 

3)  The four guys never gave up
There are times Corrie struggles and you're tempted to give up
What's going to take you to the next level?
Hope in something that is beyond this world
Do we trust because of faith or because of our circumstances? 
Perseverance - we can't quit
We need to hold each other's arms up
We need to speak the truth in love to each other
Look forward to being with God in the heavenly realms
These 4 guys had an excuse, but they didn't use it
How often have we had an excuse and took it?
a.  we didn't keep our eyes on Jesus
b.  we didn't embrace God's discipline - it reaps a harvest of righteousness

 

Do we ignore discipline or learn from it?   we need to persevere
Before we all became disciples, we had a cost to count
Jesus didn't want us to just start the race, he wanted us to finish it
These four guys had a cost to count
Are we still counting the costs today?   Are we still denying self?
What's stopping me from growing in my faith?
If Jesus was looking down on me, what would he say about my faith?

 

In honor of Labor day:
continue to work on our faith
as Jesus looks down on us, let him see people who care about each other, share Christ with others and never quit