Perseverance!

 7^th Sunday after Pentecost

                          

Introduction:

     A.   For an athlete to be good at a particular sport, he/she

          has to practice many hours!

     B.   For a musician to be good at playing a musical

          instrument, he/she has to practice many hours, and for

          him/her to remain good, practice must be continued.

     C.   He/she has to stick-to-it or persevere!

     Trans.

          In our Christian lives we need this "perseverance" also, so let's look today at "Perseverance" and see what it really means to persevere!

 

                            Prayer

 

I.   What is Perseverance?

     A.   Websters def. =     Steadiness in seeking a goal;  persistent effort! Some synonyms                              are persistence, endurance, stick-to-it-iveness, staying power, determination, and resolution.

     B.   Persistent Effort:

          through thick and thin a continuous, persistent effort!  Not half-hearted but persistent!  Not just when things are going good!

     C.   Ray, or Marie didn't get good at playing a musical instrument without a lot of practice. It takes

          persistent effort!

 

II.  Let's look at some examples of perseverance from the Bible!

     A.   Negative.

          1.   Matt. 13:20-21

              Here through the Parable of the Sower Jesus

              explains how some will receive the word but when

              trials come they will give up!  They won't

              persevere!

          2.   Matt. 26:69-75

              Peter broke under the pressure; he didn't

              persevere!

     B.   Positive.

          1.   Gen. 6:11-22  (don't read)

              Noah persevered 100 years building a boat because

              God said to and it hadn't even rained before.  He

               had to have had some discouragements, but he

               persevered!

          2.   Heb. 12:1-3

              Jesus persevered until the end in spite of what

               men/women did to him!  “He endured the cross!”

III. We need "Perseverance" today because, like our Biblical examples, we have all kinds of pressures today to cause us to   break!

     A.   pressure imposed by time:

          1.   If you are a doer, you probably don't have enough

              time to get done what you'd like to do!

          2.   As we see things that need done and as we get more

               and more jobs and the same amount of time, it is

               enough to make us throw up our hands and say "I

               can't do it; I quit!"

     B.   personal discouragement:

          1.   This is one that Satan breaks a lot of people with!

          2.   He does it 95% with no help from the outside of

              your mind.  He does it with negative thoughts like:

              a.   You can't do that!

              b.   You can't do anything right; look at that!

              c.   You are a failure!

              d.   Everybody thinks you are a failure!

     C.   Unfavorable circumstances:  (another pressure)

          1.   Things that we can't control:

              a.   people treat us badly!

              b.   a tragic death!

              c.   people who we have confidence in letting us

                   down!

          2.   These things can really turn our world upside down

              and can break us if we haven't learned

              perseverance!

 

IV.  How can we learn perseverance?

     A.   First, God's Word!  Study!

          1.   Do you give up easy?  From God's word, we learn not to give up!  We learn that we can make a

              difference!

              a.   We can still reach people in Forsyth if we

                   persevere and don't give up! 

                   1) evidence – the 2/3 to 3/4^th of you have

                      come to the church in the last 5 years!

                   2) evidence - those who have been baptized,

                      reaffirmed your baptisms and joined the

                      church in the last 5 years.

                   3) evidence - Those of you who are serving in

                      new ways in the last 5 years!

              b.   We can still grow as Christians if we don't

                   give up!

          2.   Are you easily discouraged?  God's word has the

              answer!  "I can do all things through Christ which

              strenghteneth me."  (Phil. 4:13)

          3.   Does it seem like Satan is winning?  The Bible

              Shows us that we are on the winning side:  that is

              the main theme of Revelation. Don’t get bogged down

              in the metaphoric language but realize the main

              point; we are on the winning side!

          4.   We need a clear vision of our goal so we will not

               get side-tracked and bounce around with no

              direction.  We get it in God's word!

     B.   Secondly, Prayer!

 

          We can persevere as we keep the communications open with  Christ, our greatest example of perseverance!

 

V.   Are you a "persevering" person?

          Do Self-Evaluation!

 

Conclusion:

     A.   There's an adage:

              "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."

     B.   Can that be said about you in your spiritual life?

     C.   Like the person that plays a musical instrument, if we

          are going to attain our goal of Christlikeness, it is

          going to take some perseverance (persistent effort) on

          our part.

     D.   Do you need to grow in this?  As we encounter Christ at

          the table this morning, ask Christ to help you to better

          live out this virtue of perseverance!

 

                      Prayer of Confession

Service of Communion

Mercy, Not Sacrifice!

 5^th Sunday after Pentecost!

                    

Intro.

                            Prayer

                   Matt. 12:1-14 & Hosea 6:6

 

A.   Here Jesus and His disciples went through a corn field, and  they were hungry, so they picked corn to eat! On the Sabbath!

 

B.   The first thing we think is, AWhy is Jesus stealing corn from

this person=s field?@  There was no problem with picking the

corn because it was a custom to leave some grain along the

edges for passer-byers to eat.  This was the for-runner of

Quick Marts except it was free!  It was their way of providing

for travelers.

 

C.   The Pharisees were upset because His "disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the sabbath." (vs. 2)

1.   It wasn't lawful to pick corn on the Sabbath!

2.   This was work! It wasn’t about stealing corn!

 

D.   Jesus responded with verse 7.

 

E.   Then He went on to heal on the sabbath which was also against their law!

 

F.   At this, they began to plot to kill him.

 

Trans.

Their problem seemed to go back to the misunderstanding of a prophetic concept.  The prophet was Hosea, and the concept was "For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings."  (Hosea 6:6 NIV)

 

I.   Let's look this morning at what they misunderstood.

A.   The Pharisees were a very "religious" group of people.  They felt the way to please God was by the strict observance of the law!

 

B.   The Jews of Hosea's time seemed to think what God was

     pleased with was their sacrifices and burnt offerings!

 

1.   It didn't matter, they thought, how many other

     little gods they worshiped as long as they made

     their sin sacrifice to God!

 

     a.   The Jews of Hosea’s time were largely

Polytheistic. They had fell to a large

Degree to the worship of their Canaanite

neighbor’s gods.

 

              b.   Hosea’s ministry was to bring the Jewish people

back to the worship of only Yahweh!

 

2.   It didn't matter, so they thought, if they cheated others as long as they made their sin offering to God to take care of it!

    

          3.   It didn’t matter if they didn’t help the less

              fortunate as long as they made their sin offering

              to God!

 

C.   But Hosea warns the people, and Christ echoes it here to the Pharisees, "God desires mercy, not sacrifice, acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings."

 

D.   Christ seems to be telling the Pharisees, "You are still holding on to the sacrifices and burnt offerings  alone!  You really don't care about the mercy or acknowledgement of God or this wouldn't bother you!"

 

E.   What is this mercy & acknowledgement?

 

Definitions:

mercy =   devotion  (BKC)

acknowledgement =   loyalty  (BKC)

 

1.   So what Jesus was saying is that God was pleased with sacrifices and burnt offerings coming from a devoted and loyal life!  But if they thought they could forget the devotion and loyalty in exchange for sacrifices and burnt offerings, they were bad wrong!

 

2.   Their lack of devotion to God and their lack of  loyalty to God was evident by their treatment and  care for other people! (Example: The Pharisees in our scripture today.) Mercy also involves extending mercy to others!

 

     a.   They were missing the mark!

 

     b.   Their sacrifices were more important than

people.  They didn’t love or care for the people

as long as they did their religious things!

 

              c.   Jesus shines some light on this in Mark 2:27

where he says: “The sabbath was made for

humankind, and not humankind for the sabbath.”

d.   The law was given to serve humanity and not humanity to serve the law! Again, it comes back to if we are guided by our love for God and others, we will not fail!

 

II.  What is this saying to us today?

 

A.   God is concerned with the attitude of our hearts!

 

1.   Is our attitude one of devotion and loyalty to

     God, or is it one of doing just enough to get by?

 

2.   Do we do the things we do because of our loyalty

     and devotion to God, or do we do them to acquire

     another mark in our favor?

 

3.   Do we do things because we have to in order to "be good enough" for heaven?

 

4.   Is this loyalty and devotion to God expressed in

     our service to God lived out in our love for people,

or do we find ourselves going after other things

(gods) because we really lack loyalty and devotion

toward God?

 

III. What can we do?

 

A.   We "can," like the Pharisees, concentrate on the don'ts

and figure that if everyone avoids them they are

alright!

 

1.   Of course, when we do this, we will probably miss  the mark ourselves!

 

2.   Also, we will fail in the do=s just like the Pharisees did!

 

B.   Or we can concentrate on our loyalty and devotion

     toward God, and we can trust that when we do, God will

     direct us in the other things!  God will perfect us in

Love!

 

Conclusion:

 

A.   How is our loyalty and devotion toward God?  A God who suffered Calvary for our sins!

 

B.   Are we trusting in what God did for us through Christ?

 

C.   Are we showing our gratitude through our loyalty and

     devotion to God, causing  us to do the right things?

 

D.   Or are we doing the things for things sake and really

     aren't very devoted to God at all?

 

E.   As we encounter Christ at the table his morning, are we

going through the religious actions but denying the power

thereof?  If we are, let’s tap into that power this

morning, the power to live pleasing to God, the power to love!  Thanks be to God!

 

Prayer of Confession

Service of Communion

 

First Things First!

 5^th Sunday after Pentecost!

                      

Intro:

A.   Have you ever heard of getting the cart before the

horse? What does that expression mean?  Let them respond.

 

B.   It usually means that we leave out or leave to later

     an important detail that we should do first.

 

C.   In life, we sometimes get the cart before the horse.

 

Trans.

In our scripture today, Christ gives some instruction

concerning getting the cart before the horse.

 

                            Prayer

                  Matt 6:31-34 & Acts 11:19-30

Text: vs. 33  NRSV

"But strive first for the kingdom of God and his            righteousness, and all these things will be given to you    as well."

 

I.   What other things might we seek first?

 

A.   Necessities of life (food & raiment): "needs."

1.   In verses 31 & 32, Jesus had just said, "Don't

     worry; your needs will be supplied."

2.   We are to trust that God will provide a way for

     our needs to be met!

     a.         God usually does!

              b.   Another job or a raise.

              c.   God meeting the need through others such as

                   the Food Pantry, our free food shelf or

                   Thrift store, or a Christian friend.

 

     B.   Material possessions; "wants."

1.   The "american dream."  If you want it, you can

     Get it!  A new car, A better house, Keep up with

     the Joneses!

2.   We have an obsession with getting more!  Credit

     cards make it easy for a while . . . .

3.   Before we know it, we can be spread so thin that

     we no longer have time or money for God, and we

     don't have enough to meet our needs along with

     our wants!

4.   One of the main reasons people can’t support the church and missional things is that they have gotten themselves in a financial tight because of wants so much so that they can’t support the things of God.

     a.   If you find yourselves there, make a plan to

          pay off your debt and stay with it.

     b.   Figure out what you can pay for God’s work now, and when you get things paid off, take another look at it and see what you can do then.

     c.   Make God a priority.

 

C.   Popularity, especially for young people;  Social

     Standing, for older people.

1.   We want to be popular; we want to fit in!

2.   When being accepted by a certain group of people                 becomes more important to us than God, we may                   sacrifice morals and values to be a part!

 

3.   We are told to seek the Kingdom of God and his righteousness first and all these other things will fall into place and our needs will be supplied!  What does this mean?

 

II.  What does it mean to seek the Kingdom of God:

     A.   Are we Christians? 

1.   Christ followers were first called

     Christians at Antioch. Acts 11:26

     a.   They were reaching the Hellenists, not just

          people like themselves!

     b.   They sent financial relief back to the

          church in Judea. They weren’t just taking

          care of themselves!

2.   Before this, they were called disciples,

     saints, believers, brothers, or the way!

3.   Methodists were first called Methodists as a

     slur for their methodical ways!

4.   Some think Christians were first called

     Christians as a slur because they were

     acting like Christ!

     a.   We need to be believers!

     b.   But as we are seeking the Kingdom, we

          need to act like Christ!

     3.   Are we acting like Christ?

     B.   If we get so wrapped up in the world and leave God

          out, we've missed it all!  First become Christian:

          believer and acting like Christ!

 

III. What does it mean to seek his righteousness:

     A.   This applies to our daily lives after we become                  believers!  How do we act like Christ?

1.   Reading the Bible Daily; Bible Study.

2.   Prayer life.

3.   How we treat people:  fair, honest, friendliness,                and goodness. 

4.   Do we care for people?

5.   Are we sharing the Love of God!  Bottom line!  God is more concerned with this than all the do’s and don’ts in the world!

6.   If we Love God first and Love others, we have fulfilled all the commandments!  That is what Jesus said! Not about dos and don’ts but about acting out of Love!

     a.   If we do this, it fulfills the ten

          commandments!

     b.   If we do this, it affects how we live!

     c.   If we do this, it affects how we vote!

          1)   Do we vote for people who act like

              Christ and care for the marginalized,

     for the least among us like Christ, like the church at Antioch was doing?

          2)   Or do we vote for those who say they

              are Christian, but don’t really act

              like Christ?

     d.   If we do this, it affects how we spend our

          money and what we support!

     B.   Lastly, as for seeking God’s righteousness, it means

          giving to God first in all areas of our lives!  Don’t

          just give God the leftovers.  It means making God 1^st

          priority in all areas of our lives!

 

IV.  Do these things matter to us, or are we so wrapped up in "things" that we've left God out?

 

A.   Christianity is a new life, change!

 

B.   When we seek God 1st, these other things will be taken care of!  We just need to trust God and be willing to walk through the doors that God opens to us.

 

C.   When we seek God 1^st, God will show us all these other things as we are led by Christ’s Spirit in us!

 

Conclusion:

A.   Is God first priority in our lives, or are we getting

     the cart before the horse?

 

B.   Verse 24 says, "No one can serve two masters." It

     sounds like there is no grey area as to who we are

     serving!

 

C.   This calls us to seriousness about our Christian lives!  It calls us to a deeper commitment!

 

D.   Which master are we serving?

 

Prayer of Confession

Service of Communion