Everyone struggles with doubt from time to time whether prayer matters. Left unchecked it is easy to fall into what I call Agnostic Christianity. As part of the REVOLUTION taking place God is awakening believers to the necessity and power of prayer. Join the Revolution!
***Below are the notes for my message this Sunday morning to our church family at The Rock as we conitnue our series "REVOLUTION"
“Death to Agnostic Christianity”
REVOLUTION series
Text: Gen. 28:10-22
Intro.: -We have many AGNOSTIC Christians in our churches today
*Agnostic vs. Atheist
-Agnostic Christians are those who believe that there is a God, believe they need
to know Jesus as their savior, believe they are going to go to heaven when they
die BUT ARE NOT CONVINCED that God cares or is involved in their day to
day life
*No one comes out and says “I’m an agnostic Christian” in fact, most
Who find themselves in this mentality probably do not even recognize it
-There is sincere belief that one day in heaven everything will be
better BUT the struggle is to believe that God can, or will, change
circumstances NOW!
-Perhaps from lack of good teaching/knowledge of God’s Word, feelings of
insignificance, or the disappointment of previous “unanswered prayers”
*the overall feeling is that God’s only concern is for their salvation and
then leaves us to struggle through this life on our own until Heaven
-PRAYER then is a good exercise to vent, throw up wish lists or even gripe and
complain BUT FAITH & EXPECTATION grows slim as circumstances
are accepted at face value
I. In our text we find a man, Jacob, that has spent his whole life born into
Abraham’s lineage and interacting with God through Agnostic faith.
-Moving through the rituals, family expectations and religious obligations with
little to no personal interaction or relationship
*hearing about the God of his father, the God of his grandfather and
relating to their God at a distance – perhaps a “force of good” but nothing
intimate, nothing personal
-Jacob comes to a spiritual crossroad
*He has heard the promises of God over his life yet he is struggling to
own them as personal
-Jacob has a Revolution in his soul when he is awakened to the reality of the
ACTIVE presence of God in his life (vs. 16)
*Jacob’s response was to begin a conversation with God (PRAYER) and a
personal relationship was born (vs. 20-22)
II. How can we have a relationship with a spiritual God while we live in a physical
body?
-How do we bridge this gap???? PRAYER
-God has connected the unseen with the seen through prayer
-Listen again to the famous prayer Jesus taught His disciples and see the
connection between the unseen & the seen:
Matt 6:9-13
9 "This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, 10 your kingdom come ,your will be don eon earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us today our daily bread. 12 Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.' NIV
-The unseen and the seen (heaven & earth / spiritual world & natural world) are
connected more than we can fully understand
Matt 16:17-20
. 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
NIV
2 Cor 10:3-6
3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
NIV
Eph 6:10-18
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.
NIV
-This is why Jesus constantly taught the importance and necessity of prayer
Luke 18:1-8
18 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, 'Grant me justice against my adversary.'
4 "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, 'Even though I don't fear God or care about men, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!'" 6 And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"
NIV
III. God has linked His activity in our life & our world through our active
relationship with Him
-God chooses to use PRAYER
*Jesus prayed for Peter, Abraham intercede for Sodom, Paul requests the
prayers of others, disciples prayed for boldness
-As Christians the power/strength of our relationship with God is tied to PRAYER
James 5:13-18
13 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14 Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
17 Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
NIV
-There are things in our lives, in our families, in our community, in our world that
simply WILL NOT be accomplished with out prayer
Mark 9:17-29
17 A man in the crowd answered, "Teacher, I brought you my son, who is possessed by a spirit that has robbed him of speech. 18 Whenever it seizes him, it throws him to the ground. He foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth and becomes rigid. I asked your disciples to drive out the spirit, but they could not."
19 "O unbelieving generation," Jesus replied, "how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy to me." 20 So they brought him. When the spirit saw Jesus, it immediately threw the boy into a convulsion. He fell to the ground and rolled around, foaming at the mouth. 21 Jesus asked the boy's father, "How long has he been like this?" "From childhood," he answered. 22 "It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us." 23 "'If you can'?" said Jesus. "Everything is possible for him who believes." 24 Immediately the boy's father exclaimed, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" 25 When Jesus saw that a crowd was running to the scene, he rebuked the evil spirit. "You deaf and mute spirit," he said, "I command you, come out of him and never enter him again." 26 The spirit shrieked, convulsed him violently and came out. The boy looked so much like a corpse that many said, "He's dead." 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him to his feet, and he stood up. 28 After Jesus had gone indoors, his disciples asked him privately, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" 29 He replied, "This kind can come out only by prayer."
NIV
James 4:2
You do not have, because you do not ask God.
NIV
-Not because God is agnostic but because He interacts with us through Prayer
****Illus: Treasure Chest in Heaven
IV. How much of our life, our church would be REVOLUTIONIZED by first
praying?
-Taking time to connect the unseen with the seen
Phil 4:6-7
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.
NIV
-Revolution of Death to Agnostic Christianity
*renewed faith in God’s concern, God power, God’s presence & our
responsibility to connect with Him through PRAYER!
(JOIN ME – Revolution Prayer & Reading Journal)
-This morning we are going to close in a time of prayer asking God to connect the
unseen with the seen
*If you have a prayer need…join us…let’s ask & believe God to intervene
Ps 20
20 May the Lord answer you when you are in distress;
may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
2 May he send you help from the sanctuary
and grant you support from Zion.
3 May he remember all your sacrifices
and accept your burnt offerings.
Selah
4 May he give you the desire of your heart
and make all your plans succeed.
5 We will shout for joy when you are victorious
and will lift up our banners in the name of our God.
May the Lord grant all your requests.
6 Now I know that the Lord saves his anointed;
he answers him from his holy heaven
with the saving power of his right hand.
7 Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
8 They are brought to their knees and fall,
but we rise up and stand firm.
9 O Lord, save the king!
Answer us when we call!
NIV
PRAY
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Haiti Update
****Here is the updated report I have from Mission of Hope in Haiti concerning the earthquake that has devastated the capitol of Port au Prince. In addition to being able to donate online I plan to give opportunity this Sunday morning for those who would like to respond. Please be in prayer for all Haitians. If you have never been to Haiti it is impossible to imagine the difficulty of their living situation prior to this earthquake let alone now.
Darren
Updated Haiti report:
Thanks to all for your calls, texts, and emails. Many of you have already responded financially. I just want to share an update of the first full day (seems like a week) of the earthquake. I know many of you have been watching the news and I am not sure the news can do justice to the devastation. However, the news also, cannot destroy our HOPE!
Today, not a lot has changed at the mission. Our entire North American team is ok, and we have heard from a few of our staff in Port au Prince. Our medical team spent 33 straight hours working with injured that came to the clinic (some died). You can go to our web site www.mohhaiti.org and see some pictures of this activity. We are expecting more of the same in the days ahead.
We are beginning to give out food, and will do so as long as food is available. We actually have 1.5 million meals in our warehouse, but please know, even though that sounds like a lot, it will go fast. Our medical supplies are already running low, and of course water will be a major problem.
I know that many of you have asked about going to Haiti, and that may be something we request in the next few days, but the immediate need will be to replenish the food, water, and medical supplies. We have the contacts to get containers of these items, but we will need the funds to ship. A 40’ container will cost $8500 to ship. We also need funds for fuel.
The days ahead will be challenging, but we know this is a huge opportunity for a nation to be transformed from a cursed past to Godly future. Thank you for your prayers and support. If you would like to donate you can send checks to Mission of Hope, PO Box 325, Lee’s Summit, MO 64063, or you can give online by going to the site below.
Sincerely Yours
Otis Garrison
MOH DISASTER RELIEF: Please click t he link below
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=11132385
Darren
Updated Haiti report:
Thanks to all for your calls, texts, and emails. Many of you have already responded financially. I just want to share an update of the first full day (seems like a week) of the earthquake. I know many of you have been watching the news and I am not sure the news can do justice to the devastation. However, the news also, cannot destroy our HOPE!
Today, not a lot has changed at the mission. Our entire North American team is ok, and we have heard from a few of our staff in Port au Prince. Our medical team spent 33 straight hours working with injured that came to the clinic (some died). You can go to our web site www.mohhaiti.org and see some pictures of this activity. We are expecting more of the same in the days ahead.
We are beginning to give out food, and will do so as long as food is available. We actually have 1.5 million meals in our warehouse, but please know, even though that sounds like a lot, it will go fast. Our medical supplies are already running low, and of course water will be a major problem.
I know that many of you have asked about going to Haiti, and that may be something we request in the next few days, but the immediate need will be to replenish the food, water, and medical supplies. We have the contacts to get containers of these items, but we will need the funds to ship. A 40’ container will cost $8500 to ship. We also need funds for fuel.
The days ahead will be challenging, but we know this is a huge opportunity for a nation to be transformed from a cursed past to Godly future. Thank you for your prayers and support. If you would like to donate you can send checks to Mission of Hope, PO Box 325, Lee’s Summit, MO 64063, or you can give online by going to the site below.
Sincerely Yours
Otis Garrison
MOH DISASTER RELIEF: Please click t he link below
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=11132385
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Grassroots Revolution
***Here is the outline for my message this Sunday. The notes are quite a bit lengther than normal for me. This message is heavy on my spirit. I truly believe there is a revolution stirring both within our local church family as well as the American church as a whole
FEEDBACK??? COMMENTS???
Text: John 6:26-27
Intro: -Because our Father loves us so much I believe that from time to time within the
heart of every believer and every church comes those moments, some fleeting
others lingering longer, where the God’s Spirit pulls back the veil from our eyes
to let us clearly see our spiritual condition
*It is in those moments or seasons of life that often a state of discomfort is
aroused…for some it feels like anger, for others frustration, for others fear
BUT yet there is also most often an undeniable, sometimes faint or times more defined, excitement of the possibility that there is an invitation to a place where one has not yet journeyed.
-I also believe it is at those moments that, like all forks in the road, we are forced
to choose the path in which we will travel
*The first is to ignore the dilemma within and simply settle or remain in a
state of spiritual apathy – allow ones senses to numb, close ones eye’s,
and deafen one’s ears until in the words of Jesus
Luke 7:31-32
31 "To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? 32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other :"'We played the flute for you,
and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.'
NIV
-where the song of the redeemed looses its beautiful melody and the dance
seems silly and the tears of the broken hearted seems antiquated and the
words of the Psalmist are forgotten “My tears have been my food day &
night”
-it is to simply settle into a spiritual comatose contented with the loaves
only sufficient enough to feed ourselves
I.. Or, we can in the words of Robert Frost…
“I shall be telling this with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence:
two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by,
and that has made all the difference”
-we can embrace the awakening of our souls and allow it to move us towards a
Revolution
*the throwing off of the old and the creation of something new
-Gandhi said “be the change you want the world to be”
*trace backwards any revolution and you will find that it had its beginning
not in a group, nor a committee, but within ONE
*ONE person catching a vision, willingly separating themselves from the status quo and living out their new found passion
-the exponential possibility of one person’s revolution spreading
into the lives of others can literally be used by God to change the
direction of a family, a church, the body of Christ
Martin Luther-
*frustrated with corruption of the Roman Catholic church as well as the
inadequacy of his own works theology Martin Luther turned in desperation to the
Word of God…there in the book of Romans Martin Luther discovered a truth that changed his life…”the just shall live by Faith”
-from this experience rang a battle cry that could be heard around the
world “Sola Fida”
*On Oct. 31, 1517 Luther nailed his 95 Thesis on the door of Castle Church in
Whittenburg challenging the corrupt church to a debate on the truths of God’s
Word thus begin the Protestant Reformation in which we are still apart
*One Man
Agnes Ozman-
*a young female student attending a small Holiness Bible college named Bethel
Bible College in Kansas housed in an old Topeka mansion known as “Stone
Folly”
*Agnes, along with a handful of students, was challenged by their college
president, Charles Parham, to study diligently what the Bible said about the evidence of receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit
*on the first day of 1901, Agnes Ozman, became the first to receive the baptism at
Topeka…here is her story:
The presence of the Lord was with us in a marked way, stilling hearts to wait upon Him for greater things. The spirit of prayer was upon us in the evening. It was nearly elevn o’clock when it came into my heart to ask that hands might be laid upon me that I might receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. As hands were laid upon my hear, the Holy Spirit fell upon me, and I began to speak in tongues, glorifying God…It was as though rivers of living water were proceeding from my innermost being”
*Other students present jumped to their feet and began singing simultaneously
“The Comforter has come, the Comforter has come”
*revival swept through that student body and beyond and the begins of Pentecost
in American had begun
-by 1906 Pentecost has spread from one girl to estimated 13,000 and in
1914 300 Pentecostal workers and preachers gathered from 17 states in
Hot Springs, AR to form the General Council of the Assemblies of God with the distinct purpose of becoming the “total evangelization of the world”
*Today from 1 to 300 to nearly 60 million world wide…one soul every 10
seconds, one church every 20 minutes
*One Woman
Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu-
*for twenty years worked as a simple geography teacher in Calcutta, India each
morning making her way to St Mary’s High School to inspire young minds
*her route to work took her right by men and women who were homeless,
destitute, and incapacitated by disease. Gut wrenching poverty assaulted her
senses and wrecked her soul day in and day out. Every day something in her
spirit would cry out “That’s all I can stand, I just can’t stand this anymore.”
*One day Agnes decided to take action and the legacy of Mother Theresa began.
*Mother Theresa quit her job rallied some students around her to help and began
taking in the dying and those lying in the open sewers
*dubbed the “Saint of the Gutters” in 1950 Mother Theresa founded Missionaries
of Charity…today four thousand nuns strong who are all working diligently to ensure that refugees, alcoholics, drug addicts, prostitutes, the homeless, the blind, the disabled, the deaf, the poor and the destitute are being cared for
*One Woman
Martin Luther King, Jr.-
-a pastor by occupation
-a black man living in the racial oppression of the 1950s and 60s – the “White
Only” signs on drinking fountains and bathrooms and doors to restaurants; blacks
by law pushed to the back of the bus or forced to give up their seats to white
patrons
-Tired of the reality that his people were always found at the end of the receiving
line for educational, employment and housing opportunities
-King wanted the lynching of black people to stop and segregation banished so that his kids could grow up in a different world than the one he was living in!
-A day finally came when enough was enough and King began a civil rights movement – characterized by nonviolence, freedom and justice.
-Although gunned down outside his hotel one evening in April 1968 it was to late to stop the revolution that had already begun
-listen to the words of King spoken at the acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize
“I refuse to accept the idea that the “is-ness” of man’s present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal “ought-ness” that forever confronts him”
-One Man
II. Every revolution begins with ONE…why not you? Why not me?
-the power of ONE to change a family, change a church, change a community…
-someone who throws off mediocrity, rejects Sunday Christianity
*someone who will not hide beneath religion, refuse to be satisfied with
ritual and beg God to break them out of routine
-To embrace the cry of the Psalmist
Ps 42:1-2
42 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
NIV
-not as eloquent literature but a soul stirring challenge
Ps 42:4
4 These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng.
NIV
-To hear the cry of Jesus that to be a sincere follower of Him means to:
Count the Cost-
Luke 14:26-33
27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28 "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29 For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30 saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'
31 "Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
NIV
Matt 13:23
23 But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."
NIV
Take the Road Less Traveled-
Luke 6:46-49
46 "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? 47 I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.
NIV
2 Cor 12:7-10
8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
NIV
Volunteer to Be the Change God Desires-
Isa 6:1-8
6 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:
"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."
4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty." 6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"
And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
NIV
John 6:65-69
65 He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him." 66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67 "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.
68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."
NIV
Dare to Sing to the Darkness-
Ezek 37:1-10
37 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?"I said, "O Sovereign Lord, you alone know." 4 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.'" 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.'" 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet — a vast army.
NIV
2 Kings 6:16-17
16 "Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them." 17 And Elisha prayed, "O Lord, open his eyes so he may see." Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
NIV
III. Will you be ONE? Will you be part of a Grassroots Revolution?
-What God could do in us and through us if we dared to take Him seriously,
actually act upon what we know and truly believe in what we amen
-Scripture records the promise of Jesus
*He is returning with His reward
Rev 22:12-15
12 "Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
14 "Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.
NIV
*As His follower I will have a place with Him
John 14:1-4
14 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
NIV
-Where do you want to be when Christ returns?
John 4:34-37
34 "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.
NIV
*I want to be on the far side of the field…sickle in hand…”one more
minute God, just a few more swings…”
*Where do you want to be?
PRAYER
Rev 3:14-22
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm — neither hot nor cold — I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.
19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
21 To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
NIV
-Jesus stands at the door of the lukewarm American church and knocks
today…asking…will you join my revolution???
*one by one the door knob is turning…believers are being awakened and
inviting Christ in…the Grassroot Revolution is beginning…will you be
ONE?
FEEDBACK??? COMMENTS???
Text: John 6:26-27
Intro: -Because our Father loves us so much I believe that from time to time within the
heart of every believer and every church comes those moments, some fleeting
others lingering longer, where the God’s Spirit pulls back the veil from our eyes
to let us clearly see our spiritual condition
*It is in those moments or seasons of life that often a state of discomfort is
aroused…for some it feels like anger, for others frustration, for others fear
BUT yet there is also most often an undeniable, sometimes faint or times more defined, excitement of the possibility that there is an invitation to a place where one has not yet journeyed.
-I also believe it is at those moments that, like all forks in the road, we are forced
to choose the path in which we will travel
*The first is to ignore the dilemma within and simply settle or remain in a
state of spiritual apathy – allow ones senses to numb, close ones eye’s,
and deafen one’s ears until in the words of Jesus
Luke 7:31-32
31 "To what, then, can I compare the people of this generation? What are they like? 32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to each other :"'We played the flute for you,
and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not cry.'
NIV
-where the song of the redeemed looses its beautiful melody and the dance
seems silly and the tears of the broken hearted seems antiquated and the
words of the Psalmist are forgotten “My tears have been my food day &
night”
-it is to simply settle into a spiritual comatose contented with the loaves
only sufficient enough to feed ourselves
I.. Or, we can in the words of Robert Frost…
“I shall be telling this with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence:
two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by,
and that has made all the difference”
-we can embrace the awakening of our souls and allow it to move us towards a
Revolution
*the throwing off of the old and the creation of something new
-Gandhi said “be the change you want the world to be”
*trace backwards any revolution and you will find that it had its beginning
not in a group, nor a committee, but within ONE
*ONE person catching a vision, willingly separating themselves from the status quo and living out their new found passion
-the exponential possibility of one person’s revolution spreading
into the lives of others can literally be used by God to change the
direction of a family, a church, the body of Christ
Martin Luther-
*frustrated with corruption of the Roman Catholic church as well as the
inadequacy of his own works theology Martin Luther turned in desperation to the
Word of God…there in the book of Romans Martin Luther discovered a truth that changed his life…”the just shall live by Faith”
-from this experience rang a battle cry that could be heard around the
world “Sola Fida”
*On Oct. 31, 1517 Luther nailed his 95 Thesis on the door of Castle Church in
Whittenburg challenging the corrupt church to a debate on the truths of God’s
Word thus begin the Protestant Reformation in which we are still apart
*One Man
Agnes Ozman-
*a young female student attending a small Holiness Bible college named Bethel
Bible College in Kansas housed in an old Topeka mansion known as “Stone
Folly”
*Agnes, along with a handful of students, was challenged by their college
president, Charles Parham, to study diligently what the Bible said about the evidence of receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit
*on the first day of 1901, Agnes Ozman, became the first to receive the baptism at
Topeka…here is her story:
The presence of the Lord was with us in a marked way, stilling hearts to wait upon Him for greater things. The spirit of prayer was upon us in the evening. It was nearly elevn o’clock when it came into my heart to ask that hands might be laid upon me that I might receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. As hands were laid upon my hear, the Holy Spirit fell upon me, and I began to speak in tongues, glorifying God…It was as though rivers of living water were proceeding from my innermost being”
*Other students present jumped to their feet and began singing simultaneously
“The Comforter has come, the Comforter has come”
*revival swept through that student body and beyond and the begins of Pentecost
in American had begun
-by 1906 Pentecost has spread from one girl to estimated 13,000 and in
1914 300 Pentecostal workers and preachers gathered from 17 states in
Hot Springs, AR to form the General Council of the Assemblies of God with the distinct purpose of becoming the “total evangelization of the world”
*Today from 1 to 300 to nearly 60 million world wide…one soul every 10
seconds, one church every 20 minutes
*One Woman
Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu-
*for twenty years worked as a simple geography teacher in Calcutta, India each
morning making her way to St Mary’s High School to inspire young minds
*her route to work took her right by men and women who were homeless,
destitute, and incapacitated by disease. Gut wrenching poverty assaulted her
senses and wrecked her soul day in and day out. Every day something in her
spirit would cry out “That’s all I can stand, I just can’t stand this anymore.”
*One day Agnes decided to take action and the legacy of Mother Theresa began.
*Mother Theresa quit her job rallied some students around her to help and began
taking in the dying and those lying in the open sewers
*dubbed the “Saint of the Gutters” in 1950 Mother Theresa founded Missionaries
of Charity…today four thousand nuns strong who are all working diligently to ensure that refugees, alcoholics, drug addicts, prostitutes, the homeless, the blind, the disabled, the deaf, the poor and the destitute are being cared for
*One Woman
Martin Luther King, Jr.-
-a pastor by occupation
-a black man living in the racial oppression of the 1950s and 60s – the “White
Only” signs on drinking fountains and bathrooms and doors to restaurants; blacks
by law pushed to the back of the bus or forced to give up their seats to white
patrons
-Tired of the reality that his people were always found at the end of the receiving
line for educational, employment and housing opportunities
-King wanted the lynching of black people to stop and segregation banished so that his kids could grow up in a different world than the one he was living in!
-A day finally came when enough was enough and King began a civil rights movement – characterized by nonviolence, freedom and justice.
-Although gunned down outside his hotel one evening in April 1968 it was to late to stop the revolution that had already begun
-listen to the words of King spoken at the acceptance of the Nobel Peace Prize
“I refuse to accept the idea that the “is-ness” of man’s present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal “ought-ness” that forever confronts him”
-One Man
II. Every revolution begins with ONE…why not you? Why not me?
-the power of ONE to change a family, change a church, change a community…
-someone who throws off mediocrity, rejects Sunday Christianity
*someone who will not hide beneath religion, refuse to be satisfied with
ritual and beg God to break them out of routine
-To embrace the cry of the Psalmist
Ps 42:1-2
42 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
NIV
-not as eloquent literature but a soul stirring challenge
Ps 42:4
4 These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng.
NIV
-To hear the cry of Jesus that to be a sincere follower of Him means to:
Count the Cost-
Luke 14:26-33
27 And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.
28 "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? 29 For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, 30 saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'
31 "Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? 32 If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. 33 In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.
NIV
Matt 13:23
23 But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown."
NIV
Take the Road Less Traveled-
Luke 6:46-49
46 "Why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? 47 I will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.
NIV
2 Cor 12:7-10
8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
NIV
Volunteer to Be the Change God Desires-
Isa 6:1-8
6 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple. 2 Above him were seraphs, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. 3 And they were calling to one another:
"Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory."
4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.
5 "Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty." 6 Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. 7 With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for."
8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?"
And I said, "Here am I. Send me!"
NIV
John 6:65-69
65 He went on to say, "This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled him." 66 From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
67 "You do not want to leave too, do you?" Jesus asked the Twelve.
68 Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God."
NIV
Dare to Sing to the Darkness-
Ezek 37:1-10
37 The hand of the Lord was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the Lord and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. 2 He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. 3 He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?"I said, "O Sovereign Lord, you alone know." 4 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the Lord! 5 This is what the Sovereign Lord says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. 6 I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the Lord.'" 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I was prophesying, there was a noise, a rattling sound, and the bones came together, bone to bone. 8 I looked, and tendons and flesh appeared on them and skin covered them, but there was no breath in them. 9 Then he said to me, "Prophesy to the breath; prophesy, son of man, and say to it, 'This is what the Sovereign Lord says: Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe into these slain, that they may live.'" 10 So I prophesied as he commanded me, and breath entered them; they came to life and stood up on their feet — a vast army.
NIV
2 Kings 6:16-17
16 "Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them." 17 And Elisha prayed, "O Lord, open his eyes so he may see." Then the Lord opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
NIV
III. Will you be ONE? Will you be part of a Grassroots Revolution?
-What God could do in us and through us if we dared to take Him seriously,
actually act upon what we know and truly believe in what we amen
-Scripture records the promise of Jesus
*He is returning with His reward
Rev 22:12-15
12 "Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.
14 "Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.
NIV
*As His follower I will have a place with Him
John 14:1-4
14 "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
NIV
-Where do you want to be when Christ returns?
John 4:34-37
34 "My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. 35 Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together.
NIV
*I want to be on the far side of the field…sickle in hand…”one more
minute God, just a few more swings…”
*Where do you want to be?
PRAYER
Rev 3:14-22
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God's creation. 15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm — neither hot nor cold — I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.
19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.
21 To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."
NIV
-Jesus stands at the door of the lukewarm American church and knocks
today…asking…will you join my revolution???
*one by one the door knob is turning…believers are being awakened and
inviting Christ in…the Grassroot Revolution is beginning…will you be
ONE?
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