Red Sea Rule #3 - Sermon Notes

Red Sea Rule #1 - August 23
Red Sea Rule #2 - August 30

Red Sea Rule #3 - Acknowledge your enemy, but keep your eyes on the Lord - Sermon Notes for 9/18

Bro Mike was gone. Charles Koenig continued the series on Red Sea Rules. And he did a great job!

Random notes:

Exodus 14 sets the stage.

The Israelites left Egypt, not fearful, but victorious. They also left loaded with spoils, too, gifts
of the Egyptian people.

God orchestrated another step in His redemption plan for His people. "I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for Myself through Pharaoh and his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD."

(It's always about God's glory!)

"So he had his chariot made ready and took his army with him....and he pursued the Israelites who were marching out boldly..."

Pharaoh came upon the Israelites where they were encamped -- in the exact place God told them to
make their camp.

The  Israelites were terrified and cried out to God and challenged Moses, "Was it because there were no graves in Egypt that you brought us out here on the desert to die?" (I really love that line!)

Moses answered them, telling them to stand firm, to not be afraid, and to "see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again." (And that sure came true!)

After all the miracles the people had witnessed in their last days in Egypt, they even now, already, doubted God's power and goodness.

Satan is always ready to step up and stir up trouble and try to defeat us and destroy God's plan.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

                                      I Peter 5:6-8

Satan wants us to be defeated, not victorious.

Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you ..." I Peter 5:9-10

         Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.  James 4:67



Words from Charles Haddon Spurgeon: The great tyrant has not forgotten you and he desires your recapture and enslavement.

Then God told Moses to tell the Israelites to move on and shared His divine plan with Moses, step by step, and what would be the outcome.

(I think this is the best part -- God willingly shared His plans with Moses. He could have told Moses to just tell the people to 'relax and everything will be okay'--- but He did so much more. He told him what would actually happen -- step by step -- and why (for God's glory) -- and God arranged His main characters on the set (the angel and the pillar of cloud) moved from in front of the Israelites to the rear -- and the stage was then set for the next act of the drama. There's a verse in Psalm 25 (verse 14) that
says "The LORD confides in those who fear Him..." What a wonderful promise -- He will let us in,
as He did Moses, on His plans...) Like we are in the "in crowd" -- part of His inner circle-- like being
able to go in and out of the Oval Office and have the President show us his heart and share with us his plans. What an amazing God we have!)

Back to Acts - Sermon Notes

Just some general, random notes from Bro Mike's sermon on September 18. Hear the complete message at our church website: fbc-bc.org.

Main Text:

       All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions
       was his own, but they shared everything they had.  Acts 4:32

A pastor today is responsible for leading a particular church to be faithful to what got started in Jerusalem on that Pentecost.

People deserve, by God's grace, to be able to walk into a church that is faithful to the blue-print
laid out for us in Acts.

If someone says a certain church is of "one heart and soul" - what do they mean? Is the sanctuary full? Is the music loud and joyful? Are people friendly?

Luke means their "stuff." They said, about their possessions, "You can have it!"

It would be a good practice for us to begin noticing what we say about everything -- our calendar -- our things -- our money --

Apparently these early Christians said "If it is mine, it is yours" and they meant it.

So what do Spirit-filled believers do?

1. They act on their beliefs.
2. They gather around other believers
3. They are generous with what they have.


Generosity- tipping at restaurants, blessing people, making room for people in your schedule, etc.
It's a generosity of spirit that involves the sharing of everything  - time, energy, resources...

What did they (do we) have in common?

1. They were (we are) all  condemned and in need of  a Savior. We must understand that we are lost.
2. They knew (we know) that Jesus is Lord and our lives should be ordered around Him and His
teaching.

"Believing" is demonstrated by measurable commitment -- we must act on what we believe. What we truly believe is more than just an opinion.

Example: Corrie Ten Boon and her family. Living in the Netherlands during the 1940's and seeing
what Hitler was doing to the Jews. They demonstrated their Christian beliefs by building a hiding place
in the home and saving the lives of some Jews. They paid dearly for living out their faith. Their belief in Christ's message was not just an opinion.

We talk about giving "a portion" back to God -- the early Christians gave everything back to God.

We need to look at ourselves, not at others down the street to see what they are doing.

Am I a Spirit-filled believer?

God's grace - sure, we often come up short. He says, "I am  not here to knock you down. I am here to
help you."

His river of life flowing through us has no end.

The Wrestling Match - Sermon Notes for September 4, 2011

Great Labor Day Weekend Service!

Mike Henderson shared an important quote -- Sin is the freedom that keeps us chained -- that is surely something to ponder in the coming days
.
Bro Mike announced that we will have Lord's Supper next week and that becomes a reminder that we should begin now to prepare ourselves for that incomprehensible event.

The sermon text  for today's message was from Genesis 32. The well-known section where Jacob wrestles with God - and Bro Mike compared it to our wrestling with God in our prayer life.

The subject of prayer seems to be heavy on Bro Mike's mind these days. It is a theme that underlies much of his messages to us -- the importance of prayer, its practice and its power -- especially its power.

A few weeks ago at Wednesday prayer meeting he handed out to us copies of a short quote from Richard Foster:

     The primary purpose of prayer is to bring us into such a life of communion with the Father
     that, by the power of the Spirit, we are increasingly conformed to the image of the Son.
     None of us will keep up a life of prayer unless we are prepared to change. We will either
     give it up or turn it into a little system that maintains the form of godliness but denies the
     power of it -- which is the same thing as giving it up.

I can't get these words off my mind.They are clipped to my brain like a yellow sticky note. I do not,
or only rarely, take into account the power of my time with God (TAWG - Time Alone With God).
I seem to ignore that aspect completely. Why? I guess so I don't have to confront Him. Jacob had to confront Him.

Again, today's message was really all about prayer. And the illustration from scripture was the
time of Jacob's wrestling with God - his perseverance, and his demand for a blessing. It is interesting to me that Jacob had already cheated his brother Esau  out of his blessing and birthright - and now Esau
is waiting for Jacob, probably to kill him, and Jacob is asking God for another blessing! How amazing is that! (Is there a message there?)

I had never thought of this event in Jacob's life as an example of confronting God - and God confronting us - in prayer. I never saw that part of the story.

Here are a few random notes that I found provocative. There was so much more. Go to our web site (fbc-bc.org) for the complete message.

Here is the text:

     That night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maidservants and his eleven sons and  crossed the ford of the Jabbok. After he had sent them across the stream, he sent over all his possessions. 

     So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him til daybreak. When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob's hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.


     Then the man said, "Let me go for it is daybreak."


     But Jacob replied, "I will not let you go unless you bless me."


     The man asked him, "What is your name?"

    "Jacob," he answered. Then the man said, "Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome."

    Jacob said, "Please tell me your name." But he replied, "Why do you ask my name?" And he blessed him there. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying "It is because I saw God face to face, and yet my life was spared."

So who was Jacob wrestling with? Was it the angel Michael? Was in an appearance of the pre-incarnate Christ? We don't know for certain. But in any case, it appears to be God's very, very special "Man."

Some things Bro Mike brought out:

(1) Jacob was alone. His life was reaching a climax. He had years before swindled his brother out of his inheritance, tricked his father, planted seeds of animosity in his family (his own and Laban's) and was now fearful that he was going to reap the tragic harvest.

Sometimes we have to be truly alone to hear God's voice.  Jacob was finally alone, and so God came down to him.

(2) The duration of the event. God is eternal. He has all the time in the world, but He does not give us unlimited time. We must take advantage of the situation when He is speaking to us.

(3) The attitude of Jacob. He did not give up. Like the parable of the woman who kept pleading with the judge in Luke 18. The  purpose of the parable, Christ said, was to demonstrate that we should always pray and not give up. 

Jacob did not name the geographic place of his encounter  to show that he had won a wrestling match with God. He made mention of the place because he had an encounter with God and "yet his life was spared."

He knew it was only through God's grace that he was allowed to enter God's presence.

Why should we wrestle with God in prayer?

Maybe God wants to bless us. Does God let us miss things He has for us?
We should wrestle with Him in prayer and look for the blessing.

Sometimes His blessings equip us to become the person He wants us to be.

There will probably be a scar. And we will say, "Thank you, Lord" for that experience. Jacob left with a limp.

This was a "big" sermon - to hear it all, or hear it again -- go to fbc-bc.org.

Red Sea Rule #2

Notes from Bro Mike's message August 28:

Main Text:

     Then the LORD said to Moses, "Tell the Israelites to turn back and encamp near Pi Haharoth, between Migdol and the sea. They are to encamp by the sea, directly opposite Baal Zephon. Pharaoh will think, 'The Israelites are wandering around the land in confusion, hemmed in by the desert.' And I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will pursue them. But I will gain glory for myself through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD." So the Israelites did this.   Exodus 14:1-4

Red Sea Rule #1: Realize that God means for you to be where you are. (August 21 message)

Red Sea Rule #2: Be more concerned for God's glory than for your own relief.

Most of our prayers seem to be involved with asking God to relieve us, or at least bring us relief,
in particular circumstances. "LORD, help me get out of this!" Or, more often, "LORD, get me out of this...PLEASE!!"

Bro Mike challenged us, next time we feel overwhelmed, instead of praying, "How can I get out of this mess?" to pray instead, "LORD, how can I help bring glory to You in this situation?"

Examples:

1. John 9:1-3. As He went along, He saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"

"Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life."

We should be careful about giving God options. It's often not "this" or "that." We do not see the whole picture He is painting.  He is working out His Kingdom Agenda. It's not about us. It's about God's glory.

2. John 11. The death of Lazarus. When Jesus received the word that Lazarus was seriously ill He did not immediatley drop His plans. He didn't rearrange His schedule to rush to be with the family. And we know that Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha, were dear to Christ.

Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was for two more days.
Two whole days more?

Jesus' said: "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it."
And that's exactly what happened.  God's glory was shown through His Son when Lazarus was raised from the dead, after 4 days.

3. John 12: Some faithful Greeks who had come to Jerusalem for the Feast came to Philip and said, "Sir we would see Jesus." Philip told Andrew and they both told Jesus about the request.

Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified....now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save me from this hour?' No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.
Father, glorify your name!"

Those Greeks who wanted to see Jesus needed to know that basic truth -- we are saved, not for our own comfort and blessings, but for God's glory.

How many of us, when we said "Yes," to the gospel message, did it because we thought it would be a good thing for us? It all sounded like a good idea. After all, it IS the best deal in the universe. We give Him our filthy rags and He clothes us in garments of joy and salvation.
But it's not about us. It's about Him.

What is the chief purpose of man? "To glorify God and enjoy Him forever." I learned that when I was
about 8 years old. And it's still the best news I've ever heard!

Once he was nicknamed 'Son of Thunder' - Sermon Notes from Terry Farrar

Terry Farrar brought us the message Sunday. He spoke about John -- of his transformation from
one of the 'Sons of Thunder' to the loving and patient John of his Gospel of John and his letters (1, 2, and 3 John) to early Christians.

His metamorphosis from the loud and angry fisherman Christ called to follow Him to the John who declared For God so loved the world....  (John 3:16) and  Dear children, let us not love  with words or tongue, but with actions and in truth (1 John 3:18) was not an over-night journey.

Terry's overall theme was about doing the right thing - all the time. An example from his own life
concerns his duty as a statistician for the Texans. It is his job to record exactly (and there is no room for error) which players played in each game. There is a video that can be checked in case of error - it is another record. But managers and family members and the press and the public depend on Terry's meticulous notes. They have to be right - every time!

We have only once chance to "do it right" in life.

In looking over John's life, Terry talked about John's original calling in Matthew and we compared it to the other synoptic gospel accounts. Putting them all together we learn that James and John were the sons of the fisherman Zebedee.

Since Zebedee is named several times it probably indicates he was a successful fisherman, maybe an important man in the community, maybe even an early church leader. He had hired men to help and so it must have been a thriving business. And we know James and John were business partners with Simon and Andrew.

Certainly Zebedee was anticipating that his sons would take over his business later. What did he think when James and John just left him in the boat and followed that strange Man named Jesus! And the text says immediately. Maybe he knew them to be impulsive at times and maybe he thought they would quickly tire of their "calling" to become  "fishers of men"  and would soon return to their real family fishing  business.

But both James and John persevered in their new calling. They were still acting like "Sons of Thunder" in Luke 9 when some towns did not welcome Jesus and His disciples. "Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to destroy them?" they asked. (I wonder, could they really have accomplished that? Was it just arrogant bravado?)

Later John wrote, "I ask that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk in obedience to His commands. As you have heard from the beginning, His command is that you walk in love." (2 John)

The details given us in the synoptic gospels are left out of John's gospel--he just starts in at John 1 talking about no one else than Christ Himself. He doesn't even use his own name in his gospel.

Terry  took us on a sprinting tour of the Gospel references of John,  and even posed the possibility that Salome was the wife of Zebedee and the mother of James and John.

We know that John was there at the end -- in the courtyard of the High Priest (where he was well known) and at the Cross when Christ turned the care of His mother Mary over to John.

John- only one life  - but through making the right choices and leaning on Christ - his life was changed from a 'Son of Thunder" to a disciple who loved Jesus, stood by Him, and taught the early church to "love," reminding them constantly, that true love comes from God.

These are just notes -- for the full sermon go online to our church website - fbc-bc.org -  and click on sermons. Hear the full text in case you missed it Sunday, or listen a second time to enjoy it again.

And yes, Terry did incorporate a dramatic element in his message -- we were waiting for it -- he had brought out two large pillows and placed them on the platform before he began his message. That certainly intrigued us. Then at the end of the message when he was talking about John 'leaning back on Jesus' at the Last Supper....Terry arranged the pillows and lay on them to illustrate how the people "reclined" at the table during meals - and especially on that particular evening. They were not all seated on one side of the table in a "photo op" like so often pictured!

I  went home and re-read 1, 2, and 3 John -- !

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.....And now, dear children, continue in Him, so that when He appears we may be confident and unashamed before Him at His coming...everyone who loves the father loves his child as well...we  love because He first loved us....Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God...anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother.

                          
John did the right things - from the very beginning! What about us?