Aug 4, 2013 Rm. 8:28-35, 37-39,
Jn. 10:27-30
Quotes:
Success is not final, failure is not fatal:
It is the courage to continue that counts. --Winston Churchill
It's not whether you get knocked down, it's
whether you get up. –V. Lombardi
Following Jesus is like riding a bicycle - if
you don't peddle forward, U fall off.
Saints, it is said, are the sinners who go on
trying.
PRAYER
We begin the Transition
Process with a 4 week sermon series
titled “Facing the Road Ahead.” And
throughout the next year many of my Sunday messages will be series based. There
are several reasons for this…
First, over the years I’ve developed these series intentionally to help
congregations to focus biblically on what God is calling them to be about. All
too often… congregations lose focus and need reminding that all of this is
really about God, and what God desires us to be about... that being focused on
Him.
Secondly, the transition process is an opportunity to look within and to come to
a deeper understanding of who Good Shepherd Lutheran is. It’s an opportunity to
rediscover meaning and purpose and to empower you into the future.
Thirdly, Good Shep has some challenging decisions to make about what the future
looks like. What will be Good Shep ministry focus be? For example: Will your
focus be to keeping Good Shep traditions to the membership? Or will the focus be to being inviting to
other people that are not here yet? Will it be about growing disciples or Jesus
Followers? Or about keeping ministry the same as it is now? These & others
will be challenging & difficult decisions.
Lastly, this series and the transitions we will engage in are meant to help
engage the entire congregation into meaningful conversation about the direction
and future of Good Shep Lutheran. This is about rediscovering your God Dream
for this community and to discern how you are going to live out God’s dream.
So… as we begin this
process I want to encourage you to be thinking & reflecting about…
Good Shep’s Past… both the good & the
bad…
Good Shep’s Present… is this a reflection of
the past or the future?...
Good Shep’s Future… what are your God-size
dreams?
So… Let’s Start Facing the Road Ahead
Together…
And the Road Ahead
seems daunting and uncertain. We are living in difficult and uncertain times
for sure. Families continue to struggle financially, there continues to be
unemployment and under employment, Our communities still see civil strife,
beatings and murders, robberies, and abuse in most if not all sectors of our
society. The TV talking heads seem to fan the flames of uncertainty and fear. This
fear and anxiety even finds its way into the church as well.
o
For
example: What will we do with no Pastor?
o
Why do
we have to wait so long?
o
Why do
we have to do this process & reflection?
o
It seems
the road is so long and difficult.
o
These
questions are based on fear and uncertainty and on our own methods to survive.
o
I
believe the transition process is helpful because it’s based on hope and faith
through God provision..
Pr. Peter Marty of St Paul Luth. Davenport
Iowa, wrote in the Lutheran Magazine, “Fear keeps telling us there is not
enough to go around. Not enough time, not enough resources, not enough
strength, not enough grace, not enough patients, not enough God.” He continues,
“Trusting Faith believes in God’s sufficiency no matter what… trusting faith
simply lends us the courage to walk through those fears.”
Jesus tells us
multiple times to NOT be afraid…. DO NOT FEAR. Jesus says in our story today, “My sheep know my voice. And I know them…
they will never be lost.” Paul says,
“If God is on our side, can anyone be against us.”…“Nothing can separate us from God’s love.” What this tells us is if
Jesus is central to our faith the difficulties and uncertainties will be minimal
and we will be able to preserver…and to do this we will… “NEVER GIVE UP” We’ll Never
Give Up despite the storm clouds… despite the seeming endless road… despite the
situations and circumstances of our lives… NEVER GIVE UP!!!
I’d like to reflect
on 3 reasons to Never Give Up...
#1 reason to Never
Give Up… Remain Connected to Jesus…
Peter says in his
sermon in Acts 3… “God sent his chosen Son to you because God wanted to bless
you.” Prior to Pentecost, Peter was an emotional wreck… in fact all the
disciples weren’t all that confident that God was blessing them. At Pentecost…
Peter finds the new confidence in Jesus, he chastises the religious people in
the temple and basically says, “All God desires is that people turn back to
Him.” Do you want to reduce your propensity to give up…Turn back to God… Meta-noia…
and stay connected to Jesus? Friends… all of us… need to consistently discover
ways to stay connected to Jesus and it will lessen the reasons to Give Up.
#2 reason to Never
Give Up is to Become an Intentional Follower
of Jesus.
Jesus says in John 10:27… “My sheep know my
voice, and I know them… and they follow me.”
Are you following
Jesus? Last week we asked the question…
Do You Love Jesus? This question
revolves around the issue of Discipleship or as I like to refer as… learning to
follow Jesus. We will reflect on
this more specifically at another time.
Essentially
following Jesus has 6 principles or practices that we need to do consistently…
they are…
o
Community
Prayer… Worship… Learning… Serving
o
Relationship
Building… and Generosity
When we are
intentionally and consistently living these practices or principles we are
following Jesus… we are staying connected to Jesus. And when we are doing this
we will Never Give Up!
The 3rd
reason To Never Give Up is that God
Loves You No Matter What.
Paul says in Romans 8:33-35… “If God says his
chosen ones are acceptable to him, can anyone bring charges against
them? Or can anyone condemn them? No indeed! Christ died and was raised to
life, and now he is at God’s right side, speaking to him for us. Can anything separate us
from the love of Christ? Can trouble, suffering, and hard times, or hunger and
nakedness, or danger and death?” Paul continues, “Nothing can separate you from
the love of God.
One gets a little nervous
when you begin to run out of money. When
I was going to college and seminary I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wanted
to give up when things got tough. It is easy to give up when you don’t see God
doing all that much on your behalf. There
are glimpses of God’s work… there were times when money showed up that helped
out at just the right time.
It really gets down
to holding on to trusting God’s provision and perseverance… as Paul states,
even through the difficulties God is present. Because as Paul sees it… “If God is with us, can anyone be against
us.”
So my friends… giving up is not an option…
because we remain connected to Jesus… because we intentionally follow Jesus…
and because God loves us no matter what.
In Closing:
This is kind of a humorous
story, but this story lends itself to what we’ve been talking about.
Chuck Evans was a
parishioner in a former congregation. What’s unique about Chuck is that he has
an eye disorder that is making him blind. He is currently 85% blind today. After
sharing his story I could tell Chuck didn’t think all that highly about
himself. He seemed lifeless and depressed and you could tell he wanted to give
up. He had lost purpose because of the difficulties.
The humorous part is
that Chuck works for the IRS… that’s right… the Internal Revenue Service. At
some point he will no longer be able to work there, but until that time the IRS
makes accommodations for him. Chuck was when he could see was an accountant,
and when he was part of the congregation I was serving he was about 70% blind
and I asked him to be our treasurer. After
praying about he came to me with tears streaming down his face accepting the
invitation and saying, “You are the first pastor who never saw my blindness as
a limitation.”
Honestly, the Holy
Spirit spoke to me and I just knew he could do the job and I don’t like seeing
anyone give up…
The Road Ahead
Continues…
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