Three Baptisms

 Three Baptisms

Subject – Baptism in the Holy Spirit, Baptism with Fire, and Baptism in Water

Rick Welborne

Matthew 3:11-17 (NKJV)
¹¹  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
¹²  His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire."
¹³  Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.
¹⁴  And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?"
¹⁵  But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him.
¹⁶  When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.
¹⁷  And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." 

--Life Church has a history of celebrating the wonderful things God has done and the awesome things He is doing. Today we are celebrating the wonderful blessing that people have been saved.

--We are celebrating with these folks `by being obedient to the commands of Jesus and the disciples to repent and then be baptized in water.

--If Jesus felt it was important for Him to be baptized in water, then, obviously we should do the same. It is true that water baptism alone will not save you but it is an act of obedience to the Word.

--Today we are going to look at three baptisms…Baptism of Holy Spirit, baptism of fire, and baptism in water. Hopefully, if you have not been baptized in water yet, this will inspire you.

--In our text in Matthew 3 we see all three baptisms represented so let’s together look at them.

1. Baptism in Holy Spirit.

Matthew 3:11 (NKJV)
¹¹  I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

--Listen to this simple illustration. Our baptismal candidates have water in them (made up mostly of water) but in a few moments they will be completely submerged or covered with water…inside and out.

--When you received the Lord Jesus Christ the Spirit of God came to live inside of you. This is salvation.

John 20:22 (NKJV)

²²  And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit.

--He gave them a taste (salvation) of Holy Spirit’s power and then, He told them to go to Jerusalem and wait for the Promise of the Father which was the outpouring of Holy Spirit. They needed more than salvation.

Acts 1:8 (NKJV)
⁸  But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." 

--One hundred and twenty out of 500 did what He said and the Holy Spirit fell on them and they were filled with Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues. Power to preach, witness, worship, and to walk out their new lives.

2. Baptism in Fire

Matthew 3:11 (NKJV) ¹¹ …He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

--Almost every commentary has a different few of what this means and there is a measure of truth from all of them. Some say it is fire at His second coming, some say it is persecution, but what say you, Pastor Rick?

--I believe the disciples were so much like us…they were filled with sin, filled with self, filled with doubt, filled with fear, filled with guilt, filled with shame. They needed to be cleansed.

--Jesus said He would baptize them (us) with Holy Spirit and with fire. Why? To clean us, to purify us, and to set us free from our old life that would hold us back. We still need a baptism of fire.

Malachi 3:1-3 (NLT2)
¹  “Look! I am sending my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord you are seeking will suddenly come to his Temple. The messenger of the covenant, whom you look for so eagerly, is surely coming,” says the LORD of Heaven’s Armies.
²  “But who will be able to endure it when he comes? Who will be able to stand and face him when he appears? For he will be like a blazing fire that refines metal, or like a strong soap that bleaches clothes.
³  He will sit like a refiner of silver, burning away the dross. He will purify the Levites, refining them like gold and silver, so that they may once again offer acceptable sacrifices to the LORD. 

3. Baptism in Water

--Okay, Pastor, we understand why we need to be baptized in Holy Spirit and in fire but why be baptized in water? Simple answer: The kind of heart that can be baptized with Holy Spirit and with fire is an obedient heart.

--On the Day of Pentecost when 3000 people were saved what did Peter tell them about water baptism?

Acts 2:37-38 (NLT2)
³⁷  Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”
³⁸  Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins, turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ to show that you have received forgiveness for your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

--If Jesus would say about His own baptism in water that it was to “fulfill all righteousness” how much more for us. He was identifying Himself with sinful mankind. 

--We must identify with Him in His death and burial. As we are submerged under the water we are saying to the world, I have died with Christ and when we come out of the water we identify with His resurrection. Verses:

Romans 6:3-5 (NLT2)
³  Or have you forgotten that when we were joined with Christ Jesus in baptism, we joined him in his death?
⁴  For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives.
⁵  Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was. 

Three Sure Ways to Fail

 Three Sure Ways to Fail

Subject: What We Can Do to Assure Failure 

Rick Welborne

Mark 6:30‑44 (NKJV) 

30 Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. 

31 And He said to them, "Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while." For there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. 

32 So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves. 

33 But the multitudes saw them departing, and many knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities. They arrived before them and came together to Him. 

34 And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like sheep not having a shepherd. So He began to teach them many things. 

35 When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, "This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late. 

36 Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves bread; for they have nothing to eat." 

37 But He answered and said to them, "You give them something to eat." And they said to Him, "Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?" 

38 But He said to them, "How many loaves do you have? Go and see." And when they found out they said, "Five, and two fish." 

39 Then He commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass. 

40 So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties. 

41 And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all. 

42 So they all ate and were filled. 

43 And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish. 

44 Now those who had eaten the loaves were about five thousand men. 

–Tonight I want share with you three sure ways to fail and all you have to do is emulate the disciples in this situation.

–This story is repeated in all four of the Gospels and must have been so important to the Holy Spirit as He moved on these disciples to record it.

–So how can we, like the disciples, fail?

1. To fail we need to see the impossibility of the situation. 

–We must admit that feeding 5000 men plus women and children with five loaves and two fish is an impossible task.

–We can simply choose to fail because nothing can be done to fix it...it is beyond us. Humanly impossible. 

–My situation has been like this for a long time, things are spiraling out of control and obvious disaster is on the horizon...what will be will be!

–This habit, this relationship, this marriage, (you fill in the blank) is such an insurmountable obstacle...I know that I am doomed...no way out and no hope!

–He will never change...she will never change...they will never change...this situation will never change...it cannot be taken care of...pass restoring.

–You keep concentrating on how big your problem is and you are assured of failure! Keep magnifying what cannot be done and you will surely fail.

2. To fail we need to look at our limited resources and know it is impossible.

–Who can argue with the disciples about the fact (5 loaves and 2 fish)...what is so little among so much need...A Year’s wage could not feed so many people...No Wal-mart! 

–Who could possibly fault you not being able to succeed with such meager resources...why try when you do not have sufficient supply?

–When we see the size of our giant and we see the little we have in hand...obviously someone has to be the adult in the room and concede to failure. Taking the promised land.

Numbers 13:30-33 (NKJV)
³⁰  Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses, and said, "Let us go up at once and take possession, for we are well able to overcome it."
³¹  But the men who had gone up with him said, "We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we."
³²  And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, "The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature.
³³  There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight."

–You may be saying...I am up against it...this is bigger than I am...time to give in, time to give up, time to raise the white flag, time to concede defeat because there is nothing I can do about it.

–Nothing ticks me off more than being on a sports team that thinks it cannot win...why bother playing...it’s not over until it is over...tell our tennis team...go out swinging!

–Focus on your own little resources and I assure you that you will fail.

3. To fail we need to ignore the fact that Jesus is with us to work miracles.

–Had the disciples already forgotten the miracles Jesus had already done in their presence?  When they were overwhelmed didn’t He show up?

–Couldn’t the One Who healed the man at the pool, delivered a demon possessed man, had power over the wind and waves of the sea, couldn’t He handle this problem.

–How is it possible for Jesus to have such a great track record before the disciples and they still fail to see He could handle this situation too?

–How about us...Jesus has saved us from our sin that had us headed for destruction, felt His keeping power in times of testing and temptation, and we have seen Him work in impossible situations...but this one is bigger!

–Jesus has healed us, healed others...we have seen Him rescue us just in the nick of time when it seemed financially we were going under, we have seen Him save the un-savable.

–Someone should be shouting tonight that if it had not been for the Lord you would have crashed and burned a long time ago...He sustained you by His mighty hand!

–We have testimony after testimony of the awesome power of God and we are going to let this present giant, this present situation makes us forget that Jesus is present and ready to work miracles.

–Are we going to ignore the fact that with God all things are possible?

Mark 9:23 (NKJV) 

23 Jesus said to him, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." 

–Are we going to ignore the fact He said we could speak to our mountain?

Mark 11:22‑24 (NKJV) 

22 So Jesus answered and said to them, "Have faith in God. 

23 For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. 

24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. 

–If you want to fail...Ignore the fact that Jesus is with you, He is for you, and He is in you!

–I am sure doubting Thomas said...Lord, you bless this bread and these fish and we will give it until it runs out!

–Key - The disciples wanted to start with much and end with little but Jesus wanted them to start with little and end with much.

Mark 6:41‑42 (NKJV) 

41 And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He looked up to heaven, blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all. 

42 So they all ate and were filled. 

–God wants us to end better than we started...He wants us to witness Him multiplying His life, His resources, and His love each time we face what appears to be an insurmountable situation.

Romans 8:30‑32 (NKJV) 

30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified. 

31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 

32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 

Give Us This Day - 6

 Give Us This Day - 6

Subject – Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

By Rick Welborne

Matthew 6:9-15 (NKJV)
⁹  In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
¹⁰  Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹  Give us this day our daily bread.
¹²  And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
¹³  And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
¹⁴  "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
¹⁵  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. 

--I hope all of us are growing as disciples of Christ and that we are praying every day…Give us this day.

--Today we are going to look at the entirety of verse 11…Give us this day our daily bread and what I believe God is saying to each one of us. 

--It is obvious in God’s Word that He has promised to provide for us…i.e. the birds or sparrows mean so much to God that He provides for them every day. How much more will He care for us.

Philippians 4:19 (NKJV)                                                                                                                                ¹⁹  And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

--Also we have a great understanding about how the Scriptures say that Jesus is the Bread of Life sent down from the Father. 

 John 6:33-35 (NKJV)
³³  For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."
³⁴  Then they said to Him, "Lord, give us this bread always."
³⁵  And Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.

--Jesus is so powerful and He is our bread, our sustenance, our salvation, our Lord and soon coming King. But He says something very powerful to us when He was going through His temptations with Satan. It is written…

--Father, give me this day my daily bread, give me Jesus but then, Jesus says something I believe that we should take note of, Don’t only give me bread but give me every word that comes from God. Let’s talk about words.

1. The power of words.

--How many of you have ever wondered what is the big deal about text messages, Messenger, Snap Chat, Twitter, and a host of other Social Media venues…I can tell you…it is the power of words.

--A presidential candidate can either make friends or enemies by the words that he or she tweets.

--People can stir up a bunch of people on Facebook by the words they post especially when they are stating an opinion on a political matter or social injustices. People get fired up.

--Hear your pastor, words in a tweet, a text, a message, or any other venue have the power to make your day or upset you where you almost become dysfunctional. I have seen it.

--What about when you send the right word but send it to the wrong person. Be careful when you are texting more than one person at a time. 

--I received a text from one of our pastors that said simply…I love you! After I got over the shock, I simply said excuse me! They said, oh no it was for my wife. Please be careful who gets your message.

--Any of us who text a lot have made similar mistakes, but suffice to say, our words impact people whether they are supposed to receive them or not. I called that pastor in my office and said please be careful.

--God knew words would be powerful but so does Satan…as stated earlier, words can either make your day or mess it up really bad. Words can seem subtle but there is always a message in the words.

The joy of texting.

--I had checked with a family who was struggling with their health to see how they were doing. We had prayer. I asked them did they text because they were older. They said yes. A few days later I sent this text:

Hey Brother and Sister _______, just checking to see how you both are doing? Are you okay? God bless!

Yes.

--I love when someone ask you something and you are trying to text them back. Two minutes later…You okay?

We are looking forward to meeting you guys for lunch. 😊

K

Thank you for spending time with us yesterday 🙏

No thank you.

You: I love you with all of my heart ❤️💕💜💙😘

Your love: I love you too sweetheart 😍💔💖

You: I love you baby❤️😘❤️😍

Your love: I love you too❤️

You: I love you, darling. You okay?

Your love: Yes. Why?

You: Just wondering. I love you Sweetheart!

Your love? Love you.

You: Hey Sweetie, been thinking about you today. I love you 💖💔❤️😘

Your love? 💕

You: You sure everything is ok? I love you!

Your love? 👍🙏

You: I miss you!

Your X: 🙏

--My point…these words carry a lot of weight and power and can truly make you have a great day or a horrible day. 

Proverbs 18:21 (NCV) ²¹  What you say can mean life or death. Those who speak with care will be rewarded. 

2. Give us this day our daily bread. 

--In the Book of Ruth there is a story about a man by the name of Elimelech. He lived in Bethlehem which means “House of Bread.” There was a famine…no bread in the house of bread.

--Elimelech takes his wife Naomi and sons to Moab where they heard there was bread. Her husband dies and the sons marry Moabite women and the two sons die. Naomi is left alone with Ruth and Oprah. 

--Listen…they left the house of bread because they heard the bread was more plentiful and better somewhere else. Be careful because the grass is always greener over the septic tank. 

--Naomi hears that God has blessed Bethlehem (Judah) with crops or bread so she decides to return with Ruth. So what is your point, Pastor Rick. It is important that there is always bread in the house of bread.

--Please never get caught up more with how the food is served more than what you are eating. The information is better than the presentation. I can’t imagine Jesus doing the chicken walk was He was preaching.

--But His Words were transforming and powerful, as the Word of God was combined with the Spirit of God.

Luke 4:16-20 (NKJV)
¹⁶  So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.
¹⁷  And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
¹⁸  "The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed;
¹⁹  To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD."
²⁰  Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 

--We need to make sure we are faithful to the House of Bread and we pastors make sure what we are sharing is true Bread from Heaven…The Living Word of God…The Written Word of God, the Bible.

3. We all need daily bread.

--Just like one word of encouragement can be life transforming from a true friend or the love of our life, so the Word of God can transform us every day. Your Word I have hidden in my heart…

--We don’t have to worry about misunderstanding God’s Word…His Words and promises are yes and amen! You can trust everything written in God’s Word. 

--Father, give us this day our daily bread…He has given it to us, I guess the question is; are we eating eat or consuming it every day. Why do we need this bread? Look at Jesus’ temptation:

Luke 4:1-4 (NKJV)
¹  Then Jesus, being filled with the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,
²  being tempted for forty days by the devil. And in those days He ate nothing, and afterward, when they had ended, He was hungry.
³  And the devil said to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread."
⁴  But Jesus answered him, saying, "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.'  

John 1:1 (NKJV) ¹  In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 

--Give us this day our daily bread – The Word!

Give Us This Day - 5

 Give Us This Day - 5

Subject – Kiss the Wave – Part 2

By Rick Welborne

Matthew 6:9-15 (NKJV)
⁹  In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
¹⁰  Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹  Give us this day our daily bread.
¹²  And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
¹³  And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
¹⁴  "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
¹⁵  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. 

--Last week we spoke about Joseph Merrick, he was the infamous Elephant Man. Very few people in the world have ever suffered from more physical deformities than him. The sight of him scared people.

--We also talked about how Doctor Frederick Treves took an interest in him, had compassion, and provided a place of healing spiritually and emotionally. The Elephant Man was able to find peace.

--We also spoke about kissing the wave which was a famous quote by Charles Spurgeon:

Spurgeon – I have learned to kiss the wave that throws me against the Rock of Ages. 

--If Merrick (The Elephant Man) could allow the pain of life and the obstacles he faced to push him into a deeper relationship with God, what is our excuse? We must kiss the wave. Paul said:

2 Corinthians 12:9-10 (NKJV) ⁹  And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness." Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
¹⁰  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

--Hear your pastor, all of us are fighting some kind of battle or obstacle. Usually, it is a battle that no one else is aware of but we must allow it to throw us against the Rock of Ages, Jesus Christ.

--Most of us cannot relate to the Elephant Man but all of us have our deep wounds and broken hearts that will either push us away from God or into a deeper relationship with Him. 

--Like every parent I know, we all have regrets about not doing the best job at raising our kids, many have deep wells of sadness, like every person I know. We have all walked thru the valley of the shadow of death. It hurts.

--Good news, we have seen God turn some of our toughest tests into our most treasured testimonies. We would not want to go thru that stuff again, but we wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world. 

--Every testimony starts with a test. Pass the test and you get a testimony, and your testimony is how you overcome the next obstacle. Verse please:

Revelation 12:11 (NKJV)
¹¹  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.

--Winning the day or praying “Lord, give me this day” is never about a quick fix. It is about kissing the wave that throws you against the Rock of Ages. Be thankful for the pain that made you run to Jesus.

1. Kiss the wave, and know, it is okay to grieve.

--We all know of and have heard much about Charles Spurgeon and rightfully so. He’s the one we quoted about kissing the wave that throws us against the Rock of Ages. He accomplished so much for the Kingdom.

--Along with pastoring the largest church in the world, he wrote 150 books, started a college, and led sixty charities. Makes you wonder what he did in his spare time. Maybe something about him you did not know:

--On October 19, 1856, he was preaching to 10,000 people in London’s Surrey Gardens Music Hall when someone yelled “Fire!” It was chaos. Those trying to get out were blocked by those trying to get in.

--A balcony collapsed beneath the stampede and when the commotion had stopped, seven people had died and twenty-eight were seriously injured. Spurgeon’s text that night was:

Proverbs 3:33 (NKJV) ³³  The curse of the LORD is on the house of the wicked…

--He would never preach that passage again and the man who was known as The Prince of Preachers came close to never preaching again. For a long time, just the sight of his Bible would make him weep. 

--When he finally stepped back into the pulpit, painful emotions flooded his soul. Even 25years later while preaching to the Baptist Union, something triggered a flashback that left him speechless for many minutes.

--Spurgeon was only 22 years-old at the time of the tragedy, he was the newly installed pastor of Metropolitan Tabernacle (largest church), plus he was ten months into his marriage with twins only days old. 

--I said that to say this…His stress was through the roof even without the tragedy. In my Master’s Program on Ministerial Leadership they taught us that in the top ten most stressful jobs is pastoring a large church.

--Imagine throwing in a new wife, twins, the pressure of speaking multiple times, writing books, and then, to face the tragedy of people dying and being injured at your meeting…He was being pushed against the Rock.

--Is it no wonder that Spurgeon admitted reluctantly that his thorn in the flesh was depression. In his depression:

Spurgeon – My spirits were sunken so low that I could weep by the hour like a child, and yet I knew not what I wept for.  

Grief is depression in proportion to circumstance. Grief is a good thing, a God thing. God is the One Who created our tear ducts. But grief can be out of proportion to our own personal situation.

--This is where we have to allow our circumstances to push us closer to the Rock. Kiss the wave and run to the Rock. There is a danger to ourselves…Depression is grief out of proportion to circumstance.

--Go ahead a grieve, it is one way that we kiss the wave. Much like physical wounds, if emotional wounds don’t fully heal, they can become infected. Don’t try to short-cut grief, it will short-cut your soul. We have good news

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 (NIV)
¹³  Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.
¹⁴  We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
¹⁵  According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep.
¹⁶  For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.

 ¹⁷  After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.
¹⁸  Therefore encourage each other with these words. 

2. The best of times, the worst of times.

--A few of you may recognize this second point from Charles Dickens…he wrote “A Tale of Two Cities”:

Dickens – It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was epoch of belief, it was the epoch of skepticism, it was a season of Light, it was a season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair.

--More than just an epic opening, it is a truthful take of life. We want the best of times without the worst. We want wisdom without foolishness, light without darkness, hope without despair. This is not reality.

--Maybe you are of the belief that all you have to do is name it, claim it, and you can have it, but having a 32½ year history here at Life Church I have watched people in that camp have both good and bad. It’s life.

--Christianity is not the avoidance of evil in the world and bad things happening to you, it is, however, having a Savior Who will walk with you thru every test and trial. He’ll never leave you or forsake you. 

--Remember Joseph Merrick (the Elephant Man), how does someone who is misunderstood and mistreated for so many years consider himself blessed, not cursed? How could he get better instead of bitter? Merrick repeated

Merrick – Tis true, my form is something odd, but blaming me is blaming God. Could I create myself anew, I would not fail in pleasing you. 

--We all have opportunity to blame God for this or that. All of us have probably been guilty at some point. We have questions on this side of eternity we may never get the answers. This is where we trust Him.

Deuteronomy 29:29 (NIV) ²⁹  The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.

3. From it or through it.

--Sometimes God delivers us from suffering. More often than not, He delivers us through it. Why? So we can help others going through similar mess. 

Isaiah 43:1-3 (NKJV)
¹  But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine.
²  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.
³  For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; 

--To be able to kiss the wave and to be able to pray, Lord, give us this day, it may be good to pray the serenity prayer:

Reinhold Niebuhr – God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.