The Joy of Discovering Hidden Treasure - 1

 The Joy of Discovering Hidden Treasure - 1

Subject – Finding God’s True Treasure

By Rick Welborne

Matthew 13:44 (NKJV)
⁴⁴  "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. 

Psalm 119:162 (NKJV)
¹⁶²  I rejoice at Your word As one who finds great treasure. 

--Imagine with me a Hebrew man walking along with staff in hand headed to the city for business. To make his journey shorter he cuts through a field. This was permitted. 

--The field is uneven so he thrust his staff into the dirt to balance himself. He keeps walking and thrusting the staff into the ground when all of a sudden there is a thunk. What could that be? Didn’t sound like a rock.

--He bends down curiously and begins to wipe away dirt and he sees a box possibly lined with silver and gold. It looks like it has been there a long time. Hands shaking, he finally unlocks the chest.

--Oh wow! Gold and silver coins, jewelry, precious stones. A fortune! Some wealthy man must have buried it quickly when he was in danger or something, and then, died before he returned to get it.

--The landowner evidently has no clue it is there. The traveler buries the treasure and marks the spot. He heads home with a new spring in his step. Probably riding the staff like a stick horse.

--The law of the day was specific, whoever owned the field assumed ownership of everything in it. But how can I afford a big piece of property like this? I will sell everything, my farm, my crops, my oxen, my tools, all of it.

--From that moment on, everything the man does is with his new treasure in mind. This has transformed his world. Every decision he makes; he has the treasure on his heart.

--Many believe this passage talks about people finding the treasure of Christ. Some believe it speaks of Jesus giving His life for the treasure of people.

--Either way, it certainly portrays the joy of finding eternal treasure with such value, catch this, that far surpasses whatever it cost to get it. 

1. The Bible and Our Connection to Money.

--This parable of the hidden treasure is just one of many references Jesus made to money and possessions. Jesus referenced 15% of His teaching to this topic. More than the topics of heaven and hell combined.

--Why did Jesus put so much emphasis on money and possessions. Because there is an essential connection between our spiritual lives and how we handle money. Jesus sees them as inseparable. 

--We won’t take time to read it but in Luke 3 three different groups asked John how they should prove their repentance. V.11 clothes and food with the poor. V.13 Tax collectors don’t cheat. V.14 Soldiers don’t extort.

Randy Alcorn – Our approach to money and possessions is central to our spiritual lives. 

Luke 19:8-9 (NKJV)
⁸  Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold."
⁹  And Jesus said to him, "Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham;

Acts 2:44-45 (NKJV)
⁴⁴  Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common,
⁴⁵  and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.

Acts 4:32-35 (NLT2)
³²  All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had.
³³  The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all.
³⁴  There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them
³⁵  and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need. 

--Maybe you have forgotten this but even one of our Distinctives as a church is Generous Giving. Jesus commended the poor widow who out of her poverty put in everything she had in the offering.

--In contrast Jesus spoke of the rich young ruler who spent all his wealth on himself. Do you see the money connection? Jesus called him a fool. He was rich but not rich toward God.

--The rich young ruler pressed Jesus about how he could obtain eternal life. Watch for the money connection.

Matthew 19:21 (NLT2)
²¹  Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” 

--Jesus knew he could not serve two masters. Sadly, he chose his wealth. Sadly, he chose the lesser fading treasure walking away from the treasure that was eternal.

2. Smart or Stupid

--Watch this…the rich young man wasn’t willing to give up everything for a greater treasure, and the traveler in the field was. Why? Because the traveler understood what he would gain. 

--Should we feel sorry for the traveler? What he found cost him everything he owned. No, we do not pity this man, we envy him. What he sacrifices doesn’t even compare with what he gains. His reward is great.

--The traveler made short term sacrifice for long term reward. I hope you are understanding. It cost him everything he had but he gained far more than he lost.

Key – If we miss the part of the verse where it says “for joy” he sells everything he has. This was not begrudging sacrifice; it was him being a joyful giver. Lord, help us!

--In this parable Jesus is appealing to what we value…temporary, earthly treasure compared to eternal, heavenly treasure. The treasure in the field represents finding Jesus, the gospel, and the Kingdom of God. The best by far!

--Any earthly treasure we part with to obtain that far greater treasure is well worth the exchange. The sacrifice we make for missions is well worth it when you think of the souls who are being saved. Listen to Jesus:

Matthew 6:19-21 (NIV)
¹⁹  "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
²⁰  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
²¹  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 

--Jesus says Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth. Why? Because earthly treasures are bad? No, because they won’t last. 

Proverbs 23:5 (NIV)
⁵  Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle. 

--When Jesus warns us not to store up treasures on earth, it is not because wealth might be lost, it’s because wealth will always be lost. Either it leaves us while we live, or we leave it when we die. No exceptions.

--According to Jesus, storing up earthly treasures isn’t simply wrong. It’s just plain stupid. No eternal sense. 

3. A Treasure Mentality and Principle.

--Jesus doesn’t just tell us where not to put our treasure, He also gives us the best investment advice ever, “Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven.”

--God is not against us storing up treasure, He commands us to do it. He’s just telling us to stop doing it in the wrong place and start storing it in the right place!

--Store up for yourselves…almost sounds strange that Jesus would tell us to do something that is best for own self interests. Seems selfish. He wants us to live to His glory, but what is to His glory is always to our good. 

John Piper – God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.

--When we serve God and others, we store up treasures in heaven. Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven. Why? Because it is the right thing to do. Why? Because you can’t take it with you. Hearse with a U-Haul truck.

--Jesus shares a profound truth with us which is a part of the Treasure Principle. You can’t take it with you—but you can send it on ahead of you.

Alcorn – Anything we try to hang on to here will be lost. But anything we put in God’s hands will be ours for eternity. If that doesn’t take your breath away, you don’t understand it. 

--If we invest in the eternal instead of in the temporal, we store up treasures in heaven that will never stop paying dividends. 

--Whatever we store up on earth will be left behind when we leave. Whatever treasures we store up in heaven will be waiting for us when we arrive. 

Alcorn - You can’t take it with you—but you can send it on ahead of you.

Matthew 6:19-21 (NIV)
¹⁹  "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.
²⁰  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
²¹  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. 

--Where is your treasure and where is your heart?

A Quest for Intimacy - 5

 A Quest for Intimacy - 5

Subject – T.I.M.E.

By Rick Welborne

Philippians 3:7-14 (NKJV)
⁷  But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.
⁸  Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ
⁹  and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;
¹⁰  that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,
¹¹  if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
¹²  Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.
¹³  Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
¹⁴  I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. 

Philippians 3:10 AMP                                                                                                                                         [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him—that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding [the wonders of His person] more strongly and more clearly. And that I may in the same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [the power it exerts over believers]; and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death.    

--Today we conclude the series “A Quest for Intimacy” but hopefully this is not the end of our quest to be intimately acquainted with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

--If we will experience the transformation that we need and if we will ever be what our world needs us to be to reach them, it will be from getting more intimate with our God. That I might know Him.

--Today I want to use an acronym for the word TIME. Hopefully Holy Spirit will teach us the truths we need to know about how to get more intimate with Jesus. 

1. T – Time

--Wow, Pastor Rick, that is so profound. I actually believe that with our world in this hectic spiral of quickly going nowhere fast that it is profound.

--If we will have this intimate relationship with Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, it will definitely take time. Paul said it in the amp version. That I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him.

Progressive – happening or developing gradually or in stages proceeding step by step.

--I am sorry to be the one to break the news to you but if you will get close to God and have this wonderful intimate relationship, it will take time. You have to be intentional. 

--The disciplines (we love that word) we discussed will take time to develop. The discipline of simplicity, silence, solitude (my least favorite), and surrender (trust).

--Many of you (I have heard you) have said “I would really like to get in shape. I would love to drop 30 pounds. If you are sincere, it will take discipline and time. We would rather take a pill. Listen to Solomon:

Ecclesiastes 3:1&11 (NIV)
¹  There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
¹¹  He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. 

--Solomon is trying to help us understand that if we will draw near to God that it will take time. He even tells us that there are depths in God that we can’t even comprehend. They are revealed to us by Holy Spirit.

Romans 13:11&14 (NLT2)
¹¹  This is all the more urgent, for you know how late it is; time is running out. Wake up, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.
¹⁴  Instead, clothe yourself with the presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. 

--There is only so much time and that time is running out. Let’s face it, we make time to do the things that are a priority to us. In your extreme busyness, what is it you make time for? That is your priority. 

Lamentations 3:25-29 (NLT2)
²⁵  The LORD is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. 
²⁶  So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the LORD.
²⁷  And it is good for people to submit at an early age to the yoke of his discipline:
²⁸  Let them sit alone in silence beneath the LORD’s demands.
²⁹  Let them lie face down in the dust, for there may be hope at last. 

2. I – Intimacy 

--Obviously this is an invitation for closeness. Time alone with God is a crying out to God…Into Me See! The discipline of solitude is a welcoming of God to be close.

--That closeness reminds me of the mirrors you ladies use that magnifies your face about a 1000 times. I did that once and I thought I was looking at the surface of the moon. Craters!

--When we draw near to God in His presence and draw near to Him by reading and studying His Word, we begin to see ourselves for how we really look. Why I have trouble with prideful spiritual people.

James 1:23-25 (NIV)
²³  Anyone who listens to the Word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror
²⁴  and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.
²⁵  But the man who looks intently into the Perfect Law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it--he will be blessed in what he does.

--If these mirrors are not bad enough you women use, some sick person decided to put extremely bright lights all around them. Every blemish is high-lighted and you wonder if there is any hope at all. 

--When I get as close to God as I possibly can and I am in the light of His glory, I see what a wretched sinful person that I am. The Word bears this out again and again.

--John the Revelator, Ezekiel, Daniel, Isaiah, and the Apostle Paul experienced what I am talking about. They were not filled with pride but humility and surrender. That intimacy brought obedience. Example please.

Isaiah 6:1-8 (NIV)
¹  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!" 

3. M – Meditation

Meditation - to focus one's thoughts on: reflect on or ponder over. The act or process of spending time in quiet thought.

--Meditation, in its self is not wrong, it all depends on what we are thinking about. To be intimate with God is a process whereby we find ourselves thinking about Him all day long. This psalm sums up everything:

Psalm 4:1-5 (NKJV)
¹  Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have relieved me in my distress; Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer.
²  How long, O you sons of men, Will you turn my glory to shame? How long will you love worthlessness And seek falsehood? Selah
³  But know that the LORD has set apart for Himself him who is godly; The LORD will hear when I call to Him.
⁴  Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still.
⁵  Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, And put your trust in the LORD. 

--Meditating on God is not a denial about the enemies you have. It is awareness that God is for you. Meditating on Him is being still and knowing He is God. It is drawing so near that you know you can trust Him. 

4. E – Evolution

Evolution - A gradual process in which something changes into a different and usually more complex or better form.

--Intimacy with God can become the process where we evolve into something better. Our intimacy causes cleansing from sin and the effects of this nasty world. Again, let’s allow the Apostle Paul to sum up:

Philippians 3:10 AMP                                                                                                                                         [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him—that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding [the wonders of His person] more strongly and more clearly. And that I may in the same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [the power it exerts over believers]; and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death.    

--If you find yourselves not liking the word “evolution”, replace with “evangelism”. If you are intimate with God on a regular basis you will have the same attitude Isaiah had. 

Isaiah 6:8 (NIV)
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!" 

Never Stop Praying – 8

 Never Stop Praying – 8

Subject – Praying is Planting

by Rick Welborne

1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NLT2)
¹⁷  Never stop praying.

Exodus 20:2-6 (NLT)
²  “I am the LORD your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery.
³  “You must not have any other god but me.
⁴  “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea.
⁵  You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me.
⁶  But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands. 

--Pastor, I have not received my miracle yet. I have not received everything I am praying for yet, so I keep praying and I keep believing until the walls fall. Honestly, I will be praying and believing until I get to heaven.

--About a month ago I preached a message about praying for walls to fall and talked about hyperlinking our faith and our prayer to God’s Word and to prayer…I knew then that I would re-visit this subject.

--Tonight I want share with you how we can hyperlink to the generations who will come after us. The blessings we are experiencing today are connected to pastors and saints who came before us.

--Again today I honor people like Harriet Browne, Pearl Rockefeller, Naomi Larson, the Ickers, and pastors who laid the foundation…Pastor Ward, Pastor Browne, and Pastor Dykes…many others. 

--Don’t you ever believe that all that God is doing is because your present pastor and staff and people have it so much together that we have done this…we were blessed to come after those who cared about future generations.

--So how do we pray blessings on future generations?

1. Praying is planting.

--A man was walking down a dirt road and he saw a man planting a carob tree. The man asked…How long will it take for this tree to bear fruit?

--The man replied it would be 70 years. The man asked him if he thought he would be around for another seventy years to eat its fruit? Perhaps not he said.

--The man said when I was born into this world there were many carob trees that I found that had been planted by my father and grandfather. Just as they planted trees for me I am planting for my children and grandchildren. 

--This changed the way the man prayed…in a moment of revelation…praying is planting. Each prayer is like a seed that has been planted…it disappears for a season but eventually bears fruit for future generations!

--In fact, our prayers bear fruit forever. Even when we die, our prayers don’t. Each prayer takes on a life, an eternal life of its own. There are people at Life Church who have been saved by the prayer of loved ones gone.

--Kevin and Nicole Johnson are here, not so much because I challenged them at Kevin’s grandmother’s funeral but because of Sister’s Hood’s prayers…her prayers outlived her…her prayers are still chasing people down.

--Prayer is the inheritance we receive and the legacy we leave. The prayer we do now may save a generation but the seeds we plant can save others. Future generations. 

--Think about how exciting this is…when we pray our prayers have no expiration date on them. We never know when those prayers are going to re-enter the atmosphere and bless future generations.

--Think about all the people who have ever attended Life Church and think about all of those people praying and planting seeds of revival…someday that bowl in heaven is going to be filled and tip over…Revival!

--Never under estimate God’s ability to show up anytime, anyplace, anyhow! He has infinite answers to our finite prayers…our problem is we want immediate answers…forever is good but we want instant answers. 

--Are we willing to be planters for future generations…are we willing to die to ourselves for future children and grandchildren? Jesus is our ultimate example.

John 12:23-25 (NIV)
²³  Jesus replied, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
²⁴  I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.
²⁵  The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 

--Jesus being planted has brought forth wonderful fruit for 2000 years…His prayers for us on this earth and His prayers at the right hand of the Father are bearing much fruit. 

--Are we willing to be praying, planting, and to be planted (willing to die to ourselves so we can bring forth fruit). That’s when you are the most effective.

2. We have to be patient in planting and in praying.

--Russian Comedian Yakov Smirnoff immigrated to the United States and he said his favorite thing about being in America was the grocery stores.

Smirnoff – I’ll never forget walking down one of the aisles and seeing powdered milk; just add water and you get milk. Right next to it was powdered orange juice; just add water and you get orange juice. Then I saw baby powder, and I thought to myself, What a country!

--We live in a quick fix get the answers right now society…just google it or bing it. We don’t want to just have our cake and eat it too, we want the instant brand…give it to me now!

--Because we are surrounded by technologies that make our lives faster and easier we have a tendency to look at God and His promises the same way. Some TV evangelist tell us to give that vow and it comes right back.

--I don’t want to disappoint anyone today but when it comes to God’s promises and miracles they are mostly understood in agricultural terms. We want the speed of light but we get the speed of the seed.

Luke 8:15 (NCV)
¹⁵  And the seed that fell on the good ground is like those who hear God’s teaching with good, honest hearts and obey it and patiently produce good fruit.

--Did you hear it…it patiently produces good fruit…it means that you have to wait for it. NIV says that by persevering you produce a good crop. You have to be patient.

--When we plant seeds, when we pray, when we invest in future generations, God does wonderful things...text:

Exodus 20:2-6 (NLT)
⁵  You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me.
⁶  But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands. 

--When we are patient in planting (when we do not think it is all about us) God will lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations. 

--How great for your family to be looking on Ancestry and find out that their faith started with you and they give thanks to God for your faith from a hundred years ago. Paul speaking to Timothy:

2 Timothy 1:5-6 (NKJV)
⁵  when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also.
⁶  Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 

3. We must think long and in terms of eternity. 

--Instead of thinking about our own lives and our own time, we must think in terms of eternity. Instead of us thinking about ourselves, we must think in terms of our children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren. 

Isaiah 57:14-19 (NLT)
¹⁴  God says, “Rebuild the road! Clear away the rocks and stones so my people can return from captivity.”
¹⁵  The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.
¹⁶  For I will not fight against you forever; I will not always be angry. If I were, all people would pass away— all the souls I have made.
¹⁷  I was angry, so I punished these greedy people. I withdrew from them, but they kept going on their own stubborn way.
¹⁸  I have seen what they do, but I will heal them anyway! I will lead them. I will comfort those who mourn,
¹⁹  bringing words of praise to their lips. May they have abundant peace, both near and far,” says the LORD, who heals them. 

--Our job today is to remove obstacles out of people’s lives so they can return to the Lord but since God lives in eternity, we pray and plan to remove obstacles of those coming after us. Those both near and far.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 (NLT)
¹¹  Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.

A Quest for Intimacy - 4

 A Quest for Intimacy - 4

Subject – Having a Determined Purpose is not Easy

By Rick Welborne

Philippians 3:10 AMP                                                                                                                                         [For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him—that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding [the wonders of His person] more strongly and more clearly. And that I may in the same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [the power it exerts over believers]; and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death.   

--Today let’s look at two more essential decisions, each related to a discipline (we are disciples), that will help us develop an in-depth intimacy with Christ and Holy Spirit. 

--If you are serious about becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with God, you will find these two decisions will help you in that process. 

--Last week we looked at these two disciplines and they had ouch written all over them. It only gets tougher.

Reordering One’s Private World: The Discipline of Simplicity

--Everything we encounter in this world works against reordering and simplifying our lives. Yes, everything. Our world is cluttered with junk and is extremely complicated. 

Ecclesiastes 7:29 (TEV)                                                                                                                                        29 God made us plain and simple, but we have made ourselves very complicated.

--Solomon was definitely right…We have made ourselves very complicated. Not only do we acquire more stuff, we accumulate more and more and run out of room to keep it. 

2 Corinthians 11:3 (NKJV)
³  But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.

Being Still: The Discipline of Silence

--I have almost found in my own personal life that this challenge is insurmountable. Another family crisis, another funeral, Covid, and just life keeps us from the times of silence. But listen to the Psalmist:

Psalm 46:10 (NKJV) 

¹⁰  Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! 

Swindoll – Noise and words and frenzied, hectic schedules dull our senses, closing our ears to His still small voice and making us numb to His touch.

--Intimacy with Jesus calls for disciplines that are no longer valued or emulated by our society. We must begin with simplicity which allows us to re-order our private world. 

--After this, there must be silence…Be still and know that I am God. This silence and stillness allows us to be able to hear from God and allow for the closeness we so desperately need. 

--All of us can testify, God does not speak to a hurried, worried mind. It takes time alone with Him and His word before we can expect our spiritual strength to recover. Let’s look at two more disciplines today.

1. Cultivating Serenity: The Discipline of Solitude

--We all understand (hopefully) the value of companionship to enable us to be encouraged, accountable, and challenged. But please do not miss the value of the discipline of solitude where we cultivate serenity.

Serenity – the state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled. 

--Solitude has been called the “furnace of transformation.” Not just a quick-stop of privacy where we gain just enough strength to keep going. It becomes an oasis of the soul.

--It is where we see ourselves, others, and especially our God in new ways. It is where the clutter of our lives is identified and exterminated. Soul surgery transpires as serenity replaces anxiety.

Swindoll – In solitude, struggles occur that no one else knows about. Inner battles are fought here that seldom become fodder for sermons or illustrations for books. God, Who probes our deepest thoughts during protracted segments of solitude, opens our eyes to things that need attention. It is here He makes us aware of those things we try to hide from others. 

--Henri Nouwen describes solitude as a place to get rid of scaffolding that holds us up: no friends to talk to, no telephones, no meetings, not even music, no books except the Bible.

--Just us, naked, vulnerable, weak, sinful, deprived, broken, nothing. It is in this nothingness that I have to face my solitude. So much nothingness that all I want to do is run to my friends, work, my phone. It hurts.

--As we stay in our solitude we have confusing thoughts, disturbing images, wild fantasies, and weird thoughts attack my mind like wild monkeys in a banana tree. Anger and greed show up. 

--Wow, Pastor Rick, that sounds terrible. Our task is to persevere in solitude, to stay in our isolation, until the monkeys (demons) decide to leave. Most of resist this kind of soul searching because it is too radical, too severe

--We think; life is way too short for this kind of scrutiny. My religious show must continue! No, the point of the discipline of solitude is to stop the show. Listen to the Psalmist inviting this examination.

Psalm 139:1-4, 23 -24 (NKJV)
¹  O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
²  You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.
³  You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways.
⁴  For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.
²³  Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties;
²⁴  And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting. 

--The Apostle Paul sees the church at Corinth abusing the wonderful Lord’s supper so he corrects them. He tells not to neglect those who are hungry. Don’t get drunk. Listen to his instruction to examine themselves:

1 Corinthians 11:28-31 (NKJV)
²⁸  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.
²⁹  For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
³⁰  For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.
³¹  For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged.

--If we refuse to take these times of solitude we find ourselves continuing busy with no hope of serenity.

--Let’s face it, it is time for judgment to begin and to begin at the house of God. God never intended His church to become a place of empty and endless chatter. Self-examination is necessary if we will grow up in the Lord.

--Listen to Jesus’ admonishment to His disciples after a time of ministry to the people. 

Mark 6:30-32 (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.

--Sadly the people chased them down before they could rest but Jesus’ words still resonate with us for solitude. Swindoll strongly encourages us to keep a journal of these times of solitude. Easy to forget what you heard.

2. Trusting the Lord Completely: The Discipline of Surrender

--I am well aware that all of us have heard how “trusting in the Lord” is not a new concept or a new revelation to the church. Just a few days ago someone said the verses about trusting in the Lord were their life verses.

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV)
⁵  Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding;
⁶  In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. 

--Though it has been used and re-used the fact remains that God is inviting us in all of our ways, in everything we are doing or hoping to do, that we should trust Him with all of hearts. Easy to say but hard to do.

--If we have a determined purpose, like Paul, to become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Jesus, we cannot do our own thing or try to work out the details of our own lives. We must trust Him fully.

--This generation, thanks to us who have raised them, pretty much cannot stand the word “surrender” so the discipline of surrender sounds ridiculous. No one surrenders anything now days.

--For the most part, our kids have never had to learn to trust God because we have taught them to trust us more than God. Thus, we raise kids who become adults not knowing how to trust God with all their hearts.

--They want it, we get it. They do not have to work for it or change anything about their lives and we oblige to serve them. They don’t appreciate it and then, they want more and more. We give it. Remember working?

--Sadly, we have been cheating this generation out of trusting and surrender. Too bad, since it is in trusting and surrender that some of God’s greatest treasures are found. Listen to Swindoll talk about trusting God:

Swindoll – I’m finally learning that His sovereign plan is the best plan. That whatever I entrust to Him, He can take care of better than I. That nothing under His control can ever be out of control. That everything I need, He knows about in every detail. When I keep my hands out of things, His will is accomplished. His Name is exalted, and His glory is magnified. 

--I hope we are learning that surrendering to our sovereign Lord, leaving the details of our future in His hands, is the most responsible act of obedience we can do. Find solitude, learn to trust, and find intimacy. 

--Trusting will make me a deeper person passionately loving Him with all my heart. Intimacy!

Easter Production - Our Living Hope - 2021

 Easter Production - Our Living Hope - 2021

Subject – Experiencing Jesus in a Broken World

By Rick Welborne

--Paul has so much to say about the death, the burial, and resurrection of Jesus. In 

1 Corinthians 15:17-20 (NKJV)  

17 “And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! 

18 Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 

19 If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable. 

20 But now Christ is risen from the dead.”

--Can we establish during this time that we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ that He is absolutely, positively alive and we know that because He lives in us! 

--Our identity is found in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

--We hopefully identify with Him in His death as Paul said about himself; 

Galatians 2:20 (NKJV)  

^20“ I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” 

--We have been crucified with Christ which means we have died to self and now live because of Jesus in us. We deny ourselves, take up our cross, and we follow Him or we are not His disciples. 

--The story of my father’s encounter with the transforming resurrection power of God. 

1 Peter 1:3-4 (NKJV)
³  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
⁴  to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,

Never Stop Praying – 7

 Never Stop Praying – 7

Subject – God’s Litmus Test

by Rick Welborne

1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NLT2) ¹⁷  Never stop praying.

Numbers 22:21-31 (NLT)
²¹  So the next morning Balaam got up, saddled his donkey, and started off with the Moabite officials.
²²  But God was angry that Balaam was going, so he sent the angel of the LORD to stand in the road to block his way. As Balaam and two servants were riding along,
²³  Balaam’s donkey saw the angel of the LORD standing in the road with a drawn sword in his hand. The donkey bolted off the road into a field, but Balaam beat it and turned it back onto the road.
²⁴  Then the angel of the LORD stood at a place where the road narrowed between two vineyard walls.
²⁵  When the donkey saw the angel of the LORD, it tried to squeeze by and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall. So Balaam beat the donkey again.
²⁶  Then the angel of the LORD moved farther down the road and stood in a place too narrow for the donkey to get by at all.
²⁷  This time when the donkey saw the angel, it lay down under Balaam. In a fit of rage Balaam beat the animal again with his staff.
²⁸  Then the LORD gave the donkey the ability to speak. “What have I done to you that deserves your beating me three times?” it asked Balaam.
²⁹  “You have made me look like a fool!” Balaam shouted. “If I had a sword with me, I would kill you!”
³⁰  “But I am the same donkey you have ridden all your life,” the donkey answered. “Have I ever done anything like this before?” “No,” Balaam admitted.
³¹  Then the LORD opened Balaam’s eyes, and he saw the angel of the LORD standing in the roadway with a drawn sword in his hand. Balaam bowed his head and fell face down on the ground before him. 

--Some of our toughest moments as Christians is when you have prayed hard and believed God to do something in our lives and the answer is ‘no’ and we don’t know why. Maybe God is just silent.

--We are all so excited when God answers our prayers and gives us exactly what we wanted, when we wanted it, in the way we wanted it, but that is not how our lives normally go.

1. The Litmus test of trust.

Mark Batterson – Do you trust that God is for you even when He doesn’t give you what you have asked for? Do you trust that He has reasons beyond your reason? Do you trust that His plan is better than yours?

--I am sure, if we will all be honest, that we have questions or unanswered prayers that we really do not know why God did not come through the way we thought He would or the way we thought He should.

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.

--This verse tells us that there are certain mysteries that won’t be revealed until we cross over into eternity. I played tournament tennis in Texas. As you played and did well, you accumulated points. Major Tournament. 

--About two weeks before the tournament I started feeling bad and began to cough more and more. I kept pushing myself to train but found it more and more difficult…I was a sick puppy.

--I finally went to the doctor and he said I had pneumonia. What? You need bed rest for a couple of weeks and absolutely no tennis or any other strenuous activity. This couldn’t be true. 

--Being the compliant and non-competitive person that I am…I did exactly what the doctor told me…not! I played in the tournament thinking God would touch me and come through. He didn’t. I lost to a jerk.

--We don’t understand when God does not come through. We don’t understand when people die pre-maturely, we don’t understand when we lose a job, we don’t understand so many things.

--One of the hardest things for us as we pray hard and believe God to come through is enduring unanswered prayers. Hear me, there will be times as you follow God that trusting Him will be your only option. 

--If you can trust God when the answer is no, you are more than likely going to give Him praise when the answer is yes. Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; 

--When you don’t know what to do, you have to press into God and press on…by definition, praying hard is praying when it is hard to pray. 

Philippians 3:12-14 (NKJV)
¹²  Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.
¹³  Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
¹⁴  I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

--Our District Superintendent reminded us at Council that the only reason we can press toward the prize and hang in there when times are tough, is because Jesus has first laid hold of us.

--Because Jesus has initiated this relationship…I can lay hold of Jesus, I can lay hold of His promises, I can forget those things behind me and press forward. Can you let it go for Him?

--Sometimes what we perceive to be unanswered prayers are often God’s greatest answers for us. Our heavenly Father loves us way too much to give us everything we ask for.

2. Stop beating your donkey.

--Sometimes God gets in the way to show us the way. He sends or creates divine detours to get us going the right direction. This is absolutely His mercy to us. Thus, a talking donkey. There are many talking jack…

--A prophet named Balaam is on his way to Moab because he has been offered money to curse the Israelites. On his way, an Angel of the Lord gets in the way. Balaam does not see the angel but the donkey does. 

--Three times the donkey saves his life by running a different direction. Balaam’s response is to beat the donkey. Stop beating your donkey.

--Let me throw in here, if you are on your way to curse God’s people, the church, or even the pastor and someone is trying to stop you (you may consider them to be a donkey) listen to them!

--They are smarter than you think (obviously smarter than you are) and they are saving your life because God does not take it lightly when you curse or speak against his people. 

1 Chronicles 16:22 (NKJV) ²²  Saying, "Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm." 

--We pastors love to use this verse to encourage people not to speak against us but if you read this verse in its context, it is talking about God’s people. We are all His anointed ones if we belong to Him.

1 Peter 2:9 (NKJV)
⁹  But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people…

--Balaam’s donkey opens his mouth and says, what have I done to you to make you beat me these three times? Balaam’s response was that you made a fool of me, if I had a sword I would kill you!

--Wow! What would we do if our donkey or in our case, someone started talking to us? You know you are not thinking right or headed in the right direction when a jack…I mean a donkey, has to reason with you. 

--Finally, God opens Balaam’s eyes to see the angel of the Lord and reveals He would have killed him if it hadn’t been for his donkey. 

--Sometimes we get ticked off as much as Balaam when we can’t get where we want to go. We hate detours! They are frustrating. They are confusing to us.

Batterson: But the divine detours often get us where God wants us to go. The real miracle in this story isn’t the talking donkey; the real miracle is a God Who loves us enough to get in the way when we’re going the wrong way. These are the miracles we don’t want, but these are the miracles we need.

--I am so glad, when I look back on my own life when God got in the way of my own plans and rerouted me. My story of begging God to let me be a missionary to Mexico. God will give me the desire of my heart. 

--His re-direction was not easy. When I look at our Mission’s program now and realize that there was no way I could have influenced so many by staying in that village but now look what our missionaries are doing. 

3. Sometimes we need to just stand still.

--Have you ever had your back up against the wall with nowhere to go and there seemed to be no good options. Time was running out. It is almost like God is wanting to play the game of flinch. Israel knew this:

Exodus 14:13-14 (NLT)
¹³  But Moses told the people, “Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the LORD rescue you today. The Egyptians you see today will never be seen again.
¹⁴  The LORD himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.”

--I have used a phrase for most of my life…Do something even if it is wrong! When I said that to someone, it was to motivate them to not be passive but make a decision and go with it! Bad choice…oh well!

--I must confess that my phrase is not biblical…many times just doing something is exactly what God does not want us to do. He tells us to not be afraid and to stand still. 

--When the children of Israel were at the Red Sea they were completely hemmed in…no place to go and nothing left to do but pray. We love miracles. We just don’t like being in a situation where we need one. 

--We don’t like being between the Egyptian army and the Red Sea. It is bad to see the dust rising from the chariots and the horses who are in hot pursuit of you but now you can hear the sound of hoofs…when Stephanie rides or the horses run…sounds like thunder. 

--God loves to lead us into places where there are no options or no way of retreat…He becomes our only way of escape. Why does He do this? He sets us up so He can be glorified!

--Don’t be afraid. Just stand still and watch the LORD rescue you today…The LORD himself will fight for you. Just stay calm.” Just stay calm and trust Me!

Psalm 46:10 (NKJV)
¹⁰  Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!