Christmas Program – 2023 – Behold

Christmas Program – 2023 – Behold

Subject – Behold the Lamb of God

By Rick Welborne

Matthew 1:22-23 (NKJV)
²²  So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying:
²³  "Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel," which is translated, "God with us."

John 1:29 (NKJV)
²⁹  The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

--We want to thank Pastor Aaron and the entire team for such a great worship production called Behold. We give God glory for all the talent He has given to this multigenerational church.

--Today I want to share with you just for a few minutes my thoughts about Behold. Most of you know how I love to play with words and I believe God has given me some thoughts for you.

1. Jesus Can Be Holding Your Eternal Life.

--You see, all this work, all the practices, all the planning, and all the prayer that goes into a program like this is so people can find eternal life in Jesus Christ.

--Behold, the virgin shall be with child and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel, which is “God with us!” Whether you know it or not, He is with us today.

--The gospel is called the “Good News” for a reason. It is good news for you today because Jesus is here to give you eternal life. We will all spend eternity somewhere but we have a choice.

--Jesus can be holding your eternal life in His nail pierced hands as a gift to you, but you have to be willing to receive it from Him. 

--Pastor, you don’t know how I have lived, how I have pushed Him away, and how I have sinned against Him all of my life. Good news! That doesn’t matter because:

John 1:29 (NKJV) ²⁹ "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

--At this Christmas season you could be holding the greatest gift ever given to mankind and that is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. He is God with us and what a beautiful thing.

--The greatest Gift Giver ever born wants to give you the gift of salvation today.

2. Jesus Can Be Holding Your Walk with Him.

--Pastor, life is tough and sometimes life doesn’t seem fair. I’ve lost someone I loved, I got a bad diagnosis from the doctor, my family is a mess, and I feel lost and helpless.

--I will never tell anyone that if you receive Christ, you will never have problems. But what I will tell you is this, as you go through those problems Jesus will be holding you.

John 16:33 (NKJV)
³³  These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

--Never forget, He is Immanuel which means God with us and He promises to never leave us.

Psalm 27:5-6 (NKJV)
⁵  For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock.
⁶  And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD. 

3. Jesus Can Be Holding You Through All Your Mess.

--Christian or non-Christian we all have our mess, our problems, our addictions, and there can seem to be no deliverance in sight.

--I know it is the Christmas season but never forget that Jesus can be holding all you sin and all your mess on the cross of Calvary. It was nailed to the tree. Remember, He was born to die.

Galatians 1:3-5 (NLT2)
³  May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
⁴  Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live.
⁵  All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.

John 1:29 (NKJV) ²⁹ "Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!

Speak, Lord, for Your Servant is Listening – 4

Speak, Lord, for Your Servant is Listening – 4

Subject – Let There Be Light – His Voice

By Rick Welborne

1 Samuel 3:9-10 (NIV)
⁹  So Eli told Samuel, "Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, 'Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
¹⁰  The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" Then Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening." 

Genesis 1:1-3 (NKJV)
¹  In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
²  The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
³  Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 

--Think about the power of God’s voice. With just four words He speaks the universe into existence. God said, “Let there be light.” These are God’s first recorded words. His first recorded miracle.

--Again, try to wrap your mind around His words. Light is the source of vision; without it we can’t see anything. Light is the source of technology; we can talk to people halfway around the world.

--Light is the first link in the food chain; no photosynthesis equals no food. Light is the basis of health; the absence of light causes everything from Vitamin D deficiency to depression. 

--Light is the origin of energy; in Einstein’s equation E=MC2, energy (E) is defined as mass (M) times the speed of Light (C) squared. The speed of light is the constant.

--Light is the alpha and omega of everything, and that includes you. The very first revelation of God was as creator. So how did God create? With His voice!

--The universe is God’s way of saying, “Look what I can do with four words.” This same voice parted the Red Sea, made the sun stand still, healed a withered hand, made a tree barren.

--God’s voice can turn water into wine, can heal a blind man’s eyes, and it can resurrect a man after he has been dead for four days. 

--There is nothing God’s voice cannot say, cannot do. And, frankly, He can do it however He pleases. He can speak thru burning bushes, Balaam’s donkey, or Bethlehem’s star.

--His voice can write on palace walls or shut the mouths of lions. His voice can quench the flames of a fiery furnace or calm the storm on the Sea of Galilee. 

--His voice is all-powerful but that’s only half the story. His voice is also all-loving. We need to listen.

1. God’s Voice is Sweetness.

--I have heard people say that they are afraid to hear God’s voice because they are afraid of what He will say to them. That’s so sad because they don’t understand His heart.

Song of Songs 5:16 (NIV) ¹⁶ His mouth is sweetness itself; he is altogether lovely. 

--According to rabbinic tradition, when God spoke to the Israelites at Mt. Sinai, they were so scared that they felt as though their souls left their bodies. That was God using His outside voice.

--According to their tradition, what did God do? He softened His words and their souls returned to them.

--According to the Word of God, when God wants us to repent or to return to Him, He uses the sweetness of His voice to woo us back. Listen carefully and you will hear His love.

Romans 2:4 (NIV)
⁴  Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance? 

--I know that many people have a hard time believing God is loving, and it’s often because someone represented Him in a way that misrepresented Him.

--When I was at SW University in Texas I walked in on a conversation with one of these wild-eyed crazy people. He had a captive audience and was teaching them deep theology about Holy Spirit.

--He said, “Don’t believe that Holy Spirit is a gentleman. He has knocked me across the room to get my attention.” I had only been a Christian for two years and knew better.

--Being shy like I am, I walked up and interrupted the conversation and told his audience he was crazy and to walk away before he said something else crazy. The crowd dispersed. 

--I believe God is speaking over His children the same thing He spoke over Jesus at His baptism:

Matthew 3:17 (NKJV)
¹⁷  And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

--For you who are insecure; Pastor, God was pleased with Jesus because He was perfect and righteous. Yes, but we have been made righteous by the blood of Jesus Christ. He loves you!

--God has a voice you want to hear. When you are in love with someone, you can’t hear their sweet voice enough. You can spend hours talking to them. So sweet!

--When you are in love with someone, you love the sound of his or her voice. And you long to hear it often. A real relationship with God is no different.

2. God’s Voice is Singing Over You.

Leonard Bernstein – I believe the best translation of the Hebrew in Genesis 1 was not ‘and God said’ but ‘and God sang.’ Creation is God’s symphony and science provides plenty of corroborating evidence.

--Wow! Creation is God’s symphony. Did you know that the electron shell of the carbon atom produces the same harmonic scale as the Gregorian chant? Makes you go hmmm!

--According to the science of bioacoustics, millions of songs are being sung all the time. Those songs are infrasonic and ultrasonic so we can’t hear them.

Physician and Researcher Lewis Thomas – If we had better hearing and could discern the descants of sea birds, the rhythmic timpani of schools of mollusks, or even the distant harmonics of midges hanging over meadows in the sun, the combined sound might lift us off our feet.”

--Pastor, that is just a little crazy and farfetched. You make it sound like singing is going on all the time.

Revelation 5:13-14 (NLT2)
¹³  And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang: “Blessing and honor and glory and power belong to the one sitting on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever.”
¹⁴  And the four living beings said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped the Lamb. 

--I just wonder all those times that we were totally convinced that we could hear music coming from somewhere, could it have been God letting us hear his voice or creation’s voices?

--We need to learn to hear and to discern God’s voice because I truly believe He is speaking and singing to us all day long. Every day. Why? Because he loves us.

Zephaniah 3:16-17 (NLT2)
¹⁶  On that day the announcement to Jerusalem will be, “Cheer up, Zion! Don’t be afraid!
¹⁷  For the LORD your God is living among you. He is a mighty savior. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.” 

3. His Voice Compared to Our Voice.

--The human voice is pretty much good for one thing—verbal communication. So we tend to think of God’s voice the same way. 

--God’s voice is so much more than audible words communicated in human language. God uses His voice to speak, but He also uses His voice to heal, reveal, convict, create, guide, and to show grace. 

--Does God speak to us audibly? Absolutely! But that is just a small part of His way of communicating with us. His ability to speak is way beyond our ability to hear audibly.

--There are people who say that they have never seen a miracle and there are people who argue that they have never heard God speak. I would argue with that thought process.

--That may be true of God’s audible voice within our small range of hearing, but everything we see on this earth was formed by His creative voice. “Let there be light.”

--What we see today, He once said. His voice is around us all the time. His creation shouts to us:

Romans 1:20-22 (NLT2)
²⁰  For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
²¹  Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. As a result, their minds became dark and confused.
²²  Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. 

--Never think God is not speaking. His creation is shouting at you every day how awesome God is and how He wants you to know Him in a greater way. He loves you.

--How do you know that He loves me, Pastor? Everyone look up at the cross hanging in this church. Think about Jesus hanging on the cross. Listen to His voice.

1 Corinthians 1:17-18 (NIV)
¹⁷  For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel--not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
¹⁸  For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 

--Maybe you don’t hear anything audibly but the cross is definitely speaking to you and if you listen carefully, you can hear Jesus say, I love you this much! 

Why We Pray for and Support Israel – 4

Why We Pray for and Support Israel – 4

Subject – Unrighteous Deception and Strong Delusion 

By Rick Welborne

Genesis 12:1-3 (NLT2)
¹  The LORD had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you.
²  I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others.
³  I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.” 

--God has laid a message about Israel on my heart and today I am sharing with you. It has been amazing and biblical, that since we started emphasizing Israel how much we have been blessed.

--The events of the last month concerning the attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists and the subsequent unveiling of a massive surge of antisemitism worldwide have led me to believe the end is near.

2 Thessalonians 2:8-11 (NKJV)
⁸  And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.
⁹  The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,
¹⁰  and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
¹¹  And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,

--One of the great mysteries of the end times (as revealed in the Bible) is not so much the worldwide rebellion against God.

--But that those who are waiting for Jesus to return actually believe that they can destroy Him and the armies of heaven. Example of the man in Louisiana.

--They know exactly Who they are waiting for and they sincerely think they can overcome Him. Many scholars believe the following from Psalm 2 was written about this very time and battle:

Psalm 2:1-4 (NLT2)
¹  Why are the nations so angry? Why do they waste their time with futile plans?
²  The kings of the earth prepare for battle; the rulers plot together against the LORD and against his Anointed One.
³  “Let us break their chains,” they cry, “and free ourselves from slavery to God.”
⁴  But the one who rules in heaven laughs. The Lord scoffs at them. 

--It doesn’t make sense. For millennia, mankind has rebelled against the will of God, His law, His followers, and even His influence. 

--God has had people hate Him, ignore Him, lie about Him, and even pretend there is no evidence that He exists. 

--But the Battle of Armageddon is an assembly of armies (made up of people) who actually believe they can face, defeat, and kill God.

I don’t know what their definition of God is but Saint Anselm of Canterbury (Italian-born Theologian and Philosopher) said that a very baseline definition of God is:

Anselm - God is that which none greater can be conceived.

--How can any rational human being imagine that a being who has absolutely no equal in either knowledge or power can be defeated?

--The answer is the statement above from 2 Thessalonians. If you are willing to spend your life opposing God, then He is going to help you with taking that final step. 

--God is going to accommodate their insanity. He will allow them to go from opposing His will and influence to believing that He can be brought down and vanquished.

--I’ve never really been one to hyperventilate every time something happens that can be construed as fulfilling end-time prophecy. However:

--The events of the last several weeks concerning the attack on Israel by Hamas terrorists and the subsequent massive surge of antisemitism worldwide have led me to believe the end is near.

--Who knew that our supposedly elite universities in America were breeding grounds and incubators of antisemitism? Most of these universities began as Christian institutions. 

--What kind of people openly celebrate the murder and decapitation of Jewish babies? How in the world can the White House pick this particular time to roll out a “National Strategy to Counter Islamophobia”? 

--This is beyond tone-deafness. This is delusion. Strong delusion. Only now is the biblical description of the end times (in general) and the Battle of Armageddon (in particular) starting to make sense. 

--God is sending strong delusion to those who already despise His will for mankind so that they can take the final logical step … declare war against Him and His Anointed.

--I also used to wonder about Matthew 7:21-23. Jesus predicts people will argue with Him on Judgment Day! They think He isn’t getting it right.

Matthew 7:21-23 (NLT2)
²¹  “Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter.
²²  On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’
²³  But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’ 

--This isn’t a roundtable religious argument among theologians. These are people who are before the throne of the King of the universe complaining that He doesn’t know what He is doing. 

--How is this possible? Delusion. Strong delusion. Unrighteous deception!

--Peter predicted that towards the end, people would mistake God’s longsuffering and patient desire “that all should reach repentance” for weakness. However, the apostle warned: 

2 Peter 3:9-12 (NKJV)
⁹  The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.
¹⁰  But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.
¹¹  Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,
¹²  looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God…

--Now God is patient but a day is rapidly coming when the Lamb will be a roaring Lion.

Revelation 19:11-16 (NKJV)
¹¹  Now I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse. And He who sat on him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and makes war.
¹²  His eyes were like a flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns. He had a name written that no one knew except Himself.
¹³  He was clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of God.
¹⁴  And the armies in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, followed Him on white horses.
¹⁵  Now out of His mouth goes a sharp sword, that with it He should strike the nations. And He Himself will rule them with a rod of iron. He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
¹⁶  And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

--As per Psalm 2 the days for choosing sides are rapidly coming to an end. We are living in a world where people are taking to the streets and chanting “gas the Jews.” In America!

--Jewish students in a New York university were terrorized by pro-Palestinian demonstrators. Despite video proof to the contrary, members of our own government continue to assert that Israel bombed a hospital in Gaza killing 500 people.

--Truth doesn’t matter any longer. Only the narrative. How can this be? Delusion. Strong delusion.

--Is God worried about the reception that will be waiting to greet His Son as He returns?

Psalm 2:4 (NKJV)
⁴  He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; The LORD shall hold them in derision. 

--The point of no return may be much closer than we realize. Think clearly while you still can because “strong delusion” has begun. But the victory will be ours.

Revelation 19:19-21 (NKJV)
¹⁹  And I saw the beast, the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His army.
²⁰  Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone.
²¹  And the rest were killed with the sword which proceeded from the mouth of Him who sat on the horse. And all the birds were filled with their flesh.

Your Christian Life Doesn’t Have to be Toxic – 4

Your Christian Life Doesn’t Have to be Toxic – 4

Subject:  The Christian Atheist

By Rick Welborne

Isaiah 29:13-16 (NIV)
¹³  The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.
¹⁴  Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."
¹⁵  Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the LORD, who do their work in darkness and think, "Who sees us? Who will know?"
¹⁶  You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, "He did not make me"? Can the pot say of the potter, "He knows nothing"? 

--Last week we talked about Secret Agent Christians and truly discovered that it cannot be that way…Jesus said if you confess Me before men, then I will confess you before My Father in Heaven. 

--Tonight we will continue our series on Toxic Christians and talk about the Christian atheist…obviously this is an oxymoron…or some kind of moron. 

Christian atheist – Someone who claims to be a Christian but lives like God does not exist.

--From our text let’s look at Hypocrisy – sin – Lordship.

1. The Hypocrisy of the Christian Atheist

Isaiah 29:13 (NIV)
¹³  The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men. 

--Why or what would make us live hypocritical lives? Why would we draw near to God with our mouths and our hearts not be close to Him?

--We become Christian atheist because we do not realize how big our God is…we almost feel that we just have to fake it to make it…how sad.

Mark Batterson:  Most people believe God is real, but few people actually live like it. The result is a widening gap between their theology and their reality. They allow their circumstances to get between them and God instead of letting God get between them and their circumstances.  

--We say how great God is, we sing how great God is, some of us even teach how great God is but where is the reality of Who He is and what He can do. 

--Before we condemn those in Isaiah we may need to take a good look at ourselves and see if we are drawing near during a worship service but our hearts are out there somewhere.

--Hypocrisy happens when we forget that our calling is way beyond us. The best way to discover your dream or calling is to help someone else find theirs.

--Your greatest legacy isn’t finding your dream…it’s the dream you inspire in others. You see…

LEGACY - Leading Every Generation Adults Children Youth

--The cure for hypocrisy is to draw near to God with a sincere heart and worship Him…the fruit of your lips giving thanks to His Name.

Hebrews 10:19-24 (NLT)
¹⁹  And so, dear brothers and sisters, we can boldly enter heaven’s Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus.
²⁰  By his death, Jesus opened a new and life-giving way through the curtain into the Most Holy Place.
²¹  And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house,
²²  let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
²³  Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.
²⁴  Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. 

--The cure for hypocrisy is to realize our worship to God, our service for God, our sincerity before God is not all about us…it is how we motivate others to acts of love and good works.

2. The Sin of the Christian Atheist.

Isaiah 29:13-15 (NIV)
¹³  The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.
¹⁴  Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."
¹⁵  Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the LORD, who do their work in darkness and think, "Who sees us? Who will know?" 

--Why is it we think we can hide anything from God? Why we think that what we do in the dark or in secret will not be exposed someday is ludicrous.

Luke 8:17 (NKJV) ¹⁷ For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.

--Isaiah says:  Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the LORD, who do their work in darkness and think, "Who sees us? Who will know?" 

--Obviously, it would be easy to talk about all the mess that Christians participate in: lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life but today I want to zero on one thing…let me explain.

--All of us have heard of the Wright brothers…Orville and Wilbur…parents must have been anger to name them what they did. At age 25 Orville contracted typhoid fever and was in the bed for several months. 

--Wilbur took up an interest in human flight and would read to Orville about flight…it appeared the two were about to have a collision with their destiny.

--On May 30, 1899, Wilbur wrote a letter to the Smithsonian Institute informing them of their systematic study of flight. He asked for everything written on the subject which was not much.

--But one book “Empire of the Air” written by French farmer, poet, and student of flight Lois Pierre Mouillard.

He exhorted the world:

Mouillard: The world needs to repent of its unbelief in the possibility of human flight. 

--The world needs to repent of its unbelief in the possibility of human flight. How awesome is that statement?

I like that statement a lot. It convicts me and challenges me at the same time.

--What impossibility in your life do you need to repent of? You see, it is not just your sin you need to repent of, it is your small dreams.

--The size of your dream may be the most accurate measure of the size of your God.  Is He bigger than your biggest problem, your worst failure, your greatest mistake? We quote this verse but do we believe it?

Ephesians 3:14-21 (NKJV) ¹⁴ For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
¹⁵  from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
¹⁶  that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,
¹⁷  that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
¹⁸  may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height--
¹⁹  to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
²⁰  Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
²¹  to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

--A God sized dream will always scare you, it will be beyond your ability, beyond your resources. Unless God does it, it can’t be done. But that is exactly how God gets the glory.  

--This is a call to repentance…repent of your small dreams and repent of how small you have made God out to be. To an infinite God all finites are the same. There is no big or small, possible or impossible.

--Once Jesus was raised from the dead and walked out of the tomb on that third day, the word impossible was erased from our dictionary. With Him nothing is impossible!

--The Wright brothers had no real funding, did not know people in high places. But on December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, N.C. they defied gravity for twelve seconds and went airborne.  

--Think about it, 120 years ago flight was science fiction and today millions are flying all over the globe at 500 miles an hour…we have been to the moon…we have a space station…we are planning on going to mars.

--Why? Two men sat in a sickbed reading about flight and their dream became a reality…what is your dream?

3. The Lordship of the Christian Atheist.

Isaiah 29:16 (NIV) ¹⁶ You turn things upside down, as if the potter were thought to be like the clay! Shall what is formed say to him who formed it, "He did not make me"? Can the pot say of the potter, "He knows nothing"? 

--Lordship is all about Who is in charge of your life, your dreams, your destiny…is it you or is it the Potter… Jesus Christ Himself.

--We may talk about this later but it appears to me that we have created a god in our own image…he is not who he says he is (that’s us), he cannot do what he says (that’s us), and he is not faithful (that’s us).

--Sadly, we have (or at least we think) we have become the potters of our own lives and destiny.

Batterson:  You are one idea, one risk, one decision away from a totally different life. Of course, it’ll probably be the toughest decision you ever make, the scariest risk you ever take. But if your dream doesn’t scare you, it’s too small.

--The greatest decision you will ever make is to submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ…this not just for the lost but for all of us.

--The cure for living like God does not exist is to give Him all of you for the rest of your life…make Him Lord!

 

Speak, Lord, for Your Servant is Listening – 3

Speak, Lord, for Your Servant is Listening – 3

Subject – Be Still and Know

By Rick Welborne

1 Samuel 3:9-10 (NIV)
⁹  So Eli told Samuel, "Go and lie down, and if he calls you, say, 'Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.'" So Samuel went and lay down in his place.
¹⁰  The LORD came and stood there, calling as at the other times, "Samuel! Samuel!" Then Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening." 

Psalm 46:1-2&10-11 (NLT2)
¹ God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.
²  So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea.
¹⁰  “Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.”
¹¹  The LORD of Heaven’s Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress. 

--I was speaking to someone in the church the other day and they were talking about what a mess our world is in and I said I totally agree.

--Maybe you are the exception but it seems that everyone’s world is in chaos in so many different ways. No one seems to be exempt from the tests and trials all around us. 

--In Psalms 46 the sons of Korah speak of times of trouble, earthquakes, and mountains crumbling into the sea. There are hurricanes (California. Fires in Hawaii. Floods in Vermont.

Romans 8:22-23 (NLT2)
²²  For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.
²³  And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. 

--Interesting…we believers also groan even though we have Holy Spirit and we long to be out of all of this mess. Everyone is dealing with life and life happens every day. Hurts!

--Your pastors are not exempt from the pains of this life. We too are dealing with the effects of sin that started way back when Adam and Eve chose to be disobedient.

--Pastor Joseph has been in a battle for the last several months with his health and, thank God, he has had Holy Spirit in him and people praying for him. Life is tough sometimes.

--I promise I am not whining but life has been tough for us. I was just recovering from full knee replacement and thank God for His healing and help during that time.

--Then, as Summer started it seemed like chaos. The well quit! Replaced. An a/c unit quit. Replaced. The other a/c unit messed up and flooded our ceiling in the kitchen. Replaced.

--We had already scheduled for our house to be painted before all this started. It got painted. Praying to win Publisher’s Clearing House $10,000 a week for life. Nope! Not yet!

--Then, people we love very much pass away. Hearts are broken. Trying to navigate all the emotions. Be careful when you say to your pastor, “It seems you have lost your passion.”

--Maybe like you, we are walking through unbelievable trials and chaos and it is not necessarily about revival as much as it is survival. Pray for us and shhhh!

--Shortly after that I feel a pain in my shoulder. Go get a shot. Pretty bad and after a few days I hear a loud pop. Definitely more pain. Three days later my bicep is totally unattached. 

--As I am sitting here doing this sermon, I am waiting for my primary care doctor to give me a referral to see the orthopedic surgeon. It popped on Wed. This is the next Wed. Called twice a day to the doctor. Nope.

--And we believers also groan. During this time my mother-in-law is put under Hospice care. Relationships are strained. Did I mention life can hurt sometimes?

2 Corinthians 7:5 (NKJV) ⁵ For indeed, when we came to Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were troubled on every side. Outside were conflicts, inside were fears.

--So what do we do when we have conflicts on the outside and fears on the inside. We say, “Speak, Lord, for Your Servant is Listening.” How do we do that?

Psalm 46:1-2&10-11 (NLT2)
¹ God is our refuge and strength, always ready to help in times of trouble.
²  So we will not fear when earthquakes come and the mountains crumble into the sea.
¹⁰  “Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.”
¹¹  The LORD of Heaven’s Armies is here among us; the God of Israel is our fortress. 

--I believe what I am about to share with you is not only good advice, it is the Word of God and we need to hear what He has to say when life hurts. God often speaks the loudest when we’re the quietest. 

French Philosopher Blaise Pascal – The sole cause of a man’s unhappiness is that he does not know how to stay quietly in his room. 

--It’s obvious in the day we are living, with all the noise around us, that we have a hearing problem. We need to learn to get quiet and say, Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening.

--Let’s break down this statement from the sons of Korah and see if we can quiet the storms inside of us and the conflicts all around us.

1. Be Still.

--Have you ever tried to quiet a room full of church people? Trying to yell over them is almost impossible. It’s more effective to shush a crowd with a shhh. That what God does with a whisper.

--His whisper, His till small voice quiets us, calms us, and stills us. Our problem, my problem is that we have not disciplined ourselves to be still. To be quiet.

--Let me make this statement…chronic non-stop noise may be the greatest impediment to our spiritual growth. If you can’t be still and hear God, how can you grow?

--Psychologist Arlene Bronzaft did a study of elementary-age students in Manhattan. 

--She found that students who were on the side of the building where the elevated train tracks were eleven months behind their counterparts on the quiet side of the building.

--When our lives get loud, with noise filling every frequency, we lose our sense of being. We turn into human doings instead of human beings. 

--When we can’t “be” who God created us to be and we can’t “Be still” to hear His voice, we begin to lose our sense of balance and our lives spiral out of control.

--Let me go out on a limb…Your life is too loud. Your schedule is too busy. That’s how and why we forget that God is God. You know this, it takes so little to distract us.

English Poet John Donne – I neglect God and His angels, for the noise of a fly.

--The solution. Stillness. Be still. Or more specifically hearing His still small voice.

2. Be Still and Know.

Philippians 3:10 (NIV) ¹⁰ I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,

--Silence (being still) is anything but passive waiting. It is proactive listening. 

--Henri Nouwen believed that silence was an act of war against the competing voices inside of us. This war is not easily won because it is a daily battle. 

--The goal of being still and being silent is to allow God’s voice to get louder and louder every day until His voice is all you can hear.

--The more you hear God’s voice, the more you want to hear His voice. The more we hear Him the more we know the plans He has for us to give us a hope and a future.

--If you want to hear the heart of God, silence (stillness) is the key. If you want Holy Spirit to fill you, be still. This is where we discover what Paul was talking about.

Acts 17:28 (NKJV) ²⁸ for in Him we live and move and have our being…

--How will we ever find that until we “Be still and know?” You say you want a deeper relationship with God, get still, get quiet, learn to listen, be still and know. 

3. Be Still, and Know that I am God!

--The psalmist did not have quiet chambers or extra rooms in their houses to be converted into “war rooms” so they retreated to God. 

--They referred to God as their refuge, their fortress, and their ever present help in time of trouble. The spoke of the shelter of the most High and the shadow of the Almighty.

--One of my favorites, God is described as our “Hiding place.” I don’t know about you but there are times I want to find a place away from the noise and the chaos. From all the voices.

Psalm 32:7-8 (NLT2)
⁷  For you are my hiding place; you protect me from trouble. You surround me with songs of victory. 
⁸  The LORD says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life. I will advise you and watch over you. 

--When we go to Him and we are still, we will know He is singing songs of deliverance (victory) around us all the time. Our problem is we don’t hear them.

--When are still, when we know He is God, and we begin to hear those songs of deliverance, there is nothing that He can’t set us free from.

--Stop hiding from God behind all the noise and learn He is your hiding place!

--A pastor told me early in my ministry some of the best advice ever. Rick, if you talk to God every day, you will never have trouble talking to the people you minister to. 

Your Christian Life Doesn’t Have to be Toxic - 3

Your Christian Life Doesn’t Have to be Toxic - 3

Subject: Secret Agent Christian 

By Rick Welborne

Matthew 10:32-33 (NKJV)
³²  "Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.
³³  But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.

Revelation 3:5 (NKJV)
⁵  He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.

--Tonight we continue our series on the Your Christian life Doesn’t Have to be Toxic and we will be talking about secret agent Christians or Christian who are in covert (secret) operations for the Kingdom of God.

--I wonder how many of our co-workers, neighbors, classmates, or family members do not even know that we are Christians and that we attend Life Church!

--One of the greatest misunderstood concepts of witnessing or sharing the gospel is derived from this quote:  Witness to everyone you meet and use words only when necessary. 

--I completely understand that we are to so let our light shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father Who is in heaven.

--We should work hard for whomever we are working, we should be honest, we should be people of integrity, and we should resist being just like the world in everything we do.

Pastor Rick:  We don’t smoke!  We don’t chew!  We don’t go with girls who do!  We ain’t got no girlfriends!

--The Gospel will never be propagated simply because we keep our mouths shut and we do not participate in the things everyone else is doing!  There needs to be more!

1. We Must Fulfill the Great Commission.

--Please understand about the Great Commission…that those words are not found in your Bibles…what we are speaking about is what Jesus said to every believer at the end of two gospels.

Mark 16:15-16 (NKJV)
¹⁵  And He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
¹⁶  He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 

A. The Great Commission is why we do Missions. We support 231 missionaries here in the US and abroad. We encourage everyone to be faithful in tithing (10%) and Missions.  

B. The Great Commission is why we do the House of Hope…we want to minister Jesus to those in our own communities.  Reach their heart by feeding their bellies.  

C. The Great Commission is why we receive money for Joseph Storehouse…our benevolence ministry.  

D. The Great Commission is why we do the Hallowed King.

--We need you to man a game, park a car, cook a hot dog, work in the kitchen…why?  So hundreds of people can come and have a chance to receive Jesus.  Sign up today in the foyer!!

E. The Great Commission is why we have a bus ministry.  We go into the communities (mostly lower income) to pick up kids.

--There are so many other ministries in our church that help us to fulfill the Great Commission…jump in!

2. We Must Confess Christ with Our Mouths. 

A. Jesus said we must confess Him before them!

Matthew 10:32 (NKJV)
³²  "Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 

B. Jesus said there are consequences if we do not confess Him before them.

Matthew 10:33 (NIV) ³³ But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him before my Father in heaven.

--It matters what we do. We confess Him and He confesses us before the Father.

C. The Word says they must confess with their mouths the Lord Jesus before they can be saved.

Romans 10:1& 9-10 (NLT)
¹  Dear brothers and sisters, the longing of my heart and my prayer to God is for the people of Israel to be saved.
⁹  If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
¹⁰  For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. 

D. It is so important for Christians to confess Christ to the lost.

Romans 10:13-15 (NLT)
¹³  For “Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.”
¹⁴  But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?
¹⁵  And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!” 

--People cannot believe in Jesus unless someone tells them about Him…how can they believe in Jesus if they have never heard about Him?

--And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them? I purposely did not use the translation that says they preach to them because that freaks people out. We simply tell them about Jesus!

--And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? Yes, we are sending missionaries all over the world but we are sending you also.

--All of you can touch people no one else can…I am sending you! Go get them! Everyone win one family! I don’t know how to share Jesus with people!

3. The Church and the Gospel Should Never be the Best Kept Secret in a Community. 

--Maybe I am a little bit bias when it comes to Life Church but I truly believe that the word needs to get out about what God is doing here. 

--Many times when people come to our church and experience the presence of God…I hear them say…where have you guys been hiding all these years.

--I wonder why people have not heard or maybe they have just not been told by us…God help us! Let me just remind you of the questions we asked about a church you should connect to…

A. Does the church welcome the presence of God…do they welcome Holy Spirit to come?

B. Does the church give ample time to worship the Lord and to spend time with Him?

C. Does the church have time for prayer where you can petition God for your needs and also pray for others?

D. Does the church preach the Word of God?

E. Does the church, or more specific, the pastors, give an altar call?

F. Does the church attempt to fulfill the Great Commission thru Missions?

G. Does the church attempt to feed the poor?

H. Does the church operate with a benevolent heart?

I. Does the church have major outreaches to its own community?

J. Does the church provide a means for people to come who couldn’t come without it?

--Hear me…if we are the church that I have just laid out…shouldn’t people know…shouldn’t they have the opportunity to come…shouldn’t we be telling them?  Let me reiterate:

Romans 10:13-15 (NLT)
¹³  For “Everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved.”
¹⁴  But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?
¹⁵  And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!” 

--No one is going to hear about Jesus unless someone from LIFE Church tells them! No one will go and tell them unless they are sent. We are sending you into the harvest field to tell them.

--You are being commissioned by the LIFE Church leadership to go and we are providing a tool to help you!

LIFE Church shirts. Memorize this verse:

John 10:10 (NKJV) 

10  The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.          LIVING IN FREEDOM EVERY DAY

--Life Church is just one of many great churches in the area…it is all about people finding Jesus as Lord.

--You are being sent out by us to tell them about Jesus or at the least to invite them to LIFE Church where they can find Jesus…you add the prayer and you make the invitation.

--Let’s stop keeping the best kept secret from the people who need Him…the secret seems to be Jesus!

Let’s go!