Finish Strong

Youth Sunday. Once a year the Youth of FUMC lead the congregation in worship.

The message this week came through Ryan Travis, a senior at Jacksonville High School, who used Hebrews 12:1-2 for inspiration. [Read the passage now. Click the Scripture reference to read online.]

Ryan shared various experiences with finishing in the face of challenges and difficulty. His sister struggling with hurdles. Discouragements faced by Teen Net Team pursuing a goal. Rain leaving Church Under the Bridge without a praise band for a worship service. All reasons to quit.

An endless list of obstacles make us want to give up or become complacent in our faith. But this passage in Hebrews encourages endurance.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses,

let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, 

and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us...

Hebrews 12:1 ESV

And I wonder...

What witnesses encourage you?

Who, if you remembered they were watching, would encourage you to pick up the pace? [Think about it... write those names down. Consider putting them on an index card. Attach it to your bathroom mirror or your dashboard. Your own personal on-lookers to encourage you through the day.]

What weighs you down? 

Fear? Worry? Stress? [Record the things that feel weighty in your life. Discouragements. Identifying them is the first step in laying them aside. Take them to God in prayer (Philippians 4:6-7).]

What sin clings to you, trips you up?

Where do you keep falling? over and over? again and again? [Name it and claim it. Stop denying. Stop justifying. Confess and repent. In Christ you are forgiven and completely free from the power of sin in your life (Romans 8:1-4). Begin living like it. And when you fall... yet again. Fall into His grace. Get up. Confess. Repent. And begin again.]

Where do you find your ultimate encouragement?

...looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith...

Hebrews 2:12 ESV

Jesus. He's the one we are to keep our eyes on. He's the one who founded and perfects our faith. He is the ultimate Witness whose watchful eyes should provide the impetus to continue with diligence and passion. [Be sure He's on your list of witnesses.]

Lord, I want to run the race and finish strong. Remind me of the witnesses watching my faith-race each day. Bless me with the faith to set aside every weight that discourages and every sin that impedes. Keep my eyes focused on You.

Surrendered to the Word

This past Sunday, the first Sunday of Lent, pastor preached on Jesus's forty days in the wilderness.

Take time to read it now: Matthew 4:1-11. 
[No Bible? Click the Scripture reference above and read it online.]

Led by the Spirit, Jesus went into the wilderness to be tempted. There He fasted forty days and forty nights.

Rev. Stephenson told us Jesus's time of fasting, prayer, and meditation on Scripture prepared Him for battle.

Jesus turned the tempter away by the Word of God. 

And I see Jesus as one completely surrendered to the sovereignty of His Father in heaven.

Would you follow the leading of the Spirit into the wilderness for the sole purpose of being tempted by the devil?

It requires a great amount of trust to willingly enter a place of vulnerability. And how much faith does it take to trust God's complete control over all things seen and unseen?

I see Jesus surrendered to the Word. Each temptation countered with a truth from God's Word. And He trusted it. Surrendered to its power to sustain and fend off the enemy.

Surrendered.

surrender ...to yield to the power, control, or possession of another upon compulsion or demand... to give up completely or agree to forgo especially in favor of another... to give (oneself) up into the power of another especially as a prisoner... to give (oneself) over to something (as an influence)... to give oneself up into the power of another: yield...

--- Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (11th Ed.)

Here is where I see the power behind the Word of God.
Surrendered to His Sovereignty.
Surrendered to believing and obeying the Scripture in word and deed.
Surrendered to trusting the leading of the Holy Spirit even into suffering.

Pastor encouraged the congregation:

Immerse yourselves in Scripture... and apply them...

Immerse creates a very similar image to surrender. It means to plunge into something that surrounds or covers... engross... absorb.

The truth is, spiritually speaking, we currently live in a wilderness. We, much like the Israelites during the Exodus, have found ourselves free from the slavery of sin and death journeying to the Promised Land. We are not yet home and the journey is about learning to live in the freedom He has provided.

Let us learn from Jesus about fending off the tempter when he comes. (And he will come.) Immerse yourself in God's Word, beginning today. Obey the leading of the Spirit, even into a wilderness season or a call to suffer through fasting. Apply the Word through obedience to the best of your understanding and faith. Wherever you are right now.

Follow Jesus.

Surrender to the Sovereign Lord.

Surrender to the Word.

Listen to Him

Transfiguration Sunday established the text for the sermon: Matthew 17:1-9.

Take time to read it now. (Clicking the Scripture reference takes you to an online Bible, if you don't have one with you.)

Pastor began by asking a question:

How often do we really listen?

God calls us to listen to Jesus.

For us today, with Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father and not walking the earth with His disciples, listening to Him becomes a spiritual discipline.

We can only hear Him by the power of the Holy Spirit.

As far as I know, there are only two places to hear His voice: prayer and the Bible.

Practicing prayerful reading of the Scriptures is the best way to become familiar with hearing Him, which enables us to listen.

The biblical concept of listening includes responding to what you have heard. In the case of Jesus, doing what He tells you.

Too often we don't wait to listen, we just do what we think is best. Look at Peter in this passage. He received an incredible revelation and instead of watching, listening, waiting, he began to think what he could do...

"Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah."

Matthew 17:4 ESV

Peter was still speaking when the Father interrupted him... This is my beloved Son... listen to him.

Peter, the poster child for every follower intent on making a good impression and uncomfortable with revelation, was basically told... Stop... listen...

Maybe some of us need to stop doing. And listen.

Can you say that what you are currently doing to serve Jesus is what He called you to do? Or is it what you thought best?

Again I wonder... How often do we really listen?