Ps Darin Browne @ Ignite Christian Church

Ps Darin Browne - Heroes: Part 4

We’ve been looking at heroes from the book of Judges. Last week we met Jephthah, who went from zero to hero, but today’s judge went from hero to zero, then made a late comeback.  This hero he blew it. It’s a story of destiny lost, yet God used him despite himself. Lets take a fresh look at a story most of you would be familiar with: Samson.

 

Judges 13:1 (ESV Strong's)

And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, so the LORD gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.

 

Once again, Israel strayed and suffered the consequences of their sin, then the cried out to God. And God sent this amazing man who would really fit into the 21^st century world today. He was strong, charismatic and successful for a time, but his arrogance and self centred lifestyle caught up with him. Charisma without character leads to catastrophe! Greed, sex, power, infidelity, egomania, revenge, this story has it all in spades! This is Arnold Swartzenegger meets Jason Mamoah meets Jeffrey Epstein meets OJ Simpson, all in one man called Samson.

 

Samson was an ego maniac with dirty linen that would keep a laundromat going for a year. He was famous, larger than life, a he-man with a she-weakness. He was a hero, a freedom fighter, a troublemaker, a playboy and a miscreant.  Samson was dedicated to God before he was born, but never dedicated to God in His behaviour, a hero who blew it all by a never ending litany of bad choices. His story is amazing, but at the same time perplexing.

 

He should have been a godly man … but he wasn’t.
He shouldn’t have been in Hebrews 11 … but he was. So what went on here?

 

A GREAT START

 

Samson had the best of starts, better than almost any other Bible hero. I won’t read all the passages out, but let me highlight the advantages he had set up for him…

 

# 1 — His birth was announced by the angel of the Lord. (2-3)

# 2 — His mission in life was declared by God before he was born. (3-5)

Judges 13:5 (ESV Strong's)

for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines.”

 

Interestingly the Hebrew word for “begin” is HALAL, which means to bore in or open a wedge, but it also means to profane or pollute. Interesting, almost prophetic word.

# 3 — He was raised by godly parents. (8)

# 4 — He was blessed by God as a young man. (24)

# 5 — He was empowered by the Holy Spirit. (25)

Judges 13:24-25 (ESV Strong's)

And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the young man grew, and the LORD blessed him. And the Spirit of the LORD began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

 

No hero ever had so much going for him. Compare Samson to the other great heroes of the Bible. Which of them ever had advantages like this?

 

Which begs the question: Where did Samson go wrong? It can be summed up in one word… Selfishness.

 

WRONG PLACE, WRONG PEOPLE, WRONG DECISION

 

Samson displays a stunning ability to make ridiculously bad decisions, and he constantly flirted with and opened himself to ungodliness. He was supposed to be anointed and set apart to serve God as a Nazarite, but he only ever served himself. Today we would probably classify him as a a narcissistic psychopath.

 

Judges 14:2 (ESV Strong's)

Then he came up and told his father and mother, “I saw one of the daughters of the Philistines at Timnah. Now get her for me as my wife.”

 

He went to an enemy town, Timnah, not on a shopping trip or sightseeing tour, he went to check out the chicks. He saw an enemy girl, who looked sexy but was all wrong for him, and decided to lust after her, and so ordered, not asked,  his parents to get her for him. His parents rightly object,

 

Judges 14:3-4 (ESV Strong's)

But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me, for she is right in my eyes.”

His father and mother did not know that it was from the LORD, for he was seeking an opportunity against the Philistines. At that time the Philistines ruled over Israel.

 

Samson from the off was all about satisfying his own fleshly desires, particularly sexually, doing what was right in is own eyes. He went to the wrong place with the wrong intentions, to get him a wife from the wrong people. How many people today are prepared to throw away what is important for what is a temporary satisfaction of their flesh?  Money, sex, power, is all going to burn! How many sacrifice their homes, families, relationships with God, finances, etc for temporary LUST or satisfying temporary needs?

 

2 Corinthians 4:18 (ESV Strong's)

as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

 

SAM, YOU LITTLE FLIRT!

 

What we see in Samson is someone who loves to flirt with sin. Sometimes we are the same… We love the thrill of being close to the edge, then act all surprised when it sucks us in!

 

The Bible doesn’t command us to flirt with sin, it commands us to flee from it. Paul advises Timothy,

 

2 Timothy 2:22 (ESV Strong's)

So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

 

So many like Samson open the door to sin by a little seemingly innocent flirting. Humans gain a bazar satisfaction from dancing across the mouth of the lions cave.   A suggestive conversation, a shoulder to cry on, a connection here and there over a coffee and before long there’s that physical attraction. Then the affair.

 

The world says what you do is your business, and no one can tell you not to.

 If it feels good, do it. It says. But that’s not valid, you can’t rely on what feels ok or seems OK…

 

2 Corinthians 11:14-15 (ESV Strong's)

for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness.

 

Samson was empowered by God’s Spirit, but he wasn’t controlled by God’s Spirit!

 

1.      CONTROLLED BY SELFISHNESS

 

Samson was all about Samson, not God. God gave him strength, an incredible gift, and instead of using it to serve God and set his people free he used it for his own amusement, and to satisfy his own lusts.

 

I don’t have time to go through all of the exploits of Samson, but he constantly flirted with the Philistines. He amused himself by playing with fire. For example, Judges 14, he posed a riddle to them, and they couldn’t figure it out, so his Philistine wife whined and nagged him into revealing it…

 

Judges 14:16 (ESV Strong's)

And Samson's wife wept over him and said, “You only hate me; you do not love me. You have put a riddle to my people, and you have not told me what it is.”

 

She nags him, he tells her, she tells the people, so Samson loses his bet, and does his lolly and takes revenge.

 

Judges 14:19 (ESV Strong's)

And the Spirit of the LORD rushed upon him, and he went down to Ashkelon and struck down thirty men of the town and took their spoil and gave the garments to those who had told the riddle. In hot anger he went back to his father's house.

 

2.      CONTROLLED BY LUST

 

Samson had a real chink in his armour… He lusted after women. They played the manipulation game with him, and he played back, posing riddles and games, then exacting revenge if he didn’t win!

 

Samson was completely consumed by sex, much like most of our society. From car ads to movies, TV shows and porn, sex is luring millions of people, men and women, to their destruction, and we’re told it’s normal and even healthy!

 

After numerous liaisons with various women and often prostitutes, the Philistines recognised that Samson had a consuming problem… Lust. So the most famous part of Samson’s story involves a stunningly beautiful babe called Delilah.

 

Judges 16:5 (ESV Strong's)

And the lords of the Philistines came up to her and said to her, “Seduce him, and see where his great strength lies, and by what means we may overpower him, that we may bind him to humble him. And we will each give you 1,100 pieces of silver.”

 

3.      CONTROLLED BY ANGER AND REVENGE

 

So Samson played games and riddles with the enemy, and when thwarted by his own lusts, he doesn’t forgive he always seeks revenge.

 

Judges 15:7 (ESV Strong's)

And Samson said to them, “If this is what you do, I swear I will be avenged on you, and after that I will quit.”

 

They say, Revenge is a dish best served cold. Revenge is what drives so many world conflicts and wars, and revenge is a prison you place yourself into. If you’ve been wronged by someone, you face a choice… Forgive or resent. If you choose to hold onto Unforgiveness, if you seek revenge for what has been done to you, then you are slowly killing yourself.

 

And Big Sam only had himself to blame…

Samson married the girl. Samson made the riddle. Samson set the wager. Samson gave in to the girl’s nagging, Samson revealed the answer and Samson lost the bet, because of his own foolish behaviour. Then he blames the other guys and exacts revenge on innocent people.

 

How many of us make stupid mistakes, then blame God, when He never wanted that outcome for our lives?

 

Proverbs 19:3 (ESV Strong's)

When a man's folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the LORD.

 

Some here are still raging against God. Listen, don’t rage, repent! Until we stop blaming God we will never move into our destiny. We need to man up and take responsibility for our own foolish decisions, repent and come back to God.

 

 

DRIP, DRIP, DRIP

 

I remember visiting limestone caves, where huge pieces of limestone have been worn and shaped and formed by what? The constant, little drips of water. The Chinese water torture, where water is dripped onto the same place until it’s pounding through your head. That is how the Bible describes nagging…

 

Proverbs 27:15 (ESV Strong's)

A continual dripping on a rainy day and a quarrelsome wife are alike;

 

So Samson was set up and his weakness for women exploited by a paid Hooker called Delilah. She was beautiful, sex, flirty and more cunning than Samson, and she was more loyal to his enemies. By incessant and constant nagging, She found out that while God was the secret of his strength, his Nazarite vow of not cutting his hair represented this strength.

 

Judges 16:15-16 (ESV Strong's)

And she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when your heart is not with me? You have mocked me these three times, and you have not told me where your great strength lies.” And when she pressed him hard with her words day after day, and urged him, his soul was vexed to death. He was literally nagged to death. One guy I know said, my wife is an angel, she’s always harping on about something!

 

So he was nagged into revealing the truth by a woman he lusted after. How the early hopes for this man of God have faded, tainted by selfishness and sin.

 

Judges 16:20-21 (ESV Strong's)

And she said, “The Philistines are upon you, Samson!” And he awoke from his sleep and said, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the LORD had left him. And the Philistines seized him and gouged out his eyes and brought him down to Gaza and bound him with bronze shackles. And he ground at the mill in the prison.

 

GOING OUT WITH A BANG!

 

But God wasn’t done with Samson.

 

Judges 16:22 (ESV Strong's)

But the hair of his head began to grow again after it had been shaved.

 

As his strength returned, his masters unwittingly played into his hands. They called him out to gloat a a bug party, and Samson, blinded and oppressed, seized his last chance.

 

Judges 16:28 (ESV Strong's)

Then Samson called to the LORD and said, “O Lord GOD, please remember me and please strengthen me only this once, O God, that I may be avenged on the Philistines for my two eyes.”

 

Again, what’s the motivation? Revenge. Samson is still a selfish, vengeful, heavily flawed individual, but a old Jewish proverbs says, God can strike a big blow even with a crooked stick.

 

Judges 16:30 (ESV Strong's)

And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines.” Then he bowed with all his strength, and the house fell upon the lords and upon all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life.

 

DESTINY LOST

 

As I look at Samson, the one thing that stands out in this hero is a man full of promise, full of strength, full of God given gifts… Who lost his destiny because of selfish choices.

 

D L Moody once said, “The world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully consecrated to him. By God’s help, I aim to be that man.”

 

Samson was not that man. He had talent, had gifts, had opportunities to serve God but he chose to serve himself, and lost his destiny. I wonder how great a man he could have been had he been obedient.

 

Some listening to this message have blown it, just like Samson. You had promise, you had chances to do something great, but because of foolish decisions you blew it. You might have married the wrong person, you might have done the wrong thing, and all that potential just slipped through your fingers. Samson was given chances time and time again, but he refused to change his selfish, self serving ways.

 

This needs to be a lesson to us! All the talent, all the gifts, all the opportunities given to us amount to nothing if we miss God’s will for our lives. But it doesn’t have to be that way. There’s still time, whatever your history, whatever you’ve done, there’s time for you to repent and regain your destiny.

 

Samson represents destiny lost, but this morning God stands with open arms saying, Come, and experience destiny rediscovered. He says,

 

Matthew 6:33 (ESV Strong's)

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

 

Samson thought he was free to do what he wanted, but he was in bondage to his own uncontrolled emotions. He couldn’t face the truth. We can be like that. Jesus said

 

John 8:32 (ESV Strong's)

and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

 

As one counsellor added, the truth will set you free, but it will hurt you first. Most of us know the truth, we hear it preached and taught and read it in God’s Word. It’s not that we don’t know the truth, it’s that it hurts sometimes to confront it, and to obey it, and to live it. But the rewards for obedience are worth the pain.

 

“The world has yet to see what God can do with a man fully consecrated to him. By God’s help, I aim to be that man.”

Ps Darin Browne - Heroes Part 3

We’ve been looking at some of the heroes of the book of Judges, and in an hour in our nation where the world is seeing ordinary people as heroes, I think there are lessons we can learn to help us become heroes in our generation too.

 

So today I want to look at a social reject who became a hero… JEPHTHAH. And after the latest cycle of sin oppression and repentance in Israel, they needed a hero.

 

His is a classic story of someone who goes from hero to zero, from rags to riches.

 

Oprah Winfrey, Mark Wahlberg, Leonardo Di Capri born in tough gang neighbourhoods, Haley Berry lived in a shelter, Ed Sherwin slept on a friend’s couch.

 

FAMILY TIES?

 

It has long been a habit of people trying to insult each other to infer infidelity in the others mother. Well, in Jephthah’s case it was true. His birth was the result of an illegal liaison between his reputable father and a disreputable prostitute. Poor JEPHTHAH, he couldn’t choose his mother, or his family, but he suffered for it.

 

Some of you listening to this feel that way. Maybe you were born to a single mum, or had dad walk out on you. Perhaps your family is blended family and you’re the black sheep or the reject. Maybe yours was the poor family and others rejected you for that.

 

For JEPHTHAH  his half brothers, the ones born legitimately, hated him…

 

Judges 11:2-3 (ESV Strong's)

And Gilead's wife also bore him sons. And when his wife's sons grew up, they drove Jephthah out and said to him, “You shall not have an inheritance in our father's house, for you are the son of another woman.” Then Jephthah fled from his brothers and lived in the land of Tob, and worthless fellows collected around Jephthah and went out with him.

 

JEPHTHAH was a reject.

 

Kids can be cruel (Is they your real face, or did your neck just throw up). But adults can be even crueler when money and inheritance is involved. This kid was a public disgrace, to the family and the entire town, so they drove him out of town, and he found a home among a bunch of other misfits, because bird of a feather flock together.

 

And somehow in all that JEPHTHAH managed to mould the rejects into a formidable fighting force.

 

Most kids who run away from home congregate with other rejects. They may be worthless fellows, but at least I’m part of a motley crew that loves me for who I am! Brothers and sister, the church should be such a motley crew, loving the rejects and misfits and giving them a family. If you have felt rejected elsewhere, you can find a home here at Ignite.

 

Listen, if you have faced rejection in your life, God knows how you feel. In fact, Jesus faced His own Father turning away from Him as He bore our sins on the cross. If you’ve been rejected by people who should have loved and accepted you,

 

Hebrews 13:5-6 (ESV Strong's)

Jesus has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we can confidently say,

“The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?”

 

If you’ve felt the rejection of men’s tongues, then JEPHTHAH has a lesson for you.

 

THE TABLES TURNED

 

Judges 11:5-6 (ESV Strong's)

And when the Ammonites made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead went to bring Jephthah from the land of Tob. And they said to Jephthah, “Come and be our leader, that we may fight against the Ammonites.”

 

When faced with a national crisis, the city panicked and they turned to the best fighters around, who sadly for them were led by none other than the harlot’s son.

 

Time for a healthy slice of humble pie. And JEPHTHAH was not about to let them forget it….

 

Judges 11:7-9 (ESV Strong's)

But Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “Did you not hate me and drive me out of my father's house? Why have you come to me now when you are in distress?” And the elders of Gilead said to Jephthah, “That is why we have turned to you now, that you may go with us and fight against the Ammonites and be our head over all the inhabitants of Gilead.” Jephthah said to the elders of Gilead, “If you bring me home again to fight against the Ammonites, and the LORD gives them over to me, I will be your head.”

 

If he can rescue the people, then he will become their judge. It’s a zero to hero story, rags to riches, rejection to election. So the only problem now is winning the fight!

 

FIGHTING SMART

 

There’s fighting, and there’s fighting smart. I remember watching Mohamed Ali fighting. In 1974, his famous “Rumble in the Jungle” fight with George Foreman, he introduced a tactic of wearing the opposition out by having them throw ineffective punch after punch, before turning and finishing them off. It was called “Rope a dope,” and Ali won using this tactic.

 

JEPHTHAH tactic was to negotiate, not just charge into action. He would talk, negotiate, reason, and when all else failed, strike and strike hard.

 

Judges 11:12 (ESV Strong's)

Then Jephthah sent messengers to the king of the Ammonites and said, “What do you have against me, that you have come to me to fight against my land?”

 

The opposition said the Israelites had stolen their land, and JEPHTHAH countered with a history lesson debunking what was a commonly held misbelief in Ammon.

 

We face the same today. People don’t check facts, they just argue on Facebook and attack those who disagree. They throw their brains away, saying my mind is made up, don’t confuse me with facts, and they follow the crowd, blindly but faithfully.

 

John 8:32 (ESV Strong's)

and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

 

So JEPHTHAH tried negotiation, explaining truths and discussing claims, but to no avail, so he led his troops to war!

 

Judges 11:27-28 (ESV Strong's)

I therefore have not sinned against you, and you do me wrong by making war on me. The LORD, the Judge, decide this day between the people of Israel and the people of Ammon.” But the king of the Ammonites did not listen to the words of Jephthah that he sent to him.

 

CAREFUL WHAT YOU VOW

 

JEPHTHAH, desperate for victory, made a foolish vow.

 

In JEPHTHAH day, a vow to God was considered a very serious thing, and not to be broken. Today vows, even to God Himself, seem to be throw away. People make wedding vows, then break up if it happens to suit them, or if they change their mind or fall out of love or find someone better.

 

When I promised God I would love, honour and cherish Fiona as my wife, I considered that a promise to God, not to be broken. And in any difficulty we have had in marriage, divorce was never on the table.

 

Someone asked Fiona if she’d ever thought of divorce, and I was so happy she replied, “Divorce… No, I’ve never thought of it… I’ve thought or murder plenty of times!”

 

So JEPHTHAH makes a rash and foolish vow…

 

Judges 11:31 (ESV Strong's)

then whatever comes out from the doors of my house to meet me when I return in peace from the Ammonites shall be the LORD'S, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.”

 

But, if you know the story, you will know the tragedy he brought on himself after he won victory…

 

Judges 11:34 (ESV Strong's)

Then Jephthah came to his home at Mizpah. And behold, his daughter came out to meet him with tambourines and with dances. She was his only child; besides her he had neither son nor daughter.

 

God had empowered JEPHTHAH by His Spirit, and destined him to victory. There was no need of such a rash vow. It was stupid and impulsive, but

 

Judges 11:35 (ESV Strong's)

And as soon as he saw her, he tore his clothes and said, “Alas, my daughter! You have brought me very low, and you have become the cause of great trouble to me. For I have opened my mouth to the LORD, and I cannot take back my vow.”

 

Human sacrifice was forbidden under Jewish law, and God would never have granted victory based on such wickedness.

 

Most commentators believe he didn’t murder his beloved daughter, but she became dedicated to the temple, and would therefore never marry or bear children... His genealogy finished with her.

 

It was a sad and unnecessary end to this rags to riches story.

 

JEPHTHAH… FROM ZERO TO HERO

 

The main lesson I want to draw from this story is this - We may come from very difficult and painful circumstances…. circumstances that no one should have to go through it seems. We might be rejected by our families or others about us. We may be told, whether in words and/or actions, that we are worthless rejects.

 

But, God has a way of taking those whom people reject and making something of them.

 

Something beautiful, something good, all my confusion He understood. All I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife, but He made something beautiful of my life!

 

When others do not love and accept us, God loves us and accepts us as His own. In God’s eyes, everyone has worth… Every life matters!  We may feel like outcasts, but we can be assured that God loves us. Thousands are protesting that black lives matter, but in God all lives matter!

 

Jephthah’s life teaches us that we can rise above our circumstances.

 

When we feel shattered, forsaken and lacking, we learn that the approval of others isn’t what keeps us going—we need first and foremost God’s approval to achieve true success in life. Jephthah finally gained the respect of his family…but first, he had to believe in God and in himself. He had to believe that God had a destiny for him that went beyond his being the son of a harlot!

 

What is in your past? What pain holds you back from God’s destiny in your life? Is it something your parents said or did, is it someone you let down? Maybe it’s a broken vow, a divorce, maybe it’s a sin you can never shake, that makes you think you’re worthless and will never amount to much.

 

JEPHTHAH stands as testimony to God’s power to make something out of seemingly nothing. Whatever sin, whatever pain, whatever hurt you carry, it’s time to lay it aside and trust God for your future.

 

THE TIME IS NOW

 

In this pandemic time, the church has been forced to abandon services. We should have just protested and we’d be able to have as many as we want at church!

 

But I believe that after the restrictions lift, God is going to open unique and incredible opportunities, some never seen before. Why can’t He raise you up to new and unique ministries, why can’t  He use you to impact lives like never before? Now is the time to clear the decks, to let the past be past at last and to step up into greatness, to become the person God has called you to be!

 

And don’t put this off. The moment is here. With God’s help, we can learn to heal the pain of the past. The past doesn’t have to weigh us down. With God, we can become winners in a big way…just like Jephthah.

 

2 Corinthians 6:2 (ESV Strong's)

Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

 

CS Lewis said, “Getting over a painful past is much like crossing monkey bars. You have to let go at some point in order to move forward.”

 

Let go of your past, and look ahead towards the Lord this morning. Give Him your life, He can do more with it than you can.

 

Isaiah 43:18-19 (ESV Strong's)

“Remember not the former things,

nor consider the things of old.

Behold, I am doing a new thing;

now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness

and rivers in the desert.

 

At this pivotal time in history, heroes will be made, and greatness will be birthed in the heart of many whom life had previously written off.

 

And God wants you to be that one. Pray with me now, let’s leave he past behind. It’s time to Let go of the past so that God can open the door to your future.

Ps Darin Browne - Heroes Part 2

Ps Darin Browne - Heroes Part 1

Today we live our heroes, on the sporting field, in politics and in movies. I was watching TV recently and saw an ad with a montage of the various stars of  Discovery channel shows and they start to applaud and when the shots pull back they are applauding doctors, nurses and first responders in this pandemic.

 

Suddenly we see the fact that real heroes are very often ordinary people who, through adverse circumstances, rise to do extraordinary things. Today want to examine the life of an ordinary, discouraged, oppressed even timid guy who became a judge, a leader and a conqueror. His name is Gideon.

 

SIX LESSONS ON FAITH FROM A FAITHLESS GUY

 

In Judges, we see the cycle of the nation of Israel’s fortunes. They rebel against God, God allows Adversity and oppression, in their pain they cry out to God, and God in His love sends a hero to rescue them. They repent, then fall away again and the whole cycle continues. Maybe this is how your life looks?

 

That’s where we meet an ordinary guy called Gideon, who has something to teach us about faith. He’s as oppressed and scared as the next guy with his situation, not an impressive hero at all, and I for one relate to that!

 

1.      GOD USES TOUGH TIMES TO GET OUR ATTENTION

 

This pandemic has driven some people away from God, and some of us towards Him. Either way, for the first time in a long time, He has our attention. People are not thinking about cars, houses, things, football or food, they are thinking about life, family and what really is important in this world.

 

But the end of Judges 5, we find the nation at peace, at ease and, as often happens, complacent and apathetic about God… Many of us just a few months ago. They had it all, and as it tends to happen to us all in such times, Israel forgot God. They became self-sufficient. They didn't need God.

 

So the Lord thought He’d shake things up a bit by rousing an enemy against them to show them how hard life can be without Him.

 

Judges 6:1-2 (ESV Strong's)

The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD gave them into the hand of Midian seven years. And the hand of Midian overpowered Israel, and because of Midian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens that are in the mountains and the caves and the strongholds.

 

So God sends these evil Midianites to oppress them for 7 years. The Midianites were a terrifying and warmongering tribe who raided and stole all the produce on the land, forcing the Israelites to live in fear and even retreat to caves to survive. And although these Israelites had largely forgotten God, and were back into idolatry by this stage worshipping Baal, in a pinch they turned back to the true God…

 

7 years, you might ask why they waited so long to turn back to the Lord? Because they're a lot like us - they waited until every other possible option played out and they couldn't take it any longer.

 

Judges 6:6 (ESV Strong's)

And Israel was brought very low because of Midian. And the people of Israel cried out for help to the LORD.

 

How many times have hard circumstances come to us, and we never stop to ask what God is planning for us in those circumstances? Instead we hold out, thinking that we can handle it on our own. Learn this from Gideon: every experience in life is a test. And every trial in the lives of God's people is tailored to draw us closer to God, and grow faith in our hearts.

 

Here's the point: When tough times come, instead of looking at them as if God is punishing you, instead of whining and complaining about how tough life is, try to see them as God's gift of grace. A test, even a blessing to grow your faith.

 

C.S. Lewis said it like this, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains. It's His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

 

Right now God is shouting to a unbelieving world, and to us who are Christians, and we need to hear Him and respond by turning to Him.

 

Hebrews 12:11-12 (ESV Strong's)

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees,

 

2.      GOD’S VIEW IS BIGGER THAN OURS

 

God sees far more than we do, and He is waiting for us to turn to Him. He sends an unknown prophet to call the people back to repentance, then He raises up an unknown and unlikely hero, called Gideon.

 

Gideon’s name actually means, “One who cuts down tress and destroys stuff,” But he was anything but that! He was frustrated, timid and scared.

 

Judges 6:11 (ESV Strong's)

Now the angel of the LORD came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites.

 

Winnowing wheat should be done in a breezy area, not a hole in the ground. But so scared were the Israelites of Midian they resorted to compromise. And the angel of God, with ironic humour, says this…

 

Judges 6:12 (ESV Strong's)

And the angel of the LORD appeared to him and said to him, “The LORD is with you, O mighty man of valor.”

 

God sees things inside us when we cannot. Here’s Gideon, threshing in a wine press, and he is greeted not as who he sees himself as, but as who God sees him becoming!

 

One of the biggest lies the devil sells us is that God only uses special people. If you are a born-again believer, you are God's child, royalty, a prince or a princes, and God says He has plans to prosper you. He says you are His workmanship, His masterpiece, and He is out there preparing opportunities for you to become the mighty man or woman of God you are destined to be!

 

Ephesians 2:10 (ESV Strong's)

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

 

God sees not who you are right now, but who you can become in Him.

 

3.      GOD CONFIRMS HIS PRIORITIES WITH HIS PRESENCE

 

Gideon felt like God had long abandoned them…

 

Judges 6:13 (ESV Strong's)

And Gideon said to him, “Please, my Lord, if the LORD is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the LORD bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the LORD has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.”

 

Some of you feel like that right now. Isolated, lonely, socially distanced, many feel disconnected from the church, and from God. Gideon felt like that. It’s ok to feel like that, it’s just not ok to stay there. God looked him full in the face,

 

Judges 6:14 (ESV Strong's)

And the LORD turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from the hand of Midian; do not I send you?”

 

Gideon then throws up his upbringing.

 

Judges 6:15 (ESV Strong's)

And he said to him, “Please, Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father's house.”

 

Listen, whatever your family, your background, your failures or your past, destiny is determined not by circumstances, but by choices. If the devil tries to remind you of your past, try reminding him of his future! God’s reply was

 

Judges 6:16 (ESV Strong's)

And the LORD said to him, “But I will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”

 

When God calls you, He empowers you and even better, He walks the road with you. You are never alone. People ask where is God in all this COVID stuff, and I tell them I know where He is… Right here with me, walking the road!

 

God confirms His priorities with His presence. He says, I will be with you, and He doesn’t lie…

 

Numbers 23:19 (ESV Strong's)

God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind.

Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfil it?

 

But Gideons lack of faith began to shine through in his next words…

 

Judges 6:17 (ESV Strong's)

And he said to him, “If now I have found favor in your eyes, then show me a sign that it is you who speak with me.

 

Many of us are like this, we doubt the promises of God. Gideon is talking directly to God, and has nothing but doubts and excuses. Here’s the thing… God didn’t zap him! God loved him, and showed grace by slowly building his faith. But once built, Gideon needed a test to prove to himself that God can use him to rescue his people.

 

4.      PERSONAL FAITH PRECEDES PUBLIC USEFULNESS

 

How could Gideon leads his people to victory when his own family were idolators. God isn’t God to Gideon’s people, Baal was!

 

So the first assignment from the Lord was to take his dad's prized bull and tear down the idols. Then, Gideon was to sacrifice said bull using the wood from the destroyed idol. Gideon did it, passed the test and kicked up a huge storm of reaction.

 

Why would this detail be in the Bible? To show us that, if we want to become great for God, we must first set our own house in order.

 

Before God can use you mightily, He must be magnified in your own life, in your own home. Private faith prepares us for public power from God, and there are no short cuts… Holiness is holiness.

 

Judges 6:27 (ESV Strong's)

So Gideon took ten men of his servants and did as the LORD had told him. But because he was too afraid of his family and the men of the town to do it by day, he did it by night.

 

So there was still fear, but he stepped out and did it, scared or not. So is there anything you've been holding on to? Is there any sin that you're clinging to? Knock down your idols today. Confess your sin. Deal with it and return to full obedience to God and the God will use you to impact the world!

 

Will it stir things up when you do this? You bet, but God will honour those who honour Him! It happened for Gideon, and even his idolatrous father Joash began to change and stand up for his son and the Lord.

 

Judges 6:31 (ESV Strong's)

But Joash said to all who stood against him, “Will you contend for Baal? Or will you save him? If he is a god, let him contend for himself, because his altar has been broken down.”

 

5.      GOD IS PATIENT WITH OUR FAITH

 

Now despite Gideon being touted in Hebrews as a hero of the faith, his story shows anything but a hero for a long time.  He passed the personal test of faith, and now people rallied to the cause of fighting Midianites, 32,000.

 

Judges 6:34 (ESV Strong's)

But the Spirit of the LORD clothed Gideon, and he sounded the trumpet, and the Abiezrites were called out to follow him.

 

If this were a movie, he’d come up with a rousing speech, “We will fight them on the fields, on the ground, in the mountains, this is our finest hour, this is our Independence Day. But no, Gideon was busy doubting.

 

I’m like that as a pastor. You’re called, God has anointed you, but some days your faith just has the wind sucked out of it. It only takes a few words of criticism, a questioning glance, and suddenly you doubt that God’s even called you at all.

 

Even after his encounter with Almighty God, even though he had been obedient to clean shop at home, and even though the Holy Spirit was empowering him, Gideon still struggled with doubts. He knows that God has promised to save Israel through him, but he's looking in the mirror and the reflection he sees doesn't look encouraging.

 

God still doesn’t zap him. God doesn’t even chastise him for lack of faith. God loves him, and extends grace to him and meets his bizaar request about fleeces.

 

Judges 6:37-38 (ESV Strong's)

behold, I am laying a fleece of wool on the threshing floor. If there is dew on the fleece alone, and it is dry on all the ground, then I shall know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you have said.” And it was so. When he rose early next morning and squeezed the fleece, he wrung enough dew from the fleece to fill a bowl with water.

 

A fleece is not faith, but it is faith building. Faithful people don’t need to put out a fleece, but sometimes some of us do.

 

Great… Fleece put out, God comes through, I’m ready to go Lord! Oops, maybe not…

 

Judges 6:39 (ESV Strong's)

Then Gideon said to God, “Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.”

 

Again God does it to prove He is with him in power.  I love how loving, tender, and patient God is with us. Gideon is making a deal with God. He wants a confirming sign. I bet most of us are no different.

 

Why did God bother? Why not just say, I’ve had enough of your doubting attitude Gideon, I’m going to empower Joshua down the road instead of you.  That’s how we think God is with us, but when we genuinely have doubts, God loves us enough to persist… Not forever, but until our faith is stronger.

 

Our Lord was developing this man into a fully invested man of faith, matching each doubt with a kind reassurance. God will show you the same patience as well as you seek His face, dealing with each of your fears to grow you into a man or woman of God.

 

6.      VICTORY IS OBTAINED BY GOD’S POWER, NOT OURS

 

Gideon is good to go, it’s game on, and he heads off to war with his 32,000, knowing God is empowering him. But God has other plans. We think we know  best, we have ideas and opinions, but sometimes God just trumps them.

 

Judges 7:2-3 (ESV Strong's)

The LORD said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’ Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained.

 

Brilliant God, just chop our numbers by 2/3. Why? Because God doesn’t want us to take the glory for ourselves, thinking we did it all! And God knows us so  well. Pastors think they are great because they have a big church. Business people who are successful praise their skills and hard work. Families where kids turn out good praise their parenting. Yes, our actions and abilities influence it, but no matter how good we think we are, it is all, every bit of it, a blessing from the Lord.

 

James 1:17 (ESV Strong's)

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

 

BUT WAIT, THERE’S MORE!

 

Only 10,000, but still God says that’s too many. Really God? Yes, He culls the army down by 9,700 men who stoop to drink from a river, leaving only those 300 who lapped water from their hands. Now God’s happy, and Gideons faith is stretched but holds…

 

Judges 7:7 (ESV Strong's)

And the LORD said to Gideon, “With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.”

 

God does this to us as He builds our faith. Little by little He teaches you to rely solely on Him. Ignite Church is scattered and stretched in this COVID time. My faith is stretched, and trying to restart live church is scary. It’s an unknown, and perhaps God is stripping us back to teach us to trust Him more. Jesus said,

 

 Luke 18:27 (ESV Strong's)

But he said, “What is impossible with man is possible with God.”

 

God created an impossible situation of human weakness to exalt His own strength. This is His specialty!

 

Accomplishing God's purposes is not determined by the bottom line on a finance sheet, or the size of our congregation, or the efficiency of our plans, or our skills, talents or determination. We need to attend to all those things, sure.

 

But the truth is, God is looking to glorify Himself on earth through people who are fully dependent on Him, who believe He is with them and are ready to charge the enemy in the name of the Lord!

 

God doesn't need a majority vote from us on this. He doesn't need us at all. But He loves us so much He invites us to join Him in doing His will. When we do, we reap the blessing and He gets the glory. D. L Moody said: "Give me ten men who fear nothing but sin and love nothing but God, and I shall change the world."

 

So Gideon led the 300 out with trumpets, torches, and jars to meet the crazy killers. God sent confusion into the ranks of the enemy so that they began attacking each other. When it was over, 120,000 Midianites had killed one another and the other 15,000 fled. God had answered Israel's prayers, and He did it all using a fearful, normal bloke who decided to trust God.

 

SO WHAT ABOUT US?

 

Gideon shows us that you don’t have to be a super Spiro to be used by God. You don’t need a Bible degree, a ton of money or extreme talent.

 

God uses ordinary people to do extraordinary things, and in this extraordinary time, I believe God wants to use you. You don’t need anything special, just a heart for God, a phone, a Facebook account and it also helps to have a church who believes in you.

 

But you need 2 things… A heart devoted to God, and I mean really devoted, not just “Hey God, can you get me this,” But, “I’ll serve with everything I have no matter what.” And the second thing you need is faith, faith to step out and believe God, faith to stand when others fall, faith no matter if you get what you want or not.

 

I know many of you watching want to be used by God. Maybe you struggle with faith. Pray with me and let’s commit ourselves to the Lord to use us as a church over the next many months to shine God’s love.

 

Ps Darin Browne - Reset 5

I’ve been sharing a series on resetting your life in this Corona virus period. We’ve looked at resetting faith and Holiness, priorities and love, and today I want to round it out by looking ahead. How can you reset your destiny?

 

People talk about destiny like it is an external force that moves onto your life, but that is simply not true. Destiny can be influenced by circumstances, but it is not determined by them. Destiny is determined by choices.

 

God has a destiny for every one of us, but the truth is that in the hustle and bustle of life, through the changes and decisions we face, most of us lose this destiny to a large degree. This unusual time in history is the perfect moment to reset your destiny.

 

Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV Strong's)

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

 

So rather than trusting circumstances, or swallowing whatever life hands you, let’s pause right now and choose to trust the Lord who said He has plans fit you, to prosper you and give you hope…

 

Prayer… Lord, I choose to take my eyes off circumstances, off my past, my upbringing, my failures, my pain and what everyone says I should be, and I place my eyes on You, my Creator, my my Sustainer and my Lord! Lord I seek Your destiny for my life.

 

YOU HAVE A DESTINY

 

You are not an accident. You are not a mistake. God has a destiny for you, with all your hang ups, screw ups, handicaps, challenges and fears. God has a plan, and you’re it! God told Jeremiah,

 

Jeremiah 1:5 (ESV Strong's)

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

and before you were born I consecrated you;

I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

 

You may look at yourself and see failure. You might see a rough start in life, a disability, fears, lack of self esteem or lack of opportunity, but I’m telling God has a plan and a destiny for you. It’s been established from before you were born, and this destiny involves you conforming to the image of His Son.

 

Romans 8:29 (ESV Strong's)

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

 

So what does discovering your destiny depend on? Here’s 7 things…

 

1.      DESTINY DEPENDS ON IDENTITY

 

A key step in discovering your God ordained destiny is to know who you are, your identity.

 

Prince Harry caused such controversy because he married an actress, moved away from England and has forsaken his duties and his destiny as a prince. It was just assumed that he would act a certain way and follow a certain destiny because he was who he was, but he decided no. His identity dictated his destiny, until his choices changed it.

 

So, who are you really? What’s your identity, and hence your destiny?

 

1 Peter 2:9 (ESV Strong's)

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.

 

We are a royal priesthood, and we need to live like it, and move towards our royal destiny, and maybe avoid marrying an actress.

 

2.      DESTINY TAKES FAITH

 

God has a plan and a destiny for you, but you play a huge part in it. To follow your destiny takes courage and faith.

 

Hebrews 11:1 (ESV Strong's)

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

 

It takes faith to move towards a destiny you cannot see, but if you keep reading Hebrews 11 you will read about the many Bible heroes who moved into their destinies, by faith.

 

Hebrews 11:8 (ESV Strong's)

By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going.

 

Discovering your destiny takes faith, because God generally doesn’t reveal your full destiny, he asks you to trust Him for each step. Destiny requires faith for every step.

 

3.      DESTINY COSTS YOU

 

And destiny costs you. Moving into your destiny isn't a cruise through a comfortable life, it’s you stepping out in faith and it costs you. Every decision costs something, time, effort, money or lost opportunity.

 

Galatians 6:7-8 (ESV Strong's)

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

 

Anything worthwhile costs you. The question is, are you willing to pay the price? Whatever you decide, you will reap what you sow, more than you sow and later than you sow. God has a destiny, but will you pay the cost even up to your very life?

 

4.      DESTINY IS DETERMINED BY GOD

 

You cannot pick what you want, you need to trust God to do what He wants.

 

Ephesians 1:11 (ESV Strong's)

In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,

 

I’m sick of people telling God what He needs to do for them. What right do we have to order the God who created the universe around? Surely we should trust Him that His will for us is best, because He created us, knows us and…

 

Romans 8:28 (ESV Strong's)

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.

 

God arranges and works all things to bring about our destiny and His good purpose.

 

Ephesians 2:10 (ESV Strong's)

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

 

 

5.      YOUR DESTINY IS NOT FOR YOU ALONE

 

Your destiny is not for you alone, because others around you bear the consequences too, good or bad. When God called Abram he said,

 

Genesis 12:2-3 (ESV Strong's)

And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonours you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

 

Your choices, good or bad, affect others around you, and generations to come. So decide now to choose God’s way, not just for your sake, but for the people you love and your children, and their children and their children!

 

6.      DESTINY CAN BE LOST OR FOUND

 

Destiny is not set, written in stone, it is not immutable. Fulfilling your destiny depends on you and your obedience.

 

Sadly the Bible has many stories of people with great destinies, great potential, which they lost because of their disobedience.

 

King Saul was Israel’s first king. He was tall, handsome and initially successful. At first he was obedient, but then he repeatedly disobeyed, culminating in his not waiting for God, and disobeying God’s direct order. God had had enough.

 

1 Samuel 15:22-23 (ESV Strong's)

And Samuel said,

“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,

as in obeying the voice of the LORD?

Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,

and to listen than the fat of rams.

For rebellion is as the sin of divination,

and presumption is as iniquity and idolatry.

Because you have rejected the word of the LORD,

he has also rejected you from being king.”

 

Samson in Judges 13-16, was full of strength, anointed of God, powerful, strong, but continually made bad decisions regarding women. Eventually he went too far with a chick called Delilah, and when his hair was cut, he was weakened, captured and enslaved. He lost his destiny.

 

King Uzziah, King  Hezekiah,

 

Solomon, the wisest man ever lost his destiny towards the end of his life when his foreign wives turned his head…

 

1 Kings 11:4 (ESV Strong's)

For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.

 

So many people of faith lose their destiny. I bet many of you have lost your destiny too. You once had such potential, you once stepped out in faith for God, you had a dream of serving Jesus and making a difference, and knew He had a great destiny for you but somewhere along the way you’ve lost it.

 

This reset is your opportunity to get it back.

 

7.      YOUR DESTINY DEPENDS ON YOUR CHOICES

 

You see, ultimately your destiny depends not on circumstances but on your choices. I meet people all the time who blame God for their lot in life, when they have never been obedient to His Word. Your choices carry destiny within them, and not just for you but for generations to come…

 

Deuteronomy 30:19 (ESV Strong's)

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,

 

I see it all the time, people who turn away from God and their kids follow suit. If you truly love your kids, make God honouring choices and lead them to Him.

 

If you refuse to obey God, why should He bother leading you into the awesome destiny He has planned for you.

 

NOW IS THE PERFECT TIME TO RESET YOUR DESTINY

 

Sometimes it takes a seismic event to shake your life  to help you see the truth. Sometimes it takes a catastrophic event to make you consider things bigger than or beyond what’s right in front of you.

 

This can happen in your life with a death, a divorce, a financial loss or church split, all of which are painful, but they get your attention.

 

The world wide corona virus pandemic is such a seismic event, so this is one of the greatest opportunities you have to discover, or discover again your destiny.

 

You’re never too old or too young. Whatever you’ve done in the past, this can be your moment to regain the destiny, the potential that was once there. God has a destiny for you, and it’s time to get back on track.

 

Ephesians 4:22-24 (ESV Strong's)

to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

 

This is your moment. Ignite can help you regain your destiny, because we believe everybody has a unique and wonderful destiny. But we are just servants, God holds your destiny, and if you turn and repent right now you can and will rediscover your destiny.

 

Psalms 138:8 (ESV Strong's)

The LORD will fulfil his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O LORD, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands.

 

REACH OUT TO HIM NOW

 

God hasn’t forsaken you and He has plans for your life, as we saw at the beginning of this message,

 

Jeremiah 29:11 (ESV Strong's)

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

 

Those words were written to a generations of exiles, torn from their homes, loved ones killed or separated from them. They were slaves, without freedom, without money or wealth and without hope. But God said He had plans to prosper them, and give them a future.

 

He says the same to you right now!

 

Pray for your destiny

Ask Him to reveal the next step

Pledge to be obedient

Ps Darin Browne - Reset: Part 4

Ps Darin Browne - Mother's Day

Welcome to the craziest Mothers Day ever, set as it were against the background of the corona virus. You can’t see your mum, or touch your mum, but you can zoom her, FaceTime her, Skype her and even telephone her.

 

I even heard that babies born in this year, in 13 years time will not be called generation X,  Y, Z, etc, but quaran-teens.

 

Today we celebrate mothers. Becoming a mother is a biological process, and it takes only a moment. Being a mother is not so easy, because it is a lifelong commitment for which there is no preparation, no training and often very little help.

 

One woman’s said, “Before I got married I had 3 theories on how to raise children. Now I have 3 children, and no theories!”

 

Exodus 20:12 (ESV Strong's)

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

 

So today, although we cannot be physically together, I want to honour the mothers here, and give you a virtual COVID 19 hug.

 

Being a great mum is a calling, and God has great plans for you mums. They say, The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world. What that means is that mums have a disproportionate and amazing influence on their children, their grandchildren, and hence the whole of society.

 

2 Timothy 1:5 (ESV Strong's)

I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. What w3 deposit with our children and grandchildren lives forever.

MOTHERHOOD- OVERVALUED BUT UNDERPAID

 

Men, you go out to work and expect to get paid for a job well done. Motherhood has been jointly described as the world’s most underpaid job, or the most highly paid job if you count love and goodwill instead of just money…

 

Salary.com conducted a survey in 2010 that attempted to place a monetary value on the work of a stay-at-home mom. They determined that if mothers were to be paid for their ten most common tasks in the home (including cleaner, janitor, taxi driver, computer operator, housekeeper, teacher, cook, chief executive officer, psychologist, and facilities manager) they would be paid over $120,000 per annum, much of it overtime.

Milton Berle once quipped, “If evolution is real,  how come mothers only have 2 hands!”

To every mum today, God has given you an unique calling… You are…

1. GROWER

 

Psalms 127:3 (ESV Strong's)

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.

 

Mums, you have given birth to and nurtured your children, some fairly recently, some a long time ago. As a grower, you get to see them grow from a tiny baby into mature, and sometimes not so mature, adults.

 

Yours is the great challenge, and the great joy of seeing potential realised. But the challenge is, while you may have dreams of what you’re growing, you don’t actually know what you’re growing! If a farmer plants wheat, he gets wheat. If he plants corn, he doesn’t get cucumbers, he gets corn.

 

But mums, you could be growing a prime minister, or a doctor, or a pastor, or another mum, or you could be growing C criminal, a drug dealer or possibly even worse, a politician. You have no idea, right? For this you have to trust God and obey His directions, and when you do you need to trust Him for the fruit of your labours.

 

1. TEACHER

 

As many of you have found out, in this Corona virus pandemic, you’ve all suddenly been elected teachers! But mum, you’ve always been a teacher…

 

Proverbs 1:8 (ESV Strong's)

Hear, my son, your father's instruction, and forsake not your mother's teaching,

 

At the other end of proverbs, the excellent, praiseworthy wife is describes like this…

 

Proverbs 31:26 (ESV Strong's)

She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

 

So mums, we honour you today for your teaching, and pearls of wisdom, like…

 

Silence is golden, unless you have kids… Then it’s suspicious

Parenting tip- If you don’t know where your kids are in the house, turn off the internet and watch them magically appear

Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing up is like shovelling the sidewalk before it stops snowing." —Phyllis Diller

"I want my children to have all the things I couldn't afford. Then I want to move in with them."

 

 

1. COMFORTER

 

Isaiah 66:13 (ESV Strong's)

As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you;

 

Whether it’s a skinned knee, a shattered dream, a broken heart or compulsory isolation, great mums are there to comfort you. Even if they felt their mums never comforted them, great mums still comfort those they love.

 

1. ADVISOR

 

Even today at my age my mother is able to advise me, and I listen. Why? Because she has earned the right to speak into my life, and that’s what great mums do!

 

Proverbs 22:6 (ESV Strong's)

Train up a child in the way he should go;

even when he is old he will not depart from it.

 

Mothers, like it or not, tend to have advice on everything. Now we all know the kind of advice mothers give, but I found a list of things you will likely never hear your mother say…

 

“Just leave all the lights on...it makes the house look more cheery.”

“Let me smell that shirt—Yeah, it’s good for another week.”

“Go ahead and keep that stray dog, honey. I’ll be glad to feed and walk him every day.”

“I know I said no, but if Timmy’s mom says it’s OK, that’s good enough for me.”

“Come home when you like, the curfew is just a general time to shoot for. It’s not like I’m running a prison around here.”

“I don’t have a tissue with me...just use your sleeve.”

 

How many of you know that, when facing choices in your life, many times your mother’s advice comes to mind. So mums, be careful what you advise your children, because they take it all in, even if they don’t appear to act upon it.

 

 

1. COUNCILLOR

 

Proverbs 31:26 (ESV Strong's)

She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.

 

Mothers, you have wisdom. It might be worldly wisdom from beneath, or it might be godly wisdom from above. As mums, you want to give the right wisdom to your kids.

 

ERMA BOMBECK said

When your mother asks, "Do you want a piece of advice?" it's a mere formality. It doesn't matter if you answer yes or no. You're going to get it anyway.

—

Many great people, from Abraham Lincoln to Michael Jordon to Liza Minnelli attribute their success to advice their mums gave them.

 

1. STEWARD

 

Great mums realise that they don’t own their children, they steward them. Many of you older mums are at this point right now. You bring children up the best you can, maybe teach them all about the Lord, but at some point you need to let them go, and they make their own choices, many of which you may not agree with. 

 

I don’t agree with all the decisions my kids make, but I make sure whthernibagreebowhtbthemmor not never diminishes how much I love them. One of the fallacies of our modern world is that people say if you love me you’ll let me. Listen, you can love someone and still disagree with them.

 

Mothers, you need to be stewards of your kids, then release them to the Lord. Samuel’s mother, Hannah, who had waited so long for a child, prayer so fervently for a child, when she had her first she dedicated him to God…

 

1 Samuel 1:27-28 (ESV Strong's)

For this child I prayed, and the Lord has granted me my petition that I made to him. Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.”

 

Mothers, many of your hearts are breaking for kids gone astray, kids who have rejected Christ. 2 things, first stop blaming yourself. At some point your children make their own decision, and it’s not your fault. But secondly, never stop praying and believing for your children!

 

1. PRAYER

 

A mother’s prayer has saved many a soul, so whatever you do, never give up on your children. Never stop praying for your children…

 

1 John 5:14-15 (ESV Strong's)

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

 

Mothers, your prayers are powerful and I know myself, when I was rebelling against my parents, I believe it was the prayers of my mother that kept me from harm and brought me back to God.

 

The prayer of mothers protect their children. Augustine, John and Charles Wesley, Hudson Taylor, Billy Graham and many other great men who changed the world for Christ had praying mothers.

 

1. BELIEVER

 

And finally, never stop believing for your children.

 

Galatians 6:9 (ESV Strong's)

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

 

Mums want to believe in you, whether you believe in you or not. Mums see the good in their children, even if no one else does.

For example, Hitler’s mum Klara took him to church and wanted him to be a civil servant. Napoleon’s mum was married at 13 and accompanied him into exile on the island of Elba.  Osama Bin Laden’s mum wanted him to stop fighting the west and come home to Saudi like a good boy. Donald Trump described his mum as smart as hell and he said he's had trouble finding women to marry who compared to his her!

I read about Ted Bundy’s mother Louise, who loved her son so much that she refused to believe he was a killer, until a series of death row confessions of 36 murders put the matter beyond doubt. These mums saw the best in their children even when others saw them as tyrants and killers.

Mums believe in us when others give up on us. Mums always want the best for their kids and grandkids, as I bet every mum listening to this message does.

So mums, we honour you this day, in the midst of the greatest crisis most of us have known in our lifetimes, we honour you mums, and I ask you mums, please don’t give up on your kids, no matter how bad you might think they have become. 

One of the greatest church fathers in history owed his ministry and life to his mother’s faithfulness…

St Augustine’s mother was a godly woman who lived around 350AD. She loved her wayward son, and the young Augustine lived with a girl and had an illegitimate child, then followed this by joining a heretical sect for 9 long years. He refused to listen to her, and she was so distraught she prayed and prayed and God gave her a dream that settled her heart, and then a mother's faith checked in.

A short time after the dream Augustine came to Christ, and became one of the most significant church fathers of his generation! He was once lost, but then through a mother's faith and love, he was found.

My mother was a believer for me too! She believed that the Lord would use me, even when I was wandering far from His ways, and she prayed and believed even when I had hurt her and when she was discouraged!

Lord Shaftesbury was correct in his famous utterance, “Give me a generation of Christian mothers, and I will undertake to change the whole face of society in twelve months.”

 

MUM, YOU’RE PRICELESS!

Let me finish by reading you the words of a Tammy Wynette song from 1974

My little girl came into the kitchen this evenin',
While I was fixin' supper,
And she handed me a piece of paper she'd been writin' on,
And after wipin' my hands on my apron,
I read it - and this is what it said:

 

For mowin' the yard - five dollars,
And for makin' my own bed this week - one dollar,
And for goin' to the store - fifty cents,
An' playin' with little sister, while you went to the store - twenty-five cents,
Takin' out the trash - one dollar,
Gettin' a good report card - five dollars,
And for rakin' the yard - two dollars,
Total owed - fourteen dollars and seventy-five cents.

Well, I looked at her standin' there expectantly,
And a thousand mem'ries flashed through my mind,
So I picked up the pen, turnin' the paper over,
This is what I wrote:

 

For the nine months I carried you,
Growin' inside me - NO CHARGE,
For the nights I've sat up with you,
Doctored you, prayed for you - NO CHARGE,
For the toys, food and clothes.
And for wiping your nose, there's NO CHARGE,
When you add it all up.
The full cost of my love is NO CHARGE.

 

Well, when she finished readin',
She had great big old tears in her eyes,
And she looked up at me and said,
"Mama, I sure do love you."
Then she took the pen,
And in great big letters,
She wrote: "PAID IN FULL."

When you add it all up,
The cost of real love is - NO CHARGE

 

We can learn that lesson from Jesus. He laid His life down for you and for me, and the cost of real love was simply this… NO CHARGE.

You can’t buy salvation, and you can’t earn it. This Mother’s Day and every day, Jesus love and sacrifice is freely given… NO CHARGE.

Whether you are a mum today, or a child, you can have the opportunity to accept Jesus Christ as your Saviour. It’s a gift, it’s at no charge, but it’s a life changing event.

 

Mums, you need Jesus to be the mother He’s called you to be.  And some of you children, you’ve broken you mum’s heart long enough! It’s time to ask Jesus into your life, it’s time to make your mother’s prayers be answered!

John 3:16 (ESV Strong's)

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Ps Darin Browne - Reset Part 3

We’ve  been sharing a series on how to reset your life. This current situation in which we live is the perfect time to hit the reset button, to clear the decks and start again and get back to basics. Sometimes we are forced to do this as a hard reset, where we face devestation and pain and loss to reset our lives, but right now we can do a soft reset, not back to factory default settings but by making a conscious choice to reset important values in our lives.

 

ACTIONS REFLECT PRIORITIES

 

Surprised to see an empty seat at the football grand final, a diehard fan remarked about it to a man sitting nearby. “It was my wife’s,” the man explained, “But she died.” “Oh! I’m very sorry to hear that,” said the man. “Yet I’m really surprised that another relative, or friend, didn’t jump at the chance to take the seat reserved for her.” “Beats me,” he said. “They all insisted on going to the funeral.”

 

One of the key things for me in this pandemic is resetting priorities. Our expose our, and our priorities expose our values. We might say something is important, but our priorities expose the truth as to whether it is truly that important to us.

 

Ephesians 5:15-16 (ESV Strong's)

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.

 

Truly we have seen that days are evil right now with this pandemic. We are not sailing along blissfully ignorant in our contented, brain numbed stupor, suddenly we have to reset what is truly important in our lives, and this reset must be reflected in our actions.

 

WHAT PRIORITIES WERE BEFORE

 

Just a few months ago, our priorities were so different. As Christians, we might claim to want to serve Jesus, but we spent much of our time living, working, investing, getting friends, getting things, getting money, getting ahead in life.  We were comfortable, but we were complaining and confused about what really is important in life.

 

Then came the corona virus, and everything was turned in its head. Many of us lost jobs, incomes and businesses, we all lost freedom as we knew it before, can’t touch, can’t hug, can’t stand closer than 1.5 metres, and toilet paper suddenly became a precious commodity.

 

Our priorities, which reflect our values and what’s really important to us, have changed.  This is our opportunity to reset them. Jesus spoke about this…

 

Luke 12:15-21 (ESV Strong's)

And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” And he told them a parable, saying, “The land of a rich man produced plentifully, and he thought to himself, ‘What shall I do, for I have nowhere to store my crops?’ And he said, ‘I will do this: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

 

WHAT PRIORITIES CAN BE

 

Priorities reflect values, and we have before us a golden opportunity to reset our values, to reset what is truly important in life.

 

I was in a store this week and lent on a counter top, and the sales assistant nearly had kittens! The climate of fear is alive and well for the general population out there. She wouldn’t  even let me touch the eftpos machine to put my pin in for fear I might infect the keypad.

 

But our priorities can reflect something greater than this climate of fear.

 

Psalms 91:9-11 (ESV Strong's)

Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place—

the Most High, who is my refuge— no evil shall be allowed to befall you,

no plague come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.

 

We can have values and confidence that others don’t!

 

For years our priorities have been pushed and pulled and squeezed into the mould the world dictates to us, but today we have the chance to reset them.

 

WHAT FORMS YOUR PRIORITIES?

 

Every person has their own priorities and values in life. Our values set our priorities. It determines where you spend your effort and time. We pick up our values basically from what we are constantly exposed to – like our childhood experiences, our family upbringing, our education, our friends, our neighbourhood, our workplace environment, TV, the media, etc.

 

But at the end of the day it is we who choose and decide the source of our values.

 

Job 34:4 (ESV Strong's)

Let us choose what is right; let us know among ourselves what is good.

 

Every one of us are at different stages of life, and accordingly our priorities and values are different. What was important at age 15 is not the same as age 40 or age 70. We have to sift through and decide what’s number 1 in importance, then number 2 and so on.

 

So how are you going to decide what is really important & what is not? Well, the key here is how long is this important thing going to last in your life? If your priority is going to last for eternity, then it is really important. If it is going to last 60 years, that’s still pretty important. If it is going to last a few minutes or days, that’s shouldn’t be prioritised in the s a me way.

 

WHAT ARE THE WORLD’S PRIORITIES?

 

The world is trying to influence your priorities, to squeeze you into its mould.

 

Romans 12:2 (ESV Strong's)

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

 

Here’s some things the world would tell you to prioritise…

 

1.      PLEASURE

 

The world tells us that our pleasure, doing what we want, is our divine right. The whole entertainment industry is build around our pleasures. Advertising is about stimulating and satisfying our pleasures. People often say, God wants us to have a happy life, so if sin makes me happy, if sex and drugs and booze and video games please me, then God must be ok with it.

 

That is simply not true. Last week we saw God is really ok with holiness, but not ok with your sin. So much so, He died to win you back from the consequences of your sin. Moses was described like this,

 

Hebrews 11:24-25 (ESV Strong's)

By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.

 

Sin is pleasurable, otherwise no one would do it! But we must not prioritise sin over holiness, our fleeting pleasure over standing for what is right.

 

There are consequences for everything we do and say.

 

Galatians 6:7-8 (ESV Strong's)

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.

 

There are consequences for everything we do and say. Solomon observed this…

 

Ecclesiastes 2:10-11 (ESV Strong's)

And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil. Then I considered all that my hands had done and the toil I had expended in doing it, and behold, all was vanity and a striving after wind, and there was nothing to be gained under the sun.

 

The world says prioritise your own pleasure, but it is foolish vanity. It’s time to reset it.

 

2.      POSSESSIONS

 

Another thing the world says is a priority is possessions, getting stuff. We have to have the best, the latest, the coolest. We don’t repair things any more, we toss them and get the new model. Those darned socks never get darned any more!

 

1 Timothy 6:7-10 (ESV Strong's)

for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.

 

Pursuing money and possessions might seem important in this life, and we all do it, but ultimately you are on a never stopping treadmill. Even if you win the rat race, you’re still a rat!

 

Ecclesiastes 5:10 (ESV Strong's)

He who loves money will not be satisfied with money, nor he who loves wealth with his income; this also is vanity.

 

2 boys watching a funeral procession, and one asks whose funeral it was. The other said, why it’s the local millionaire. Really, said the first bit, how much did he leave. The other boy replied, all of it. Shrouds don’t have pockets!

 

3.      POWER AND PRESTIGE

 

We all want influence, we all want popularity, for people to love us, but again, this is a fleeting, vane pursuit.

 

Jesus tells the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16, showing us that the rich influential successful man finishes in hell for eternity. His wealth, power and influence meant nothing in eternity.

 

Mark 10:31 (ESV Strong's)

But many who are first will be last, and the last first.

 

You can pursue and prioritise being popular, gaining influence and power here on earth, but ultimately in God’s economy it will be worthless!

 

Let’s talk about HOW TO RESET YOUR PRIORITIES

 

This Corona virus pandemic is our chance to soft reset our priorities in life. Remember, a soft reset is a choice to change with minimal pain, not a hard reset which results in devastating pain and loss. COVID 19 is a great time to reset our priorities… and our perspectives…

 

Charles Francis Adams, son of President John Quincy Adams and grandson of President John Adams, kept a diary. One day he entered: “Went fishing with my son today—a day wasted.”

 

His son, Brook Adams, also kept a diary, which is still in existence. On that same day, Brook Adams made this entry: “Went fishing with my father—the most wonderful day of my life!” The father thought he was wasting time while fishing with his son, but his son saw it as an investment of time. It was a difference in priorities and values.

 

The only way to tell the difference between wasting and investing is to know one’s ultimate purpose in life and to prioritise accordingly.

 

So here are some steps towards resetting your priorities in this moment…

 

1.      CHOOSE THE SOURCE OF YOUR VALUES

 

Destiny is not something that randomly happens to you, it is a series of choices. Make bad choices, you mess up your destiny. Make wise choices, God unroll the most incredible destiny for your life. It’s all your choice!

 

So the first step is to decide to see life from God’s perspective, and make His Word the source of your values, and basis of your priorities. Your choice…

 

2 Corinthians 4:18 (ESV Strong's)

as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

 

So decide first to choose life, choose God’s way, God’s perspective, God’s priorities.

 

2.      TURN AWAY FROM THE WORLD’S VALUES

 

1 John 2:15-17 (ESV Strong's)

Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

 

The world is constantly trying to conform you into its image, what it wants from you, and what it thinks you should want from life.

 

Psalms 119:37 Turn my eyes away from worthless things; preserve my life according to your word.

 

‘Turn my eyes away from worthless things’ would be a good verse to put on your TV set or computer screens.

 

3.      WEIGH THE CONSEQUENCES

 

As you determine your priorities, a great thing to do is to step back and get a wide angle rather than a telescopic view. You can then clearly see and weigh the consequences of your priorities.

 

Galatians 6:7 (ESV Strong's)

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

 

Let’s look at a few examples of consequences. Having an affair for example. A few moments pleasure, a small amount of time sampling forbidden fruit. Weight that up against losing your wife, your children, your friends, your ministry, half of your fortune, most of your self respect.

 

Stopping coming to church. You get to sleep in. Maybe catch up with a friend. But you lose spiritual connection with God, the ministry He has for you, the destiny He has for you. Eternal consequences in exchange for a sleep in.

 

MAKE THE CHOICE TO RESET YOUR PRIORITIES

 

Having done this, all that remains is a simple choice… I choose to realign my priorities with God. I choose life, God’s life, God’s priorities!

 

Deuteronomy 30:19 (ESV Strong's)

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live,

 

Don’t walk away, don’t turn this recording off without making a decision. To delay, to think about it later, is a decision to choose your own way, not God’s.

 

WHERE IS YOUR TREASURE?

 

Our priorities reveal what we value or treasure. Much of what the world prioritises is really dross or rubbish in eternity.

 

Don’t tell me Jesus is most important if you spend your whole life pursuing money. Don’t tell me you love your family if you have affairs and destroy it. Don’t tell me God is number 1 in your life if you never open His Word or pray. Our actions reflect our priorities, and right now we have the chance to reset those priorities and get them right, for now, for the future even for eternity!

 

Matthew 6:19-21 (ESV Strong's)

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

 

If you treasure something you will prioritise it. We concentrate on what we treasure.

 

IT’S TIME TO RESET YOUR PRIORITIES

 

Luke 16:15 (ESV Strong's)

God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

 

So what is really important to us?  Let me list some priorities most if us would agree on.  

 

My first priority is God, because God and God’s work will take me all the way into eternity. The second in my case is my family. The third in my case is church, and after that is work, finances, the home and so on. You can work your own priorities.

 

But right now is the opportunity it reset our priorities and get them right for the long run, for all of our lives and into eternity. And as we reset, we must ensure that our actions reflect what we say are our priorities, and we need to give more time to what is really important. This is not about asking you to make a mental ascent, we need a total change in lifestyle.

 

IT’S TIME TO RESET YOUR LIFESTYLE

 

This pandemic is your golden opportunity to reset your lifestyle. You can change your lifestyle according to your priorities, and what is the most important should get your maximum time while what is the least important should get your least time, otherwise you are going no where.

 

If I ask you is God important to you? Everyone will say yes to this. Then do you schedule time to be with God? Do you read his word? “Well, no pastor, I’m so busy, I can’t.” Do you give God’s work at least 10% of your income? “No, I need that for myself.” Do you spend time in the Word? Do you spend time praying, talking to God, developing a relationship with Him? “No, I am much to busy to do any of that.” You see, we say one thing but we do something else.

 

If your family is really important for you then you should think about spending more time with your spouse and children.

 

If your health is really important then how much time do you exercise, do you eat right?

 

Is financial security important for you? Everybody will say yes. Are you a materialistic person? Oh, no! I’m not a materialistic person at all.” Really? Is your debt load getting deeper & deeper? Are you buying things that you can’t afford? Do you have credit card charges that you can’t pay? Are you saving money? “No, I spend it all,” you say.

 

You see we all want a changed outcome but we do not want a changed lifestyle. As we reset priorities, we need to change our lifestyle! So as we finish, if you’re really serious about changing your lifestyle, here’s 3 areas that you are going to have to work on.

 

1. Work on your schedule. Is your schedule consistent with what you say is important? Do you prioritise time for the things you say are really important, or are you spending time on things that you say aren’t important? You’re going to have to reevaluate your schedule.

 

2. Work on your budget. “Am I spending the most money on the things that are really important, or am I spending the most money on things that I think are not important, on things that only last for a brief period of time? Are you tithing.

 

3. Work on your Responsibilities. “Am I spending my time and effort with the responsibilities of my life or am I spending all my time being involved with things that aren’t that important to me?”

 

Ephesians 4:17-20 (ESV Strong's)

Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!—

 

This opportunity to reset our priorities means we must stop living like worldly people whose thinking is futile and values and priorities are misplaced. Understand what is important, put first things first, and change your lifestyle.

 

So, what is priority 1,2 and 3 in your life right now? I want you to pray with me and reset your priorities to a God’s priorities.

 

Matthew 6:33 (ESV Strong's)

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Ps Darin Browne - Reset Part 2

Last week I began a series on resetting your life. The corona virus pandemic has provided us with an unexpected chance to actually hit the rest button, to not face the devastation of a hard reset but to soft reset our lives.

 

Isaiah 43:18-19 (ESV Strong's)

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old.

Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

 

Usually we run our lives at a pace, but for the first time in a long time many of us are forced to slow down and even rest a little. Forced to step back and take stock, and get back to basics.

 

Today I want to highlight 2 areas I believe God is asking us to reset, as individuals and as a body of believers… Faith and Holiness.

 

NOW FAITH IS…

 

Faith is something we Christians talk a lot about, but often do not get the opportunity to actually engage. This pandemic is an opportunity to reset this important, even pivotal area of our lives. The Bible defines faith like this…

 

Hebrews 11:1 (ESV Strong's)

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

 

Everyone places his or her faith in something or someone. The Moslem puts his faith in the Koran and in Mohammed. The humanist put his faith in himself, a religious person in his own good works. None of these can save, not because they don’t have strong enough faith, but in each case the object of faith is wrong.

 

Our faith is only as good as the object in which we place our faith.  Our faith needs to be in Jesus Christ.

 

Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

 

True faith is simple obedience to and believing God’s word in spite of circumstances or consequences.

 

In Hebrews, Faith is described in a two-fold way. It is the “substance of (assurance of) things hoped for,” and “the evidence of (conviction of) things not seen.”

 

Substance is in Greek HYPOSTASIS, meaning “sub stance”, literally  ‘to stand under or to support.’ So Faith is the foundation that gives the believer the confidence to stand. “faith is the confidence of things hoped for.” And it undergirds our entire life and experience.

 

George Muller ran orphanages for Street orphans in the early 1800s, and he lived by true faith.  One breakfast time there was no food. Müller confidently said grace, thanking God for food that simple wasn’t there. Immediately there was a knock at the door. It was the local baker who had woken in the night with a feeling that God was telling him the orphans had no bread. So he had risen at 2.00am to bake some bread for them. Shortly after this came another knock at the door. The milkman’s wagon had broken down outside the orphanage. He asked if he could give them his milk, so as to be able to empty and repair his wagon.

 

It’s this undergirding that gives us the unshakable conviction.

 

WHAT FAITH HAS BEEN

 

But the reality is, we live in a real world, a blessed world, and here in Australia we rarely have to exercise true faith. We have social security, governments that care for us, health provision, food and shelter.when we feel sick we take a pill, we don’t start to pray.

 

But in this pandemic our comfortable lives have been turned upside down. Comfortably successful businesses are in disarray, social behaviour has been morphed, and now all of a sudden we have to step out of our comfortable, cerebral version of faith into a true walk of faith. Suddenly faith becomes practical, real and in our faces as God uses these times to allow us to reset.

 

James 2:17-18 (ESV Strong's)

So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

 

He’s not saying works save you, he’s telling us that faith has to have substance… It has to be exercised to be real, otherwise it’s just theory.

 

Huge crowds gathered to see Charles Blondin walk on a quarter mile tightrope across Niagara Falls. He did it even on stilts, blindfolded, on a bicycle and even took a stove to the middle and cooked an omelet. On one occasion, Blondin asked the assembled crowd if they believed he could carry a person across Niagara Falls in a wheelbarrow. The crowd enthusiastically yelled, “Yes! You are the greatest tightrope walker in the world. We believe!”

 

Ok he replied, who wants to hop in the wheelbarrow right now. No one did.

 

Faith has been largely theoretical for many Christians up until now. But because of this pandemic, suddenly we have the opportunity to step out in faith like never before.

 

WHAT FAITH CAN BE

 

You never know how valuable your faith is until it is tested.

 

In 1799, Conrad Reed discovered a seventeen-pound rock while fishing in Little Meadow Creek, North Carolina. He liked it and took it home and his family used it as a doorstop for three years. In 1802, his father, took the rock to a jeweller who identified it as a lump of pure gold, one of the biggest ever found east of the Rockies.   

 

Until its composition was determined, its value was unknown. Our faith is like that… God allows trials and tests and times like right now to determine the strength of our faith. Trials are not designed to hurt us, but too strengthen and prove our faith.

 

1 Peter 4:12-13 (ESV Strong's)

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

 

Abraham showed genuine faith, and it was sorely tested. God promised him a son and an heir, but he and his wife Sarah were old. But look at what  Romans says about his faith…

 

Romans 4:19-22 (ESV Strong's)

He did not weaken in faith when he considered his own body, which was as good as dead (since he was about a hundred years old), or when he considered the barrenness of Sarah's womb. No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.”

 

What we need now is to reset our faith. We don’t need fake it till you make it, and we don’t need religious theory. Right now we need practical, powerful faith, faith that's real, faith that isn’t full of fear and hysteria, and faith that doesn’t ignore facts but looks them in the eye and says, you might be bit, but my God is bigger!

 

FAITH AND WORKS

 

An old Scotsman operated a little rowboat for transporting passengers. One day a passenger noticed that the old man had carved on one oar the word faith, and on the other oar the word works. Curiosity led him to ask the meaning of this. The old man said, “I will show you.”

 

He dropped one oar and plied the other called works, and the boat went around in circles. Then he dropped that oar and began to ply the oar called faith, and the little boat just went around in circles again.

 

After this demonstration the old man picked up faith and works and plying both oars together, sped swiftly over the water, explaining to his inquiring passenger, “You see, that is the way it is in the Christian life. Dead works without faith are useless, and faith without works is dead. But faith and works pulling together make for safety, progress, and blessing.”

 

James 2:17-18 (ESV Strong's)

So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

 

It’s time to reset our faith and trust totally in the Lord.

 

IS HOLINESS A DYING COMMODITY?

 

For years now Christians have watered down God’s standards of holiness. We’ve let holy living slip, we’ve compromised our morals, and we have stood by silent as our society has celebrated blatant sin.

 

Romans 1:32 (ESV Strong's)

Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.

 

Holiness is way out of vogue today… Tolerance and compromise are what’s being demanded. But I believe this Corona virus pandemic is our opportunity to reset holiness in our lives to what God calls holy!

 

WHAT HOLINESS HAS BEEN

 

Hebrews 12:14 (ESV Strong's)

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

 

The Greek word for holiness used here is HAGIASMOS, which means consecrated, purified, and set apart for a noble use.

 

For too long we as believers have watered down our definition of holiness and lived nice, upright, reasonable and tolerant lives. But have we really been holy?

 

Our nation certainly hasn’t, and it has passed laws completely contrary to Scripture, with most of us barely raising a whimper. We have been told to be tolerant, to be accepting, to be fair. Any voice raised against the powerful media and lobby groups is labelled hate speech.

 

Listen, you can love people without agreeing with them. You can love a homosexuality without agreeing with their lifestyle. You can be holy and you can love at the same time.

 

But for t by e last several years we have been focussed on so many things in life that are not really God honouring. We talk about money, investments, tolerance, what we want in life, but we rarely talk about how we can become more holy and more Christ like.

 

2 Corinthians 7:1 (ESV Strong's)

Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.

 

WHAT HOLINESS CAN BE

 

This is our moment. It’s time to get serious about holiness, starting with our own lives!

 

1 Peter 2:9 (ESV Strong's)

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvellous light.

 

In this pandemic, we can be the ones shining in the darkness. But we cannot shine if we are impure, sinful and compromised. If we have as much fear as the rest of the country, we simply look the same!

 

1 Peter 2:12 (ESV Strong's)

Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

 

We can stand for what is right and true, and loves others even if we disagree with their lifestyle choices. We must have tolerance for people, but we mustn’t have tolerance for bad or evil or ungodly ideas!

 

We have before us a unique opportunity to reset our moral compass, and become once again a godly and holy nation. Sinful man who was strutting around promoting ungodliness only a few months ago is now cowering in isolation and fear.

 

At this moment the world doesn’t need a weak, insipid, spineless, watered down church compromising it’s values to keep the peace. Right now this terrified world needs a church that stands up and proclaims the Word of the Lord, not in compromise, but in all of its holiness!

 

Now, more than ever, we need to lead exemplary lives before our communities, lives that shine purity and light, not selfishness and insipid compromise.

 

HOW DO WE RESET FAITH AND HOLINESS?

 

So in this incredible moment in history, how do we reset faith and Holiness?

 

You cannot reset holiness if you don’t know what holiness is. And you can’t reset faith, if you don’t know who God is, because He is the object of our faith. So resetting these two areas depends on one thing… You need to know God and His Word more!

 

And what a time to draw near to Him! Most of us are isolated, we have time alone we never had before, and we have the Bible, and loads of great teaching online.

 

Listen, your faith and Holiness will increase in direct proportion to how close you are to the Lord. Holiness involves learning God’s standards and making a conscious decision to live by them, not the world’s standards…

 

Romans 12:2 (ESV Strong's)

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

 

 The more you know God, the more your mind is renewed and the more you will know and experience God’s perfect will in your life.

 

And faith is the same… It’s directly proportional to how well you know God.

 

Romans 10:17 (ESV Strong's)

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

 

This pandemic is your opportunity to open the Bible and read it and get to know God more intimately. You get to know God by reading His Word. Take the time to read and study and learn, because the closer you draw to Him,

 

James 4:7-8 (ESV Strong's)

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

 

See in that verse how it works together? Cleanse your hands, purify your hearts, and as you reset holiness you draw closer to the Lord. And the closer you are to Him, the greater your faith.

 

So this morning I’m going to challenge you to stop right now and reset these 2 areas of your life. Faith and Holiness.

 

Hebrews 11:6 (ESV Strong's)

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

 

Hebrews 12:14 (ESV Strong's)

Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.

 

HIT THE RESET BUTTON NOW!

 

If you’ve never asked Jesus into your life, then this is the greatest opportunity you’ve ever had to do so.

 

The Bible says we have all sinned, and we need a Saviour, and Jesus is the only way to God. Take the opportunity now, wherever you are, whether you’ve done it before or not, to ask Jesus into your life. To forgive your sin, to give you eternal life and to give you a level of faith and Holiness in your life you’ve never seen before.

 

Come on, church, let’s reset these 2 pivotal areas together, right now.

 

Psalms 139:23-24 (ESV Strong's)

Search me, O God, and know my heart!

Try me and know my thoughts!

And see if there be any grievous way in me,

and lead me in the way everlasting!

3 Preachers - Victorious Life

The climate of fear created by the Covid 19 pandemic is in full swing, but today at Ignite we are in for a isolated, but wonderful treat!

How to Live the Victorious Christian Life

That's right, we have 3 exciting preachers from our own congregation, bringing a message of hope and challenge in a tough time for us all.

So settle back and listen to three excellent and very wise preachers as they share their heart, and their insight, into the incredible journey that is living the victorious Christian life.

 

Or if you prefer to listen while in isolation, click the link below...