The message of the cross is foolish to those who are headed for destruction! But we who are being saved know it is the very power of God. 1 CORINTHIANS 1:18
Everybody has seen the Energizer battery commercial on television. The little bunny appears beating a drum, and the announcer says "still going”! On he goes, across the desert, over mountains, on lonely highways. Nothing seems to stop the little bunny. We need to know that the point of the commercial is not the bunny, but the battery.
It’s important to have good batteries because weak batteries cause problems. Cars with weak batteries have problems starting. Once the motor starts the car usually runs, but it takes a good battery to get it started. Particularly in cold weather, a weak battery just won’t do it.
Tape recorders with weak batteries will drag. Flashlights with weak batteries will go dim, pocket radios with weak batteries will fade, and our cell phones with weak batteries will eventually disconnect themselves from the network. Why?….because the battery is the power source.
But even a good battery is only half the solution. There was a woman who was having trouble getting her car started. Every time she would turn on the ignition she would get a clicking sound. So naturally she thought that her battery was dead. Without checking with anyone, she sent her son down to Wal-Mart, to purchase a new battery. When he put the battery in and she tried to start the car again, but she got those same clicking sounds.
Finally, she called a mechanic who took one look at her cable ends and analyzed her problem. He said “Ma'am, you have a good battery but your cables are bad.” That day she learned a good lesson about her car; you must always make sure that you have a good connection to the battery. As Christians, must make sure that we have a good connection to our power source; and that source is Jesus.
But this “power source” is of little or no value at all if let our connection get rusty and corroded. You see, that corrosion causes a bad connection. There are too many believers who go through life hearing the "clicking" sound that suggest that there is power under the hood that can't get through. Many of us have the ability to achieve greatness through the exercise of our gifts, but every time we turn the switch all we get is a clicking sound.
We, as Christians, need to keep a clear and uninterrupted connection with God. Yes, others might think that we are foolish for doing so, but we who are saved know that our power comes from the Cross, the Power of God.
In our text, Paul writes to the church at Corinth about the wisdom of preaching the truth of the cross of Christ. Paul explains that those who are saved recognize the cross as a symbol of the power of God. But to those outside of the faith, the church seems to be involved in foolishness.
What is this foolishness of which Paul speaks? Maybe it’s the command to love your enemies or to pray for those who use you. Maybe it’s your belief that what you hope for will become evident through your faith. Maybe it’s your belief that you are blessed when people dislike you, persecute you, or say bad things about you.
Singing, praying, testimonies and other forms of worship are inspiring, but it is the Word of God that connects us to our power source. It is the Word of God that directs us to the Cross.
People that are not saved can’t understand this power and surely cannot “connect” to it.
But as Believers we know that Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. We know that, at the foot of the cross, we find our ability, our strength, and our power.
Our knowledge of the historical account of the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ is our power source; it is our spiritual energizer that just keeps us going, going, and going. There are many who are hooked up to the wrong source; they’re trying to use a six-volt transistor to empower a twelve-volt understanding. This means that many of God’s created people are depending on their own skills and education to get them through life. Educational skills are necessary, but when trouble comes, that battery is too small for the job. When you need real power, you’d better be hooked up to the power that holds the world in the palm of His hand, and lights up the night with the moon and the stars.
Now, in order to get the needed energy from your power source, you must have the right connection. You can have a good battery but if the connection is wrong, there is no power. And since we are talking about connecting to a power source, we must also determine the type of connection required.
There are two types of current, A/C and D/C. Some folks in our churches are A/C in nature. They suffer from being hooked up to an alternating current. They attend church on alternating Sundays. They pray on alternating occasions. They tithe on alternating occasions. In other words they come to church when they feel like it, pray when it is convenient, and give when they want to.
Then there are those who are hooked up to the D/C, or direct current. God is looking for some D/C folks…dedicated Christians; people on whom He can depend. People who just don't do things when it’s convenient for them, but “press toward the mark” daily. God is looking for those who will keep on going no matter how hard it gets.
Now, if you have a good battery, and the connecting cables are good, there’s still one more thing you need to know. The connection must be tight! The battery must be free of external interference. There can be no space separating the cable from the battery post.
Paul said it best when he declared, “nothing shall separate me from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus.” And when it comes to the life of a Christian there must be no space that separates us from the Master. The life of a Christian must be lived in such a way that there is nothing between our soul and our Savior.
And what can corrode our connection with God? Well, pride will corrode our cables and interfere with our connection. Hatred and unforgiveness will keep us from having a good connection with God. Jealousy will keep us from having a good connection with God. Conflict will keep us from having a good connection with God. And there are many more. We need to get rid of the things that are keeping us from having a good connection with our power source.
And finally, make sure both cables are connected. Along with the hot wire, there must be a ground cable. Somebody, today, is trying to get a prayer through and you’re not properly grounded. You’re trying to sing His praises but your ground wire is loose. How do I become grounded?
You are grounded when you accept Christ as your PERSONAL SAVIOR, confess with your MOUTH the Lord, Jesus Christ, and believe in YOUR HEART that He was raised from the dead. Abide in the Word of God. Ground yourself to the Cross of Christ….then plunge into the “foolishness” of loving those who hate you. Plunge into the foolishness of believing without seeing. Plunge into the foolishness of praying for those who use you, and finding a blessing in persecution.
Ground yourself to the belief that in Christ we live. When you need power you need to go to the one that created the trees and the flowers. When you need power you need to go to the one that is able to heal the sick and raise the dead.
Yes, when you need power you need to go to the Rock of (your) Salvation and His name is Jesus. We don’t need to go to Wal-Mart to find a good power source if we know God's original power source.
Before there was a 36-Month Goodyear Power Source….Before there was a NAPA 40 Month Power Horse…..Before there was a Sears 60-Month Guaranteed Power Source…..Before Sears and Roebuck ever thought of the name, Jesus was the original Die-Hard.
Yes, Jesus is better than Ever-ready; and He's got power to spare.
They crucified Him on the cross, they buried Him in a borrowed tomb, and they tried to drain Him of his power. But early one Sunday Morning, My Die Hard, My Ever Ready, My Energizer, My Duracell, rose with all power in his hand… “Wonder working power”, “soul saving power”, “healing power” in His hand. Are you connected to His power?
Monday, September 6, 2010
Let Go, Let God, and Let’s Go
In Mark 1:16-20, several fishermen received an invitation that changed their lives forever. That invitation came in the form of a call, from a rabbi, a teacher named Jesus, who was just starting out his ministry proclaiming the good news that the kingdom of God was near. One day, Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee. He found four men fishing in the lake and said to them: “Come, follow me.”
What a strange thing for a rabbi to do. For you see, rabbis did not go around making house calls and visiting places of business to invite potential “students” to come follow them. No, it was the eager ones who would approach a rabbi asking for the privilege of studying with him, and the rabbi would say either yes or no. It’s like back when I was in high school, trying to decide where to go to college. The universities and the professors didn’t come to me. No, I had to fill out forms, send my ACT scores and high school transcripts, hoping the college I chose would take me. But sought out Simon and Andrew, and James and John. There is no indication whatsoever that these fishermen had anything special about them that would have caught Jesus’ attention. Those four were just minding their own business when Jesus took the initiative to seek them out and to issue this invitation: “Come, follow me.”
What a strange thing for a rabbi to do. But at first glance, even more strange, even more amazing, was the fact that when Simon and Andrew heard Jesus’ invitation, verse eighteen says, “at once they left their nets and followed him.” There seemed to be no hesitation on their part. They simply let go of their nets, which were their means of livelihood – their “tools” to make a living, and followed Jesus. What Simon and Andrew did immediatel is very intriguing. No one in his right mind would just let go of everything to follow an itinerant teacher, just because he said, “Come, follow me.” Right?
Now we know that Jesus was no ordinary teacher. But, even so, it is hard to imagine how Simon and Andrew could immediately let go of their nets, their only means of of making money, in order to follow Jesus. But that’s not all. In the next verses, Jesus issued the same invitation to James and John, and they not only let go of their nets, but they also left their father Zebedee, left their boat and their hired men to follow Jesus. James and John let go of family ties, let go of possessions and let go of a life of being served in order to answer Jesus’ call. It’s hard for us to imagine letting go of so many things in order to follow Jesus. We are a people who have been told again and again to “grab all we can” and “you can have it all.” We often don’t know what it’s like to let go and give up some things in order to pursue the best path God has for our lives. Maybe that’s why we overextend ourselves in our work, we overextend our credit limits to accumulate more than we need, and we overextend our schedules and our commitments. Sometimes, it is possible to allow our lifestyles, our possessions, and yes, even our families to become our idols. As Christians, our work, our accumulations, our schedules and our families are not bad things in and of themselves, but when we cannot let them go and when they begin to occupy a higher place than following Jesus, then we may be missing out on a life of discipleship that Christ calls us to live.
I don’t know about you, but in my life, I find that when I’m afraid to let go, many times it is because I fear what will happen when I’m no longer in control of my life. Those who know me know that I like to be in control. I like to be in charge. But when Jesus calls to invite us to follow him, He’s basically asking us to hand over the control of our life to Him. The question is, “Am we willing to let go of control and let God be the Lord of our life?” Really this means to let Him be in charge of our lives.
To respond to this invitation to “follow me” meant they had to let go of their current lifestyle and pattern a new lifestyle after that of Jesus. This is still true today. Jesus’ invitation is secondly a call to a continuous journey with Him rather than a single act toward Him: “Follow me.”
Being a follower of Jesus does not mean just saying the “sinner’s prayer” once, just “walking down the aisle” and getting baptized once, and then never reading the Bible, never praying and hardly ever darkening the doors of the church again. In this passage, Mark describes Jesus’ first approach to evangelism, and it is very interesting that in His invitation, Jesus did not say, “Come, and invite me into your hearts so that you might be saved.” Jesus also did not say, “Come, and I will give you eternal life.” No, Jesus’ invitation was, “Come, follow me, I will turn you into people who win friends and influence people!” Jesus’ invitation to his first disciples was a call not to their own individual salvation, but a promise to empower them to serve and bless others! It was an invitation to live a life of significance that would make a positive impact on the world!
Jesus offers us individual salvation and eternal life - but not just for our own sake.
Who among us does not want to live a life of significance? Who among us does not want to live a life of influence that points others to God? Who among us does not want to live a life that will make a lasting, positive impact that carries on long after we’re gone? The truth of the matter is, God has bigger plans for us than we could ever dream about. But in order for God’s plans to come into fruition, we must be willing to let go of the nets in our lives and let God have control over our lives.
The world’s a better place because throughout history, there have been people who were able to let go and let God.
What if,
Noah said “I don’t do arks and animals.”
Moses said, “I don’t do Pharaohs or mass exoduses.”
David said, “I don’t do giants.”
Mary said, “I don’t do virgin births.”
Paul said “I don’t do letters.”
AND what if Jesus had said, “I don’t do crosses.”
This list reads like a Hall of Fame of the heroes of faith. Some of you might think: “There’s no way that I can attain that level.” But Jesus is not calling you to be the next Moses or David or Mary. Jesus only calls us to be the very best we can be. And the Good News is that Jesus never calls us to a place where He hasn’t been before. Jesus knows what it was like to let go of the status, prestige, and power that was rightly His. In Philippians, Paul tells the readers of his letter that: “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross”. Philippians 2:5-8 NLT
Jesus also knew what it was like to let God be in control of His life. At the Garden of Gethsemane, on the night when he was betrayed, Jesus prayed “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” (Mark 14:36). And when Jesus was hanging on the cross, bearing the sins of the world, Luke records Jesus calling out with a loud voice, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” (Luke 23:46). Jesus never calls us to a place where He hasn’t been before.
Okay, so far we’ve seen we need to let go and let God. Many of have seen bumper stickers or church signs with this on them. But that’s not all. For if we were to do just those two things, we might be tempted to sit back passively, letting go of everything and letting God do everything. There is one final thing. In response to Jesus’ invitation, Simon and Andrew, James and John, not only let go and let God, but at the end of this passage, Mark tells us that they basically said, “Let’s go!” and they followed Jesus on a journey of faith.
Can we as a class, as a church - let go, let God and say, “Let’s go!” on a journey of faith with God in the coming months?
A lot of churches today have a “rowing ministry.” This is where the congregation places its ministry “boat” in the water and plots its own course. Taking a firm grip their oars, the congregation then rows in their preffered direction without ever looking to change courses – no matter the direction of the wind, the turbulence of the water, or who gets in or out of the boat. This congregation is living by its own agenda, not God’s. God calls churches and individuals to put down their oars, to let go of them, and hoist up the sails and put them in the path of the wind, the wind of God’s Spirit. Then and only then will the church find God, discover her calling and be able to move toward God’s vision and preferred future.
Wouldn’t it be amazing if we let go of our oars and let the wind of God’s Spirit take us where God wants us to go?
What a strange thing for a rabbi to do. For you see, rabbis did not go around making house calls and visiting places of business to invite potential “students” to come follow them. No, it was the eager ones who would approach a rabbi asking for the privilege of studying with him, and the rabbi would say either yes or no. It’s like back when I was in high school, trying to decide where to go to college. The universities and the professors didn’t come to me. No, I had to fill out forms, send my ACT scores and high school transcripts, hoping the college I chose would take me. But sought out Simon and Andrew, and James and John. There is no indication whatsoever that these fishermen had anything special about them that would have caught Jesus’ attention. Those four were just minding their own business when Jesus took the initiative to seek them out and to issue this invitation: “Come, follow me.”
What a strange thing for a rabbi to do. But at first glance, even more strange, even more amazing, was the fact that when Simon and Andrew heard Jesus’ invitation, verse eighteen says, “at once they left their nets and followed him.” There seemed to be no hesitation on their part. They simply let go of their nets, which were their means of livelihood – their “tools” to make a living, and followed Jesus. What Simon and Andrew did immediatel is very intriguing. No one in his right mind would just let go of everything to follow an itinerant teacher, just because he said, “Come, follow me.” Right?
Now we know that Jesus was no ordinary teacher. But, even so, it is hard to imagine how Simon and Andrew could immediately let go of their nets, their only means of of making money, in order to follow Jesus. But that’s not all. In the next verses, Jesus issued the same invitation to James and John, and they not only let go of their nets, but they also left their father Zebedee, left their boat and their hired men to follow Jesus. James and John let go of family ties, let go of possessions and let go of a life of being served in order to answer Jesus’ call. It’s hard for us to imagine letting go of so many things in order to follow Jesus. We are a people who have been told again and again to “grab all we can” and “you can have it all.” We often don’t know what it’s like to let go and give up some things in order to pursue the best path God has for our lives. Maybe that’s why we overextend ourselves in our work, we overextend our credit limits to accumulate more than we need, and we overextend our schedules and our commitments. Sometimes, it is possible to allow our lifestyles, our possessions, and yes, even our families to become our idols. As Christians, our work, our accumulations, our schedules and our families are not bad things in and of themselves, but when we cannot let them go and when they begin to occupy a higher place than following Jesus, then we may be missing out on a life of discipleship that Christ calls us to live.
I don’t know about you, but in my life, I find that when I’m afraid to let go, many times it is because I fear what will happen when I’m no longer in control of my life. Those who know me know that I like to be in control. I like to be in charge. But when Jesus calls to invite us to follow him, He’s basically asking us to hand over the control of our life to Him. The question is, “Am we willing to let go of control and let God be the Lord of our life?” Really this means to let Him be in charge of our lives.
To respond to this invitation to “follow me” meant they had to let go of their current lifestyle and pattern a new lifestyle after that of Jesus. This is still true today. Jesus’ invitation is secondly a call to a continuous journey with Him rather than a single act toward Him: “Follow me.”
Being a follower of Jesus does not mean just saying the “sinner’s prayer” once, just “walking down the aisle” and getting baptized once, and then never reading the Bible, never praying and hardly ever darkening the doors of the church again. In this passage, Mark describes Jesus’ first approach to evangelism, and it is very interesting that in His invitation, Jesus did not say, “Come, and invite me into your hearts so that you might be saved.” Jesus also did not say, “Come, and I will give you eternal life.” No, Jesus’ invitation was, “Come, follow me, I will turn you into people who win friends and influence people!” Jesus’ invitation to his first disciples was a call not to their own individual salvation, but a promise to empower them to serve and bless others! It was an invitation to live a life of significance that would make a positive impact on the world!
Jesus offers us individual salvation and eternal life - but not just for our own sake.
Who among us does not want to live a life of significance? Who among us does not want to live a life of influence that points others to God? Who among us does not want to live a life that will make a lasting, positive impact that carries on long after we’re gone? The truth of the matter is, God has bigger plans for us than we could ever dream about. But in order for God’s plans to come into fruition, we must be willing to let go of the nets in our lives and let God have control over our lives.
The world’s a better place because throughout history, there have been people who were able to let go and let God.
What if,
Noah said “I don’t do arks and animals.”
Moses said, “I don’t do Pharaohs or mass exoduses.”
David said, “I don’t do giants.”
Mary said, “I don’t do virgin births.”
Paul said “I don’t do letters.”
AND what if Jesus had said, “I don’t do crosses.”
This list reads like a Hall of Fame of the heroes of faith. Some of you might think: “There’s no way that I can attain that level.” But Jesus is not calling you to be the next Moses or David or Mary. Jesus only calls us to be the very best we can be. And the Good News is that Jesus never calls us to a place where He hasn’t been before. Jesus knows what it was like to let go of the status, prestige, and power that was rightly His. In Philippians, Paul tells the readers of his letter that: “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross”. Philippians 2:5-8 NLT
Jesus also knew what it was like to let God be in control of His life. At the Garden of Gethsemane, on the night when he was betrayed, Jesus prayed “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” (Mark 14:36). And when Jesus was hanging on the cross, bearing the sins of the world, Luke records Jesus calling out with a loud voice, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” (Luke 23:46). Jesus never calls us to a place where He hasn’t been before.
Okay, so far we’ve seen we need to let go and let God. Many of have seen bumper stickers or church signs with this on them. But that’s not all. For if we were to do just those two things, we might be tempted to sit back passively, letting go of everything and letting God do everything. There is one final thing. In response to Jesus’ invitation, Simon and Andrew, James and John, not only let go and let God, but at the end of this passage, Mark tells us that they basically said, “Let’s go!” and they followed Jesus on a journey of faith.
Can we as a class, as a church - let go, let God and say, “Let’s go!” on a journey of faith with God in the coming months?
A lot of churches today have a “rowing ministry.” This is where the congregation places its ministry “boat” in the water and plots its own course. Taking a firm grip their oars, the congregation then rows in their preffered direction without ever looking to change courses – no matter the direction of the wind, the turbulence of the water, or who gets in or out of the boat. This congregation is living by its own agenda, not God’s. God calls churches and individuals to put down their oars, to let go of them, and hoist up the sails and put them in the path of the wind, the wind of God’s Spirit. Then and only then will the church find God, discover her calling and be able to move toward God’s vision and preferred future.
Wouldn’t it be amazing if we let go of our oars and let the wind of God’s Spirit take us where God wants us to go?
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