Sermon April 10, 2011 God is in Control!
Audio File
Message title: Luke 18:1-8 – God is in control
The Big Idea for message: When you feel discouraged remember God is in Control
Sticky Statement: No Matter what God is in Control!
ME (orientation):
Good Morning!
This has been one of those weeks! It has not been a bad week, per see. Things at work have been good, I was home earlier than normal a couple of days this week, and I was excited to be preaching this Sunday.
But it was one of those weeks where no matter what happened, I was feeling discouraged. It was not something I could explain and even today, I could not tell you why. After all God has been at work in my life this last year.
He brought us to Spencer and here to 9th Street Baptist. He has given me a great job, He has healed me, and has even opened up the door for me to continue what He has called me to do.
I have a lot to be thankful for and discouragement is not something I really expected to be facing at this time. Feeling like I have all week is not something I was prepared for.
WE (identification):
Can anyone relate to my week?
Have you had times where you have just felt down?
Sometimes it happens when things are tough and you do not know what to expect or when it seems everything is working against you. You could be facing medical issues, challenges that are preventing you from moving forward or just about anything.
What about when things are going great? Life is good, but for some reason you are still feeling discouraged.
I believe feelings like this can be very common and can hit us when we least expect it. Thankfully we have God to lean on and His Word to turn to.
GOD (illumination):
Luke 18:1-8
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’”
6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
As we listen to Jesus’ words we hear that He is telling us to not give up. No matter what is before you, whether you understand it or not, Jesus says to not give up. So for me this week I had to remember no matter how I felt, I was not supposed to give up.
While we are to not give up, Jesus is telling us plainly in verse 1 that we need to pray and in reinforces that in verse 7 telling us we need to cry out to Him day and night. Which is followed closely saying that God will answer those prayers.
So the real question here is not whether God will respond to prayer but will we be faithful in persisting in prayer. Will we have lost hope in Him? Jesus is telling us to not give up, to not lose heart, to not feel discouraged, continue to pray. Continue to seek Him, ultimately He is telling us to continue to be faithful!
Galatians 6:9
“9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
No matter what is going in our lives, we need to continue to do good things for others. Whatever is going on, we cannot let discouragement impede our faith and our actions. Our continued efforts of ‘doing good’, reaching the lost, sharing our faith, reaching out to our fellow believers will lead to us reaping the benefit of being God’s children. We will be rewarded.
So regardless of how we feel, whether the deck is currently stacked against us or if we are in a rut, if we continue doing what God wants us we will be blessed.
Isaiah 40:31
“but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.”
If we have Hope in the Lord, if we seek Him, and have Faith that He will take care of us, No matter what is going on God will give us the strength to get through it.
As we look at these verses and reflect on what they have told us we see that when we are feeling discouraged, beat down, but have faith in Jesus. He will take care of us. He will listen to our prayers and restore us. As we continue to do what God wants us to do, He will bless us. If we have Faith in Him, our strength will be restored.
Hebrews 11:1 tells us what it means to have Faith.
“1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
We need to have faith in what God’s words are telling us. Even if the future seems bleak and we do not see any way out, we need to have faith. Faith in what God’s Word is telling us, and faith that He will be true to His Word.
Our responsibility in this is as follows:
1. Do Not Give Up!
2. Pray and cry out to Jesus
3. Continue to do the ‘good work’
4. Don’t let discouragement interfere with what you are supposed to do
5. Hope in the Lord
6. Have Faith
If we do these things God will:
1. Take care of us
2. He will give us justice
3. We will reap the harvest of our work
4. He will lift us up and remove the weariness
Ultimately if we have Faith in the unseen and remember that GOD IS IN CONTROL! He will take care of us.
YOU (application):
As I mentioned this week was one of those weeks. Nothing bad happened, I was just feeling discouraged. I spent time reading scripture and praying but I could not shake the feeling. It was not until I continued doing what God called me to do that I started feeling better.
I was struggling with what to preach on this week and the discouragement was impacting my motivation. When I finally sat down Thursday night and began working on this message I could feel that God was using this week to develop what He wanted me to talk about.
He was taking my prayers, my faith, my continuing to do what He has called me to do and was blessing it. He was fulfilling the promises we have seen in these verses today. He has taken away the weariness, the discouragement, and replaced it with Joy and determination.
God is in control!
WE (inspiration):
What God has done in me this week is something that He wants to do in each of us. If you are feeling discouraged this morning, for any reason He wants to work in you.
So as the widow in the parable did, pray, cry out to God and he will restore you.
If you are struggling with something in your life, whether it is a medical issue, a problem with a loved one, if it is work related, or anything start praying in Jesus.
Continue to seek Him, continue to do what He has called you to do. But most importantly have Faith that He will take care of it. Have Faith that Jesus will be there for you.
Remember that God is in Control!
If you do all of this He will fulfill His promises. He will restore you, He will take away the weariness, He will bless you, He is in control!
Message title: Luke 18:1-8 – God is in control
The Big Idea for message: When you feel discouraged remember God is in Control
Sticky Statement: No Matter what God is in Control!
ME (orientation):
Good Morning!
This has been one of those weeks! It has not been a bad week, per see. Things at work have been good, I was home earlier than normal a couple of days this week, and I was excited to be preaching this Sunday.
But it was one of those weeks where no matter what happened, I was feeling discouraged. It was not something I could explain and even today, I could not tell you why. After all God has been at work in my life this last year.
He brought us to Spencer and here to 9th Street Baptist. He has given me a great job, He has healed me, and has even opened up the door for me to continue what He has called me to do.
I have a lot to be thankful for and discouragement is not something I really expected to be facing at this time. Feeling like I have all week is not something I was prepared for.
WE (identification):
Can anyone relate to my week?
Have you had times where you have just felt down?
Sometimes it happens when things are tough and you do not know what to expect or when it seems everything is working against you. You could be facing medical issues, challenges that are preventing you from moving forward or just about anything.
What about when things are going great? Life is good, but for some reason you are still feeling discouraged.
I believe feelings like this can be very common and can hit us when we least expect it. Thankfully we have God to lean on and His Word to turn to.
GOD (illumination):
Luke 18:1-8
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’”
6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
As we listen to Jesus’ words we hear that He is telling us to not give up. No matter what is before you, whether you understand it or not, Jesus says to not give up. So for me this week I had to remember no matter how I felt, I was not supposed to give up.
While we are to not give up, Jesus is telling us plainly in verse 1 that we need to pray and in reinforces that in verse 7 telling us we need to cry out to Him day and night. Which is followed closely saying that God will answer those prayers.
So the real question here is not whether God will respond to prayer but will we be faithful in persisting in prayer. Will we have lost hope in Him? Jesus is telling us to not give up, to not lose heart, to not feel discouraged, continue to pray. Continue to seek Him, ultimately He is telling us to continue to be faithful!
Galatians 6:9
“9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
No matter what is going in our lives, we need to continue to do good things for others. Whatever is going on, we cannot let discouragement impede our faith and our actions. Our continued efforts of ‘doing good’, reaching the lost, sharing our faith, reaching out to our fellow believers will lead to us reaping the benefit of being God’s children. We will be rewarded.
So regardless of how we feel, whether the deck is currently stacked against us or if we are in a rut, if we continue doing what God wants us we will be blessed.
Isaiah 40:31
“but those who hope in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.”
If we have Hope in the Lord, if we seek Him, and have Faith that He will take care of us, No matter what is going on God will give us the strength to get through it.
As we look at these verses and reflect on what they have told us we see that when we are feeling discouraged, beat down, but have faith in Jesus. He will take care of us. He will listen to our prayers and restore us. As we continue to do what God wants us to do, He will bless us. If we have Faith in Him, our strength will be restored.
Hebrews 11:1 tells us what it means to have Faith.
“1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.”
We need to have faith in what God’s words are telling us. Even if the future seems bleak and we do not see any way out, we need to have faith. Faith in what God’s Word is telling us, and faith that He will be true to His Word.
Our responsibility in this is as follows:
1. Do Not Give Up!
2. Pray and cry out to Jesus
3. Continue to do the ‘good work’
4. Don’t let discouragement interfere with what you are supposed to do
5. Hope in the Lord
6. Have Faith
If we do these things God will:
1. Take care of us
2. He will give us justice
3. We will reap the harvest of our work
4. He will lift us up and remove the weariness
Ultimately if we have Faith in the unseen and remember that GOD IS IN CONTROL! He will take care of us.
YOU (application):
As I mentioned this week was one of those weeks. Nothing bad happened, I was just feeling discouraged. I spent time reading scripture and praying but I could not shake the feeling. It was not until I continued doing what God called me to do that I started feeling better.
I was struggling with what to preach on this week and the discouragement was impacting my motivation. When I finally sat down Thursday night and began working on this message I could feel that God was using this week to develop what He wanted me to talk about.
He was taking my prayers, my faith, my continuing to do what He has called me to do and was blessing it. He was fulfilling the promises we have seen in these verses today. He has taken away the weariness, the discouragement, and replaced it with Joy and determination.
God is in control!
WE (inspiration):
What God has done in me this week is something that He wants to do in each of us. If you are feeling discouraged this morning, for any reason He wants to work in you.
So as the widow in the parable did, pray, cry out to God and he will restore you.
If you are struggling with something in your life, whether it is a medical issue, a problem with a loved one, if it is work related, or anything start praying in Jesus.
Continue to seek Him, continue to do what He has called you to do. But most importantly have Faith that He will take care of it. Have Faith that Jesus will be there for you.
Remember that God is in Control!
If you do all of this He will fulfill His promises. He will restore you, He will take away the weariness, He will bless you, He is in control!
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