Sermon - July 7, 2013 - PA Visit - My Story and the Lessons Learned - Colossians 1

I thought I would start out this afternoon discussing my journey a bit. What has brought me to who I am today.

I first accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior when I was 16 attending a Friday night youth group in California. It was over the next year or so that I first felt God telling me that He was going to use me in to spread His words. During these early years I had a close friend who began depending on me for his faith instead of Jesus. This scared me and I ran from God.

Many years later I went on a Men’s retreat out in the wilderness. It was on this retreat that I heard God telling me that He was preparing a place of ministry for me. I was really excited and then remembered that Alexis had told me once before that she would never want to be a Pastor’s Wife. When I told Alexis about my experience on the mountain, she responded by saying God had told her as much. It was amazing to see that God had been working in both of us so that we were ready when He called.

Shortly after this I enrolled in Bible College and began serving where called. Over the next 5 or so years while we were still in CA I served in churches from several denominations learning and experiencing all I could.

Roughly 6 years ago my employer at the time transferred me to Michigan. It is here that my story really begins. In Jan of 2010 I was called to fill my first Senior Pastorate at New Life Chapel just outside of Jackson MI. Things were going great. I had a day job that not only was I successful in, but I enjoyed it, and worked with a great group of people. My family and I were settling into a new life outside of CA, was about to complete my MBA, and enjoying seasons for the first time in our lives. We had a nice house, and I was serving as Pastor and a small, loving church.

Just as things were really getting going, I visited with a Dr. about some hearing loss. It had been going on for some time, but hearing loss was not a big deal in our family since our oldest has dealt with it all his life. I was in no hurry, but the Dr wanted to have an MRI done. A couple of days after the test we got a call saying the Dr wanted to see me ASAP. It is never a good sign when the Dr wants to discuss the results.

During the appointment the Dr told me some life changing news, he said I had an Acoustic Neuroma brain tumor. I remember saying ok, so what do we need to do. The funny thing was, I was not scared or worried about it. The Dr even made the point to tell us that it was not an ear tumor it was a brain tumor.

I can tell you it was not fun going through everything, but I clung to a piece of scripture that reminded me of who Jesus is.

Colossians 1 starting at verse 15.

“15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
¹⁶ For everything was created by Him, in heaven and on earth,
the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions
or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through Him and for Him.
¹⁷ He is before all things, and by Him all things hold together.
¹⁸ He is also the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, so that He might come to have
first place in everything.¹⁹ For God was pleased to have
all His fullness dwell in Him, ²⁰ and through Him to reconcile
everything to Himself by making peace through the blood of His cross—
whether things on earth or things in heaven.
²¹ Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds because of your evil actions. ²² But now He has reconciled you by His physical body through His death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before Him— ²³ if indeed you remain grounded and steadfast in the faith and are not shifted away from the hope of the gospel that you heard. This gospel has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and I, Paul, have become a servant of it.
²⁴ Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I am completing in my flesh what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for His body, that is, the church. ²⁵ I have become its servant, according to God’s administration that was given to me for you, to make God’s message fully known, ²⁶ the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to His saints. ²⁷ God wanted to make known among the Gentiles the glorious wealth of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

This piece of scripture spoke to me then, and speaks to me no matter what is going on in my life. I want to pull out a few critical points from these verses.

Jesus is First Born – in other words, nothing came before Jesus. He was prior to anything ever being created and even better than that, He is over all of creation.

Jesus was responsible for creating everything! If it exists today, things we can and cannot see, those who are our political leaders, the actual government structures, everything was created by Jesus and was created for His glory. Our Lord Jesus created everything, even the things that cause our struggles. Everything is subject to Him, even all spiritual authorities.

Jesus holds all things together. What does this really mean, is He holding the tables and chairs together… does He hold the balance between good and evil together… yes He does. But it is even more personal than that. Jesus holds us together; to the point that He is involved with every breath we take. Without Jesus holding all of creation together, we would cease to exist.

Jesus has the power to allow us human sinners to be in a relationship with the Father. All who believe are restored. If Jesus can restore our relationship with the Father, He is more than capable of restoring any earthly troubles we may have. He can restore all things, all issues, all troubles, and all sin.

These verses also point out that we need to remain pure to the gospel; we need to maintain our HOPE in Jesus. Essentially we need to believe in Jesus and follow His teachings. We need to remain faithful to our Lord.

For the next several months life was not fun. Dr visit after Dr visit, gets tiring and can be depressing. With Jesus by my side, I had nothing to worry about.

Some appointments were painful, but even through this Jesus was glorified. When the Dr used a nerve stimulator; AKA tazer, to test my facial nerves. Jesus brought laughter. When I was being poked over and over again, Jesus brought peace.

The day before my operation was full of comfort and love. The day of my operation, brought friends and more peace. Even during some of the most painful and head spinning times in the first 48 hours after surgery, I was blessed and Jesus was with me. Even getting bad news and spending an extra 10 days in the hospital Jesus saw me through the depression. His Words comforted me, His presence was amazing.

The best part about my stay in the hospital, was that the gospel was shared. I may not have been coherent enough to walk someone down the Roman road, but Alexis and I were able to share all that God had done for us and express how much faith we had in Him. I know for a fact that lives were touched and people were blessed by us being there.

Then the recovery began. A large portion of people with this same type of brain tumor end up having one of several major side effects.

Severe migraine headaches that never go away, I get an occasional dull ache.

Paralysis of the face, I have no such issue.
Vertigo, has not happened since the early hours post op.
Major balance issues, only when I am very tired. Heck I ride my bicycle 400+ miles a month.

In short, many Acoustic Neurmoa patients cannot live a normal life. My life is as normal as it comes, and we have even gone to Six Flags Magic Mountain twice this summer and have plans for at least two more trips.

God saw me through the struggles, the diagnosis, the surgery, the recovery, and it has been nothing short of miraculous.

Sadly I did have to step down from that Pastorate, but God continues to allow me to serve and I am confident that He will open the right door in the future.

Besides loving God, Honoring Him, and learning to depend on Him there are a couple of other things that my experience has reminded me.

First is the fact that life is short. We do not know how much time we have left on this planet. We have no clue is this is our last day with our loved ones. We need to cherish each and every moment and it is of vital importance that we take time to smell the roses.

The second is also based on the fact that we do not know how much time we have left here. Or even worse how much time a friend or family member who has yet to accept Jesus has.

Matthew 28:19

“¹⁹ Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,”

Experiencing what I have, reminds me that one all believers are call to make disciples. Each and every single one of us is tasked with reaching the lost.

Every day we talk to people we have no clue if this is the last time we will get to speak to them. If they are unsaved this may be the last opportunity for the word of Christ to be shared with them. We do not know.

If you know Jesus today, I encourage to seize the moment and share Jesus with those you know. If you are praying for someone to accept Jesus, don’t give up, keep praying and keep sharing. Do not be ashamed of your faith, SHARE IT!

If you do not know Jesus, listen to these verses that I read earlier in Colossians 1.

Colossians 1:21-22

Once you were alienated and hostile in your minds because of your evil actions. ²² But now He has reconciled you by His physical body through His death, to present you holy, faultless, and blameless before Him—

Simply put, if left to on our own we are sinners and are alienated, separate, from God. Thankfully Jesus has paved the way for us. If you accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior you are completely restored. Instead of being a broken sinner, you can become Holy, Faultless, and Blameless in the eyes of the Lord. Jesus takes our sin and makes us whole.

If you do not know Jesus today and you feel the desire to accept Him I want to give you the opportunity today.

Remember Jesus created everything and is with you through it all. All He asks is that you honor Him with your life. Also don’t forget life is short, enjoy every minute you have and share the Gospel. Have a contagious faith.

Thanks for reading and God Bless!

Robert