Sunday School Nugget - Don't Worry About It

This morning to kick off the Sunday School hour at church I did a little nugget (mini-sermon) on worry. I was supposed to do a nugget last week for Mother's Day but I was out of town and switched with one of the men at church. I wouldn't have done this particular message if I'd done it last week, so God knew what was best. This particular subject is a passionate one for me; I always enjoy hearing messages preached on the passages I'm referencing today. I'll be honest, I remember very very few of the chapel messages I sat in on at Emmaus. But, I remember one very well that Khellan Fletcher did during student chapel on Philippians 4:6-7, and the quote (from George Muller) that he used during it. And that provided some inspiration for my nugget today. I hope it's a blessing and a challenge to you like it is me!
P.S. I wore my green duct tape tie like I have one or two other times at church. It was a big hit.

If you can't listen to the audio based on the above embedded player, then click here for the actual file.

 Nugget on Worry (Outline)

Brother Holliday asked me awhile ago what I was doing my nugget on, and I told him “Don’t worry about it.” That’s the subject of my nugget today.

In America, we’re mainly worried about materialism. Jesus addressed that head-on in Matthew 6 and Luke 12. Read Luke 12:22-31. Focus on vv. 25-26, 28.

Jesus called them “O ye of little faith”. Worrying demonstrates a lack of faith in God, both in how He provides for us and how He guides us. And that’s not good.

Romans 14:23b, “for whatsoever is not of faith is sin”.

George Muller was an evangelist in the 1800’s and a great man of faith who cared for over 10,000 orphans in his lifetime. One of his quotes has really stuck with me since the first time I heard it: “Faith ends where worry begins, and worry ends where faith begins.” Worry robs your joy.

Do you want peace in your life? Do you want joy?

Philippians 4:6-7, same Greek word (careful) as in Luke (take thought). Notice certain words in this passage: “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (emphasis added)

1 Peter 5:7: “Casting all your care [anxieties, worries] upon him; for he careth for you.”

Lots of what-if’s in life. My question: What if, instead of using our energy to worry about the past, present, or future, we actually prayed and took EVERYTHING to God? What if we actually thanked and praised God for what He’s done and what He will do? If we do these things, we have a promise from Philippians 4:7 – “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus”

There is NO ONE better in this life that we can trust. Remember the exhortation of Hebrews 13:5 “Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” God is faithful, and He is good, ALL THE TIME.

Sunday School Nugget - God's Will

I've done three Sunday School nuggets at my home church so far. The first one was on God's timing, and the second one was about our Heavenly Father. My most recent one was given in mid-June this year, not too long after I graduated from Emmaus with my Bachelor's degree. Unfortunately, the recording of it was lost because our church computers crashed. So instead, here's a picture of me delivering this most recent nugget to the congregation from the pulpit.

Most importantly, here's the outline of my nugget. I hope it's a great encouragement and challenge to those of you reading it; I know it has been to me!

Nugget on God’s Will (6/10/12)

Background: I'm a college graduate, looking for a job (preferably with computers)

Lot of questions in my life right now: What can I do for work? Where am I supposed to live (home, Iowa near friends, somewhere else)? Will my future at any location be further shaped by someone of the opposite gender (haha)? Basically, as a Christian my main question is: WHAT IS GOD’S WILL FOR MY LIFE? With certainty I can say, I’m not the only one in the world asking that now.

Next question logically: “Does the Bible say what God’s will for my life is?” The answer is, ABSOLUTELY. It also might not be quite what you’re expecting to hear. I'm barely scratching the surface, but here are some things I’ve found.

Verses:

1 Thessalonians  4:3, 7                    BE HOLY

1 Thessalonians 5:18                       BE THANKFUL NO MATTER WHAT

                In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

1 Peter 2:13-15                              BE SUBMISSIVE TO AUTHORITY FOR THE LORD’S SAKE

These are all known examples, clearing stating what God's will is. But...

                        What about God’s will not explicitly stated?

Romans 12:1-2 (three parts)

 -          Present your bodies a LIVING SACRIFICE

                Who was the ultimate Sacrifice before God? JESUS CHRIST. And what were His words when He was under great agony at Gethsemane?

                Matthew 26:39, “And he went a little further, and fell on his face, and prayed, saying, O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt.” In Luke it says, “not my will, but thine, be done.”

                In order to be a living sacrifice, we have to adapt this to our prayer life and our way of thinking. James 4:13-15 confronts the alternative to this right mindset. You can’t say “I have all this planned out for the next day/month/year and that’s how it’s going to be.” You don’t know what’s coming tomorrow! Life is but a vapor, and for that reason say, “IF THE LORD WILLS…”

-          Be not conformed to this world; it won’t show you God’s will, it won’t tell you to follow God and seek after Him.

-          Be transformed by the renewing of your mind; keep your way of thinking on the Lord and not on yourself or things that will cause you to stray. Part of Philippians 2 talks about Christ’s humility and sacrifice, and it starts with this: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus…” (v. 5)

Proverbs 3:5-6

-          TRUST IN THE LORD

-          DON’T DEPEND ON YOURSELF

-          KNOW HIM; PUT HIM FIRST IN EVERYTHING

-          HE WILL DIRECT YOUR PATHS; He knows it better than anyone else!

Christmas Break 2011 Update

It's been over 4 1/2 months since I've updated my blog. And I didn't even do a regular post then. So it's probably time I do that.

Things have been going quite well for Christmas break so far. I got done with finals on Wednesday the 14th and came home on Friday, after stopping at my grandparents'. My car hadn't started Wednesday night, but it did the times after that, so I drove home. Just the other day, it didn't start again. I think it has to do with rain and moisture getting somewhere in the electrical system, because it rained both here and at school when it wouldn't start. As long as it doesn't rain, I can drive, right? I'll get it looked at before going back up to school.

I've been able to relax and just hang out over break so far, and that looks to continue. I went to see "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows" with my buddy the other day. In order to be caught up, I watched the first Sherlock Holmes movie the night before that at 1 AM. They were both very good, I thought. A semi-modern twist on the characters. It had the old-school look but with a modern feel, somehow. I much enjoyed them, at any rate. Maybe I'll have the opportunity to watch one or two more movies in theater yet this break. We'll see. I'm also planning on watching all six of the Star Wars movies, since I haven't done that yet. I've been a deprived child, I suppose.

How might I be able to spend money on movies? Plasma donation. I do it at Biolife in Dubuque, but there's also a plasma center here in Columbia, MO. I went during the summer and got rejected for 6 months because I had same-day eye surgery in May. Well, that six months has passed. Time for another go, methinks. I plan on going in this morning/afternoon and seeing if I can start donating. I'd get about 3 donations in before going back to Dubuque for spring semester. But this place in Columbia pays new donors $40 each time for the first few donations; ours in Dubuque pays $50 a week total. That extra $80+ would be really nice to have, if possible. God knows, though. He'll provide if He sees fit and if not, it wasn't meant to be. I'll survive either way.

That's about all for now. Until next time, God bless and merry Christmas early!
-Nathan (White Boy Fresh)

Sunday School Nugget - God's Timing

This is a Sunday School nugget I did last year, my first time doing one. I decided to do it on God's timing.

Here's an outline of my message. Funny thing is, I had to do this nugget without notes because I had forgotten to print them out ahead of time. But I stuck to the outline pretty well I think.

If you're unable to listen via the above embedded audio, click here for an alternate link to the audio of my nugget.

God's Timing

Whirlwind nugget, as I have several Bible passages to read though well-known to most of us.
Talking about something which I am currently up against - Time. Specifically, God's timing in life!

I.    God is all-powerful and He's all-knowing
Psalm 139:1-3 "knowest my downsitting...my uprising"
Psalm 139:17-18 "how precious are God's thoughts toward us!"
-If God cares about the sparrow, how much more does He care about us!

II.    Timing relates to us in many areas of life, including school, work, relationships, and major decisions that need to be made.

-Today we often want Instant gratification - microwave minute.
-Tendency is to try forcing everything by our time. Not patient and want everything done now.
    Abraham & Ishmael - not in God's timing (Genesis 17:20-21; "And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee...but my covenant is with Isaac")
        -Ishmael was born when Abram was 86, and Isaac was born when he was 100 years old! Talk about God's timing and not man's!

III.    God's timing is the only thing that matters. He knows everything about us and He has a plan for us! Why not trust in Him for our wants/needs instead of trying to force everything ourselves?

-Isaiah 40:31 - "but they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength..."
-Psalm 39:7 - "what wait I for? my hope is in thee"
-Psalm 130:5 - "I wait for the Lord...in his word do I hope"

-In every area of life (job-related, ie getting a job; relationships, ie when or if the time is right; decisions, ie when to take that big step forward in whatever it is) we need to work by God's timing!

IV.    Challenge for Us

1. Trust the Lord for whatever area (Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart...lean not unto thine own understanding")

2. Wait on HIM! (phrase/words on my phone as part of wallpaper, w/getting to know different girls from school past year and couldn't help but wonder "Could there be something there in the future between us?" - looked promising at least in my eyes but then door closed and I got discouraged; Psalm 27:14 - "wait, I say, on the Lord!")

Father's Day Nugget

I was scheduled to do a Sunday School nugget at my church, and it was on Father's Day this year. The format of our morning beginning is to have one of the men give a little 5-10 minute nugget (sermon) for the whole church before everyone dismisses for Sunday School. And like I said, mine was on Sunday which happened to be Father's Day. This is the spin that I put on the special occasion. I hope it's an encouragement and a challenge to you like it was for me just putting it together.

If you can't listen to the audio based on the above embedded player, then click here for the actual file.

Here is my sermon outline:

The Greatest Father of All

Happy Father's Day! For this special occasion, I felt led to give a nugget about the greatest Father that any of us could ever have: our Heavenly Father. Hopefully it's a challenge and an encouragement to you, as it has been for me. I'm gonna talk about three things that God our Heavenly Father does for us.

I. He Disciplines Us (Heb. 12:5-7, 9-10)

- God disciplines us as a sign of His love for His children. Pretty clear from this text.
- This second part is interesting. Parallel between earthly fathers and our Heavenly Father. Earthly fathers disciplined us so we would follow and obey them; how much more is it with God? Verse 10 is HUGE. Earthly fathers discipline us as it seems best to them; they're doing what they know to be right. However, God the Father disciplines us for our profit (NO DOUBT) so that we can share in His holiness. WOW!!!! That totally blows my mind.

II. He Loves Us (1 John 3:1)

God has called us His sons! He's given us an inheritance that none of us deserve. He sacrificed His only begotten Son for us. "How deep the Father's love for us, how vast beyond all measure..."

III. He Cares for Us (1 Peter 5:7, Matt 7:11)

- Cast all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Reminds me of Philippians 4:6-7 (be anxious for nothing; give it over to God in prayer and supplication, and He'll give you peace). Matt 6:8b, "...for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him."
- Jesus uses example of children asking for bread and being given a stone. Earthly fathers know better than that. How much more then does our Heavenly Father give us good things (like the Holy Spirit in Luke 11:13) when we need them? God cares for us as His children. I'm thankful for a Heavenly Father Who disciplines me when I need it and Who loves and cares for me as immensely as He does.

Reboot

Well, I'm bringing this blog back from the dead. I haven't updated in almost 2 years, and that's gonna change. At least during the summer. I've changed the title of my blog and a few other things to update it some. Hope you enjoy the changes and are encouraged by what you read.

The Reason for the Season

I know it’s been awhile since I typed anything for this blog. I’ve just been thinking of a few things recently that I really wanted to post for everyone’s thought and consideration. As I’m sure you know today is December 3^rd, and that means Christmas is just around the corner (22 days and counting)! It’s a great time of year filled with many presents, good food, holiday music, and everything else there is to offer. As wonderful as all these things are, however, they aren’t the real reason why we celebrate Christmas. The real reason for celebrating Christmas is to commemorate the miracle birth of Jesus Christ by a virgin. It’s not really Christmas unless Christ is in it. There are several areas where, even though many people want it to be different, Jesus still plays a prominent role. Take traditional music for example. Let’s look at a traditional Christmas song, “Silent Night”. The end of the second verse says, “Christ the Savior is born, Christ the Savior is born”. What does that mean exactly? Savior from what? Also, during military funerals and such, someone on bagpipes is playing the song “Amazing Grace”; regardless of whether you’ve been in church before or not, I’m certain that you’ve heard this song played at one time or another. But what is that song talking about? The first verse says, “Amazing grace/How sweet the sound/That saved a wretch like me/I once was lost, but now am found/Was blind but now I see”. What does this mean exactly? I’m going to explain to you what things from these songs mean and how they relate to all of us.

First, let’s look at the phrase “that saved a wretch like me” from “Amazing Grace”. The Bible says in the book of Romans chapter 3 verse 23 that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. How do the lyric phrase and Bible verse relate? They both say that we’re all sinners. This means that we’ve lived contrary to what God says we should be doing. Anything wrong we’ve done such as lying, cheating, stealing, or being greedy is classified as sin in God’s eyes. When we sin we come short of the glory of God, and that makes us a wretch in comparison to Him. This is one thing that I see about God and Christ found in the song “Amazing Grace”.

Second, let’s look at the phrase “I once was lost” from “Amazing Grace”. Because we are sinners who fall short compared to God, that means we are lost and unable to find God. Since we have disobeyed God and He sees us as wretches, He has seen fit to punish us for our sin. The Bible says in Romans chapter 6 verse 23 that the wages (payment) for sin is death. The reason that man physically dies is because everyone sins during their lifetime, no matter how “big” or “small” the sin is. As well though, man dies spiritually. We can’t find God spiritually because, as sinners, God has separated us from Himself and won’t allow us to have any kind of fellowship or union with Him. Therefore, we’re lost and have earned the penalty of dying both physically and spiritually because of our sin.

Third, let’s look at the phrase “Christ the Savior is born” from “Silent Night”. This is talking about two amazing elements in the life of Jesus Christ. There is the birth of Jesus by a virgin, truly an amazing miracle. Jesus was both God and man because He was not born from a physical father; He was born through the Holy Spirit. He lived a perfect, sinless life. Jesus went about offering the kingdom of God to the people, but they rejected Him and accused Him of things He didn’t do. They hated Jesus so much that they put Him before a court and He was sentenced to death for crimes He hadn’t committed. Jesus was nailed to a cross and left to die. He did die, but He miraculously resurrected from the dead three days later. The Bible says in Romans 5:8 that God demonstrates His love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He paid the price that we couldn’t pay (the wages of sin) by dying on the cross for crimes that He didn’t do. He suffered and bled and died on the cross for us. Therefore, Christ is our Savior because He is offering us salvation from spiritual death and from eternal punishment that God would otherwise be giving us. Jesus had the power to rise from the dead, so He has the power to raise us from the dead spiritually if we trust in Him.

Lastly, let’s look at the other phrases from “Amazing Grace”. What is this amazing grace that’s being sung about? Well, the Bible says in the book of Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8 that by grace we have been saved through faith (in Jesus Christ). Grace is defined as unmerited favor; in other words, God is showing us mercy and love when we as sinners definitely do not deserve it. He’s offered us this amazing grace by sending His own Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins as it says in John chapter 3 verse 16. Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8 and 9 say that we’re saved by grace through faith in Christ and that it’s not anything we can do on our own. It says that our salvation isn’t because of our works because then we would be boasting about it. Salvation through Christ isn’t accomplished by anything we can do, because we as sinners in God’s eyes will never be able to meet His standards on our own. That makes the grace He gives us even more amazing, because it shows that He loves us SO much when we really have nothing we can offer to Him in return. And when we put our faith in Jesus Christ and realize that nothing but Him can save us, the results are quite amazing as well. “Amazing Grace” says “I once was lost but now am found/Was blind but now I see”. God opens our eyes and reveals to us how we can have true life in Him. He takes away our spiritual blindness and shows us the way to Him. That’s truly amazing grace.

The things I’ve just mentioned show that Christ still plays a prominent role in traditional music that is played by society today. He’s mentioned frequently in the various holiday songs and also songs like “Amazing Grace” that are heard often in our world. That’s why Jesus can never really be taken out of Christmas or Easter, because He’s what the holidays are really all about. Christians in particular can take great joy in the holidays, because they know that Christ has wonderfully saved them from their sins and that He is the true source of their joy in life. Truly, Christ is the reason for the season.