Sermon Central
-
Asking God Questions
Contributed by Ross Cochrane on May 29, 2010 (message contributor)
I get the privilege and opportunity to speak to many old people in the course of my day. Being a chaplain and Pastor in an aged care facility (fancy name for old people’s nursing home) I am fascinated by the amazing lives that they have led.
Last week I spoke to a woman in her 90’s who said she felt like she was in a PRISON. She has dementia and so there are locked doors and people she does not know. "Why has my family put me here? What is wrong with me? Who are you? Will you help me?" What can I say when I am asked these things? I’m not the one who has come to give them deliverance! I’m just visiting their prison, (I mean home). All I can do is to assure them that they can trust in Jesus and wonder if I will be the one asking those same questions one day?
In Matthew 11:2 John the Baptist is LANGUISHING IN PRISON (don’t you just love that word "languishing"). He does not have dementia. Far from it! Nevertheless he is confused and asking similar questions. He sends some of his disciples to Jesus to ask, "Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?" Behind this question, he is probably asking "Why am I here ...LANGUISHING... in prison? What is wrong with me? What have I done to deserve this? Why doesn’t the Messiah, if He is the Messiah help me? I need deliverance?"
My grandchildren sometimes play with a Jack-in-a-box. Sometimes we want a JESUS-IN-A-BOX too. We want Him to fit into our pre-conceived ideas of who He should be and how He should act. One woman said to me on Friday "If there is a God then why does He allow all the bad things to happen in this world?"
John is confused about Jesus? Why? I think He expected that Jesus would come to overthrow the Romans and deal then and there with all the bad things in the world. When Jesus said "Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword" (Matthew 10:34 NLT), John would have loved that! He thought the Messiah would come to judge the world and reign as king immediately! Instead John was thrown into prison! He still believes the Messiah is coming but he doesn’t want to mess around in a prison cell so he asks, "Are you Him or do we look for someone else?"
There’s absolutely no harm in asking God questions when I feel confused. After all James 1:5 (NLT) says "If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking." It’s the A.S.K. principle - Ask, Seek, Knock.
Related Sermon Illustrations
-
I Heard Someone Give An Illustration Once About A ...
Contributed by Clark Tanner on Sep 9, 2004
I heard someone give an illustration once about a wooden well bucket he came upon. He thought it was useless at first, because it had been sitting next to a barn in the sun, unused for a long time. He could see daylight between the wooden slats of the bucket. Certainly, this thing would never ...read more
-
Max Lucado Tells A Story In A Book Called "It's ... PRO
Contributed by Jeff Simms on Aug 2, 2004
Max Lucado tells a story in a book called “It’s Not About Me” about a friend of his who had cancer. Some well intentioned Christians had told him ‘If you have faith, then you will be healed”. But, no healing came, only a crisis in faith in that man’s life. Max suggested another answer to him, ...read more
-
A Man Has A Dream, He Dies And Goes To Hell! PRO
Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Mar 28, 2003
A MAN HAS A DREAM, HE DIES AND GOES TO HELL! While in hell the man notices there are many tables and starving people are sitting all around the great tables. There is hot food of all taste on the table. In Hell, they are starving with food tortuuring them right before their eyes. While all this ...read more
-
Titanic Story – The Titanic Was Slated To Be The ...
Contributed by Chad Garrison on Dec 23, 2006
Titanic Story – The Titanic was slated to be the best ship ever built. It as hailed as “indestructible”, but when it hit an iceberg on it’s maiden voyage, it sank. It has since been discovered that it was not the size of the iceberg that sank the ship, but rather that it was rushed to completion ...read more
-
The Dog Gone Story! PRO
Contributed by Wade Martin Hughes, Sr on Mar 28, 2003
THE DOG GONE STORY! Many years ago before airplanes and the great jets of today, people had to travel by ships. These great ocean going vessels were very slow sailing across long distances. The King of Greece made the decision to travel to the USA. The King had heard of the vast land and how ...read more
Related Sermons
-
Childlike Prayer Series
Contributed by Jeff Strite on Feb 28, 2016
A lot of people think if they just had the right "formula" for praying that God would hear them. But that's not true. God's not impressed with your form, He's impressed with your childlike faith in prayer. So, how can I have that kind of faith in prayer?
-
Hey Jude Don't Be Afraid Series
Contributed by Jeff Strite on Sep 3, 2017
Jude speaks of people who "infiltrate" the church to damage it. Who are they and why do they do that? And how can we "contend for the Faith" when faced with these kinds of folks?
-
Coming Off The Mountain Series
Contributed by Brian Bill on Feb 4, 2017
If we want to share in the glory above, we must follow Him into sufferings below. The glory on the mountain helps us deal with the garbage in the valley.
-
Delivered From Despair Series
Contributed by Kevin L. Jones on Aug 7, 2013
A sermon examining how God ministers to us even in times of great distress and despair.
-
Responding To The Unexpected
Contributed by Barry O Johnson on May 10, 2018
Many Christians are not prepared spiritually for the attacks of the enemy. This message, taken from 2 Chronicles 20, gives six things we can do to prepare ourselves from the enemy's attacks.
