Acknowledge The Problem Series

From The Problem to the Solution

#1 - ACKNOWLEDGE THE PROBLEM

2 Corinthians 2:14 (KJV) "Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ…"

This morning, we begin a series of messages, that I've entitled "From the Problem to the Solution"

Now, first of all, I want to ask you this morning, how many of you have some problems?

How many of you have problems…

--on your job

--in your home

How many of you are sitting next to your problem? DON'T RAISE YOUR HAND

You see, the truth of the matter is that WE ALL HAVE PROBLEMS…

--physical problems

--mental problems

--emotional problems

--sickness

--disease

--debt

--disappointment

--lost loved ones

--job situations

And as a pastor, over the years, I've had my share of people who told me their problems

I've had people in church tell me…

--that someone in the church was their problem

--that something in the church was their problem

--that "I" was their problem

But here's what I want you to understand: How many of you realize that for every problem, there is a *****SOLUTION*****

Because Paul said in our text, this morning,

2 Corinthians 2:14 (KJV) "Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ…"

In other words, for every PROBLEM there is ALWAYS a solution

And so the real question is…

--"What about the in between?"

--"What about the journey"

--HOW DO WE GO FROM THE PROBLEM TO THE SOLUTION?

Well, over the next few weeks, we're going to be talking about that

Now, before I begin this series of messages this morning, we need to first of all understand the source of our problems

Because I want you to know that there are one of 6 reasons (or a combination of more than one) for all the problems that we face today

You see, first of all, we face problems…

A. Because of the WORLD WE LIVE

Al Gore is talking about the environment – but I'm also talking about the environment

Because just living in the environment of this world causes problems

Jesus said…

John 16:33 (KJV) "In the world ye shall have tribulation…"

This is a hostile environment, and we're on the devil's territory

This is football season and there's a thing called the HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE

And this is Satan's domain for a season, and just because that this is Satan's turf is going to cause problems

The Bible said that Lot was…

2 Peter 2:7 (NIV) "…a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men"

Not only is this Satan's domain, but the laws of physics cause problems

--if you trip, you will fall down

--if you are in an elevator and the cords snap and you're on the 10th floor, no matter how much you speak in tongues, you're going to say ouch!

--if two cars occupy the same space, that's called a wreck

A woman driver was having difficulties getting her automobile started after it had stalled in traffic. The gentleman in the car behind her insisted in expressing his impatience with her by blowing his horn every few seconds. Finally, the lady, worn out by his thoughtlessness, stepped out of her automobile, walked back to the honker’s car and said, "I’m having some problem in getting my car started. If you’ll go and see if you can start it, I’ll honk your horn for you!"

Not only…

--Satan's domain

--are we subject to the laws of physics

But in this world, we have to contend with our bodies that are weak and sinful, and just in that, there are problems

WE have a fallen and Adamic nature – if we see a woman on a billboard in a bikini, if we are humans, it will bother us

So, understand that if you're having problems this morning, it may not be because of…

--personal sin

--Satan

--God

It may just be because we live in a world of problems

That's why heaven is going to be a wonderful place

And then, secondly, understand, we have problems…

B. Because of the CHOICES WE MAKE

You see, a lot of our problems are not caused by…

--Satan

--some hostile co-worker

--Osama Ben Laden

A lot of our problems are SELF-INFLICTED problems

It's not because…

--of our spouse

--of THE DEVIL

If you tell me the devil pushed you into doing something, I want to know why you were so close to him to let him push!

It's not because of GOD

Instead of saying "Thy will be done" we say "My will be done" and then there are problems

You can't…

--choose to smoke all your life and not expect problems

--choose to do wrong and expect no problems

--choose to sin, and expect everything will be lovely