Everybody Needs A Nathan

I. How do we deal with the demands of ministry?

-the demands take their toll on the pastorate.

-illustraition: Jesus walking comes to lame man crying (heals him). He comes to a blind man crying out (heals him). Comes to a man and woman sitting in the ditch crying. "Why are you crying?" (asks Jesus)"We are (name denomination) pastors!" So jesus sat down and cried with them!

-joke muses at the condition of hopelessness

-Recent news article about pastors with heart trouble. (Baptist ministers)

-Not what the gospel tells us.

-" We can do all things through Him that strengthens us

"When we are weak, we know that He is strong."

-DO IT by His strength, and not try to do it on our own!

II. -Independent churches/fellowship-

-Methodist Church supossed to be "connected"

-Everybody is out there doing their own thing

-prayer? accident/an affair/ stressed out

-"O how sad".

-"Yes, O how sad...we never stopped and prayed

-O how sad we never took the time to listen

-O how sad that we never reached out with gospel

-O how sad we never offered them the power of God

-I asked D.S. why Um Pastor’s don’t share together in prayer, and she said "We Texan’s are rugged individualist, and we take seriously "Take My Life, and LET IT BE!"".

-illustraition: Story about Peter (trying to do it his way).

POINT ONE - not rugged individualist,

but accountable to the body of Christ!

POINT TWO - lonliness and isolation lead

to the powers of temptation and sin to be

at work in our lives.

- look King David; mighty man of God; heart!;

victorious over a Giant, danced before the Lord;

ark of the covenant back to the Holy city;

-yet even the King, vulnerable to sin!

-how much more susceptible are we?

-To become isolated and tempted? cheat, steal,

lie, lust, gossip, murder; adultery, drugs, alcohol?

-accountable to the body of Christ

-Even King David, the guy in charge;

III. King David immediately inscensed,

"As the Lord lives, this man deserves to die!" ...

- only one slight problem, "You are the man!".

- Nathan confronts the sin of David,

"You have despised the Lord"

"You have done evil in His sight"

"You have ordered slain Uriah the Hittite"

"You have taken his wife to be your wife"

"You!" he says "have sinned"!

-"Everbody needs a Nathan

- what made David sin, do we really? heart;

temptation and lust. Lonliness; isolation; desperation;

rugged individualism; or even burnout.

-"Burnout equates to not being filled up."

- candles on the altar, they bur out after a while, unless they get more fuel.

- we cannot just read the word, we must heed the word!

-David’s response, "I have sinned against the Lord

IV. illustraition: girl whose hand got stuck in the candy jar. What were you doing? Getting some candy!

"Yes!"...and "Where is the candy now?"

"In my hand"

Then let it go, and pull your hand free!"

A Nathan to confront us, and call us to pull our hand free of the sin!