Help Me, Help Me! Series

INTRO.- We all need help in life, even the best of us. God allows us all to get to that point in life even though we’d like to be as independent as possible.

ILL.- The soldier's first article of faith is summed up in an 1865 letter from Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman to U.S. Grant: "I knew wherever I was that you thought of me, and if I got in a tight place you would come--if alive."

If you were alive you would come and help me. How great is that?! And it seems to me that this should be our article of faith as Christians or better yet, OUR CODE OF ACTION IN LIFE! We come to the aid of one another if at all possible!

Galatians 6:9-10 “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

ILL.- People need people. The mother said: Laurie was about three when one night she wanted me to help her get undressed. I was downstairs and she was upstairs, and ... well. "You know how to undress yourself," I told her. "Yes," she explained, 'but sometimes people need people anyway, even if they do know how to do things by themselves."

Yes, even though we know how to do many things for ourselves, we still need help occasionally from others.

ILL.- Some years ago I bought an old used riding mower from a man wno was probably 85 years old at that time but he kept that mower spotless. He would even wipe the engine clean after mowing and I don’t know of anyone who does that. I figured it had to be a good mower. The only problem was that he said you had to run the mower with the choke pulled out, otherwise, it just wouldn’t run. He didn’t know why and I didn’t know why but I took him at his word and ran the mower just like he said.

Well, finally after several years that mower started to give me some trouble. It died on me and wouldn’t start. I had to replace a fuel filter that was apparently clogged with dirt. I thought I had it cured and ran it for some time. Well, it finally quit on me again and once again, I replaced the fuel filter because it had particles of rubber than came out of the gas tank. Still, I couldn’t get it started so one day I asked one of our men if he could look at it. I know a few things about gasoline engines and mowers, but I figured he knew a lot more about them. AND HE DOES.

When he came to house, the mower started. But he said that I shouldn’t have to run that mower with that choke pulled out all the way. He said he thought he knew what was wrong it. He took it home and blew out carburetor and it now it works like it’s supposed to do...and better than it ever did since I bought it.

EVERYBODY NEEDS HELP OCCASIONALLY EVEN IF THEY KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING OR SEEM TO KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING. And Ray is a good fix-it mower man!

In our text, the apostle Paul appeals to his brothers and sisters in Christ to help him in various ways. Is it wrong to ask for help? No, but pride may keep us from asking at times, that is, until we get between a rock and a hard place and then we may proclaim clearly, “Help me, help me!” “Can somebody help me?”

PROP.- We can learn to help one another through Paul’s experience about asking for help. Here is what I see in this text:

1- We must be motivated by Christ to help one another

2- We must struggle with one another in prayer

3- We must rescue one another from evil

I. WE MUST BE MOTIVATED BY CHRIST TO HELP ONE ANOTHER

I urge you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me. What moves you in life? What motivates you to get going and/or do anything good in life?

ILL.- For some it’s this way: “Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to work I go.” No, it’s more like: “I owe, I owe so it’s off to work I go.”

Money does motivate most people to work, so we can buy cars, houses, play things, take trips, eat out, etc. Without a certain amount of money you can’t do these things. Unless you charge everything and there will eventually come an end to that. The love of money and love of material things can consume a person and lead them into a lot of trouble.