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Ordinary Day Breakthroughs
Contributed by Ernie Arnold on May 3, 2019 (message contributor)
Summary: Sermon thesis: The LORD uses our ordinary days to develop our character, our faith and our spiritual strength so that we may be able to reflect His glory and live an Abundant Life here on this Good Earth. How we handle ordinary days can lead to extra-ordinary days!
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Scripture: Galatians 6:1-10; Jeremiah 18:1-4
Title: Ordinary Day Breakthroughs
Sermon thesis: The LORD uses our ordinary days to develop our character, our faith and our spiritual strength so that we may be able to reflect His glory and live an Abundant Life here on this Good Earth.
INTRO:
Grace and peace from God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!
I want to talk to you today about being faithful in the ordinary. That is to say, being faithful in the normal every day to day living. I want to talk to you today about how to not only be faithful but to grow as you go about your normal everyday routine of living life.
It is easy today to get caught up in doing “big” things for God, feeling “big things” for God or experiencing “big” things for God. It’s easy for us to want to go from one big event to another big event. We tend to give our attention to those who are able to fill stadiums and church buildings and those who are able to write best selling books or create music that quickly become #1 hits.
We turn on the T.V. or go onto the internet and we can see all kinds of highlight reels of the day – the biggest hits in baseball, the touchdown catches in football and the last second shots in basketball. We see the newest sensation on The Voice, American Idol or The World of Dance and we begin to think why couldn’t that be us or at least someone in our family. We see someone win the big prize on Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune and we wonder why couldn’t that be us or one of our family? Why doesn’t something big happen in our lives?
When we begin to focus so much on all the big moments, we lose the power of everyday, ordinary faithfulness. The power of the Gospel is not always communicated most clearly in stadiums or churches that seat thousands. It is communicated most clearly when Christ followers are living out a life of holiness in their everyday lives. When they are being a witness of the abundant life in their ordinary everyday lives.
The power of the Christian Life is more than all the big moments that we experience. The Power of the Christian life is in the ordinary everyday moments. The moments of taking care of sheep on the hillside, the moments of picking up grain off the ground, the moments of walking from this city to that city and of taking care of a loved one day after day. That is what we find as we read our Bibles – we find the power of everyday ordinary life moments.
There are times that we may feel like we are going around in circles. Moments we feel like the clay in the potter’s hand that goes around and around and around on the potter’s wheel. We think that nothing is really happening. That all we are doing is wasting time. That all we are doing is watching the spiritual paint dry all around us.
When that happens, we tend to lose our passion. When that happens, we tend to get discouraged. When that happens, we tend to get bored with God. When that happens if we are not careful, we will find ourselves slipping away from God. But that is the case at all.
What is really happening is God is working around us, on us and in us. In the midst of our going to work, raising our children or grandchildren, washing the dishes, mowing the yard, fixing meals, folding the laundry, shopping for groceries things are happening. We may not know it, but things are happening on the inside of us and on the outside as well.
We have to learn how to enjoy the everyday pace of things. We have to understand that the Christian Life is not a sprint. It is not even a marathon. It is a life long journey that God has designed to take us through this life to fully experience everlasting life.
The truth is this morning we don’t need to worry about being special. We are already special. We are already God’s masterpieces. We are already children of the Lord God Almighty. We are already Citizens of Heaven. We are already united with the LORD in our hearts, minds and souls.
So, enjoy your job. Take care of your family. Clean your house. Read your Bible. Attend worship. Pray. Be watchful. Seek to do good. Love your family – your spouse, your children, your grandchildren. Be generous. Laugh. Enjoy your meals. Be honest. Be kind. Live each day the best you can and remember these three things:
1. In the midst of doing ordinary things the LORD is developing our character.