Sermon Brief
Date Written: March 11, 2010
Date Preached: March 14, 2010
Where Preached: Oak Park (AM)
Sermon Details:
Sermon Series: The Great Adventure – Rediscovering the Adventure
Sermon Title: Are You Spiritually Ashamed? Part 6 of 6
Sermon Text: John 14:12; Jonah 1:1-3; Josh 14:10b-12
Introduction:
In John 14:12 Jesus challenges believers to a great and mighty task as He says that we will be doing things greater than He did in His ministry here on earth… and for many of us, this is terrifying.
Today marks the final sermon in this series, but for the past five weeks we have been tracking the Holy Spirit… we have been looking how we as believers can discover the Great Adventure of serving God! We have been challenged by Jesus Himself with what He said in: John 14:12 [ESV]
12"Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do…
We have looked at how serving God was not something that we can put into a box, or a neat little package. We saw how the Holy Spirit’s calling on our lives is not something we can reason with or fully understand because God’s thoughts are above our thoughts… His ways are above our ways…
We have seen how we tend to place our human and worldly ‘responsibilities’ ahead of serving God, when God demands that we serve Him first! In Matt 6 Jesus tells those who follow Him:
Matt 6:32-33 [ESV]
32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you…
“These things” referred to the everyday necessities of life, and Jesus understands that we need these things and that there are ‘responsibilities’ that we must fulfill in life, but when we place ‘these things’ above serving God…above ‘chasing the Holy Spirit’ we are not being obedient to Christ in His call to seek God FIRST and then God is going to help you take care of ‘these things’
We also saw how we tend to put ourselves in a box when we serve God… You have heard how many try to put God in a box, but we are just as guilty of putting ourselves in a box and limiting ourselves in our service to God when we become slaves to the routine and RUTs that we allow to dominate our lives!
Are you allowing yourself to be swallowed up in routine and missing out on what God has for your life… missing out on the Abundant Life that Jesus has promised!
Then we took a look at how we jump to conclusions and make assumptions that lead us down paths that God does NOT want us to go, and we find ourselves FAR from where God desires…
Our trust and faith in God has to be firm, and we must believe that when God tells us He is going to deliver… HE WILL! Scripture tells us that Abraham TRUSTED God, and believed that God was going to deliver! Are you willing to trust God, even when you can’t see it… even when you can’t understand what He is doing or where He is leading you?
Finally last week we looked at how we all fall into the cage of insecurity from time to time. We question our salvation, we doubt our belief… we find ourselves thinking that God cannot use us because we have failed Him! But we learned that ALL people have failed God, and we looked at Peter and the example he is for us today…
He failed God on a monumental level… deserted Jesus in His time of need after pledging his loyalty… denied Jesus when confronted in public and finally we find Peter departed from his walk with Jesus by going back to his former lifestyle… he went back to fishing!
But we learned that Jesus came to Peter and offered forgiveness and complete reconciliation… complete restoration to Peter! Peter was overwhelmed by the love of Jesus, and when we see Peter next, he is resolute in knowing that he is forgiven and God has called him… and we know that Peter did many great and wonderful things for the church…
Was Peter perfect from then on? NO! Not by a long shot, but the important thing is that although Peter was not perfect… He was changed! He understood forgiveness and God’s love, and began to share that with those around him. What about you? Have you found yourself thinking that God cannot use you because you have failed Him in some way? God can and will forgive and restore to you walk in His light…
This leads us to our final sermon of this series. How many times have you heard God calling you to do something, go somewhere, speak with someone, or act on His behalf and you looked at the situation and you were frightened… and you turned and ran away!
I am not going to sit here and ask the question HAS this happened to you, but what I DO know to be true is this, “How many times has that happened to you?”
Let me ask this of your Christian walk this morning…
Do you fear failure enough to prevent you from chasing the Holy Spirit?
Does your fear of failing God stop you from experiencing that Great Adventure that God has for you?
Do you feel you are missing out on the Abundant life that Jesus has promised because you are scared to move forward in His calling?
We all realize that fear and failure go hand in hand and for many of us the fear OF failure paralyzes us to the point of stagnation in our walk with Christ. We also know that fear and failure are part of life, and we must learn to deal with each one on a daily basis! However for the most part, the modern day believer in America does not fear losing life or limb, but our main fear is rejection and embarrassment.
It is human nature to desire to fit into the social structure around you. And when our faith leads us to stand out and be subject to questions, ridicule and embarrassment… WE FEAR THIS… we want to serve God but for many of us our FEAR of these things overwhelms us to the point where we fail God and do NOT do what He has called us to do!
But not only that I see believers fearing embarrassment and ridicule, we also fear failure itself! As hard as this is to say, I truly believe that as Christians we would rather live a mediocre and stagnant Christian life, than risk failing at a God-sized effort! We would rather sit in apathy than risk failure by acting in courage and in the face of great odds.
I am here to tell you today that COURAGE is what is needed in the life of the believer today! I say this with a great deal of conviction in my own heart because I find myself here on many occasions…
I find that most believers either do NOT have the courage it takes to chase the Holy Spirit OR they simply don’t want to put forth the effort to venture out on nothing but faith… either way, it is sad and depressing!
The Jewish people use the word chutzpah (hoodz-pah). Now this word literally has a very negative connotation with it because it actually means:
arrogant courage;
utter audacity,
effrontery or impudence;
supreme self-confidence;
exaggerated self-opinion…
And from a human perspective those describing qualities are not desirable! Those who are described as having those qualities are thought of as being overbearing and egotistical!
But I want to look at this from a spiritual perspective where we realize that we can do NOTHING but that ALL the things we can and DO accomplish is thru Christ! So from that perspective I can see that if a believer has “Spiritual Chutzpah” it is going to be a benefit to the walk of that believer!
“Spiritual Chutzpah” will cause the believer to chase the Holy Spirit in their lives… it will allow them to experience the Great Adventure God has called them to live out here in this world.
I want you to imagine a believer who refuses to back down in the face of fear! A believer who simply will not turn away from God’s calling…does that sound a little arrogantly courageous?
Can you imagine the believer who will openly confront those who promote evil in our world today…the believer that refuses to turn their head and look the others way, but instead dives off headfirst into the battle? Does that sound a bit audacious to you?
What about the believer who is impolite enough in their walk with God that they could care less about offending anyone, and so they share their faith and tell of the love of God with full confidence and without any remorse or apology?
What about that believer who stares fear directly in the face and shrugs off failure like water off of a duck’s back? Some may say that they seemed supremely confident in their mission!
Well DUH! Do we believe in who we say we serve or NOT? Either God is all powerful and we are tapped into the most powerful force of all… OR we are living a lie! Are we selling God short in our lives, and short-circuiting the power that God desires to allow to flow through our lives to touch the lives of others!
Those who cling to God, submit to His calling and place full faith and trust in Him… THOSE believers are going to have an exaggerated opinion of what they can accomplish IN CHRIST! They know where the power comes from! These people may look like they have exaggerated expectations to those of the world, but as Scripture tells us on many occasions… “Nothing is impossible with God!”
Today I want us to look at 2 believers in Scripture; one is a case study in fear, fear of harm and fear of failing God! The other is a case study in courage in the face of ultimate failure, and the refusal to allow fear to prevent them from serving God, even when all things may look bad… they trusted God!
I you to ask yourself this morning…
Am I a believer who is afraid to fail, afraid to step into an uncomfortable situation for my Lord? OR
Are you the type of believer who is courageous and regardless of the failure that could happen, you press forward with your calling from God because you are confident in the Lord and confident that He is going to lead you to the result He desires…
First this morning I want us to look at the man we know as Jonah. I believe that when we look at the life of Jonah it reflects the initial actions of a lot of believers today… let’s look at that Scripture:
Jonah 1:1-3 [ESV]
1 Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the son of Amittai, saying,
2 "Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it, for their evil has come up before me." 3 But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and went on board, to go with them to Tarshish, away from the presence of the LORD.
Here Jonah is called by God to go to a certain place and say a certain thing so that a certain result would occur… he was called by God to preach in a wicked city in order to bring them to repentance. Now when you are a prophet, this is what you are called to do… PROCLAIM the word of the Lord! But Jonah does just the opposite, he runs in the other direction!
Jonah runs, and we all know the story how he gets on a boat, the boat is in the storm, Jonah is thrown overboard, Jonah is swallowed by a large fish and in the stomach of the fish, Jonah repents and tells God he will be obedient.
Many believers read this story and shake their heads and judge Jonah harshly, but before you get worked up over Jonah running away from God, let me remind you of a calling that YOU as a believer are called to do… Matt 28:18-20 Jesus calls us:
Matthew 28:19-20 [ESV]
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you…"
And this command is recorded in a different fashion in the book of Acts:
Acts 1:8 [ESV]
8 “…you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth…"
Now we have to understand that as believers are called by God just as Jonah was called by God… Called to go to a certain place (the world) and say a certain thing (share the Gospel) so that a certain thing will occur (making disciples)…
We can look at the story of Jonah and it gives us a very good picture of what many believers today do when they come face to face with serving God and the reality of the Great Commission he has called us to!
These believers see this and they try to run away! They seek to be somewhere OTHER than doing what God has called them to do! They will use any excuse to rationalize why they WILL NOT serve as God has called them to serve… I hear it all the time, especially with a subject such as sharing your faith…
I hear, preacher I am not gifted with the gift of evangelism… I just can’t share with other people! I get nervous, I can’t remember Scripture, I am afraid they will ask me a question I won’t know the answer to… However, if that is YOU, and you have used that excuse and you truly believe that you CANNOT share your faith…and you think that sharing Christ is only for those with the gift of evangelism you miss the point of the Great Commission!
The Great Commission is actually a 2-fold command, and this commission is given by Jesus to ALL disciples! First and foremost this command is a command of obedience, a command to step out in faith and trust the One we claim as our Savior and Lord!
Secondly this command is a command to share our faith AS WE GO through our lives… sharing OUR story of how Jesus has changed OUR lives! No one can tell YOUR story like you can… You are called to share YOUR story with those God puts in your path! The question still remains though: Does Fear of Failure prevent you from chasing the Holy Spirit?
Is your fear rejection? Is your fear embarrassment? Do you have a fear that you will not know the answers to all their questions? Do you have a fear of being put on the spot and ridiculed for your beliefs?
If you do, you are in GOOD company! If you are dealing with those fears, understand that IS part of chasing the Holy Spirit… that IS part of living our lives to the fullest and experiencing that Great Adventure that God desires of us… We deal with those fears and anxieties by placing our full faith and trust in Jesus to carry us through ANY and ALL situations!
Jonah could only see a seemingly impossible task… I can imagine he thought to himself, “how can I do anything in Nineveh?” They were the most wicked, they were considered to be the most evil, and Jonah just KNEW that they would mock and ridicule him! He even thought that they could possibly bring charges against me and throw me into prison or even worse…they could kill me! I can just hear Jonah trying to rationalize his decision… “I can’t do this… I just can’t!”
I don’t think Jonah was happy or proud of what he was doing…he knew what he SHOULD be doing, but I believe Jonah was running out of fear… fear of rejection, fear of ridicule, fear of failing and maybe even a fear of death! Jonah was afraid!
However, I see that believers today do the same thing! We run and hide from God when we are called by Him to do something. I know that I ran from God’s calling on my life for 10 years!
I was not swallowed by a fish, but God allowed me to become swallowed up in a mountain of doubt, and debt! God kept my spirit from ever experiencing the true bliss of serving Him!
He did this because I wasn’t listening to Him… I wasn’t doing what He called me to do! What I was doing were not bad things, but it wasn’t the best thing… it wasn’t what God had called me to do!
Jonah is a prime example from Scripture of someone is runs away out of fear when God calls on them to serve! Jonah ran, and so many times we find ourselves RUNNING from God, I find that we can be such spiritual cowards from time to time! I find that there are so many believers today that just do NOT want to face what God has called them to face…
Our country has a rich history of men and women who have looked fear in the face and marched boldly forward in spite of that fear… in spite of the fact that most believed that they would fail… they marched on and they saw it thru to the end!
The founding Fathers of our nation did just this! How would things have turned out if they would not have had the intestinal fortitude to stand up to a tyrannical British king?
Think about the brave and hearty soldiers who have stood in the gap in war after war after war… what would our country be today if they had not had the courage to stand for what is right?
Jonah ran when God called him, and we find ourselves running as well, but we don’t have to run… In fact God’s desire is that we stand and fight… It is God’s desire that we stand with Him and that we trust in Him!
So today I want us to look at another example from Scripture, this is an example that is the total opposite of Jonah! This is an example of rising to the occasion and not allowing fear or the fear of failure to cloud one’s vision of where God is leading them… I speak of Caleb and we find him in Joshua 14:10b-12 [ESV]
Joshua 14:10b-12 [ESV]
And now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old. 11 I am still as strong today as I was in the day that Moses sent me; my strength now is as my strength was then, for war and for going and coming. 12 So now give me this hill country of which the LORD spoke on that day, for you heard on that day how the Anakim were there, with great fortified cities. It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall drive them out just as the LORD said."
If you remember, Caleb had been the ONLY other spy other than Joshua, than Moses had sent into the promised land that came out with a positive report! Caleb and Joseph believed in God and advised Moses to go into the land because God had given them the land! Caleb showed courage when he was 40 yrs old in being the minority opinion…
Caleb did not care what others thought of him, Caleb did not care if his belief was rejected, Caleb did not care if people ridiculed his stance… Caleb believed God’s promise and saw a land of riches and fertile soil for farming… Caleb saw the victory that God had promised and Caleb had the ‘chutzpah’ about him to believe God would deliver on that promise!
Now here was a man who had seen those who failed God perish and not realize the blessings that God had in store for them. Here is a man who had endured ridicule, resentment and reviling at the hands of those around him, but he did not care! There was absolutely NO way he was going to back down or back away from the challenge ahead!
At the age of 85 Caleb basically told Joshua, “Give me that mountain Joshua, I know God has promised my family blessing, I want to claim that blessing! Give me that mountain and I will go and take it!” Caleb did not care what others thought about his age or his seeming OVER confidence! He had ‘spiritual chutzpah’ and he knew God would deliver!
How about you today? Has God called you to a place or a situation in your life where you are faced with a decision…
Am you going to say, “God give me that mountain because I know you will deliver on your promise!”
Are you going to march with supreme and seemingly arrogant confidence about you because you believe in God and that God is faithful?
Are you going to look fear and failure in the face and shrug them off knowing that God will deliver, no matter how difficult the path may seem, no matter how daunting the task may be… are you willing to move forward?
OR are you going to be like Jonah and see the problem as being too large, too difficult, too hard for you to handle… Are you going to live your life NOT believing that God can or will deliver on His promises? Are you going to allow your walk to become infected with apathy and indecision because you don’t think you can succeed so why even try?
Are you a Jonah today? OR are you a Caleb? The church is in great need of a whole lot of Calebs in our world today! We need those who are willing to step out of their comfort zones, who are willing to say to the world around them, “My God CAN and WILL deliver on His promises!”… we need some spiritually savvy and brave believers who will NOT back down!
You see, I see it like this, IF you are spiritually courageous and willing to step up like Caleb you have what I would call “Spiritual Chutzpah”, some will call you overconfident, some will call you arrogant, some will call you reckless and audacious, some may even think you to be a bit rude or offensive because of that confidence you possess!
I don’t see this as rude or offensive, I don’t see this as reckless or arrogant and I don’t see this as being overconfident… I see this as understanding WHO it is we serve and being totally and completely UNASHAMED of who you are and the life God has called you to live… Are you unashamed this morning! I stand before you this morning a TOTALLY UNASHAMED man in Christ! [Fellowship of Redeemed]
Are YOU UNASHAMED today? Are you willing to stand in the face of fear and serve God regardless? If you are identify with the fellowship of the UNASHAMED this morning I ask you to stand right now… Don’t stand unless you are fully committed… unless you are totally submissive to God’s calling on your life and you are willing to live your life accordingly! If you are willing, I want you to identify yourself by standing right now!
Now, if you having trouble facing fear and dealing with failure? If you cannot commit to God’s calling on your life, if you are having trouble submitting to living a life of the UNASHAMED… Today is a day of Good News! Today I call you to surrender your heart! I call on you to face the fear in your life! Stop trying to overcome it on your own! But today I invite you to come and give it to God and allow HIM to lead you, to guide you and to direct your steps!
Today you may be here and you may NOT know Jesus! I call on you to surrender to Him today! Not because I say so, but because He is calling you! I make no excuses for saying that we are ALL sinners! I make NO excuses in saying that those without Christ will certainly perish in a fiery hell… These are not MY words but the words of My Lord and Savior!
He calls to you today… calling you to come to Him, surrender your life and allow Him to cleanse you, forgive you and save you! Save you… not just FROM something but save you actually TO something far greater… When Jesus saves you, He saves you TO eternal life with Him in heaven but also to an abundant and full life that is THE Greatest Adventure you can hope for here in this world!
Are you ready this morning? Are you ready to cast fear to the side? Are you ready to face the failures of your life and allow God to redeem you? Are you ready to be part of the Greatest Adventure this would has ever seen? Come today as Bro Steven comes to lead us… come and give your heart and soul to Jesus!
— by Dr. Robert Moorehead
I fully believe that, LIKE CALEB, I am a part of the fellowship of the unashamed. You see I believe that the die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. My decision has been made and I am a disciple of Jesus!
I won’t look back, let up, slow down, back away or be still.
For you see my past has been redeemed, my present now makes sense, and my future is fully secure. I am finished with low living, walking by sight, small expectations, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tame visions, mundane talking, cheap living and dwarfed goals.
Because of Christ I no longer need prosperity, position, promotion, or popularity to validate my life. I do NOT have to be right, finish first, be on top, be recognized, be praised, or rewarded. Because of Christ I now live by faith, I now lean on His presence in my life, walk by patience, lifted by prayer, and labor by His power.
My life is set, my walk is fast, and my goal is heaven! I know that my road is narrow, my way is rough, and that my companions will be few! But I also know that my Guide is reliable and my mission is clear.
I cannot be bought or compromised! I will NOT turn back or be delayed! I have resolved that I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, I will NOT hesitate in the presence of the Enemy, I will NOT negotiate at the table of temptation, and I will NOT meander in the maze of mediocrity.
I will NOT give up, shut up, or let up! Until I have stored up, prayed up and paid up for the cause of Christ! I am HIS disciple! I must continue to serve until He comes, I must give until I drop, I must work until He stops me. And when He comes for His own…
He will have no problem recognizing me…my life is my banner and I am UNASHAMED!"
