SERMON BRIEF
Date Written: June 24, 2010
Date Preached: June 27, 2010
Church: OPBC (AM)
FOUNDATIONAL ELEMENTS
Series: Miscellaneous
Title: All I Need to Know… I learned in VBS!
Text: James 1:5 [ESV]
5 Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives to all generously and without criticizing, and it will be given to him.
INTRODUCTION:
WISDOM! This is something we all seek after… it is something we need to live our lives for Christ in this world! Here in our passage this morning we see how James in his ever so practical approach to living the Christian life… tells his readers… if you need wisdom… ASK GOD!
This past week we celebrated Vacation Bible School here in our church and this morning you have heard from some of the children who participated in that event. They learned about God in many ways, but the MOTTO for the week was… NEED WISDOM? Ask God! And that is exactly what James is saying here in this passage.
We do NOT have a full understanding of this world and this life OR our Christian walk, and we are constantly needing God to order our steps and guide our direction in life… so we constantly are seeking wisdom…
The problem lies with the fact that far too many believers are turning to a form of earthly wisdom to guide their spiritual walk. Earthly wisdom, although it SOUNDS solid and doctrinal… if it is NOT based on God’s Word, it will lead to despair, destruction and devastation in your life!
So preacher, where can I find this GODLY wisdom you are speaking about… Well, while studying for the sermon this week I read an article that stated, “All I really need to know about how to live and what to do and how to be I learned in kindergarten.”
This article claimed that true and reliable wisdom was not found at the top of the educational mountain, but it could be found right there in the sandbox of Kindergarten!
These are the things I learned:
Share everything
Play fair
Don't hit people
Put things back where you found them
Clean up your own mess
Don't take things that aren't yours
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody
Wash your hands before you eat
Flush
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you
Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out in the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder. Remember the little seed in the Styrofoam cup: the roots go down and the plant goes up and nobody really knows how or why, but we are all like that.
Goldfish and hamsters and white mice and even the little seed in the Styrofoam cup - they all die. So do we.
And then remember the Dick-and-Jane books and the first word you learned - the biggest word of all - LOOK.
Everything you need to know is in there somewhere. The Golden Rule and love and basic sanitation. Ecology and politics and equality and sane living.
While contemplating on the simple yet profound earthly wisdom that I found in this article, God impressed upon me that while this earthly wisdom was not a bad thing… but it was NOT the godly wisdom we need for living for God and knowing salvation. God impressed on my heart that ALL we truly need to know about becoming a Christian and learning to serve Him can really be learned in VBS…
I have to admit, I was skeptical… I asked God, “It’s got to be more complicated than that! Surely it can’t be that simple?” God assures me that serving Him IS that simple… He impressed upon me that we don’t need to make it any more complicated than it is!
Now as much as we ALL know about the simplicity of the Gospel, I believe we all have a tendency to complicate matters and make things MUCH harder than they have to be… So I took a step back, and I looked at this year’s VBS and I saw that God was right! Everything you need to serve Him and live as a Christian can be found in what we learned in VBS this week!
During this wonderful week we learned about how God thinks about us, about what God can and does take care of us, what God wants FOR our lives, what God wants FROM us, and how we are called to live FOR Him…
We learned how much God cares for us
The first thing we learned from this year’s VBS was that if we desire to serve God and live as He desires… We had do know how much God cares for us!
David in the book of Psalms asked the question, “What is man that YOU [God] think so highly of him?” But when we begin to look at the Word of God to answer this question we find that humanity is held in a very HIGH regard by God.
First we can see that of the entire creation account, humanity was the crowning jewel of creation! God created us in HIS image, God created us for a purpose and that was to commune with Him and manage the rest of creation here on earth.
In Ps 139:14 [ESV] 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made…
David tells his readers that he rejoices because he understood that he was fearfully wonderfully made by the hand of God. Because God took the initiative… we have been created in His image to commune with Him and to oversee His creation!
God gave us worth at creation and today we still have worth in His eyes. NO ONE is seen by God as UNWORTHY of His love… He offers it to all! John 3:16 reflects that love in that He sent His Son to die for our sin so that we could commune with Him and know His fellowship and live with Him forevermore!!!
Today you may have difficulty finding worth in your life… you may struggle with the idea that God cares for you! But we can read it in His word and we can realize it through His promise! We have worth… God believed our worth was valuable enough to send His son to die for our sin!
Today I want ALL of us to know and understand that God believes we are WORTHY to be loved! Now don’t misunderstand me when I say that God does not believe or think that what we ALL do…or how we all act… is worthy, but we are worthy simply because HE has chosen to make His creation worthy! We have worth because God gives it to us!
You are worth something to God, you have value in His eyes, He is interested in you coming to know Him and be a part of His family! Don’t allow the enemy to rob you of your worth in God’s eyes… no matter what you have done, no matter WHO you are, no matter where you live… God’s love is available to you because He has deemed you worthy to receive it! Are you ready to receive His love today?
Will God take care of Me?
We are worthy in His eyes to rec’ve His love, but will God take care of us once we profess Him as Lord. Once again we go to God’s word for the answer to this question and we read:
1 Peter 5:7 [HCSB] - casting all your care on Him, because he cares for you.
We learn that because we are His creation… He will take care of us! For those who have accepted Christ as Savior you have a promise…that NO MATTER what happens in your life God has promised that He would take it and turn it for the good.
Romans 8:28 [ESV] And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28 is NOT for all people but only for God’s children… but it is a promise for ALL who come to know Christ as Savior… so if you surrender to Him today, this promise is for YOU!
One of the greatest examples of someone placing their FULL faith and trust in Jesus and allowing God to take care of them is the lady known as Joni Ericson Tada! Paralyzed by an accident early in life, Joni has put her trust in God to take care of her and God has come thru!
She is a well renowned author, speaker and leader within the Christian community. God has taken what was seen by the world as a horrific and terrible tragedy and has turned it for the good! Because of Joni’s witness and testimony, thousands of people have come to know Jesus as their Savior. God has taken care of Joni and He will take care of YOU!
In the Bible we read about Joseph and how his brothers sold him wanted to kill him, but instead they thought it would hurt him more by selling him into slavery! Joseph was dealt a difficult lot in life… but we see that he never gave up on God, and totally trusted in God’s promise to take care of His own!
Even tho’ Joseph was imprisoned and falsely accused… even tho’ his brothers sold him into slavery… God had a plan for Joseph… God took care of Joseph and ultimately God used Joseph’s situation for the good of many people! Joseph trusted in God and understood what God had allowed to happen!
Today you may be dealing with something you feel is unfair and too difficult to handle, and as a Christian you may wonder why God is allowing this to happen in your life! But Scripture tells us to throw all those anxieties and cares at His feet and He is going to take care of us! Do you trust in God today? If so, release what you are holding onto and trust God to take care of you?
God values who we are and God has promised to take care of His own, but the 3rd thing we can learn from VBS on how to live as we should and serve God is… the question we can ask is…
What Does God Want FOR me?
Notice I did NOT say what does God want FROM me… but what does God want FOR me! What God wants for all of His creation is salvation!
2 Pet 3:9[ESV] The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance
In this passage we learn that God is patient and is patiently waiting on us to turn to Him, and it is His desire that no one will perish… but that all of his creation will come to repentance!
God’s desire is to offer forgiveness of sin to us and that we accept that forgiveness and accept Him as our Savior and the Lord of our life!
This week we learned that salvation is a mere matter of knowing our ABCs!
A – Admit to God that you are a sinner, repent of those sins and turn away from your sinful life!
B – Believe that Jesus is the Son of God and accept His forgiveness!
C – Confess your faith in Jesus as your Savior and your Lord!
This week we learned that if we don’t have Jesus we are like the dry, twisted and parched tumbleweed that rolls across the desert at the whim of any wind or gust that comes its way! Like the tumbleweed, we are lost without Christ, we have NO direction other than what the world imposes upon us and we are blown here and there by the winds of change and this world’s sinful temptations!
But when we learn our ABCs… we can be delivered from being like that Tumbleweed that blows anyway the wind blows… we can be FOREVERMORE welcomed into God’s family and have a purpose and plan for our lives guided by God Himself!
Today you could be sitting in this room and thinking to yourself… THAT IS WHERE I AM! I don’t have any real direction in life… I am blown to and fro by the winds of change in this world… I have no focus or plan or purpose… I am drifting across the floor of life blown by things I cannot control and I have NO way of stopping it!
But today you can leave this place a changed person… today you can learn the ABCs of knowing God and become a Christian… you can be saved from a life of a drifting and tumbling tumbleweed! You can be delivered.
Romans 10:9-10 tells us:
Rom 10:9-10 [ESV]…because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
Today you can KNOW your purpose… you can know the direction in your life… you can KNOW that God has delivered you from the sin in your life! Are you ready to admit, believe and confess Jesus this morning?
But after our confession and acceptance of God’s forgiveness there are 2 more questions that ALL believers have to ask of themselves, and they are my next 2 point:
What does God want FROM me?
Now that you have accepted God as your Savior… you have to understand that you are in a position of service to your Savior. He saves you and out of love and obedience, you follow Him and seek to please Him!
So what does God want FROM those who accept Him as Savior and Lord? Well Jesus set the example for all to follow… Jesus was a man of service! Jesus was a man of service 1st to God and then to those around Him!
Have you ever thought about the term, “Christian” and where it originated? Well the 1st people to use the term “Christian” were the people of the city of Antioch, waaaay back when Paul and Barnabas were doing mission work! Scripture tells us that it was 1st said in Antioch that those who followed Christ were called Christians!
Now the term is actually a term that was considered to be a term of derision and hatefulness! It was a term that people used to criticize and attempt to embarrass the believers of this ‘new way’…
The term “Christian” actually means ‘little Christs’ which was a way of saying there were all these people striving to live like Jesus… to imitate Jesus… to become a ‘little Jesus’ in the eyes of the world! Despite its original derisive meaning, this came to be a badge of honor for all believers! Jesus had called them to a life of service and they wanted to live their lives as closely to Him as they could!
1 Peter 1:14-16[ESV]
As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, "You shall be holy, for I am holy."
This passage tells us that when we become Christians… when we accept Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives… we are to be, “as obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, but as He who called you is Holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy!”
What does God want FROM us? God wants us to live a holy and set apart life as a witness for Him! Jesus lived a life that we can emulate and be like… we have all heard the term “What Would Jesus Do?”… Jesus DID so many things, but the most important and imperative thing Jesus ever did was to be obedient to the Father!
What does Jesus want FROM us… He wants to know that we are submissive to His calling on our lives, and that we are willing to live as He lived, that we are striving to live as Jesus lived! What does God want FROM you after you come to know Him as Savior? He wants your obedience and service! He wants us to listen for His voice and to heed His calling in our lives!
The final question we can look at today is…
How does God want me to LIVE?
Well there are many passages in the Bible that refer to HOW we are called to live, but I want you to know that God expects ME and YOU as believers to live in such a way that it honors Him and honors His Son, Jesus Christ!
Honoring God was what Paul strived for in His ministry, and in Phil 1:20-21 we can read:
Phil 1:20 [HCSB]
My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all boldness, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death.
How does God desire us to live? He desires us to live in Obedience and submission to Him! Jesus said if you LOVE me, you will KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS! God expects and deserves honor, and that we live our lives in such a way that it honors Him!
How can we do this? We can do this by focusing on obedience to His commands in our lives! We can do this by understanding that God loves us and will take care of us, and He has given us worth! We can do this by surrendering our lives to Him!
We need to know that thru the eyes of God we are worthy of His love!
We need to know that thru the Word of God we can know He cares for us!
We need to know that thru the actions of God we can know forgiveness and salvation that can only come from God!
We need to know that thru the guidance of God we can know our path, our purpose and we can live in such a way that honor God completely!
Today I want you to know that ALL of this is open to YOU… ALL of heaven’s favor and splendor is available to you this morning… ALL because of what Jesus has done on the Cross of Calvary!
Peter said it well when he preached in the courtyard in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost when he said, “There is no other name by which man can be saved!” It is Jesus who has made this possible! No one else can do it!
Buddha cannot! Mohammed cannot! Joseph Smith cannot! The POPE cannot! It is Jesus and Jesus alone who can bring salvation into your life. Only Jesus can save us, and we are to strive to live, love and touch the world like Jesus did… Listen to this song about Jesus… [Play video and audio tracks of “Like Jesus”]
Are you ready this morning to give your life to be LIKE Jesus? Jesus gave His life for you… are you ready to LIVE your life FOR Him? I am going to ask you to step out and come forward as Jason plays our hymn of invitation…
