These are the nominees for the Chevy Nova Award. This is given in honor of the GM’s fiasco in trying to market this car in Central and South America. "No va" means, in Spanish, "No go."
1. An American T-shirt maker in Miami printed shirts for the Spanish market which promoted the Pope’s visit. Instead of "I saw the Pope" (el Papa), the shirts read "I Saw the Potato" (la papa).
2. Pepsi’s "Come Alive With the Pepsi Generation" translated into "Pepsi Brings Your Ancestors Back From the Grave" in Chinese.
3. The Coca-Cola name in China was first read as "Kekoukela", meaning "Bite the wax tadpole" or "female horse stuffed with wax", depending on the dialect. Coke then did their research to translate it into "happiness in the mouth."
4. When American Airlines wanted to advertise its new leather first class seats in the Mexican market, it translated its "Fly In Leather" campaign literally, which meant "Fly Naked" (vuela en cuero) in Spanish!
Just as businesses, agencies, sports teams, countries, families, churches, individuals, etc. sometimes come to find out…you have to learn some lessons the hard way. Same is true in the Christian life. It’s not your victories that you learn most from, but your defeats. How sweet it is to know the thrill of victory, but there is also the agony of defeat!
Every Christian and every church experiences highs and lows. The highs would include salvation, seeing people baptized, finding their ministry, seeing couples married and building their lives upon the Rock of Jesus Christ, serving the lost and unchurched in our community with acts of kindness in Jesus’ Name. Some of the lows would be people who disappoint, petty arguments, unresolved conflicts, uncommitted Christians who would prefer sleeping in over studying God’s Word, Singing God’s praise, knowing the enemy is ever working to bring people down! In our seven years at CWBC, I’m thankful for the high times, but also for the low times because God is trying to teach us through these times some valuable lessons.
1. BE AWARE OF THE DEVIL’S DECEPTIONS
It may not come as a shock to you, but just b/c you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, doesn’t automatically mean you are going to experience victory in your daily walk. You have an enemy. If not a believer, he already has you, and wants nothing more than to keep you from experiencing new life in Jesus Christ. There is spiritual warfare going on; For the believer, the devil cannot do anything to your soul, but he can ruin your testimony for the Lord.
Joshua 9:1-2
1 And it came to pass when all the kings who were on this side of the Jordan, in the hills and in the lowland and in all the coasts of the Great Sea toward Lebanon—the Hittite, the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite—heard about it, 2 that they gathered together to fight with Joshua and Israel with one accord.
Be aware of the devil’s devices. (1) DECEIVES YOUR THOUGHTS – He wants you to take this spiritual battle lightly. Just as Joshua and the Israelites would face battles in the promised land, you and I are going to face spiritual battles in daily life that require God’s wisdom. Ex. When I became pastor of CBC, a man came up to me before the service; he looked awful, clothes messed up, smelled bad, etc. He said he needed help b/c his house burned down. Do you know the mistake I made? I told the church, “This man needs our help. His house burned down and we need to take up an offering.” Bad Move. I went by his “address” the next day only to find that address didn’t even exist. That was a lesson I’ve had to learn the hard way. Just because someone looks like they are for real, doesn’t mean they always are.
(2) DESTROYS YOUR TESTIMONY - Satan wants to take you down and God’s Name down through deceiving you into bad decisions. You know the devil will extend plenty of credit, by think of the payment!
Ex. Boyfriend says, “if you really love me, you’ll prove it tonight.”
If you are going to make good grades, you are going to need to find a way to cheat.
You deserve that shopping trip to the mall, (doesn’t tell you about the debt)… doesn’t want you to experience God’s blessing through tithing…God says, He will rebuke the devour!
Looking at this site won’t hurt you…no one will know.
That person really hurt you, go ahead and drag their name down.
2 Corinthians 11:3
But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
(3) DISTORTS GOD’S TRUTH - One of the major ways Satan does warfare is by trying to get you to think thoughts that do not line up with God’s Word. He wants you to think of Jesus as a good man…but not the GOD - MAN. He does not want you to focus on growing in your walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Man is RUINED BY THE FALL
Man is REDEEMED BY THE BLOOD
Man is REGENERATED BY THE SPIRIT
Jesus Christ is God’s one and only Son, 2nd member of the Holy Trinity, He stepped out of heaven, was born of Virgin Mary, lived a sinless life, suffered on the cross of Calvary, was buried, rose again bodily from the grave, sent His Holy Spirit to dwell on the inside, He is coming again; We will all stand before Him at either the Judgment Seat of Christ (believers) or the Great White Throne (unbelievers). We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, it’s not our works that merit heaven.
Never forget, you are in the Promised Land, but there are still battles to face. The Gibeonites lied about their place, purpose, possessions; did all they could to conceal their true identity.
If Satan were to walk in this church today, do you think he’d come in with all his hellish demons and walk up to this pulpit with a pitchfork in hand? No the Bible says he masquerades as an angel of light. He’s a deceiver. He’ll say, “You are saved? We’ll just don’t tell anyone.” “Go on to church, but you don’t need to be baptized, attend prayer meetings, etc.” “Go on to church, but don’t become one of those generous givers.” “Go on to church, but don’t get involved in ministering.”
2. TAKE EVERYTHING TO THE LORD IN PRAYER
That’s a lesson to learn the hard way. Take everything to the Lord in prayer. There are times when God says, “Enough Praying,” just obey Me. However, the great majority of the time, God is encouraging you to come to Him in prayer first. Prayer should be first resort, not last.
Psalm 145:18-19
The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those that fear Him; He will also hear their cry and save them. close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him sincerely.
Psalm 34:15, 17 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry. (17) The righteous cry out and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.
You may: Be a leader at school, business, church, PRAY!
Have walked with God and you can hear His voice, PRAY!
Be in lots of trouble due to bad decisions, PRAY!
Be in bad health and feel to weak, PRAY!
Feel your situation is too difficult, PRAY!
• Adversity should never get the Christian down – except on his knees!
I am learning (sometimes the hard way) it does pay to pray! There have been times when I’ve rushed in and made a decision for the church when I should have waited patiently on the Lord. God has given us seven good years at CWBC, but I want the rest of the time God gives me to pastor His flock to be years of faithfulness to His Word and prayer. Would you please pray for me to be faithful to the Lord in the call He’s placed upon my life as pastor of CWBC?
Acts 6:4
but we will give ourselves continually to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”
You do have a daily time of prayer with the Lord, right? If you miss that time of prayer, others will notice. A young boy accidentally spilled his milk at the table and it threw his mother into a screaming fit. “Mommy, you forgot to ask Jesus to help you be nice today, didn’t you?”
In preparing for this sermon I read something that touched my life and want to share it with you. William Watley, “You are connected to somebody who is not only the Alpha and Omega, but the Nu as well. Alpha and omega are the first and last letters of the Greek Alphabet; nu is the middle letter. Thus, Jesus is not only somebody who will be with us in the beginning when we’re born and at the end when death comes. He abides with us in all that is between…in the middle. In the middle when Satan attacks to dismantle and destroy. In the middle, when friends become few. In the middle, when resources run short. In the middle, when the unexpected shakes the foundations of our lives. In the middle, when relationships are severed. Yes, in the middle. Therefore, we can continue to abide in Jesus. He is sufficient for whatever comes between our beginning and our ending.” Praying the Names of Jesus, pg. 164
Joshua 9:14-15
14 Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions; but they did not ask counsel of the LORD. 15 So Joshua made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live; and the rulers of the congregation swore to them.
What is keeping you from a daily time of prayer with the Lord? Pride, Presumption, Prayerlessness, Pain? God is a prayer answering God! He wants that personal time with you! Will you do it?
You are in the Promised land and make sure you stay prayerful. With prayer, you are powerful in the Lord. Without prayer, you are weak and more open to Satan’s tricks.
Like the hunter who came across the big black bear. The bear said, “Let’s take a few minutes and talk about this. You want a fur coat and I want a meal. Let’s just see what we can come up with. A few minutes later the bear had devoured the hunter…the bear had his meal and the hunter had his fur coat!”
3. ASSUME RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR CHOICES
The bad decision by Joshua caught up to him only after 3 days; Important lesson – do what is right, even if it is painful. Over and over the book of Joshua speaks, “Sin will take you further than you wanted to go, keep you longer than you wanted to stay, cost you more than you wanted to pay.”
• Magazine Ads find ways to make young people think smoking is glamorous
• Drinking will make you the life of the party
• Companies may use a Christian logo to lure you in (Amy and I once had a man to work on our home because his ad in the Yellow Pages had a Christian fish symbol, he was not even a believer).
• Going back for second, thirds, fourths may seem ok now, but it begins to take a toll on your health.
• It seems so right to think so highly of yourself, and look down upon others. The greatest of all faults is to imagine you have none! Quote - “If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man’s life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.” Henry W. Longfellow, "Driftwood."
• The idolatry in our lives when choosing sports, hobbies, laziness, over personal relationship to Jesus Christ.
• The discontentment in our lives that always seeks greener pastures, greater technology, more comfort instead of being a sold out disciple of Jesus Christ.
Bad choices do have consequences. God’s people had made a covenant with Gibeonites and would not break it. Joshua reached out to them and he took responsibility for the choice he had made without really seeking God’s Word or prayer. He could have taken matters into his own hand and just killed off the people, but he said, “No, I’m going to be a man of my word, even though it hurts.”
What if you or a family member made a bad decision? It’s going to happen.
Ex. -- Former Colorado head football coach, Bill McCartney .... his quarterback, Sal Aunese .... contracted stomach cancer ... and died at 21 years of age. -- Before he died -- Bill McCartney led him to Jesus .... and in September 1989.... Bill spoke at Sal’s funeral. -- As the coach stood before some 2,000 people at Sal’s funeral -- he acknowledged that Sal was the father of his daughter’s six-month-old child! -- Bill McCartney turned to his daughter and said: "Kristy, I love you very much .... You could have had an abortion .... you could have gone away .... but you stayed so that all of us could have the opportunity to watch this little boy grow up." (Chuck McAlister)
The church of Jesus Christ is the perfect place for those who aren’t. There is someone hurting who doesn’t need your judgment, criticism, but your arm of hope.
Jesus Christ didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance! It’s not the healthy that need a doctor, but the sick!
4. LEAVE ROOM FOR GOD’S HAND OF GRACE
You’ve had to learn some lessons the hard way? You are in good company. Gibeonites were made slaves, had to admit truth, give up their idols, worship and serve the Lord near the altar. As long as the Gibeonites were faithful, God protected them.
2 Samuel 21:1
Now there was a famine in the days of David for three years, year after year; and David inquired of the LORD. And the LORD answered, “It is because of Saul and his bloodthirsty house, because he killed the Gibeonites.”
King Saul tried to take matters into his own hands; God sent famine to the children of Israel for three years.
Leave room for God’s hand of grace when you make a mistake. Joshua made a mistake by not seeking God in the first place; Gibeonites made a mistake by concealing their identity; yet God had a plan for their problems.
When mistakes were placed in God’s hands and people waited, trusted in the Lord: One of the Gibeonites became one of David’s mighty men of valor, Gibeonites helped rebuild the wall in Jerusalem under the leadership of Nehemiah, in the years to come when Jews begin to follow other false gods, the Gibeonites remained faithful servants of the Lord!
Ex. Met a man this week who is serving in a ministry called, “Celebrate Recovery.” He was so excited because of all the people he’d met that were experiencing the difference Jesus makes. People who were bound by bad mistakes, choices, were finding freedom in Christ. The people who were once slaves to sin, were now slaves of righteousness…and their main passion is to serve the Lord by reaching out to others bound by their former problems.
Don’t wallow in your bad choices, but give them to the Lord. Let Him turn things around for your good and His glory!
Romans 6:16-18
Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17 But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18 And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.
Ex. Consider Charles Colson, the aide to Richard Nixon who was sent to jail for Watergate. As as a result of his experience as a convicted felon, Colson founded Prison Fellowship, now the world’s largest Christian outreach to prisoners and their families. Prison Fellowship has more than 50,000 volunteers working in hundreds of prisons in 88 countries around the world. A ministry that has blessed millions of people got started twenty-five years ago because Charles Colson committed a crime. God’s eternal purposes for that man included even the sin that sent him to prison. It was a part of God’s plan from the very beginning. SOURCE: Alan Perkins in "Getting Past Your Past."
There are lessons that you sometimes have to learn the hard way. Each one of us had made mistakes, did not seek God, hurt others, severed friendships, etc. Praise the Lord we serve the God of mercy and compassion.
When you learn from your mistakes, the Lord can bring you into closer fellowship and use you to touch others lives through the word of your testimony. God is ready for you to come to Him, mistakes and all. He will move heaven and earth for those who trust and obey Him!
You may have been fooled by the enemy, but failure is not final for the child of God. It’s only foolish not to bring your failures to the Lord and go on your own! Make the wise decision by calling upon the Name of Jesus today!
ACTION STEPS: (1) Because it makes no sense to listen to the liar, deceiver, make sure you are listening to the Lord, truth. (2) Made bad decision? Confess to the Lord, ask Him to make something wonderful out of your life. (3) Keep your spiritual life sharp through faithfulness to SS class, prayer, etc.
