Sermon
Lanier Christian Church
Celebration Sunday - October 21, 2012
David Simpson
You Who....
Psalm 71:19 and Matthew 11:28
Many of you remember last year's Celebration Sunday sermon...right? M&M - our Mighty and Majestic Lord! Well, I thought about using another acrostic from candy this year - "Whatchamacallit" candy bar - so today we are going to have a 15 point sermon! No...
I wouldn't do that to you. So instead I settled on YOOHOOs!
That's right. Every time you drink a yoohoo chocolate drink or every time you see one I want you to think of two things.
1. YOU are a great God!
Say it! You are a great God! Look up when you say it! Look to the heavens.
Psalm 71:19?Your righteousness reaches to the skies, O God, you who have done great things. Who, O God, is like you??
We worship a great God! Do you believe that?
People need to hear us say that more often.
The Pew Forum released this month of October 2012 their most recent survey of 35,000 Americans (18 and over) which revealed some good news ....78% revealed they considered themselves Christians, but 16% said they were atheist, agnostic or nothing. And the numbers of those who don't believe in God are growing as the years go by.
We are not talking enough about our great God!
It doesn't take much for me to believe in our great God. Just this past Friday morning...about 5:30am....I went outside to walk our dog and couldn't help but notice the stars in the sky. They were brilliant.
I looked up at the constellation Orion and saw what is actually the 6th brightest star in the night sky...RIGEL. (RY-JUL) It is 117,000 times brighter than our sun. It is 74 times bigger than our sun and it is at least 860 light years away from us! Is that not mind boggling?
Now a light year is the distance that light travels in a year - which is just under 6 trillion miles. The light I saw from that star left that star sometime before Columbus discovered America!
God - YOU are a Great God! You are creator!
O God, you who have done great things. Who, O God, is like you??
Lee Strobel - former atheist- now a Christian, wrote a book called "The Case for a Creator." Strobel concludes that, when correctly interpreted, science and biblical teaching support each other. He quotes physicist Paul Davies, "…science offers a surer path to God than religion."
O God, you who have done great things. Who, O God, is like you??
A few weeks ago Faith and I were eating outside on our deck and a hummingbird came and fluttered in front of my face. I was stunned. I've never seen one up that close and personal. It was so close I counted the number of times it flapped its wings - 25 beats per second - or 1500 flaps per minute! (No I looked it up!) It is the only bird that can fly backwards.
O God, you who have done great things. Who, O God, is like you??
We have two deer who live here on the church property. They have eaten all the hosta plants we have here at church and gotten into other plants - but did you know that deer can eat mushrooms and poison ivy - and digest them with no problem - unlike we humans?
O God, you who have done great things. Who, O God, is like you??
I witnessed the birth of my children and I cried both times. As soon as possible after my grandchildren were born, I held them and cried. The miracle of birth is beyond description. Do you know the heart begins to beat the 25th day after conception when the baby is no bigger than a raisin?
O God, you who have done great things. Who, O God, is like you??
During winter there is not enough light or water for photosynthesis to take place on tree leaves. Chlorophyll begins to disappear and glucose becomes trapped in leaves and our beautiful fall colors result.
O God, you who have done great things. Who, O God, is like you??
Say it with me...Oh God, You are a great God!
But, we so limit God and rarely acknowledge his greatness!
I have a "jack in the box" at home for the grandchildren. You probably had one as a child.
Do you know what we do with God? We try to keep him in a box of our own making. We don't want him to be bigger than what we can control. But God cannot be limited. We cannot reduce him to a size of our own choosing. He is bigger than any box we may try to confine Him to. He cannot be limited by our boundaries. He is a Great Big God! Our children sing a song about a BIG BIG BIG God. And He is!
Preacher S.M. Lockridge preached a dynamic sermon called "That's my King"...part of it goes like this:
How big is God?
The Psalmist proclaims, the heaven declares His glory, and the firmament shows His handiwork.
His love is limitless, His promises are sure,
His mercy is everlasting, His grace is sufficient, His reign is righteousness,
His yoke is easy and His burden is light,
He is enduringly strong, eternally steadfast, and impartially merciful.
Are you getting a picture of who He is?
John declared Him the only begotten of the father, full of grace and truth,
He is the centerpiece of civilization and the miracle of the ages.
He is the giver of every good and perfect gift, for He alone can supply all of your needs.
How big is God?
He is the doorway to deliverance, the pathway to peace, the roadway to righteousness, the highway to holiness and the gateway to glory.
I wish I could describe Him to you but He’s indescribable, incomprehensible, invincible, and irresistible.
The heavens cannot contain Him, let alone man explain Him.
You cannot outlive Him, and you can’t live without Him.
Pilate found no fault in Him, Herod could not kill Him,
Death could not handle Him, and the grave could not hold Him.
He had no predecessor, and He will have no successor,
There was none before Him and there will be none after Him.
How Big Is God? He’s big enough to rule this mighty universe, yet small enough to live within my heart.
O God, you who have done great things. Who, O God, is like you??
God, you are a great God!
Which leads me to my second point for today.
2. You have a great Savior!
Turn to your neighbor and say that! YOU HAVE A GREAT SAVIOR!
How many of you have had one of those days where you over did it? You know....when you come to the end of the day and you are simply exhausted and tired either emotionally or physically?
What you need on a day like that is a "yoohoo!"
Matthew 11:28?- the words of our Lord & Savior - Are you ready for this?????
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
How many of you have had one of those days when you know you messed up...you were wrong...you were guilty...you sinned? No one else may have known...just you.
Jesus forgives sin. He says: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
How many of you are simply stressed to the max? Your life moves from one deadline to the next and you never seem to find a moment to just slow down. Even Longstreet Cafe - on Pearl Nix Parkway- had on it's sign last week - "Slow Down."
Jesus brings peace when we lay aside our stresses and strains and yield to Him and just stop and worship Him for a moment. He says: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
How many here today are burdened by life's circumstances? The doctor has given you bad news. Your employer has laid you off from work. The finances aren't enough to pay all the bills. Jesus said:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
How many here today are dealing with difficult relationship issues - at school - at work - in your neighborhood- at home. You are simply looking for a peaceful solution. Jesus says:
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
Are you struggling with a heavy load right now and you think, “I’m just not strong enough to bear this load?” Congratulations. You’re right where you need to be to depend on the strength of Jesus.
He says: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
Ever since the 1920s, Yoo-hoo has been making a permanent mark in the history of soft drinks.
The story starts in the beginning of the 20th century, when the Olivieri family of New Jersey ran a small business producing Tru-Fruit flavors by squeezing fresh fruit. Mr. Natale Olivieri believed that a chocolate flavor, which could be marketed without fear of spoilage, would be a very successful addition to his Tru-Fruit business.
In keeping with his policy of natural ingredients, Mr. Olivieri did not want to introduce a chocolate drink unless he could eliminate spoilage problems without the addition of any chemicals or preservatives.
One day Mr. Olivieri was assisting his wife in the kitchen while she was preparing to preserve her homemade tomato sauce. The idea struck him that heat might be a method of preserving chocolate as well. That day he prepared six bottles of chocolate drink and had his wife put them through the same process that she used on her tomato sauce. After a period of time, three out of the six spoiled. After further experimentation, Mr. Olivieri realized that while time and temperature were the two main factors in this new process, agitation was also necessary in order to achieve uniform heating of his product. This led him to the purchase of a rotating pressure retort with which he processed his first commercial batch of chocolate drink. (From YooHoo website)
Pressure, Heat and Agitation over a period of time make the drink you hold in your hand. You don't just take chocolate and water and mix it together and there you go...it's not that easy.
Life is not easy either...You just don't breathe life into a human body and say "You're good to go." Life is not easy and Jesus never promised that it would be.
There are pressures.
There are times when we feel the heat.
There are times when we are really agitated.
The Bible says in Psalm 142:3?When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who know my way.
YOU have a great Savior! He knows all about you. He knows every weakness, every hurt, every sin, every pain, every stress, every burden, every care. And He is the perfect solution to your every need.
Jesus gives the greatest invitation there is when he says, COME...Come to Me....
I think one of the greatest privileges of being a grandparent is watching not only your grandchildren - but your children and their spouses together. I have seen all three of our grandchildren fall down and get a minor wound only to hear mom or dad quickly say: "Come here...Come to me...let me see...let me hold you."
That's exactly what Jesus says to you today. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
You have a great Savior.
And...God, You are a great God. You who have done great things. Who oh God is like you?
Won't you come to our great God and Savior and find the rest that you are looking for?
