1. Jeremy Lin clip ¨C Unseen potential http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUViw41Q7Hs&feature=related
(We used the first 2:17 minutes of this online video. It¡¯s a series of highlights of Jeremy Lin¡¯s powerful game-winning performance against the New Jersey Nets February 4th, 2012)
What you just observed is called Lin-sanity.
Jeremy Lin is newest the sensation of the 2012 NBA season. In the few short weeks since the game you just saw highlights from, the sales of his jerseys have skyrocketed to the most top selling item on the NBA market. In addition, his name is being placed on basketballs, shoes, hats, toys, etc. He has become one of the most popular basketball players of this season.
Lin is a Harvard Graduate. And while at Harvard, he led that college¡¯s basketball team to a record 21 wins. Because of his stellar performance, he was able to enter the NBA and begin to fulfill his dreams to be a professional basketball player.
The only problem was ¨C the NBA if filled with some of the best basketball players in the nation. And he was only one of many. And most teams weren¡¯t all that impressed with him. The Dallas Mavericks had him for a time As did the Golden State Warriors and the Houston Rockets. But he was eventually passed on to the NY Knicks (where he now plays).
But even Knicks¡¯ Coach said: ¡°I didn¡¯t know he could play defense, I didn¡¯t think he could shoot well enough and I didn¡¯t think he could go up and finish. I¡¯m going, ¡®He can¡¯t finish, can¡¯t shoot, can¡¯t play defense. I like his speed, but I don¡¯t know.¡±
Because of those doubts, Knicks were planning to trade Lin for another player on Feb. 10th.
But then ¨C just 6 days before that deadline - came February 4th. The Knicks faced the New Jersey Nets¡ and two of their best players were on the injured list. But even with those players, the Knicks were a terrible team ¨C they¡¯d lost far more games than they won that season.
When their point guard became injured, the Coach reluctantly put in Lin¡ and the world turned upside down. Lin led the Knicks to a 99-92 victory AND outplayed All-Star guard Deron Williams, scoring 25 points, and having five rebounds, and seven assists.
From that point on, Jeremy Lin led the Knicks to win the next 6 games, becoming an overnight sensation¡ and the press eagerly awaited interviews with him.
APPLY: But up until February 4, 2012 - nobody believed in Jeremy Lin.
3 teams had passed on him and the Knicks were just a week away from trading him
NOBODY wanted Lin. Nobody saw his true potential.
That is - until he got a chance to play in the game¡ and the rest is history.
2. 1 Corinthians 15.8-11
3. Yeshua (Jesus) had made appearances to many people during the 40 days he taught after his resurrection (Acts 1.13)
a. Peter-12-500-James
b. Impact of the appearances was to change the lives of those to whom he appeared
c. Many of them had not understood the potential of Yeshua (Jesus) as Messiah
d. Most had doubted him, yet look at the impact of these people on the world
4. He also appeared to a Pharisee named, Saul ¨C that event changed his life
I. Saul Did Not See the Potential in Yeshua (Jesus)
I read of an older lady who was expecting a gentleman friend to call on her later in the day. She was nervous because her eyesight was failing and was afraid her friend might reject her because she was less than perfect. So, she came up with a plan to prove to him that she could see perfectly.
She put a straight pin in a tree that was about 200 feet from her front porch.
When her friend arrived, they sat in the porch swing and were talking when she suddenly stopped the conversation and asked, "Is that a pin sticking in that tree?"
Her friend squinted his eyes and said, "I don¡¯t see a thing."
"Well, I¡¯m going to go see," she said as she jumped up, ran toward the tree, and collided with a cow.
8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9 For I am the least of the apostles, unfit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 1 Corinthians 15.8-9
A. Saul Saw Himself as a Defender of the Jewish Faith
3 ¡°I am a Jew, born at Tarsus in Cili¡äcia, but brought up in this city at the feet of Gama¡äli-el, educated according to the strict manner of the law of our fathers, being zealous for God as you all are this day. 4 I persecuted this Way to the death, binding and delivering to prison both men and women, 5 as the high priest and the whole council of elders bear me witness. From them I received letters to the brethren, and I journeyed to Damascus to take those also who were there and bring them in bonds to Jerusalem to be punished. ¨C Acts 22.3-5
1. Opposed anything/anyone who differed
a. Deuteronomy 13 and false teachers
b. Stoning of Stephen
2. Yeshua claimed to be greater than Moses (Mount of Transfiguration, etc.)
3. Saul differed from his Rabbi, Gamliel (38 So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!¡± So they took his advice, 40 and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Acts 5.38-39)
B. God Interrupted His Plans
6 ¡°As I made my journey and drew near to Damascus, about noon a great light from heaven suddenly shone about me. 7 And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ¡®Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?¡¯ 8 And I answered, ¡®Who are you, Lord?¡¯ And he said to me, ¡®I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting.¡¯ 9 Now those who were with me saw the light but did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me. Acts 22.6-9
1. Blinded
2. Into the city, praying and fasting
3. Ananias sent to him
II. People Did Not See the Potential in Saul
A. People Saw the Problems Instead of the Potential
1. Ananias Argued with God About Him (13 But Anani¡äas answered, ¡°Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to thy saints at Jerusalem; 14 and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call upon thy name.¡± 15 But the Lord said to him, ¡°Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; 16 for I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.¡± Acts 9.13-16)
2. Disciples Feared Him -- 26 And when he had come to Jerusalem he attempted to join the disciples; and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple. 9.26
B. People Who Took the Risk
Three friends met together at Christmas time and were all moaning about how out of shape they had become. They decided then and there to do a Triathlon that Summer. They started to meet to run together on Saturday mornings. The Saturday runs were a great motivation to find time to work out during the rest of the week, and they usually talked about our successes and failures in getting workouts in as they ran. There were good weeks and bad weeks together, but that summer, all three signed up and swam, biked and ran the Guelph Lake Triathlon, and all finished it! Each agreed that they would never have finished if it had not been for the fellowship and encouragement of the friends.
1. Healed by Ananias
2. Taken in by Barnabas (9.27)
III. God Saw His Potential and Set Him Apart to a Great Work ¨C Among Gentiles
A. Had been God¡¯s intent ¨C Isaiah 2.2-4; 17 And he taught, and said to them, ¡°Is it not written, ¡®My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations¡¯? But you have made it a den of robbers.¡± Mark 11.17 (cleansing temple);
for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. Isaiah 56.7c; (Jeremiah 7.11 ¨C den of robbers)
B. Had been done ¨C Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you traverse sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. Matthew 23.15
C. Paul¡¯s Zeal Turned to the Gospel
Back in 1912, Ford Motor Co. had a production manager named William Knudsen - considered one of the best in his field. Knudsen became convinced that the Model T (which had been in production for 4 years now) had to be updated. But, the only problem was - Henry Ford loved his creation so much it was well known that he opposed changing anything about the car.
According to Robert Lacy (in his bestselling biography, Ford: The Man and the Machine) Knudsen thought to convince Ford by building an updated and impressive model to show what could be done with a few changes in color and design.
Ford had just returned from a European vacation, and he went to a Highland Park, Michigan garage and saw the new design created by Knudsen.
On-the-scene mechanics later revealed how Ford responded.
They say that the car was it was a four door job, and the top was down, painted gleaming red and built on a new, low slung version of the Model T.
One eyewitness tells how "Ford had his hands in his pockets, and he walked around that car 3 or 4 times¡. Finally, he got to the left hand side of the car, and he takes his hands out, gets hold of the door, and bang! He ripped the door right off!¡ How the man done it, I don¡¯t know! He jumped in there, and bang goes the other door. Bang goes the windshield. He jumps over the back seat and starts pounding on the top. He rips the top with the heel of his shoe. He wrecked the car as much as he could."
Knudsen left for General Motors. Henry Ford nursed along the Model T, but design changes in competitors models made it more old-fashioned than he would admit. Competitive necessity finally backed him into making the Model A, but his heart was never in it.
APPLY: Henry Ford was one of the most creative men of his age. And yet¡ Henry Ford - one of the great minds of his day - resisted the obvious need for change. When Saul saw the need to change, he did not resist but embraced the change he found in Yeshua (Jesus).
8 Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as refuse, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own, based on law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith; 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that if possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3.8-11
1. YOU DON¡¯T KNOW WHAT YOU¡¯VE GOT TILL IT¡¯S GONE
Our power is shut off, and suddenly we become thankful for electricity. Our garbage is not picked up, and suddenly we become thankful for the garbage collector¡¯s weekly stop. A good friend dies, and suddenly we discover how much he meant to us. Our water becomes too polluted to drink and suddenly we appreciate having good water.
Why is it, Lord, that we take for granted the uncounted blessings of life until they are removed from us?
Apply to silence of God ¨C Saul of Tarsus endured a period of silence and then God broke through in a powerful way.
2. Paul went through spiritual and physical blindness but came to see Yeshua (Jesus) for who he was.
3. His encounter with him forever changed his life ¨C and many who have believed because of him
