THE IMPORTANCE OF THE ANOINTING OF GOD!
TEXT: Isaiah 61:1-3
THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD GOD IS UPON ME; BECAUSE THE LORD HAS ANOINTED ME TO PREACH GOOD TIDINGS TO THE POOR; HE HAS SENT ME TO HEAL THE BROKENHEARTED, TO PROCLAIM LIBERTY TO THE CAPTIVES, AND THE OPENING OF THE PRISON TO THOSE WHO ARE BOUND: TO PROCLAIM THE ACCEPTABLE YEAR OF THE LORD, AND THE DAY OF VENGEANCE OF OUR GOD; TO COMFORT ALL WHO MOURN. TO CONSOLE THOSE WHO MOURN IN ZION, TO GIVE THEM BEAUTY FOR ASHES, THE OIL OF JOY FOR MOURNING, THE GARMENT OF PRAISE FOR THE SPIRIT OF HEAVINESS; THAT THEY MAY BE CALLED
TREES OF RIGHEOUSNESS, THE PLANTING OF THE LORD,
THAT HE MAY BE GLORIFIED.
In Luke 4:16-21 Jesus read in the synagogue in Nazareth read the first portion of this scripture. In the Jewish scrolls there are no chapters and verses. These occurred between the 1300’s and 1600’s by Catholic Monks.
While verses 1-3 refer ultimately to the Messiah which is Christ Jesus; this text also refers to the work of the church; specifically within the office of pastors.
Within the UCCP we do not normally use titles. However, out of respect people will refer to church workers by the titles of the offices which were held by the individual(s). But the pastoral office is just one of many offices that are held by Christians. It is not any more important of an office than any other office. Because everything we can do for the Lord can be divided into two parts; those who plant and those who water. And neither one is of any particular importance, only He who gives the increase.
Anoint means to consecrate or to set apart for a particular purpose. The question that we must ask today: “The Anointing of God, Do You Have It?
We will get back to this in a moment. After Jesus read this scripture from the scroll, he handed the scroll back to the attendant and sat back down. The leaders were looking at him and wondering what he might say. Jesus said, “TODAY THIS SCRIPTURE IS FULFILLED IN YOUR HEARING.”
This text was in reference to Jesus Christ by His own words in Luke 4:16-21. But when Christ died on the cross, this anointing was not nailed to the cross but was given to the church.
There are those who preach good tidings to the poor; we have many church workers in this congregation, and we have those who preach different messages, and they are to the poor.
Every Christian has been given unique talents. Some are anointed to preach the gospel; some are set aside to heal the brokenhearted; others are set aside to proclaim liberty to those who are bound; others proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord and the vengeance of our God; and yet others are set aside to comfort those who mourn and God is the one who turns our ashes into beauty.
Southern Airways Flight 932 was a chartered Southern Airways Douglas DC-9 domesticUnited States commercial jet flight from Stallings Field (ISO) in Kinston, North Carolina, toHuntington Tri-State Airport/Milton J. Ferguson Field (HTS) in Ceredo, West Virginia. At 7:36 pm on November 14, 1970, the aircraft crashed into a hill just short of the Tri-State Airport, killing all 75 people on board.[1] The plane was carrying 37 members of the Marshall University Thundering Herd football team, eight members of the coaching staff, 25 boosters, and 5 flight crew members. The team was returning home after a 17–14 loss to the East Carolina Pirates at Ficklen Stadium in Greenville, North Carolina.[2] At the time, Marshall's athletic teams rarely traveled by plane, since most away games were within easy driving distance of the campus. The team originally planned to cancel the flight, but changed plans and chartered the Southern Airways DC-9.[3] The accident is widely considered to be the deadliest sports related tragedy in U.S. history.[4]
On November 15, 1970, a memorial service was held at the Veterans Memorial Fieldhouse with moments of silence, remembrances and prayers.[2] The following Saturday another Memorial Service was held at Fairfield Stadium. Across the nation many expressed their condolences. Classes at Marshall, along with numerous events and shows by the Marshall Artists Series (and the football team's game against the Ohio Bobcats) were canceled and government offices were closed. A mass funeral was held at the Field House and many were buried at the Spring Hill Cemetery, some together because of bodies which could never be identified.
The effects of the crash on Huntington went far beyond the Marshall campus. Because it was the Herd's only charter flight of the season, many boosters and prominent citizens were on the plane, including a city councilman, a state legislator and four physicians. Seventy children lost at least one parent in the crash, with 18 of them left orphaned.[7]
The crash of Flight 932 almost led to the discontinuation of the university's football program. Head coach Rick Tolley was among the crash victims.[8] Jack Lengyel was named to take Tolley's place on March 12, 1971, after Dick Bestwick, the first choice for the job, backed out after just one week and returned to Georgia Tech. Lengyel, who came from a coaching job at the College of Wooster, was hired by recently-hired athletic director Joe McMullen. Lengyel played for McMullen at the University of Akron in the 1950s.
Jack Lengyel, Marshall University students, and Thundering Herd football fans convinced acting Marshall President Dr. Donald N. Dedmon to reconsider canceling the program in late 1970.[clarification needed] In the weeks afterward, Lengyel was aided in his attempts by receivers coachRed Dawson.[9] Dawson was a coach from the previous staff who had driven back from the East Carolina game along with Gail Parker, a Freshman coach. Parker flew to the game, but didn't fly back, having switched places with Deke Brackett, another coach. Dawson and Parker were buying boiled peanuts at a country store in rural Virginia when they heard the news over the radio. Before the trip, they were scheduled to go on a recruiting mission to Ferrum College after the ECU — Marshall game (in an effort to recruit Billy Joe Mantooth, who eventually transferred to WVU instead). After the crash, Red Dawson helped bring together a group of players who were on the junior varsity football team during the 1970 season, as well as students and athletes from other sports, to form a 1971 football team.[8] Many had never played football before, and the team only won two games during the 1971 season, against Xavier and Bowling Green.[8] Jack Lengyel led the Thundering Herd to a 9–33 record during his tenure, which ended after the 1974 season (This information came from Wikipedia concerning Marshall University and the worst sports tragedy every experienced in the history of World Wide of Sports).
This was a true event that had turned a school that went from ashes to beauty.
In our lives we have events in our lives that become ashes to us and yet God can take those ashes and turn them into beauty for all of us.
The anointing of God is a beautiful thing. And yet not everyone will accept our anointing.
I was so discouraged prior to coming to the Philippines there were only one or two pastors who supported me coming here. Many people even doubted that God was calling me to the Philippines.
I decided to a call a beloved sister in Christ named Jean M. We talked and after our discussion, she seemed surprised. But she told me that she had questioned many choices I had made in the past; but I cannot find anything wrong with this choice. If I could I would tell you and you know that to be a fact.
About a week before I was scheduled to leave she gave me this card; it reads, “The Way the Lord has brought this to pass financially has been one miracle after another. And the spiritual and emotional growth in your life has been a true miracle.”
“We will pray for you as often as you come to mind. May your ministry and your marriage to Eden be truly blessed!”
Love, Jean & Del Elizabeth and Anna Romans 8:28 and Psalm 46:1.
When God anoints us there will always be two to three witnesses that will confirm our anointing but many times even more than that. Our anointing always comes from God but man will confirm our anointing but not everyone will accept it. God’s anointing will always be evident in the lives that God anoints.
Sometimes out of jealousy and envy some will question our anointing.
One must not be too sensitive in the ministry of Christ. You simply accept that calling and work to the best of your ability. If you have been called by God it will be confirmed by His witnesses. If God is in our life He will cause us to succeed. But that does not mean we will not experience failure. He does not expect us to be perfect.
Who is your favorite Bible character and were they perfect. Consider this: Adam and Eve ate forbidden fruit and were removed from the Garden of Eden; Abraham lied; Noah was a drunkard at one time in his life, Moses and David were murders; David had also committed adultery before committing murder; Samson lied, broke his Nazarite vow, and disobeyed God but at his death he asked God to avenge for the two eyes in which the Philistines burned with a hot rod; Peter denied Christ, Paul had persecuted men, women and children, and yet he became one of the greatest known Apostles to the Gentiles.
You and I are not perfect but we have been called and set apart by God. That is if we belong to the family of God. He requires us to be faithful in the work He has called us to do. He requires obedience rather than sacrifice.
Through Christ we are made valuable not because of what we are or even what we do. We are valuable because it is Christ who owns us. We become trees of righteousness because of what Christ did for us on the cross. In our lives, as we serve our Lord and our God, it is He that is glorified.
“Be sensitive to the needs around you, live as a healer, lift the fallen, restore the broken, and encourage the discouraged.” This was a quote from Pastor Joel Osteen just this past week on Facebook. In short, our ministry entrusted to us by Jesus Christ is one of healing. In our lives and ministry we are to heal others; this is what I have learned from Pastor Loida.
She touched all of our lives in many different ways. This sermon was inspired by one of her many messages and how she lived her life. Let us today accept the anointing God has put on our lives and to serve Him to the best of our ability as we participate together in the ministry of Jesus Christ; in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit Amen.
