WE GOT A CONNECTION HERE
Mark 1:32-39
S: Celebrate Jesus
Th: Personal relationship with God: Jesus stayed spiritually connected and directed.
Pr: We need to stay spiritually connected and directed by God.
?: How? How do we do it?
KW: Commitments
TS: We will find in Mark 1:32-39 three commitments that we need to make in order to stay spiritually connected and directed by God.
The _____ commitment we need to make in order to stay spiritually connected and directed by God is to be…
I. DEPENDENT
II. DEVOTED
III. DELIBERATE
RMBC 1/23/00 AM
INTRODUCTION:
ILL Notebook (future): Y2K (top ten)
TOP 10 THINGS ON A Y2K SURVIVALIST’S TO-DO LIST
10. Apologize to neighbors about the tripwire incident...offer to replace dog.
9. Take up pork & beans skeet shooting.
8. Gather recipes for Spam, dehydrated potatoes, and crow.
7. Cancel subscription to Stockpilers Quarterly, but keep the free can opener.
6. Convert weapons back to semi-auto.
5. Pitch "1000 Ideas for Wheat Gluten" to Martha Stewart’s people.
4. Return 753 videos to Blockbuster.
3. Water yard...one lousy gallon at a time.
2. Find grocery store receipt for 10,000 packets of Ramen noodles.
1. Make friends with the 6 billion other Y2K survivors.
Somehow, we survived the Y2K bug.
At the very least, it brought awareness to how dependent we have become on computers.
But…
1. Do you know what the real issue of Y2K is?
We are now in the year 2000 A.D.
A.D. stands for Anno Domini, meaning “in the year of our Lord.”
A.D. is a tacit reminder that Jesus is the center of all time.
Jesus is the hinge of history.
When it comes right down to it, Y2K is about Jesus.
And you thought it was about computers!
It is about Jesus, for Jesus us the very cornerstone of history.
Jesus is the Hope of salvation.
He is the Architect of eternal time.
So the year 2000 is much more than a simple mark of time.
It is a mark in time with reference to the most remarkable life that ever lived, the life of Jesus Christ.
The opinion of Jesus has been varied through the span of time, but most admire Him.
He is a teacher worth noting, who made an obvious impact on his followers.
So, we find Him adorning from time to time the covers of Time and Newsweek.
But the truth is, while admired by many, he is followed by few.
Most people, in the history of time, and during our present time, have never encountered the real Jesus.
2. We begin a celebration today of the real Jesus.
The impact of Jesus when He lived on earth was startling.
He was so attractive then.
People flocked to him.
They wanted to be near Him.
And that attraction continues today.
What makes Him still attractive?
This will be the task of our 50-Day Adventure.
We will eavesdrop on Jesus as He receives His marching orders from the Father.
We will watch Him breaking down the stereotypes of “us” and “them.”
We will find that He genuinely likes people and draws out the best in them.
We will see Him serving others in true humility and communicating truth in everyday language so that people could understand Him.
We will hear Him speaking of a better kingdom to come.
Then we will find Him bravely striding to the cross in submission to the Father’s will.
Finally, we will rejoice in His fight against the forces of evil and the great victory He gains.
These are the matters we will discover.
But to have a true celebration, it must make a difference in us.
We are not to be caught idly admiring Him.
No, we have the opportunity to continue the light we have found in Jesus.
In a world blinded by its own agenda, we will have the great joy of inviting others to live in the light of Christ.
You see…
3. We are not here , though, to rehearse what is good about Jesus, but what can be truly good about us as we follow His lead.
It is my hope and prayer that this adventure will revolutionize our lives.
This can be 50 days of glory for us.
Our primary goal is that for each one of us will become a lighthouse of prayers, so that we will shine the person of Jesus in our neighborhoods, our work places and our schools.
You see, Jesus wants you and me to be channels of His hope and blessing.
People are to see the light of Jesus in us.
For the reality is…we are either signposts pointing others to Him, or we are detours diverting people from Him.
TRANSITION:
To begin our study today, we need to ask…
1. How well do you follow Jesus’ lead?
How well do you follow the directions of the Director?
ILL DRAMA (Alcott & Kuechle)
Penelope was finally able to perform correctly when she connected with the director.
In a similar way, we are to connect with our Director.
And Jesus is an example to us in this.
He shows us how to connect.
But it first started in knowing who He was
For…
2. Jesus gained His identity from the Father (Mark 1:9-11).
(9) At that time Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. (10) As Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. (11) And a voice came from heaven: "You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased."
Jesus heard the Father’s words, and these words beckoned him into a daily and ongoing abiding in the Father’s love.
He knew He was a Son loved by God.
We find ourselves placing our identity in a variety of things today: our work, our roles in the family or church, our abilities or appearances, our competence or expertise in a specific area, our wit, our brains, our integrity or our loyalty.
We place our identity in almost anything but the fact that we are loved sons and daughters of God.
But our Father calls us away from all that.
We receive our identity through His love for us.
Recognizing that truth, then…
3. WE NEED TO STAY SPIRITUALLY CONNECTED AND DIRECTED BY GOD.
But how?
How do we do it?
Well…
4. We will find in Mark 1:32-39 three commitments that we need to make in order to stay spiritually connected and directed by God.
(32) That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. (33) The whole town gathered at the door, (34) and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was. (35) Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. (36) Simon and his companions went to look for him, (37) and when they found him, they exclaimed: "Everyone is looking for you!" (38) Jesus replied, "Let us go somewhere else-to the nearby villages-so I can preach there also. That is why I have come." (39) So he traveled throughout Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.
OUR STUDY:
I. The first commitment we need to make in order to stay spiritually connected and directed by God is to be DEPENDENT.
ILL Alice in Wonderland & the White Rabbit
Do you remember the song that the White Rabbit sang in the Walt Disney production of Alice in Wonderland. In one scene, Alice wanted to talk to the White Rabbit but the rabbit was in such a hurry he began singing,
I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date,
I have no time to say good-bye, hello,
I’m late, I’m late, I’m late.
When I wave, I lose the time I save.
My fuzzy ears and whiskers took me
too much time to shave,
I run and then I hop, hop, hop,
I wish that I could fly.
There’s danger if I dare to stop
And here’s the reason why,
You see, I’ m overdue, I’m in a rabbit stew,
Can’t even say good-bye, hello,
I’m late, I’m late, I’m late.
Do you ever feel that way?
I know many of us do.
But Jesus stands in contrast to us.
He was never in a hurry.
He was so purposeful and intentional.
And so He demonstrates to us that…
1. We are to be unhurriedly dependent on the Father.
In this text, we find that Jesus had an incredibly busy day.
The crowds had slowly, but steadily grown.
By the end of the day, it had become a surging, moving crowd where people were constantly bringing more people to Jesus for Him to heal.
It was the kind of day which would cause most of us to fall into bed exhausted and very reluctant to get up the next morning.
But here is where Jesus is different.
It is here that we find an underlying secret of Jesus’ success and attraction.
He stayed connected to the Father.
And because of that, He was continually directed.
In our theme verse for the day, we see Jesus solution to the busy day:
Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.
2. We are to be disciplined to pray.
Jesus was a constant example in prayer.
The disciples watched and watched Jesus.
He was always praying.
His whole life was about prayer.
So much so, they finally said to Him, “Teach us to pray.”
The disciples knew that Jesus was spiritually connected to the Father in a way that they were not.
They wanted the connection and direction for themselves.
They wanted to be spiritually alive, just like Jesus.
And that was a tremendous and godly desire, for that is the very thing that He has designed us for.
So, we too need to have the same hunger.
We too need to develop this discipline of prayer so we can be spiritually alive.
ILL quote
Someone wisely said, “Learning to pray is like playing the piano. You will not do it well everyday, but unless you do it everyday you will never do it well.”
Interestingly,
3. We are to pray because it is unnatural.
ILL Hybels quote
Bill Hybels has written in his book Too Busy Not to Pray:
Prayer is alien to our proud human nature. From birth we have been learning the rules of self-reliance as we strain and struggle to achieve self-sufficiency. Prayer flies in the face of those deep-seated values. It is an assault on human autonomy, an indictment of independent living. To people in the fast lane, determined to make it on their own, prayer is an embarrassing interruption.
The truth is, though, each one of us needs to learn the lesson of dependence.
We must live it day after day.
And we have the opportunity to learn it if we will be disciplined to pray.
II. The second commitment we need to make in order to stay spiritually connected and directed by God is to be DEVOTED.
ILL Internet
One day, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the President of the U.S., needed to urgently talk to Winston Churchill. However, as the President entered the room to see Churchill, he was not told that the bulky Prime Minister was taking a bath while reading his daily newspaper. When President Roosevelt came into Churchill’s large room, he was shocked and embarrassed at interrupting the Prime Minister. Roosevelt apologized profusely saying, "Please forgive the intrusion Mr. Prime Minister, I seemed to have come at a most inconvenient time." Never one to mince words, Churchill immediately stood up in the tub stark naked with his cigar in his right hand and said, "My dear friend and colleague, may it always be remembered that the Prime Minister of Great Britain has nothing to hide from the President of the United States!"
As we snicker at the story, we are to rejoice that God does not have anything to hide from us!
God wants us to pray, so that we will listen.
For…
1. When we pray we find our marching orders for the day.
Jesus was devoted to the Father’s will.
Whatever the Father wanted, He was going to do.
The story here is so interesting, for the disciples are looking everywhere for Jesus.
He was obviously not where they expected Him to be.
While the disciples wanted him to come back to town, He said, “No, let’s go. We have to move on.”
You see, He had received His marching orders for the day.
He knew it was to go to the next town.
This is an example to us for…
2. We don’t get our direction by polling others.
We are always asking others what we should do.
Sometimes it is because we have our own desires and we are hoping someone will agree with us.
But Jesus wasn’t worried about that.
He didn’t poll the disciples and say, “What should we do today?”
Jesus wasn’t worried about impressions.
3. We are not to be into “impression management.”
We must recognize our tendency to act and speak with an eye to how it will impress the people around us.
The disciples were into this.
“Hey! Everybody is looking for you!”
Jesus wasn’t concerned about everybody.
He was concerned to obey the Father.
III. The third commitment we need to make in order to stay spiritually connected and directed by God is to be DELIBERATE.
ILL 50 Day Illustrations
A Native American touring New York City amazed his host while walking up busy 5th Avenue. Preparing to cross a busy intersection, the Indian reached beneath a potted plant on the sidewalk and picked up a cricket. “How could you have possibly heard a cricket above all this traffic and noise?” the host inquired. Just then a woman dropped a quarter while climbing onto a bus. The small coin rolled onto the sidewalk and immediately a handful of people turned to see where the loose coin had rolled. “It all depends on what you are accustomed to listening to!” the Native American smiled. When we are connected to the Father, we are better equipped to be directed by him because we have learned to identify His voice.
What are you listening for?
God has nothing to hide.
And God wants us to be clear about our mission.
1. We are to have clarity about our mission.
Jesus had clarity.
When people were trying to make Him stay to do more healings, He did not stay.
It was not that He was unsympathetic.
It was not that He did not care.
It was that He knew why He was sent.
With a calm spirit and clear focus, He said:
"Let us go somewhere else-to the nearby villages-so I can preach there also. That is why I have come."
Here is where we need to learn, for…
2. We are to understand the difference between the urgent and important.
You know, if you do not have a sense of purpose, you will come under the influence of dominating people.
And they will bring urgent matters that have to be taken care of now.
The result will be that the urgent will crowd out the important.
Instead, we need to learn the lesson of keeping our priorities.
Just as Jesus deliberately followed His mission, we too need to move ahead.
God speaks to us about our mission through His Word and the Spirit inside of us.
He is willing to tell us, if we are willing to listen?
APPLICATION:
So how do we stay spiritually connected and directed?
In our Adventure material, we are recommending these two disciplines.
First…
1. Pray with a pencil.
Discipline yourself to regularly come into the Lord’s Presence for a time of devotion.
It is a time to be devoted to God.
So while you are reading His Word, use your pencil, jotting down what you see and hear.
Second…
2. Say the “Show Me Prayer”
Do it everyday.
And do the prayer slowly.
Take time to pause after each statement, recognizing your dependence on the Father.
Do it carefully and unhurriedly, so that you can be spiritually connected and directed to God.
Lord, please show me the way today.
Show me some aspect of Your greatness I tend to overlook.
Show me what makes You smile and what makes You sad.
Show me people I can touch with Your love.
Show me who I need to forgive and from whom I should seek forgiveness.
Right now I especially need you to show me…
Thank You for showing Yourself by sending Your Son, Jesus.
Amen.
BENEDICTION:
Be dependent…pray everyday; for it is a daily act of trust that says I am not independent, I am dependent and I need to stay connected;
Be devoted…when God gives you something to do, don’t delay, but instead, trust the knowledge of the Father who only directs us toward what is good for us;
Be deliberate…stay on course, don’t be diverted by the world, not by what people say must be done; cast away the urgent and do what is important.
Now to him who is able to establish you by the gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ to the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.
