Show video clip of Finding Nemo.
Good morning and welcome to Bethany. Please sign your attendance pad—and please look at the opportunities to be in ministry—take and complete one of those forms if you have the talents that God can use in that ministry here at Bethany.If you are a guest—I want to give you a special welcome because you add so much to our service.Today I continue this series of messages on Summer Blockbusters. How many have seen the movie Finding Nemo?
I’m going to take a powerful lesson from that movie today. Just as Nemo was near to the heart of his father, I am going to use the movie theme to discuss what is near to the heart of God—that is people--all people. Just as Nemo’s father risked everything to find Nemo so our heavenly father risked it all to find you and me and all people. And you know what—God expects us to take the same risks to find lost fish. He expects of me as an individual Christian, he expects it of you and he expects it of Bethany church.Here’s how the story of Finding Nemo develops in the movie:Nemo’s father loved him very much. He watched over Nemo and protected him from every evil. Nemo and his dad were best friends. There are reasons why so many people enjoy the blockbuster hit Finding Nemo. It is a powerful story of the sacrificial love of a mother, and determination of a caring father. It is the story of being lost, and then found. It is a story that can help you understand God and his love for you.
But one day Nemo disobeyed his father and swam beyond the reef. He was suddenly scooped up by a diver and taken away on a boat. Nemo’s disobedience caused him to be separated from his father. Nemo was so sad because there was nothing he could do to get back to his father. Nemo ended up in fish tank in a dentist’s office overlooking the Sydney Harbor. His situation seemed hopeless.
The father loved little Nemo so much that it did not matter how big the ocean was, or how many fish there were. He was determined to save Nemo, and set out on an incredible adventure to seek and save little Nemo. His journey became the talk of all the fish and birds. The good news of this heroic father traveling the ocean in search of his son reached Nemo through a pelican named Nigel.
Nemo was so surprised and thrilled to learn of his father’s love and search for him. However, time was running out. The dentist’s destructive niece Darla was set to pick up Nemo as a pet. Darla was known for abusing her pet fish until they went belly up. With a strong desire to return to his father, and the encouragement from his new friends in the fish tank, he took an amazing step of faith. He jumped out of the fish tank, down a water drain that led to the ocean. The father’s love drew Nemo in the right direction.Dory was a fish who knew Nemo’s father, and led little Nemo to him. There was so much happiness when Nemo was at last saved and home with his loving father.
Jesus told a story that was just like the story of Nemo: Luke 15:4-7 (NLT)4"If you had one hundred sheep, and one of them strayed away and was lost in the wilderness, wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine others to go and search for the lost one until you found it?
5And then you would joyfully carry it home on your shoulders. 6When you arrived, you would call together your friends and neighbors to rejoice with you because your lost sheep was found.
7In the same way, heaven will be happier over one lost sinner who returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away!
The shepherd who risked not only his life—but the 99 sheep he left behind—their lives were at risk while the shepherd was out looking for the one lost sheep.The other fish in the movie –Finding Nemo—risked their lives to find that one little lost fish. They knew the heart of Nemo’s father. And they were really to risk everything for his heart.The question I ask you today is do you know the heart of your heavenly father? Are you willing to risk it all—your comfort, your standing in the eyes of fellow Christians and church members? To what extent do the risks you take reflect that you know the heart of the father?
I want you to hear another story from the life of Jesus:NIV Matthew 8:18-26When Jesus saw the crowd around him, he gave orders to cross to the other side of the lake. Then a teacher of the law came to him and said, "Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go."
Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the son of man has no place to lay his head." Another disciple said to him
Lord, first let me go and bury my father." But Jesus told him, "Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead."
Then he got into the boat and his disciples followed him.
Without warning, a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat. But Jesus was sleeping. The disciples went and woke him, saying, "Lord, save us! We’re going to drown!"
He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.Now, come on, put yourself in their position. This is the biblical precursor of the Titanic going down. They’re scared for their lives. They feel totally out of control. They are in the middle of what appears to them to be a hurricane.How would you feel? What would be racing through your mind? What would you be thinking about in terms of loved ones? What kind of panic would grip you?
What are some principles that emerge from Matthew 8:18-26? To know the heart of God is to embark upon the ultimate risk taking adventure.Things can be unpredictable. They were surprised. They entered into something unexpected. Things can be uncontrollable. It was totally outside of any skill or any ability they had to change circumstances Things can be unanticipated. To follow Christ implies that we are going to be following him into some storms that are unpredictable, uncontrollable and unknowable. That is part of the deal. The map has not been written. The chart has not been drawn. There are going to be times when we are marching off the map and we are going to feel very, very uncomfortable.
But to follow him was an unconditional response. You didn’t investigate the contractual liabilities. You didn’t make Christ set down the parameters and say: well, I’ll take it under advisement. For full fledged followership, it means going wherever he goes, loving the prodigals of this world, risking it all to find the lost fish. Why is it you don’t march off the map? What are things that keep you from doing that?Fear is an unnecessary, albeit natural response for a full fledged follower.The particular word used in this passage is the word cowardice. It implies a lack of courage. The NIV sometimes uses the word timidity but I don’t think that quite captures this sense of his being a coward, not being willing to stand up and really do what is being asked of you. There are only three other passages in the New Testament that use this particular word. I want to look at them and just see the feel of what is being said here.
NIV John 14:27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.NIV 2 Timothy 1:7For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline
NIV Revelation 21:8But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—their place will be in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death.It is obvious especially from this Revelation 21 passage that to be unbelieving, to walk with this kind of cowardice, is not going to be rewarded and maybe that gives us a sense of why Jesus was so inflamed. This brings us to our third principle that emerges.Fear of destruction or of pain or of disappointment and in many cases the fear of failure is the #1 reason we don’t take risks. It is why we don’t make a job move even when we feel prompted. It is why we don’t launch into new ministry opportunities when we sense God wanting to develop some gifts. It is why we don’t become vulnerable in relationships because of a sense of foreboding about our past. It essentially leads to lack of vision about what matters most to God—or no vision of where we’re going to head in the future.
Friends, our destiny is not determined by what we possess but by what possesses us. Faith is the opposite of fear and requires intentional exercise.The fear of the disciples was an unmistakable mark of an immature and undeveloped faith. Jesus was saying we must be more conditioned by faith and reckless trust than we are feelings of fear. Here is the problem. You can write this down. Feelings are real but unreliable.Friends, faith is a commitment to stretch. Faith is a commitment that says I will trust no matter what.Faith must be intentionally exercised, and that means we have to constantly be at the edge of what feels uncomfortable. The life of faith means that we are in a constant risk taking mode. It means there is no way for us to anticipate next moves, but to quietly walk with confidence.
Knowing the magnitude of Christ’s power is essential to following. That means always acknowledging that his power is beyond my comfort zone. It means there are going to be times when he takes me into territory that has been unmapped and uncharted to date. It means I am going to be doing things for which maybe there isn’t precedent. It means for sure that in my life he is constantly going to be stretching me to say: Because of my power, because of my ability, I am asking you to recklessly trust. The issue of fear, faith and power all go together and coincide when we become full fledged followers. He checks where my fear is, he encourages me to develop faith, and he does that all around the basis of the fact that he is all powerful.Cultivating kingdom risk taking. Determine to walk by faith instead of feelings.
We must commit to do what God says is true and believe what God says is true instead of what we feel or fear. Romans 8 says: "If God is for us, who can be against us?"Philippians 4 says: "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."It’s important to remember that God is more interested in working in us before working through us. That comes to mind as we talk about developing risk taking. Reformat from the language of failure.
You must change the language of failure to the language of opportunity. We must see failures as opportunities to learn and to grow. While we might talk about this often, we rarely make the internal connection so that the feelings are different. It is the feelings which motivate us most often to shrink back from risk, to shrink from us exercising our faith for something big for God. Friends, we must realize that some of our greatest teachers in life are named trial and error. It is commonplace to hear statements like "Only those who dare to fail greatly will ever achieve greatly" or "Consistently we observe that the weakest muscle in the body is the one between the ears", "Self imposed limitations and beliefs hold most people back and those self imposed limitations are in direct proportion to our fear of what the outcome might be."
Or what the founder of IBM Thomas Watson says: "The way to succeed is to double your failure rate." Or as Thomas Edison said "There is only one good idea in 100 so I want to discover the 99 failures as quick as possible."Here is a personal evaluation question: Do I view failure as an opportunity for growth in the kingdom or as a personal indictment? Just think about these things for a moment. Every 9 sales calls will only bear 1 sale. It takes 9 times of hearing the gospel in a variety of 6 mediums before someone typically responds to Christ. Do you realize that 6 successful people have 9 times more failures than unsuccessful people. Roughly 60% of all basketball shots made don’t go in. 25% of all batters make it to first base. In an oil company, only 10% of oil wells drilled hit oil. For actors, only 1 out of 30 auditions turns up in something that is of value. Two out of 5 investments are winners.
John Maxwell says it this way: We need to take success and failure concerning ourselves much less seriously and take God much more seriously. We need to seed a risk taking mind set. We need to constantly be planting seeds that will develop a mind set that is willing to take risks.
NIV Philippians 4:6-9Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.In the very context with which he says that is a context of not worrying.We need to develop a soaked mind set in God’s Word. God’s word is full of risk takers, people who have gone out on a limb, people who have marched off the map, people who went into uncharted territories, people who sailed ships into storms.
Friends, for us to be full fledged followers, it is going to take risk, big time risk. So I challenge you and I encourage you: Are you willing to walk into a storm and follow him right there? Are you willing to head into a tornado with him? Are you willing to go to a mountain and build a ship that is bigger than your house like Noah did? Are you willing to leave your family business behind and go to a land that is unknown to you like Abraham did? Are you willing to, with Elijah, go to a mountain and call down fire from heaven to show 400 false prophets that their way is the wrong way?
Quote from a monk named brother Jeremiah. "Listen carefully. If I had my life to live over again, I would try to make more mistakes next time. I would relax. I would limber up. I would be sillier than I have ever been on this trip. I know very few things that I would take seriously next time around. I would take more trips. I would climb more mountains, swim more rivers, watch more sunsets. I would do more walking and more looking. I’d eat more ice cream and less bean. I would have more actual troubles and fewer imaginary ones. You see, I am one of these people who live sensibly and sanely hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I have had my moments. If I had it to do over again, I would have more of them. In fact, I would try to have nothing else, just moments, one after the other, instead of living so many years ahead each day. I have been one of those people who never goes anywhere without a thermometer, a hot water bottle, a gargle, a rain coat, aspirin and a parachute. If I had it to do over again, I would go places, I’d do things, I’d travel lighter than I ever have. If I had to do it over again, I would take a lot more risks."
Finding Nemo reminds me of the importance of the knowing the heart of the father…and the risks he expects me to take so that I too may have the same heart—a heart for the lost, the struggling, the seekers, the non-religious and the nominally religious.
"Many years ago two boys served as altar boys in the Catholic Church. Although they were born across the world from each other, one in Croatia and one in Illinois–their stories were somewhat similar. Both grew up in the Catholic Church. Both helped their priest serve communion. And coincidentally, both spilled the wine on the carpet -- an accident that profoundly impacted both of them.When the Croatian priest saw the spilled wine he slapped the boy across the face and said, ’You clumsy oaf. Get out of here.’ That young boy grew up to be the atheist leader of Yugoslavia, Josip Broz Tito. The priest in Illinois, when he saw the spilled wine, knelt down, looked the boy in the eyes and said, ’It’s OK, son. You’ll do a better job next time.’ That young boy grew up to be Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, whose writings inspired millions of people." - Tim Wright, The Prodigal Hugging Church: A Scandalous Approach to Mission for the 21st Century (Minneapolis: Joy Resources, 2000), 32-33.
You know, when it comes down to it--all of us prodigals. We are on equal standing with those who are out there lost and wondering. Because I left home and have lost my way. But I have what Tim Wright calls a Prodigal-Hugging God.
The heart of God is expressed in his love letter to you. Hear again your father’s voice.(Darken screenGo out of slide showBegin audio “god’s Love Letter”Go back into slide showProject on screen again)My Child…You may not know me, but I know everything about you …Psalm 139:1I know when you sit down and when you rise up …Psalm 139:2I am familiar with all your ways …Psalm 139:3Even the very hairs on your head are numbered …Matthew 10:29-31For you were made in my image …Genesis 1:27In me you live and move and have your being …Acts 17:28 For you are my offspring …Acts 17:28 I knew you even before you were conceived …Jeremiah 1:4-5 I chose you when I planned creation …Ephesians 1:11-12 You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book …Psalm 139:15-16I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live …Acts 17:26 You are fearfully and wonderfully made …Psalm 139:14 I knit you together in your mother’s womb …Psalm 139:13 And brought you forth on the day you were born …Psalm 71:6I have been misrepresented by those who don’t know me …John 8:41-44I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love …1 John 4:16 And it is my desire to lavish my love on you …1 John 3:1 Simply because you are my child and I am your father …1 John 3:1I offer you more than your earthly father ever could …Matthew 7:11 For I am the perfect father …Matthew 5:48 Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand …James 1:17For I am your provider and I meet all your needs …Matthew 6:31-33 My plan for your future has always been filled with hope …Jeremiah 29:11 Because I love you with an everlasting love …Jeremiah 31:3 My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore ...Psalms 139:17-18And I rejoice over you with singing …Zephaniah 3:17 I will never stop doing good to you …Jeremiah 32:40 For you are my treasured possession …Exodus 19:5 I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul …Jeremiah 32:41 And I want to show you great and marvelous things …Jeremiah 33:3 If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me …Deuteronomy 4:29 Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart …Psalm 37:4 For it is I who gave you those desires …Philippians 2:13 I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine …Ephesians 3:20 For I am your greatest encourager …2 Thessalonians 2:16-17I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles …2 Corinthians 1:3-4 When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you …Psalm 34:18 As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart …Isaiah 40:11 One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes …Revelation 21:3-4 And I’ll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth …Revelation 21:3-4 I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus …John 17:23 For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed …John 17:26He is the exact representation of my being …Hebrews 1:3 He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you …Romans 8:31 And to tell you that I am not counting your sins …2 Corinthians 5:18-19Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled …2 Corinthians 5:18-19 His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you …1 John 4:10I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love …Romans 8:31-32 If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me …1 John 2:23And nothing will ever separate you from my love again …Romans 8:38-39Come home and I’ll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen …Luke 15:7 I have always been Father, and will always be Father …Ephesians 3:14-15 My question is…Will you be my child? …John 1:12-13 I am waiting for you …Luke 15:11-32 Love, Your Dad. Almighty God
As you leave this morning, hug a prodigal and say, "God is crazy in love with you!"PRAYER:First if you are seeking, have not made a commitment to be a follower of Christ:Jesus was speaking of God’s great love for you in the story of the lost sheep.God loves you, just as Marlin loved Nemo.In Finding Nemo we learned of Marlin’s great love for little Nemo. In the same way, God loves you and wants you to be with him. But, there is a problem.Nemo’s sin separated him from his father.Just as with Nemo, “we all have sinned” (Romans 3:23). This means, “there is a problem—your sins have cut you off from God” (Isaiah 59:2)Nemo could not save himself.It was the special love of Nemo’s father that reached out and saved Nemo. The Bible says: “God saved you by his special favor when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it” (Ephes. 2:8-9).Nemo took a step of faith.When you take a step of faith, by trusting in Jesus, your relationship with God is restored, just as the Bible says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).Take this important step of faith -now.Pray this prayer:Dear Heavenly Father thank you for loving me. I am sorry for those things I have done that have separated us. Please forgive me. I want Jesus to be the leader and savior of my life. I believe he died on the cross and conquered death so that I could have eternal life with you. I receive this new life you freely give. In the name of Jesus, amen.If you are a follower of Jesus, then you need to re commit to what he asked you to do—live a life of risking for seeking the lost sheep:
Here’s next week’s theme
