23, May 2004
Good News Fellowship
Dakota Community Church
Powerful You
Introduction:
Do you think of yourself as a powerful person?
Are you strong and secure in whom you are in Christ?
Most of us are not. Most see themselves as weak and helpless. Many wonder why there seems to be so little power in the modern Church.
Ephesians 1: 18-23
18I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church; 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
1Corinthians 3: 16
16Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
2Timothy 3: 1-5
1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
We need to back up our godliness with power!
The Power You Possess:
1. Will Power.
Maybe the greatest gift God has given us is the gift of independent freewill.
We are not robots; we are sons and daughters of God.
Genesis 2: 15-17
15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."
Deuteronomy 30: 15-20
15 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. 16 For I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.
17 But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, 18 I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
19 This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the LORD is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
We have the free will to choose obedience or disobedience.
We have the choice between life and death.
Illustration:
Philip Yancey, in his book "Reaching for the Invisible God" describes the way God gets blamed for things in this way.
"When Princess Diana died in an automobile accident, a minister was interviewed and was asked the question “How can God allow such a terrible tragedy?” And I loved his response. He said, “Could it have had something to do with a drunk driver going ninety miles an hour in a narrow tunnel? Just How, exactly, was God involved.”
Years ago, boxer, Ray “Boom Boom” Mancini, killed a Korean opponent with a hard right hand to the head. At the press conference after the Korean’s death, Mancini said, “sometimes I wonder why God does the things he does.”
In a letter to Dr. Dobson, a young woman asked this anguished question, “Four years ago, I was dating a man and became pregnant. I was devastated. I asked God, “Why have you allowed this to happen to me?”
Susan Smith, the south Carolina mother a couple years ago who pushed her two sons into a lake to drown and then blamed a fictional car-jacker for the deed, wrote in her confession: “I dropped to the lowest point when I allowed my children to go down that ramp into the water without me. I took off running and screaming, ‘Oh God! Oh God, no! What have I done? Why did you let this happen?”
Now the question remains, exactly what role did God play in a boxer beating his opponent to death, a teenage couple giving into temptation in the back seat of a car, or a mother drowning her children?
Is God responsible for these acts? To the contrary, they are examples of incredible human free will being exercised on a fallen planet. And yet it’s in our nature as mortal, frail, fallen people to lash out at one who is not, that being God."
2Timothy 2: 20-21
20In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. 21If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.
We can choose where we will stand in the plan of God for humanity.
Matthew 23: 37
37"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing.
We even choose whether we will be close to God or distant from Him.
Illustration:
A recent Jim Carry movie, Bruce Almighty, is the story of a human given the power but not the wisdom of God. Carry proceeds to make a huge mess of things, resulting in everything from natural disasters to financial calamities. But when his girlfriend, Grace, becomes fed up with his immaturity and leaves, a broken Bruce says to God, "How do you make someone love you without affecting free will?" God played by Morgan Freeman, replies, "Welcome to my world. When you figure that one out, let me know."
Two things to beware of where the power of your free will is concerned:
(a.) It means accepting responsibility.
We live in an age where nobody wants to accept responsibility for anything.
If I spill my coffee on me it is the stores fault for making it hot.
If I slip on the sidewalk it is the cities fault for not making it ice free.
If I sin it is because the devil makes me do it.
If I am a cheater it is because my dad wasn’t there for me.
- News Flash:
- You have the will power to decide how you will be. Why do some use the negatives of life as springboards and some use them as excuses? – Will power.
- This is not bad news; it means you can change. On some level you have always known it.
(b.) Religion will try to rob you of it.
For some reason in religious circles we think individuality is a bad thing.
We want everyone to worship the same way, to dress the same way, to pray the same way, to be entertained the same way and to act the same way.
God made us different! God gave us the power of a free will to find our place and to be ourselves in the Body of Christ.
- Don’t be robbed of your free will.
- Don’t try to rob others of theirs.
2. Word Power.
Your words have power.
- The power to create
- The power to destroy
- The power to influence
Psalm 64: 2-3
2 Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked, from that noisy crowd of evildoers.
3 They sharpen their tongues like swords and aim their words like deadly arrows.
Proverbs 18: 20-21
20 From the fruit of his mouth a man’s stomach is filled; with the harvest from his lips he is satisfied.
21 The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
James 3: 2-5
2We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check.
3When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. 4Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. 5Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts.
- God created the universe with words.
- Then he created you in His image.
- In Genesis 1 God "says" 14 times.
But pastor Dan God doesn’t want us to do that does He?
Mark 11: 12-14, 20-23
12The next day as they were leaving Bethany, Jesus was hungry. 13Seeing in the distance a fig tree in leaf, he went to find out if it had any fruit. When he reached it, he found nothing but leaves, because it was not the season for figs. 14Then he said to the tree, "May no one ever eat fruit from you again." And his disciples heard him say it.
20In the morning, as they went along, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots. 21Peter remembered and said to Jesus, "Rabbi, look! The fig tree you cursed has withered!"
22"Have faith in God," Jesus answered. 23"I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, ’Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him.
What are you doing with your words?
- Building or destroying your spouse?
- Building or destroying your children?
- Building or destroying your Pastor, church, brethren?
Proverbs 14:1
1 The wise woman builds her house, but with her own hands the foolish one tears hers down.
Consider this short poem entitled “Power of Words:”
A careless word may kindle strife
A cruel word may wreck a life
A bitter word may hate instill
A brutal word may smite and kill
A gracious word may smooth the way
A joyous word may light the day
A timely word may lessen stress
A loving word may heal and bless
Will power, Word power, and:
3. Prayer Power.
For whatever reason it seems that praying Christians are becoming a rarer and rarer breed.
Is it because we don’t believe in prayers power?
Is it because it seems to have failed us in the past?
Are most of us just to busy with the affairs of this life until tragedy strikes close to home?
James 5: 13-18
13Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
17Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.
When Robert Louis Stevenson was a boy he once remarked to his mother, "Momma, you can’t be good without praying." "How do you know, Robert?" she asked. "Because I’ve tried!" he answered.
This brings to mind a story about another little fellow -- one who had been sent to his room because he had been bad. A short time later he came out and said to his mother, "I’ve been thinking about what I did and I said a prayer." "That’s fine," she said, "if you ask God to make you good, He will help you." "Oh, I didn’t ask Him to help me be good," replied the boy. "I asked Him to help you put up with me." - Our Daily Bread, June 15.
John 15: 5-8
5"I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. 6If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. 8By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.
4. Witnessing Power.
Acts 1: 7-8
7He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
Acts 4: 29-31
29Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus."
31After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
You have the power to share your faith with others.
- Believe for Devine appointments.
- Discover your right of relationships
- Don’t build walls of alienation when you meet resistance.
Mark 16: 15-20
15He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well."
19After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 20Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.
The power is for outside the church walls.
WHERE THE PEOPLE ARE:
Christ met unbelievers where they were. He realized what many Christians today still don’t seem to understand. Cultivators have to get out in the field. According to one count, the gospels record 132 contacts that Jesus had with people. Six were in the Temple; four in the synagogues and 122 were out with the people in the mainstream of life.
SOURCE: J.K. Johnston
You have:
- Will power
- Word power
- Prayer power
- Holy Spirit power to witness.
