Great Expectations: The sting is Gone.
(Pastor Craige LeBreton)
Life is wonderful…Life is good…Life is hope…Life is experienced…
In Life we need to distinguish between…the light and the darkness…
…living and existing…expecting and being anxious…
I once heard a simple…yet wonderful definition of Life…
“Life is what happens to you…while your making other plans…”
If you examine this statement…it simply means that…
life is always…full of uncertainty…
You and I must live…every day of our lives…with the realization…
That we cannot…totally predict what the future…will bring…
When you look at the word “Expect” you find that it means…
to look forward too…to anticipate… looking forward to an occasion…
or an event…Melissa is expecting…
And she and I…are both looking forward…to the birth of a child…
We are anticipating, through prayer…a healthy child…
but since Melissa is considered…A high-risk pregnancy…
we are also concerned and anxious…
When we don’t know what to expect…we become anxious…
we want the end results…right now…we live in an age of anxiety…
and too often…we don’t take are concerns to the Lord…
Jesus understands are anxiety…He recognized that anxiety…
is overtaking our lives…He recognized our anxious condition…
and He gave us an answer…the answer He gave…did not rest…
upon are curing…our own anxiety…Instead…He insisted that we…
turn our attention…away from our anxious selves…and toward…
the love of the father…
Text: Matthew 6:25-34
In this text…what is Jesus really saying to his disciples???
To paraphrase…He said to His disciples…something like this…
“Don’t be anxious about your life…”
He said… “You can’t add…even a tiny bit…to the length of your life….
by being anxious…
He said…”Instead of all that anxiety…turn your attention…to God…
and His way…of doing things…and when you do…everything else…
Will fall into place…”
Jesus later says… “Once you have turned your attention…to God…
Tell Him…what you need…tell Him…what you are looking for…
If you ask Him for something…don’t be amazed…if you receive it…
And if you are looking for something…don’t be surprised…
if he helps you find it…
and if the door of life…seems to be closed to you…
knock on it any way…
and don’t be taken back…when the door opens…
and it is God…turning the Knob…
Mathew 7:7 tells us:
¶ Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:
Jesus also wants reciprocation…If He will open the door for you…
You need to be willing…to open the door for Him…the door of your heart… through repentance… and faith on Him…as your Savior…and Lord…
The book of revelation 3:20 tells us:
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
The Bible tells us of such a man…a man who had great faith…
and great expectations
Let’s look at Luke 7:1-10
1 ¶ Now when he had ended all his sayings in the audience of the people, he entered into Capernaum.
2 And a certain centurion’s servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die.
3 And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant.
4 And when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, That he was worthy for whom he should do this:
5 For he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue.
6 Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself: for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof:
7 Wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed.
8 For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it.
9 When Jesus heard these things, he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel.
10 And they that were sent, returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick.
This Roman centurion was not anxious…He had Faith on Jesus Christ…and he had…great expectations…he knew that Jesus could heal…
he knew that Jesus…had the power…over life and death…
He had no doubts…he knew and expected…
that Jesus would heal his servant…This man knew that Jesus would…
answer his prayers…This man knew that God…would give His servant…
what he needed…
Not only does God know what we need…He also knows…
how to give it to us…
Jesus wants us to know…that if you understand who He is…
And what His father has in store for you…
YOU CAN LIVE!!!
YOU CAN LIVE FOREVER!!!
You can live everyday of your life…without anxiety…
and with “Great Expectations” and assurance of eternal life...
“Great Expectations”
These two words are not…just a sermon title…
They are a way of living…
You and I know…that there are no simple answers…to simple questions…
When a child asks… “Why is the Sky Blue?”…there is no simple answer…
and in life…when things are going well…it is not hard to be…
positive…and optimistic…life is simply good…
The real question…for us…is how to follow the words of Jesus…
When things go wrong…
When troubles mount up…and everything looks black…
Do we live with great expectations???
When my parents home burned to the ground…twelve years ago…
It would have been real easy for them…to lose all sense of Hope…
My parents lost every possession they had…and when they were allowed…
To search through the ruins of thier home…they had little hope…
of finding…any thing left…of value…
But God knew what they needed…at that particular time…
Beneath some rubble…in a box…my mother and father…
found all that was left…from the fire…in that charred…
but not burnt…cardboard box… that they had found…
a small collection of photographs…photographs of their children…
and other family members…God had spared a box of memories…
and these memories gave my parents hope…and great expectations…
of a new home…with new memories to place…not in a box…
but in their hearts…
My parents had a good teacher…
a teacher that had helped prepare them…for a tragedy…
that would turn their lives…upside down…for the course of three years…
That Teacher was…Jesus Christ…
We all have stories…of the times…when we could have easily…
given up hope…
But it was not too long ago…that some dear family friends…were facing… the most discouraging times of their lives…and I am putting that…
Very mildly…there story always uplifts me…
David and Gina Mac Millan…were facing…an agonizing decision…
after undergoing two open-heart surgeries…David was told…
he must decide whether or not to have a third surgery…
that may or may not…prolong his life…
It was an agonizing decision…for David as well as Gina…
But together…with many hours of prayer…they decided to go ahead…
with the surgery…David’s third surgery lasted throughout the evening…
and long into the night…Gina and her family and friends…
waited together...praying…in the waiting room…all night…
and into the early hours of the morning…
it was near dawn when they got the news…David had survived!
That Morning David went into the coronary unit…But while he was there…
He lapsed into a coma…that coma lasted for weeks…No-one knew…
If he would ever awaken…Almost everyone…was ready…
to throw in the towel…and give up…on David…
Everyone except Gina…and God…
Gina refused…to accept anything…short of recovery…
for her husband, David…
During those weeks…on many occasions…Gina cried… andGina prayed…. Gina hoped beyond hope…she gave it all up… every essence of her being…
to God…and His will…
Then it happened…after six weeks…David woke up…
When he did…everyone realized…that David had gone through…
A severe stroke…
And so the worry…the struggle…and the anxiety…were not over…
For weeks David struggled…through tedious and painful therapy…
No one knew…how much of a recovery…would be possible…
But David and Gina…had… “Great Expectations…”
David was even determined to play golf again…
He fought to recover…and Gina fought with him…
And they also did something else…together…they surrendered…together…
they surrendered to God…and his will…
And it was God’s will…that David would play golf again…
David is playing golf every week…and he is playing well…
Some of his friends have told me…that he is playing too well…
He is winning…and David never used to win…
David and Gina had found…that they could do all things through Christ…
Jesus Christ…had strengthened them…
What can we learn from this?
What does it all mean?
Jesus said, “Ask and you shall receive…search and you shall find…
Knock…and the door will be opened to you…”
You and I…must listen to Jesus Christ…and take Him at his word…
God has plans for us…God also has “Great Expectations”…of us…
My father sent me a quotation…which comes from John Gardner…
John Gardner…was for a time…the president of the organization called…
The Common Cause…
Whenever I read that Quotation…I remember again…how to face…
My own problems in Life…
Here is what it says…Listen carefully…
“We are continually faced…with a series…of great opportunities…
Brilliantly disguised…as unsolvable…problems.
Imagine that…every day…you and I face problems…
But we are missing the point…we are missing opportunities…
You and I…are continually faced with…a great series…
of great opportunities…brilliantly disguised…as unsolvable problems…
One of the finest Christian Leaders…of this century…was E. Stanley Jones.
He was a missionary…carrying out the great commission…as an evangelist.
When he was in eighties…he suffered a severe stroke…
He couldn’t walk…He couldn’t write…He could barely talk…
If you saw him…you might think…he was in a vegetative state…
But he wasn’t…He still had… “Great Expectations”…
E. Stanley Jones…decided to dictate a book…It was a book about his faith...
That book was entitled “The Divine Yes”…
This man had preached thousands of sermons…but he couldn’t do that…
anymore…
So he said “Perhaps I can write this book by faith”…
then he decided…if he could not preach sermons any more…
he would become a living testimonial…
He went on to say…“that his mind was on fire…” and that
“with the possibility of going out of this life…with the divine yes…
on his lips…as his word…and as his message…this divine yes…
would out way…his human body…that was saying “No.”
Mr. Jones was saying…that we must continue to have…
“Great Expectations”…
we believe in God…. and God believes…in us…
But this is not the final word…
Today I can look at my friends…and my family…
who have lost someone they love…
And I can see that…they still mourn…
I can see…that in the face of death…it is no easy task…to have…
“Great Expectations”
Death is a kind of terrible darkness…isn’t it???
Mankind has been afraid of the dark…since God created Adam…
(A book by Victor Ratner…and Rabbi Bernard Mendelhaum…)
How frightened Adam must have been when…for the first time…
He saw the sun disappear…ending the light of day…
It was Adams first darkness…how could he accept the night…
When he had never seen…a dawn…?
After the warmth and splendor of the Sun…how cold and alone…
The darkness…must have been for him…
How desperate…the long terror…of the first fall of night…
Adam had to learn…that the day would come again…he would see…
that there was light…and order…in the universe…
Then Adam began to realize…how much light…
remained in the sky…at night…
The stars…and there enduring promise…of the sun…
the returning star…of the day…
Adam learned that the night…is never wholly dark…
And that no night is endless…
We are like Adam…we need to learn that the light is always there…
The light is never far away…the light is within reach…
We need to turn to God’s promise of the Son…His Son…
The Light of the World.
John tells us: John 1:6-12
6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.
7 The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe.
8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.
9 That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.
11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
As you and I…examine our faith in Christ…our savior and redeemer…
We know that…times of trouble…are the true test…
But the supreme test…is in the face of death…
Jesus Christ…came to this world…to help us meet…every test…
Of life…and of death…and through Him…we will not perish…
But have eternal life…
Jesus came to help us…face every terror…every trial…every failure…
And He came for us because…His loving Father…
Loved us so much…he sent his only son…to earth…to suffer death…
for our sins…
One summer day…a father and his daughter…were riding together…
In a car on a small country road…
Suddenly…a honeybee…flew into the window…of the car…
The little girl was terrified…and for good reason…
She was terribly allergic…to the sting of a bee…
The father was told…that a bee sting…could cause her death…
Hearing the buzz…and seeing the bee…she screamed to her father…
“Daddy…don’t let the bee get me…the bee will kill me…Stop it.”
Her father…with his one hand still on the wheel…reached out quickly…
And caught the bee…in his fist…
The Bee stung the palm…of the fathers hand…and as he opened his hand…
The bee flew out…
The little girl was still terrified…and cried out…
“Daddy, don’t let the bee kill me”…
Her fathers gentle voice said to her…. “Don’t worry dear…
The bee can’t hurt you now…its stinger is in the palm of my hand…
It can not kill you now…The sting is gone…”
A little over two thousand years ago…God reached down from heaven…
He sent the one…who takes away the sting of death…caused by sin…
He sent his son…Jesus Christ…who reached out…
With the palm of His hand…and took the sting of death Himself…
In order that we…should not perish…
Today…you and I may face…any obstacle…on earth…in life…
And in death…
Today…we can live with… “Great Expectations”…
And through Jesus Christ…and his ultimate sacrifice…
His death on the cross…at Calvary…for our sins…
If you do not know Jesus as your personal Savior…
I would ask you to open your hearts to him…He is knocking right now…
Repent of your sins…and trust on him…believe on Jesus Christ…and…
“The sting of death” and eternal separation from God… will be gone…
