Stop Drop And Listen

Stop drop and Listen

John 10:22-30 (NIV)

22 Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon’s Colonnade. 24 The Jews gathered around him, saying, "How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly." 25 Jesus answered, "I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, 26 but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one."

Amen. Is it good to be in the house of the Lord? Amen. There are a lot of places I could be today, and I choose to be here. Praise the Lord

Story: Stop drop and Roll: Have you ever heard if the term stop drop and roll? It’s a term used to teach people what to do if they are ever caught on fire. They say if you are ever caught on fire you are to stop moving, drop to the ground and roll. And keep rolling until the fire goes out. They say that if you don’t stop and drop, but keep on walking or running, you actually fan the flames with more oxygen which feeds the fire and makes it grow worse. But if you stop drop and roll, you actually begin to snuff the fire out because you cut off the oxygen that feeds the flames.

Well the title of today’s sermon is “stop drop and listen”. What I mean by that is many times in our lives we run into problems in our life and what we need to do is stop, drop to our knees and listen for what the Lord is telling us to do. It’s the only thing that is going to snuff the fires out that well up in our lives.

What do I mean by fires?

It’s different all the time but have you ever had a bad day? Or a bad week? Or a bad month? Maybe even a year?. Life can be hard, it can be unfair, it can be difficult.

I know many of us right now are facing many difficulties.

Have you heard the story of "Alexander and the Horrible, Terrible, Not Good, Very Bad Day"?

If you haven’t, let me tell it to you. Alexander was a boy about 7 or 8 years old, & he had one of those days when everything went wrong, Disasters one right after another. Nothing went right. "It was a Horrible, Terrible, Not Good, Very Bad Day." For instance, when Alexander woke up in the morning, he discovered that he had gone to bed with gum in his mouth, & when he awoke it was in his hair. When he got out of bed he tripped over his skateboard, & then he dropped his sweater into the sink where the water was running. He said, "I just knew it was going to be a Horrible, Terrible, Not Good, Very Bad Day!" Then he went to school, & he had a horrible day there, too. After school he had a terrible experience at the Dentist’s office. Then came supper, & he said, "We had cauliflower for supper, & I hate cauliflower! And on TV all I saw was huggin & kissin, & I hate huggin & kissin!" "Then my bath water was too hot, & I got soap in my eyes, & I lost my marble down the drain. When he went to bed, Nick took back the pillow that he said I could have. And my Mickey Mouse night light burned out, & I bit my tongue, & the cat decided to sleep with Nick & not with me. All in all," He said, "it was a Horrible, Terrible, Not Good, Very Bad Day"

Have you ever felt that way?

I’m sure that you have! Almost all of us have had days of anxiety & stress & frayed nerve endings, & we need to learn how to deal with them.

Then in the midst of this you might feel far from the Lord

As if he isn’t there anymore?

I. But we serve and awesome God.

a. A God that cares for us

i. He is concerned about us

b. A God that is with us

i. Immanuel

c. A God that doesn’t just sit in the heavenly realms looking down on His creation watching it pass by and not doing anything with it.